Nominations reveal high points, holes in Oscar system

While winning a Golden Globe is indeed a huge honor, there is no question that when it comes to awards for achievement in film, the Oscars are the grand daddy of them all. While you do have to slosh through People magazine's fashion reports and Joan Rivers' annoyingly comical laugh to get to the meat of the night, this annual flashy event is without question film's biggest showcase. Like any award show, the nominations, announced Feb. 13 in Los Angeles, bring about as much question as clarity, and many questions are left to be answered. \n \n1. When is two less than one? \nYou're a Hollywood director who, during the past 12 months, captured the imaginations of audiences across America with two films on opposite ends of the spectrum: one a biographical tale of a single mother's conflict between maternal responsibilities and her duties to her community, the other a multilayered look at the war on drugs at home and in Mexico. Is your double nomination for best picture and best director a blessing or a curse? This is what Steven Soderbergh asked himself after his two 2000 films, "Erin Brockovich" and "Traffic," made Oscar history. He also received a double direction nomination for the Golden Globes but lost to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" director Ang Lee, whom he again is up against. Many think although this double nomination is a testament to his hard work, his films will cancel each other out, making room for Lee's gravity-defying martial arts film or Ridley Scott's "Braveheart"-esque Roman epic "Gladiator."\n \n2. Will Miramax's efforts be rewarded? \nThe indie film company headed up by Bob and Harvey Weinstein made another serious Oscar push, this time thrusting "Chocolat" into the last slot for best picture. This marks the studio's ninth consecutive best picture candidate, starting in 1992 with "The Crying Game" and picking up best picture wins for "The English Patient" and "Shakespeare in Love" (1996 and 1998 respectively). In "Chocolat," the Weinsteins probably have their weakest candidate since 1995's "Il Postino" ("The Postman"), but they have shown once again just how much of a force Miramax is and will continue to be in the film industry.\n \n3. Will the academy ever recognize comedies as real films?\nWhile the Golden Globes breaks down major awards into drama and comedy, you're more likely to see Steven Spielberg go home empty handed than a comedy win best picture. I know "Shakespeare in Love" and "As Good As it Gets" were well represented in their respective years, but these were "heartwarming comedies" with two of the strongest foundations in film: William Shakespeare and Jack Nicholson. Unfortunately, the Coen brothers' "O Brother Where Art Thou" was virtually ignored, even though it was one of the top films of the year. Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" certainly was a heartwarming comedy and was the brainchild of the creator of "Jerry Maguire." But it's the voice of the Baby Boomer generation, and the gray hairs of the academy don't exactly relate. The prejudice against comedies does not end with the films but extends to the actors as proved by back-to-back snubs of Jim Carrey for "The Truman Show" and "Man On the Moon." \n \n4. Will you be watching when Steve Martin says "good night"? \nMaybe not. The show has become frustratingly long, forcing its viewer to wade through tribute after tribute, some good and some not. Without Oscar stalwart Billy Crystal, the show will have a different feel, but with Martin at the helm, we're sure to be in for some good laughs. One of the ways the show could easily be shortened would be to eliminate the best song category, or at least the performances. The category was appropriate in the days when lavish musicals owned the screen as well as the stage, but now it's hard to find five good songs and even harder to sit through them. Taking out the song award and adding a category for best comedy would make the presentation more watchable and allow the viewers to be more excited for "And the Oscar goes to" than \n"Good night everybody"