Every year around this time, you hear the same complaints and catty remarks, ranging from such comments as "He (or she) didn't deserve to win" to "Did you see what she (or he) was wearing?"
There's usually a certain amount of grousing about the film that is fortunate enough — or in some cases, unfortunate enough — to win the Academy Award for best picture. So maybe it's not surprising that it seems to be in vogue to "bash" this year's winner, the sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator."
Leading the charge among the critical contingency is icon Roger Ebert, who promised some sort of conniption fit if the film won the Best Visual Effects award (we're waiting, Roger, we're waiting).
Frankly, "Gladiator" wouldn't have been my choice for the year's best film either (it was on my Top 10 list for 2000, but not in the top tier).
But of the films that were nominated for the Oscar, "Gladiator" may have been the safest bet.
Let's size up the competition:
"Chocolat"
Even the studio that released it, Miramax Films, couldn't muster all that much enthusiasm for this trifle (though, obviously, that didn't stop the studio from spending millions on a useless Oscar campaign). So why would we expect Academy voters to be any different?
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
This might have been the one film with a genuine shot to knock off "Gladiator," but it has subtitles, and there's a certain predisposition against films that you have to "read." Besides, given the fact that the Oscars are voted on by industry insiders, the chances of a foreign film taking home the big prize is about as good as the possibility of any of this year's Best Actress nominees knocking off Julia Roberts.
"Erin Brockovich"
A film that almost everyone seemed to like but no one seemed to really love. And without Roberts as the star, it could have been a made-for-TV Lifetime cable movie. (I'm not really passing judgment here — just look at the material a little more closely.)
"Traffic"
Probably the year's most overrated film, considering its all-too-obvious flaws. For one thing, there are serious third-act problems — including a more-than-just-superficial resemblance to the George C. Scott vehicle "Hardcore." Then there's that ludicrous Hollywood ending.
Keeping all that in mind, "Gladiator" suddenly seems like an easy choice.
Besides, if you're going to attack epics that didn't "deserve" the Oscar, try revisiting "Braveheart" or "Dances With Wolves," and then tell me that they were more Oscar-worthy.
FOR THOSE KEEPING SCORE AT HOME
It turns out that the "playing it safe" strategy works.
Though I could have sworn I did worse, it turns out that I was correct on two-thirds of the picks I made in last week's Oscar predictions story (going eight-for-12), which isn't too shabby, considering some of the upsets.
Sure, four of those predictions were in the major categories — Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, all of which were givens. But pretty much everyone guessed incorrectly in the Best Supporting Actress category, which went to "Pollock" co-star Marcia Gay Harden instead of Kate Hudson, as most were predicting. (One of my co-workers suggested I receive partial credit for saying that Harden deserved the Oscar, though I predicted Hudson to win.)
As for the other misses, few, if anyone, picked "Traffic's" Steven Soderbergh in the best-director category. (As a side note, I still think Soderbergh winning a directing award for his sprawlingly inconsistent war-on-drugs thriller is ridiculous — sort of like Stephen Gaghan's sketchy script for that movie, which also won.)
And if Sunday evening's melody-challenged performance by Bob Dylan of "Things Have Changed" could have had any bearing on the best original song race, he wouldn't have won his Oscar either. (As an amateur handicapper, I still think it's a safe bet that a Disney animated musical will win that award in any given year.)
Next year, it's 80 percent or nothing!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I've always followed the same methodology, from my first film . . . up to the one I'm shooting right now. So I don't think I could alter my way of working and thinking, even if I tried. I'm just going to keep, you know, plodding along and try to stay busy." — Oscar-winning "Traffic" director Steven Soderbergh, when asked how the award might change his working habits.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com