The 2003 Film Awards Season Is Upon Us ...
© Jason O'Brien
First up though, we have some other non-Academy news to deal with. Let's first switch over to the Golden Globes ... the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced this past week that they have chosen Michael Douglas to receive their next Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. Douglas follows in his father's footsteps, as Kirk Douglas received the same honor in 1968. He becomes the first second generation actor to receive the DeMille Award. Even though some might say some others have been overdue for such an honor, I think it's a good choice ... Michael Douglas has been around in Hollywood for over 25 years, as a prolific actor and producer, so it should be another memorable trip down cinema history's lane when they give this honor to him.
In other news, we jump over to the American Film Institute. Last week, the AFI announced what their next 100 Movies special will be. I've speculated that the AFI is long overdue for a list of top 100 film directors, but this one should be fun. The next AFI 100 special will be a selection of the 100 best songs in U.S. cinema history. Unlike the Academy Awards for Best Song, these do not have to be songs originally written for the films, but can be other songs used to memorable effect in a film, like "It Had To Be You", which we've now forever associated with the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally.... The three hour special revealing the top 100, entitled "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies", will air on CBS as usual in June.
As usual, the AFI has released a ballot of 400 nominees to consider, and the ballots will go out to about 1500 actors, directors, writers, critics, film historians, and others (including AFI members, which I'm excited about, as an AFI member myself). Voters can submit up to five write-in choices, and organizers expect a large number of write-in votes for this list.
