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My Ten Best Films of 2000 Part 1 (and more precursors!)

© Nicholas Moreau

Let it be heard here first ... as unfortunate as it may be to admit it, Gladiator is going to be crowned with the Academy's Best Picture award on March 25. Perhaps my boldest prediction yet in such an unpredictable year, but the latest precursor awards, as well as some of my own thoughts about the race, have brought me to this conclusion.

It reminds me of 1995, when Braveheart was the epic period drama which was a nice, conventional, "safe" choice for the Academy to make, even though so many other films that year deserved the prize more. I have a feeling after the bold choices they made last year with honors going to films like American Beauty and Boys Don't Cry, that this year, they will be going the safer choice with the epic period drama Gladiator, which hearkens back to films like Ben-Hur, which the Academy loves with a vengeance. Traffic, I fear, will once again suffer the fate of so many groundbreaking, landmark films in the past ... not properly honored in the years they were released, but the ones most remembered years from now.

Just an example ... what film do people remember more and revisit more nowadays? Citizen Kane, which didn't win, or How Green Was My Valley, which did win? Oliver!, which did win, or 2001: A Space Odyssey, which wasn't even up for Best Picture? Around the World in 80 Days, which did win, or The Ten Commandments, which lost to it? Unfortunately, the Academy has a history of honoring films sometimes which are safer choices in those years, but are not really representative of the year's truly best film achievement, and I have this feeling deep down that that's what we'll be seeing this year. Don't get me wrong ... Gladiator is a great film (it placed just outside my Ten Best list), but there are many films more deserving of the title Best Picture of the year.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself ... there is some major precursor news to discuss this week. Sunday night, the 58th Annual Golden Globe awards were presented. Gladiator got some tremendous momentum by winning the Best Motion Picture Drama award that night. Some other front runners I believe have emerged after Sunday's awards, and here's a recap of the choices.

58TH ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

Motion Picture Drama: Gladiator
Motion Picture Comedy/Musical: Almost Famous
Drama Actor: Tom Hanks in Cast Away

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