Mail & Guardian reporters
Hollywood loves a spectacle – and a spectacular blockbuster goes straight to its heart. That’s why Titanic, the most expensive movie ever made and also a huge hit, has matched the record for the most Oscar nominations (14). That’s a tie with 1950’s All About Eve, though Titanic is beginning to look more like a Nineties Ben- Hur – that 1959 film still holds the record for most Oscar wins (11).
Notably, though, Titanic lead actor Leonardo diCaprio didn’t get a nomination, and his co-star Kate Winslet, who did, is considered an outsider for the best actress Oscar. A slightly more likely winner is 87-year-old Gloria Stuart, up for a best supporting actress award for Titanic.
In fact, British actresses lead the field in the best-actress category, with nominations for Winslet, Helena Bonham Carter (The Wings of the Dove), Dame Judi Dench (Mrs Brown) and Julie Christie (Afterglow). The only American actress on the list is Helen Hunt, for As Good As It Gets.
In the best actor category, Jack Nicholson seems to be the favourite for his performance in As Good As It Gets, followed by Robert Duvall in The Apostle. Peter Fonda (Ulee’s Gold) and Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) are seen as outsiders.
Up for best picture are Titanic, black comedy As Good As It Gets, British independent hit The Full Monty, Gus van Sant’s off-beat Good Will Hunting, and the neo-noir thriller LA Confidential.
As for the best director Academy Award, Quentin Tarantino failed to repeat his Pulp Fiction success: his new film, Jackie Brown, received just one nomination (best supporting actor) – though Tarantino’s resurrection of John Travolta’s stalled career was repeated for Burt Reynolds, who received a best supporting actor nomination for his role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights.
The best director nominations are Peter Cattaneo for The Full Monty; Gus van Sant for Good Will Hunting; Curtis Hanson for LA Confidential; Atom Egoyan for The Sweet Hereafter; and James Cameron for Titanic.
Steven Spielberg’s latest film, the slavery story Amistad, received only three nominations in minor categories, although Anthony Hopkins was nominated for best supporting actor for his portrayal of United States ex-president John Quincy Adams.
Julie Christie (56), nominated for the role of a faded actress in a troubled marriage in Afterglow, was last nominated 26 years ago for Robert Altman’s film McCabe and Mrs Miller. She won an Oscar for Darling in 1965.
Judi Dench has already won a a Golden Globe Award for best actress for Mrs Brown. She said: “I’m completely shell-shocked and delighted.” The veteran actress, who rarely appears in films, said she hoped to take a night off from the London play in which she is now appearing to attend the Oscar ceremony on March 23.