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PORT PERRY "WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, FEBRUARY2s, 2000 - 9 Was Canada snubbed by the Academy? No. SCREENING ROOM By John Foote Moments after the announcement last week of the Academy Award nominations for film excellence in 1999, complaints from Canadian journalists, newscasters, and radio personalities flooded media outlets. : Their beef was that Canadian Oscar hopefuls Jim Carrey, Norman Jewison, and Christopher Plummer had been ousted by a prejudice against Canadians, a fact they felt was cemented with the odd inclusion in the original song category of "Blame Canada," from the South Park film. With the Canadian film industry grow- ing rapidly, and Americans shooting their films in Canada, many journalists felt that the Academy had chosen to make a state- ment by ignoring Canadian artists work- ing within American films. Rubbish. To begin with, | doubt the members of the Academy are aware that Carrey, Jewison, and Plummer are Canadian born. Let's be honest, shall we? ...1999 was a very strong year for films, a year when fine performances overflowed each of the acting categories, a year when new, inventive film makers were making their mark on the film world, and a year of rad- ical films. A few major films and fine per- formances were bound to be left out, as they are each and every year. This year, three of the non-nominees happened to be Canadians. Jim Carrey's omission was shocking because | believe he deserved the nomi- nation for his fine performance in Man in the Moon (1999). However, understand that the actors' branch of the Academy handles the nominating of the acting cat- egories, meaning card-carrying Academy members are also card-carrying screen actors. Actors nominated actors. I have a hunch that Sean Penn, nomi- nated for his under-appreciated perfor- mance in Sweet and Lowdown (1999), has more respect within the industry than Jim Carrey. There is also the misconception in some circles that Carrey's performance is more impersonation than actual perfor- mance. The bottom line is that Carrey was in the toughest of categories, and ended up the odd man out. What | found a tad unsettling was the complete shut out of nominations for Man in the Moon. Comments were made about Carrey hav- ing enemies in Hollywood (he does), about his arrogance, about his butt jokes not sitting well with the Academy, all rea- sons some felt could have led to the snub. Let's remember he was also ignored last year for The Truman Show (1997), and went on the awards show to give a marvelous, show-stopping bit on how the snub hurt him deeply. Carrey was a victim of numbers, plain and simple. Other actors, Dustin Hoffman and George C. Scott for example, have publicly crucified the Oscars, yet both are winners, and lo and behold, there was Dustin, who once called the Oscars a meat market, announcing the nominees this year. Christopher Plummer"s performance as 60 Minutes journalist Mike Wallace earned him supporting actor awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics, both harbingers of Oscar choices. His omission was the most staggering of the year because his performance is Oscar worthy. Again, we have a great actor in the finest role of his career (the Sound of Music be dammed!) richly deserving of a nomination, yet in a category chock full of talent and potential nominees. This was not a snub, simply another unfortunate actor who became a victim of numbers. Director Norman Jewison was highly touted as a best director candidate for The Hurricane, which early in the Oscar campaign was among the films many thought could win best picture. Jewison did not earn a nomination from the Directors Guild of America, the same branch (directors nominate directors) nominating for the Oscars, thus I hardly think Jewison being left out could be a surprise. Realistically, the force of The Hurricane is the central performance of Denzel Washington, which earned the film's only nomination, and there have been concerns about the inaccuracies within the story. While | admired the film, placed it among my 10 best, there were problems with the other actors, who sim- ply were not at Washington's astonishing level. Jewison is a respected film maker, a member of Old Establishment, and a recipient last year of the Irving J. Thalberg Award for lifetime achievement. This year, he helmed a flawed film at a time when young, inventive directors were striving to make their mark ... and did. Again, not a snub, just not in the same league as the other nominees. The real snub among the directors was of Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed and wrote the stunning drama Magnolia, which earned just three nominations. Against Canada? Come on! Just two years ago Canadians James Cameron and Atom Egoyan were running against one another for best director, an honour won by Cameron but deserved by Egoyan: Atom Egoyan put it best when he said of the slights, "We have been spoiled." Egoyan himself could have easily been a nominee this year for his eerily Hitchcockian film Felicia's Journey (1999), which deserved attention for the director and his lead actor, Bob Hoskins. Egoyan seems to recognize that 1999 was a fiercely competitive year, and his film was one of the causalities. What a shame the journalists who started this whole mess fail to under- stand the inner workings of the film industry before they write about it. If they wish to discuss snubs, let's start with the glaring absence of Stanley Kubrick for his final film Eyes Wide Shut, and Kimberly Pierce for her soul search- ing work Boys Don't Cry. The organizers of the Snowarama Easter Seal Fundraiser Auction Dinner held January 31, 2000 at the Port Perry Legion Hall would like to express thanks to the following for helping make the evening a big success. Flieler's North End Service Ctr. Branch 419 Royal Canadian Legion Ladies Auxiliary Branch 419 Royal Canadian Legion Port Perry Rotary Club CORSA Central Ontario Regional Snowmobile Association District #3 Snowmobile Association - Dave Phasey Gary Hill Auctions Great Blue Heron Chanty Casino Signworks Port Perry Scugog Chamber of Commerce Port Perry Star Port Perry This Week Uxbridge Tribune Compton Communications CHEX TV Oshawa KX96 Ajax Mosport International Raceway NHL Oldumers John Cavers. Doug McLatchy. Bobbie Bond Retirees of Local 1090 Ajax Friends of Chrysler Tnm Plant Ajax Port Perry Canadian Tire Reids Independent Port Perry IGA Leshe A Parkes Arust Framer's Gallery R&)J Framets E x Lake Scugog Lumber Cashway Building Centre Jim & Chris Grieve Everlasting Memones Laurentian Bank Original Haugens B.B QQ. Goreski's Lakeside Spruce Hill Farms H&W Davis David's Hairstyling Rick's Hairstyling Dr. Darryl Workman Thomas Cook Travel Bruce Kellett Auctions Scugog Realtors Durham Region Port Perry Pharmacy Northwood Exotic Animal Ranch Hair Expressions Dynamic Car Wash Port Perry Optical Ocala Orchards Royal Bank Philp Pontiac Buick Taylor Ford Frank & Kathy Melton Mrs. M. Argue Gordon Hooker Wilhamsons Uxbndge Ross Steele Anita & David Booth Ralph & Marion Lee Settlement House Native Focus Children's Den Stedmans P.O.E. Designs Lukes Shoppers Drug Mart Lishman's Ives Florist Lakeview Business Centre Ballard & Carnegie Lid. Henshall's Clothing A. Oppers Lud. Brenda Casteels (Re/Max) Paulmac Pet Store Brooks Feed Store Utica Farm Equipment Snowarama Auction Chairperson 2000 Marion Lee Scugog Fix it Inc. Kotya Peekin Klassy Keepers Brock's Plum Loco Car Quest Linda & Phil Hodgson - Inside Camp X White Water Marine Heather Haliburton Smith Shady Lane Ceramics Bakers Automotive Ontario Snowmobiles Magazine Off Shore Polaris Paisley Acres Chiff Shore Polans Off Roads Cycle ATV Warren Thaxter Asselstine Country Uxbridge Towne Fireplace & Patio Brooklin Cycle & Manne AB's Motorcycle Shop Lock and Roll Uxbridge McDonalds Kings Snowmobile & Auto Yamaha Motor Sports. 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