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CNN Live Today

Hail to the King

Aired January 27, 2004 - 10:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: It was only two days ago the last installment of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Return of the King," ruled the Golden Globe Awards. Well, this morning, it again holds the throne, with the most Oscar nominations.
Daryn Kagan has got more on that out there in Los Angeles.

What's up, Daryn?

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.

Things moving very quickly here in Southern California. We've had Golden Globes just two days ago, and now Oscar nominations out this morning. We all have our list here, and we're trying to make sense of who is nominated for what and what the big picture means.

I have with me Tom O'Neill from in goldderby.com and "In Touch" magazine to talk about the big picture of the pictures.

Good morning.

TOM O'NEILL, GOLDDERBY.COM: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's get to the best picture category. Eleven nominations for "Lord of the Rings:" return of the King." "Master and Commander" right behind it with 10 nominations.

O'NEILL: And that was a surprise, because nobody thought it would have that much strength, "Master and Commander." But the big surprise with "Lord of the Rings'" 11 as we were talking just a few minutes ago, no acting nominations. That's a real gyp, because two years ago, when it scored 13 nominations, for "Fellowship of the Ring," Ian McKellan was nominated.

KAGAN: I had a chance to interview, I think you saw, Peter Jackson, the director, nominated for best director at the top of hour. He is all excited and geeked out about all these technical awards, but how you can have best director and best picture and no acting.

O'NEILL: It's terrible. Other movies have won best picture without it. For example, "The Lost Emperor," etc. -- "The Last Emperor." It does happen.

KAGAN: Tell me the little tidbit you said, when a movie has the most nominations, it's almost a slam dunk for best picture, except...

O'NEILL: In the past 20 years, the movie with the most nominations has won best picture 18 times. Unfortunately, one of the two times it didn't was two years ago for "Lord of the Rings."

KAGAN: So it's the exception to its own role.

O'NEILL: Assuming it wins, of course, and it will, it's got that momentum and that buzz, it would be the exception to its own rule.

KAGAN: Let's talk about best actor. Noteworthy for who's in and who's out in this category.

O'NEILL: Yes.

KAGAN: "Master and Commander," 10 nominations. Russell Crowe is not nominated in this category.

O'NEILL: It's a shock it did not take its best actor with it. But in this case, Russell Crowe did his job so well, that he played a role without all that bombast, this "Commander" role, that it wasn't showy enough for the acting branch.

KAGAN: Looking down this list here, Johnny Depp, unusual to have a comedy nomination. Sean Penn would you say the front-runner, would you say, just days from winning his Golden Globe Award?

O'NEILL: Absolutely. And this is his fourth nomination, so it's time he wins.

KAGAN: And he's never won, one of the finest actors of our generation.

Let's get the women up there. The best actress. Now you were just jumping up and down when you saw not some of the biggest names in Hollywood for best actress, but the youngest woman ever, Keisha Castle-Hughes. She's only 13 years old. Academy Trivia telling us she is the youngest nominee ever in this category.

O'NEILL: Right. And the kids almost always get stuck in the supporting categories, even when they're lead. That's what happened to Tatum O'Neal in "Paper Moon." But watch out for Keisha, because this is going to create such media buzz. The role is of a young woman who's trying to prove to her grandpa in New Zealand that she can become the chief of the tribe. It's a feminist role, it's a girl power role, and because she is so charming and endearing, it's such a wonderful arthouse hit movie, that given the context of the nomination, if I were Diane Keaton and if I were Charlize Theron, I would be very worried about this little girl, up against the big girls.

KAGAN: We'll be watching it. Tom O'Neill, goldderby.com, "In Touch." Thank you so much for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 27, 2004 - 10:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: It was only two days ago the last installment of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Return of the King," ruled the Golden Globe Awards. Well, this morning, it again holds the throne, with the most Oscar nominations.
Daryn Kagan has got more on that out there in Los Angeles.

What's up, Daryn?

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.

Things moving very quickly here in Southern California. We've had Golden Globes just two days ago, and now Oscar nominations out this morning. We all have our list here, and we're trying to make sense of who is nominated for what and what the big picture means.

I have with me Tom O'Neill from in goldderby.com and "In Touch" magazine to talk about the big picture of the pictures.

Good morning.

TOM O'NEILL, GOLDDERBY.COM: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's get to the best picture category. Eleven nominations for "Lord of the Rings:" return of the King." "Master and Commander" right behind it with 10 nominations.

O'NEILL: And that was a surprise, because nobody thought it would have that much strength, "Master and Commander." But the big surprise with "Lord of the Rings'" 11 as we were talking just a few minutes ago, no acting nominations. That's a real gyp, because two years ago, when it scored 13 nominations, for "Fellowship of the Ring," Ian McKellan was nominated.

KAGAN: I had a chance to interview, I think you saw, Peter Jackson, the director, nominated for best director at the top of hour. He is all excited and geeked out about all these technical awards, but how you can have best director and best picture and no acting.

O'NEILL: It's terrible. Other movies have won best picture without it. For example, "The Lost Emperor," etc. -- "The Last Emperor." It does happen.

KAGAN: Tell me the little tidbit you said, when a movie has the most nominations, it's almost a slam dunk for best picture, except...

O'NEILL: In the past 20 years, the movie with the most nominations has won best picture 18 times. Unfortunately, one of the two times it didn't was two years ago for "Lord of the Rings."

KAGAN: So it's the exception to its own role.

O'NEILL: Assuming it wins, of course, and it will, it's got that momentum and that buzz, it would be the exception to its own rule.

KAGAN: Let's talk about best actor. Noteworthy for who's in and who's out in this category.

O'NEILL: Yes.

KAGAN: "Master and Commander," 10 nominations. Russell Crowe is not nominated in this category.

O'NEILL: It's a shock it did not take its best actor with it. But in this case, Russell Crowe did his job so well, that he played a role without all that bombast, this "Commander" role, that it wasn't showy enough for the acting branch.

KAGAN: Looking down this list here, Johnny Depp, unusual to have a comedy nomination. Sean Penn would you say the front-runner, would you say, just days from winning his Golden Globe Award?

O'NEILL: Absolutely. And this is his fourth nomination, so it's time he wins.

KAGAN: And he's never won, one of the finest actors of our generation.

Let's get the women up there. The best actress. Now you were just jumping up and down when you saw not some of the biggest names in Hollywood for best actress, but the youngest woman ever, Keisha Castle-Hughes. She's only 13 years old. Academy Trivia telling us she is the youngest nominee ever in this category.

O'NEILL: Right. And the kids almost always get stuck in the supporting categories, even when they're lead. That's what happened to Tatum O'Neal in "Paper Moon." But watch out for Keisha, because this is going to create such media buzz. The role is of a young woman who's trying to prove to her grandpa in New Zealand that she can become the chief of the tribe. It's a feminist role, it's a girl power role, and because she is so charming and endearing, it's such a wonderful arthouse hit movie, that given the context of the nomination, if I were Diane Keaton and if I were Charlize Theron, I would be very worried about this little girl, up against the big girls.

KAGAN: We'll be watching it. Tom O'Neill, goldderby.com, "In Touch." Thank you so much for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com