BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS KATHY BATES, ABOUT SCHMIDT No, the nude hot-tub scene wasn't the clincher. ''She whisked into the movie and resuscitated it,'' he says. ''You had to behold the incredible power of Kathy Bates as an actress.'' While he felt Meryl Streep was predictably excellent, he also flirted with selecting Catherine Zeta-Jones. It wasn't T-Mobile ads or Hello! lawsuits that did her in. ''She was the biggest revelation in that movie. She encapsulated that feeling of the great old musical stars and even the great dames of Hollywood -- but she has not quite arrived as an actress to win an Academy Award.''
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN This selection was as tough as Best Actor, with everyone under serious consideration except for John C. Reilly. (''He's been magnificent in movies, but this isn't one of those.'') For the others, the superlatives fly: Ed Harris was ''daring,'' Paul Newman ''fantastic,'' Chris Cooper ''amazing,'' and Walken ''breathlessly great.'' The deciding factor was Walken's effect on the movie. ''If you get really analytical, he held the key to the whole movie so clearly and obviously.''
BEST DIRECTOR PEDRO ALMODOVAR, TALK TO HER ''Talk to Her blew me away with its writing, acting, freshness, and humanity. Pedro is just getting stronger and stronger as a filmmaker,'' says the director, who almost went for Stephen Daldry but decided he had honored his work by voting for The Hours. For starters, he can't understand why Best Picture and Best Director are separate awards. One thing's for sure: Voting for Martin Scorsese wasn't an option. ''He will get every lifetime achievement award imaginable. Giving him an Oscar for one of his lesser movies just isn't right. Once you enter those murky waters, how do you get out?''
THE PRODUCER
An Academy member for 14 years, our producer thought this was a year with better performances than pictures. ''I always consider a Best Picture something I would take to a desert island or one that I would watch repeatedly,'' he says. ''Although I enjoyed all the nominees, I have very little interest in seeing any of them again.''
BEST PICTURE THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS ''It's like voting for politicians,'' he says. ''You pick from what's available.'' First off the list was Gangs of New York: ''Didn't care for it.'' He was pleasantly surprised by Chicago and found The Pianist moving emotionally, but didn't think either had the size and scope he demands of a Best Picture. The Hours scored points for its pedigree. ''I have ultimate respect for (Hours producer) Scott Rudin for taking a book that was not cinematic and figuring out how to make it into a movie,'' he says. But Rings gets the nod, not because the second one was better than the first but because it towers above the competition. ''It's mind-boggling what it takes to make that picture,'' he says. ''You can't discount, dismiss, or ignore the fact that they shot the three simultaneously.''
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