03/01/2004: 
Stuff That Doesn't Suck
'Lord of the Rings' Sweeps Oscars
By David Germain, Associated Press
They slew beasts, toppled tyrants and destroyed a ring of ultimate evil, becoming lords of the Academy Awards for their troubles. In an all-around predictable evening at the Oscars, the ragtag heroes of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" hoisted the fantasy genre to a new artistic high Sunday, earning a record-tying 11 awards, taking best picture and sweeping each of its categories.
Peter Jackson, who shepherded J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth saga to the screen, won the best director Oscar and shared the adapted-screenplay award with his two co-writers.
Oscar voters saved the best for last on "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, showering the final installment with prizes after parts 1 and 2 won only technical or music awards. The sense from the time "The Fellowship of the Ring" hit theaters in 2001, followed by "The Two Towers" a year later, was that academy members would withhold their big accolades for the concluding chapter.
"Return of the King" also won for song, musical score, visual effects, editing, makeup, art direction, costume design and sound mixing.
Composer Howard Shore took his second Oscar for writing "Lord of the Rings" music, having won two years ago on "Fellowship of the Ring."
"Into the West," the wistful tune of farewell from "Return of the King," won the best-song Oscar. The song was written by Fran Walsh, the film's co-screenwriter, Shore and Annie Lennox, who sings the tune.
Only a handful of fantasy films have been nominated for the top Oscar - "Fellowship of the Ring" and "Two Towers" among them - but none had won until now.
Jackson's trilogy has proven to be box office gold, with global ticket sales of $2.8 billion for the three films. "Return of the King" has topped $1 billion alone, the No. 2 box-office draw behind "Titanic" at $1.8 billion.
Jackson labored for seven years to adapt Tolkien's trilogy - first convincing Hollywood bankers to stake him to the tune of $300 million, then marshaling a cast and crew of 2,000 to shoot the three films and land them in theaters just a year apart.
The result was a 9 1/2-hour saga that seamlessly blended live action and computer animation. Real actors credibly shared the screen with flying beasts, hulking trolls, and walking, talking "tree shepherds."
It is good to see Jackson et al. get the recognition they deserve for this masterpiece. For a complete listing of the winners at the Oscars (better known as "The Gay Super Bowl") check out Box Office Mojo
3 Annotations Submitted
Monday the 1st of March, prof noted:
they give out awards for this stuff? that's like bill gates buying himself computers for being so smart. hollywood (no offense crazywriter) can go f itself.
Monday the 1st of March, Abe Froman noted:
So does this qualify as an independent film? That's a serious question.
Financed by bankers, shot in New Zealand, it clearly isn't your typical Hollywood venture, right?
Monday the 1st of March, prof noted:
i dont think the label "independent" should be given to any movie with a budget of more than $100,000. Just because you make it outside of the studio system, doesnt mean you distribute outside the studio system or hire actors who are basically studio factory line workers. Star Wars is considered independent, but Fox distributes all of the stuff. How can anyone say that Miramax is independent. crazywriter, enlighten me.
