O.F.C.S.: The Online Film Critics Society

The Online Film Critics Society Announce 2003 Nominees

Lord of the Rings & Kill Bill Lead The Way

The Online Film Critics Society has announced the nominees for their 2003 awards. Leading the way with 11 nominations is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Peter Jackson's epic treatment of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy received nods including Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay. Both Sean Astin and Andy Serkis received recognition for Best Supporting Actor.

Closely following with 10 noms is the first chapter of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Along with a nomination for Best Picture, Uma Thurman pulled in a nod for Best Actress and Tarantino received kudos for Director and Original Screenplay.

Other Best Picture nominees include Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, Clint Eastwood's Mystic River and the Brazilian crime saga, City of God. Coppola and Eastwood were also nominated for Best Director with 21 Grams' helmer Alejandro González Ińárritu.

Along with high-profile names like Thurman, Charlize Theron and Naomi Watts, 19-year old Scarlett Johansson received a nod for Best Actress for her work alongside fellow nominee Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Murray joins Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Paul Giamatti (American Splendor), Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog) and Sean Penn (Mystic River) on the list for Best Actor.

But the youngest nod in the lead acting categories went to 18-year old Angela Bettis as the isolated and troubled young woman in the little-seen horror film, May. Limited release Bubba Ho-Tep also recognized director Don Coscarelli for his adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale's story, which stars Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis as an aging Elvis Presley and JFK doing battle with an ancient mummy in a Texas rest home.

13-year old Keisha Castle-Hughes of Whale Rider is among the nominees for Breakthrough Performance along with Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things), hot newcomer Keira Knightley (Bend It Like Beckham) and Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later)

Filmmakers to keep an eye on in their own Breakthrough category include Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini (American Splendor), Niki Caro (Whale Rider), Fernando Meirelles (City of God), Billy Ray (Shattered Glass) and Peter Sollett (Raising Victor Vargas).

The Online Film Critics Society has been the key force in establishing and raising the standards for Internet-based film journalism. The Society's web site, which has been hosted since January 2001 by the highly influential film resource Rotten Tomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com), provides the most comprehensive online listing of reviews and original interviews with the leading artists in today's cinema, plus links to the most important motion picture-related web sites. The OFCS membership spans the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Australia/New Zealand, with journalists representing many of the most important online film resources including Salon, Slate, TV Guide Online, IndieWire, Netflix, Film Threat, eFilmCritic.com and the Internet Movie Database.

The OFCS Governing Committee consists of Erik Childress (eFilmCritic.com), Phil Hall (Film Threat) and Scott Weinberg (eFilmCritic.com)

The winners of the 2003 OFCS Awards will be announced on Monday, Jan. 5. The full list of nominees is as follows. The winners were announced on January 5, 2004 and are in bold.

Nomination Categories

Picture
Director
Actor
Actress
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actress
Original Screenplay
Adapted Screenplay
Cinematography
Original Score
Documentary
Foreign Language Film
Breakthrough Filmmaker
Breakthrough Performance
Animated Feature
Visual Effects
Art Direction
Costume Design
Sound

Picture

City of God (Producers: Mauricio Andrade Ramos & Andrea Barata Ribeiro)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Producer: Lawrence Bender)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Producers: Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne & Fran Walsh)
Lost in Translation (Producers: Sofia Coppola & Ross Katz)
Mystic River (Producers: Clint Eastwood, Judie Hoyt & Robert Lorenz)