Return of the King Rules at the Academy Awards With 11 Wins
For the first time since The Last Emperor, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won every Oscar it was nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Director for Peter Jackson, Best Adapted Screenplay, and a ton of others for a grand total of 11 Oscars, putting it in company with Titanic and Ben-Hur for the most Oscars ever. As expected, Sean Penn took home Best Actor for Mystic River, while Charlize Theron nabbed Best Actress for Monster. Also, predicted winners Tim Robbins (Mystic River) and Renée Zellweger (Cold Mountain) walked away with the Supporting trophies, completing what might be the most predictable Oscars in quite some time. The only movie to win more than one Academy Award besides Mystic River was Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which took home two technical awards, for Cinematography and Sound Effects Editing; all other winning movies walked away with one Oscar apiece. Just in case you want to double-check on ROTK's wins, see all of this year's Academy Award winners. And you know you want to look, so take a gander at all the photos from the Big Night.


Who Wore What? It's Oscar Fashions Galore!
Jamie Lee Curtis dazzled in blue, though she wasn't nominated for anything. Uma Thurman went for a girlish German-style thing, while Charlize Theron settled for a slinky, sparkly look. Catherine Zeta-Jones made us go "Hubba-hubba!" and Diane Keaton seemed to think she was still up for an Oscar for Annie Hall. (Don't get us wrong, she looked fab!) Renee Zellweger and Diane Lane went for classic white, and Liv Tyler showed off basic black (with glasses to boot!). And don't get us started on what Nicole Kidman wore! For some it's all about the awards – for others, it's about the dresses. Check out all the Oscar fashions in our Photo Section.


It's Perfectly Clear: Lost in Translation Dominates Independent Spirit Awards
It was a Lost in Translation lovefest at the Independent Spirit Awards, as the Sofia Coppola film, which has picked up almost every critics' award imaginable, took home all four awards for which it was nominated: Feature Film, Director, Screenplay and Male Lead for Bill Murray (who gave a riotous acceptance speech). In a bit of an unusual twist, all the acting winners were also Oscar nominees: Female Lead Charlize Theron (Monster, which also won Best First Feature), Supporting Male Djimon Hounsou (In America, also the Cinematography winner) and Supporting Female Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog). Sundance fave The Station Agent also walked away with two honors, including Best First Screenplay. Peruse all the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards winners.

Best and Worst of 2003: The Results Are In!
We asked for the best and worst, and you gave it to us. Check out the results of the Best of 2003 poll (dominated by a certain epic film) as well as the Worst of 2003, in which two lovebirds, now sadly no longer together, made their presence known in a big way. And see how our users' picks fared against the Academy's in our 2003 Oscar Poll.


Photos From the Red Carpet, the Press Room and Everywhere In Between
There's no denying it -- Charlize Theron is this year's golden girl, dazzling everyone at both the Screen Actors Guild awards and the Golden Globes. (Fellow SAG nominees Evan Rachel Wood and Patricia Clarkson didn't look too shabby either.) Diane Keaton wowed 'em at the Globes in all-white (gloves included!), while Nicole Kidman went for a spangly kind of flapper look. At the Directors Guild of America awards, Sofia Coppola mingled with another famous daughter, Anjelica Huston, while winner Peter Jackson brought along a couple Return of the King stars. And at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon, a very pregnant Marcia Gay Harden posed obligingly along with sleek and chic Naomi Watts, among others. No awards season is without its glamour quotient – wallow in it all with our superlative Photo Section.

Translation, Mystic Critical Favorites
It's not Greek (or Japanese) to us -- Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation looks to be the critics' favorite film of the year, sweeping up a number of awards for its young director as well as stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Clint Eastwood's Mystic River didn't do too badly either, nabbing the National Board of Review's Best Picture honor (among others), while a little film called The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King wowed the usually indie-friendly New York film critics. Take a look at the top winners in our Critics' Choice section.

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Oscar Trivia! Besides Sofia Coppola, she's the only other third-generation family member to pick up an Oscar. (answer)

Oscar Quotes

             JIMMY
 

We bury our sins here, we wash them clean.

From what movie?

More Quotes