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Academy Award Winners 2003
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have announced the winners of the 76th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film in 2003.
In the Best Original Score category, Canadian composer Howard Shore won the Academy Award for his score for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the third film in Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy trilogy based on the novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. In his acceptance speech Shore said:
It’s incredible. Just breathe a bit. Many thanks to the Academy. I’d like to share this Oscar with all of the amazing musicians and great vocal artists who played on this piece. Special note to Annie Lennox, Renee Fleming, Sir James Galway, Ben del Maestro. I was incredibly inspired by Tolkien’s great work, Peter Jackson’s visionary filmmaking, the great writing of Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens. Elizabeth, my darling, I love you. Thank you for your love and support. Mae, for your wonderful encouragement. All the people who have helped us through this making of these films: Bob and Michael, Paul and Lori, Barrie Osborne, Rick Porras, Sam and Mike, Ronald, Jean-Jacques, I thank you, Robby Kearns, Mark Willsher and, of course, Stephen Einhorn. Thanks so much. Thank you, Academy.
The other nominees for Best Original Score were Danny Elfman for Big Fish, Gabriel Yared for Cold Mountain, Thomas Newman for Finding Nemo, and James Horner for House of Sand and Fog.
In the Best Original Song category, Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox won the Academy Award for “Into the West,” also from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The other nominees for Best Original Song were Sylvain Chomet and Benoît Charest for “Belleville Rendez-vous” from The Triplets of Belleville; Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole for “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” from A Mighty Wind; T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello for “The Scarlet Tide” from Cold Mountain; and Sting for “You Will Be My Ain True Love,” also from Cold Mountain.
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST – John Debney
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The furore surrounding Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ began almost before a shot was filmed, and continued unabated through principal photography, post-production, and the publicity process. In a nutshell, the crux of the matter was that several prominent Jewish groups accused the cast and crew, and especially Gibson, of intentionally inciting anti-Semitic feelings by portraying the Pharisees of the Jewish Temple in old Jerusalem as the ones who were ultimately responsible for causing the death of Christ (something made worse following some rather off the wall comments from Gibson’s father). As this is a soundtrack review, I’m not going to go into a great deal of detail as to why this film has become one of the most controversial in recent memory, but I do want to say this in regard to my own faith, and my view of the film: Read more…
THE WEEPING MEADOW – Eleni Karaindrou
Original Review by Peter Simons
Sometimes you would almost forget that films are not only produced in Hollywood. The Weeping Meadow, for example, is the latest film from Greek director Theo Angelopoulos. It is the first in an intended trilogy and tells a bitterly dramatic story of Eleni, a Greek immigrant from Russia, who is raising her two children alone while her husband is off to America in search of a better life for his family. This personal story unfolds against the backdrop of major 20th century events. Read more…

