A Personal History of Oscar Watching: 2004

Sofia Coppola wins the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay at the 2004 Academy Awards ceremony.

The 76th Academy Awards

Ceremony date: February 29, 2004

Best Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Best Director: Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Best Actor: Sean Penn for Mystic River

Best Actress: Charlize Theron for Monster

I remember the sweep. I also remember being pretty annoyed by it. It is ironic the biggest sweep in Academy history – thus, the most boring show – happened to be the year I decided to care. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is not for me. A lot of people love those films, and I am happy for them. I have given them a fair chance: two viewings of each. I can live without a third and, thus far, have skipped the Hobbit trilogy.

The Return of the King also happens to be the weakest film in the series, and it was only later I realized the Academy’s tendency to award achievements beyond the scope of the specific film being honored. It was not a banner year among the nominees anyway. A lot of people have love for Lost in Translation, a movie we will talk about in a minute, but I still think the best of the bunch is Mystic River. Clint Eastwood missing out this year probably helped push him over the top the following year with Million Dollar Baby, but I remain convinced this is the grander achievement.

Sofia Coppola’s romantic travelogue was a hipster favorite in a time before “hipsters” were even a thing. She was Francis’ daughter, who had made The Virgin Suicides in 1999, but Lost in Translation was her true introduction to the world – and the world’s introduction to Bill Murray, serious actor. If the Academy had known it was going to give Sean Penn an award five years down the line for Milk, it seems likely Murray would have won this. A girl at school had taped the ceremony and had not yet watched it by Monday afternoon, and I accidentally spoiled it for her by remarking on how upset Murray looked when he lost.

The movie had missed me at the time. My high school girlfriend later bought me the DVD as one of those spur-of-the-moment-type gifts, and I eventually got around to watching it. But long before that and long before the ceremony, I was obsessed with the soundtrack. I had read a 50-word review of it in one of those underground punk zines you used to be able to pick up when record stores were still a thing. I cannot remember precisely what the review said, but whatever it was, it made me have to own the soundtrack to a film I had never seen.

As soon as I scrounged up $15, I had the Lost in Translation Original Soundtrack. I was deeply into Nirvana at the time and had grown up on the ‘80s hard rock that my dad listened to, so these 15 tracks of shoegaze and indie pop rock were a bit outside my comfort zone. I loved it. I had never heard anything like it. The My Bloody Valentine ballad “Sometimes” immediately stood out, as did MBV front man Kevin Shields’ original “City Girl.”

It was on that disc that I first met Phoenix, a full six years before they went supernova. The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey” is an ideal album ender (never minding the long silence and hidden track that actually close out the compilation). Happy End’s “Kaze wo Atsumete” is also truly lovely. The album remains a go-to for my writing sessions, and it seems safe to say my affinity for shoegaze and the fuzzier side of rock ‘n’ roll came directly from this album.

So, that was my only real context for that Oscars night. When Sofia Coppola won Best Original Screenplay, I did not know the history she was making as a third-generation Oscar winner or as the third woman in history to be nominated for Best Director. All I knew was that one of the people associated with the movie with that awesome soundtrack had won an award, and that alone was enough to make me happy.

Quick notes: In modern times, with the expanded Best Picture lineup and greater appreciation for foreign films on the Academy’s part, Fernando Meirelles’ masterpiece City of God definitely sneaks into the Best Picture lineup. … Charlize Theron won Best Actress for Monster, which is pretty much the apotheosis of the “pretty actress goes ugly to win an Oscar” trope, but she is tremendous in the film, and it always seemed that “trend” was overblown. … Finding Nemo wins Pixar its first Oscar in just the third year for the Animated Feature category – just pointing it out.

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Next time: The 77th Academy Awards, featuring Chris Rock, Clint Eastwood, and some Aviator talk.