Oscar '04 with a Few Surprises ...

There's a "Lord" and a "Master" up for Best Picture this year. But don't look for any cast members of "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" or "Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World" in any acting categories.

There is still an anti-box office bias running rampant in the Academy, and the acting honors will go to films that most people will never see. It's a shame. Ironically, the more of us that see the films, the less chance the movie has of getting any kind of Oscar recognition. After all, what to we peons know about what makes a good movie? That's why I think that "The Lord of the Rings," tops in nominees with twelve, is the most deserving of top honors, I feel it's still a dark horse. The Academy will likely choose "Mystic River." "Seabiscuit" is there because the infinitely superior "Finding Nemo" is mired in the Animated category, to prevent another potential embarrassment like in 1991 (horrors) when "Beauty and the Beast" was up for top honors (Belle and company lost to Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven"). Last year, "Ice Age" squared off against "Pokemon 3." That was a slugfest.

Probably the most pleasant surprise is the deserved nomination for the scenery-chewing performance of Johnny Depp as the mascara-visaged Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," the kind of "popcorn" movie that is usually grossly overlooked by Oscar voters. He's likely to lose to Sean Penn for the aforementioned "Mystic River."

Don't misunderstand me. Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Penn and Bill Murray are all fine actors. But how many of you actually saw "House of Sand and Fog," "Cold Mountain," "Lost in Translation" or "Mystic River"? Sure, you COULD have seen "Mountain," but all of the rest of the films remained in limited release, invisible to the general public.

Charlize Theron, I hear, was brilliant in "Monster." Didn't see it. Couldn't see it. Nor could I catch Keisha Castle-Hughes in "Whale Rider," Samantha Morton in "In America" or Naomi Watts in "21 Grams." Only Diane Keaton secured a Best Actress nod for a mainstream film, "Something's Gotta Give."

Supporting Actor performances also come from "Grams," "House," "River," "The Cooler," "Thirteen," and "Pieces of April." Only "Cold Mountain" and "The Last Samurai" enjoyed wide release.

This is why I have a hard time enjoying the Oscar ceremony on television. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences seems to go out of its way to keep us out of the fun. But if you're interested, the statues get handed out on Sunday, February 29th.