Best Movie |
 L. A. Confidential – This complex, film was based on the novel by James Ellroy. It takes a look at the Los Angeles police department in the 1950’s. Corruption and glitz with a Hollywood backdrop provide the framework for an intense study of two young men. Officers Bud White and Ed Exley couldn’t be more different on the surface, but events link them together to solve a dangerous mystery. Australian actors Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce are terrific, as is Kevin Spacey and a host of impressive supporting actors. also nominated: The Full Monty , Hollow Reed, Shall We Dance?, The Sweet Hereafter, The Winter Guest |
Best Director |
| Curtis Hanson for L. A. Confidential – No one was more surprised than I, that the director of such films as The River Wild and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle could create such a complex, engrossing and well-acted film as L. A. Confidential. Based on the multi-layered James Ellroy novel, Hanson, who also CO-wrote the screenplay doesn’t miss a step.
also nominated: Atom Egoyan for The Sweet Hereafter, Ang Lee for The Ice Storm, Angela Pope for Hollow Reed, Alan Rickman for The Winter Guest |
Best Actress |
| Helena Bonham Carter for the roles of Kate Croy in The Wings of the Dove and Margaret MacNeil in Margaret’s Museum British actress Helena Bonham Carter burst on the scene in 1986 with roles in two films, most notably, the award winning, A Room With a View. Bonham Carter is best known for her roles in period pieces, such as Hamlet, Where Angels Fear to Tread and Howard’s End. Her role of Margaret MacNeil a feisty young woman living in the mining town of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia during the late 1940’s took her firmly out of the British period and created a vivid and troubled character. The multifaceted Kate Croy, whom she plays in The Wings of the Dove, although another British period piece, allows Bonham Carter to stretch her acting abilities to the limit. She is scintillating.
also nominated: Judy Davis for the role of Joan Fraser in Children of the Revolution, Minnie Driver for the role of Debi Newberry in Grosse Pointe Blank, Allison Folland for the role of Claude in All Over Me, Helen Hunt for the role of Carol Connelly in As Good As It Gets, Sarah Polley for the role of Nicole Burnell in The Sweet Hereafter, Emma Thompson for the role of Frances in The Winter Guest |
Best Actor |
| Russell Crowe for the role of Bud White in L. A. ConfidentialAustralian actor Russell Crowe has certainly made a splash in Hollywood since his first appearance in the Australian film, Proof. Sharon Stone hand picked him for a role in his first Hollywood film, The Quick & the Dead. In L. A. Confidential Crowe plays the passionate and conflicted Los Angeles police officer who has a hair-trigger temper when it comes to the mistreatment of women.
also nominated: Johnny Depp for the role of Joe Pistone/Donnie Brasco in Donnie Brasco, Martin Donovan for the role of Martyn Wyatt in Hollow Reed, Al Pacino for the role of Lefty Ruggerio in Donnie Brasco, Guy Pearce for the role of Ed Exley in L. A. Confidential, Koji Yakusho for the role of Shohei Sugiyama in Shall We Dance. |
Best Supporting Actress |
| Joan Cusack for the roles of Marcella in Grosse Pointe Blank and Emily Montgomery in In & Out Joan Cusack is a superb comic actress who really delivered a couple of great performances in 1997. In Grosse Pointe Blank she plays the secretary for a hit man, played by her real-life brother, John Cusack. She also gets some of the biggest laughs as the forgotten bride in In & Out. She has appeared in a number of supporting roles, often stealing her scenes from the lead actors. Some memorable performances include Broadcast News, Working Girl and Men Don’t Leave.
also nominated: Janeane Garofalo for the role of Heather Mooney in Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, Phyllida Law for the role of Elspeth in The Winter Guest, Julianne Moorefor the roles of Amber Waves in Boogie Nights and Mia in The Myth of Fingerprints, Christina Ricci for the role of Wendy Hood in The Ice Storm, Maggie Smith for the role of Aunt Livinia Penniman in Washington Square. |
Best Supporting Actor |
| Kevin Spacey for the role of Jack Vincennes in L. A. Confidential.Kevin Spacey won his first Chlotrudis Award for the role of Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects. Some of his other memorable roles include Lloyd Chasseur in The Ref, and last year’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil where he outperformed the movie. He takes this year’s award for his complex role as the police consultant to a Dragnet-like television program who uncovers some shady dealings in the Los Angeles police department.
also nominated: Mark Addy for the role of Dave in The Full Monty, Sam Bould for the role of Oliver Wyatt in Hollow Reed, Rupert Everett for the role of George Downes in My Best Friend’s Wedding, Liev Schreiber for the role of Carl, Jo’s boyfriend in Daytrippers, Antony Sher for the roles of Disraeli in Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown and Jack in Alive & Kicking |
Best Screenplay |
| L. A. Confidential – Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson , screenplay, based on the novel by James Ellroy. This is a brilliant adaptation of a well written James Ellroy novel. Helgeland and director, Hanson maintain the perfect corrupt, 1950’s Hollywood atmosphere while delving into motivations of a myriad of characters. The screenplay has also been nominated for an Academy Award, as well a winning the Boston Society of Film Critics Award, the Florida Film Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, the National Society of Film Critics, USA Award, the New York Film Critics Circle Award, and the Society of Texas Film Critics Award.
also nominated: Donnie Brasco – Paul Attanasio, screenplay; based on the book, Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley, Good Will Hunting – Ben Affleck & Matt Damon, screenplay, Grosse Pointe Blank – Tom Jankiewicz, D. V. Vincentis, Steve Pink and John Cusack, screenplay, based on a story by Tom Jankiewicz, Hollow Reed – Paula Milne, screenplay, based on a story by Neville Bolt, The Myth of Fingerprints – Bart Freundlich, screenplay |
Best Cinematography |
| Dante Spinotti for L. A. Confidential Spinotti has been nominated for an Academy Award for his bringing to life 1950’s Hollywood so beautifully. There’s not a scene out of place in this gorgeous film whose emphasis is so strongly on appearances. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has already awarded Spinotti with their Best Cinematography Award.
also nominated: Michael Coulter for FairyTale: a True Story, Frederick Elmes for The Ice Storm , Daniel Jobin for Lilies , Stephen Kazmierski for The Myth of Fingerprints, Seamus McGarvey for The Winter Guest |