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"Gladiator" seized the night as it skewered the
competition and won five Academy Awards including the coveted
Best Picture award. In the numbers race, "Traffic"
and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" took second,
as each earned 4 wins apiece.
 In
addition to Best Picture, the Academy gave the thumbs up to
Russell Crowe for Best Actor who edged out Oscar favorite
Tom Hanks ("Cast Away"). "Gladiator" also
won for visual effects, costume design and sound.
The
additional technical awards were swallowed by the tiger and
the dragon, as Foreign Language Film winner "Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won for cinematography, art direction
and score.
Fueling
the addiction of the absorbing "Traffic," Steven
Soderbergh bested his fellow directorial nominees and himself
(he was also in the running for "Erin Brockovich")
and won for Best Director. "Traffic" also won for
its adapted screenplay and editing.
Best
Supporting Actor was awarded to Benicio Del Toro as the police
officer on the fence in "Traffic." Marcia Gay Harden
upset Kate Hudson ("Almost Famous") in the Best
Supporting Actress category when she won for "Pollock,"
the harrowing true story of painter Jackson Pollock.
The
water was dirty, but predictably shallow for "Erin Brockovich."
It garnered its only win: Best Actress for Julia Roberts,
as did "Almost Famous" winning for just Best Original
Screenplay. But, there were no sweet offerings to be had for
the other Best Picture nominee, "Chocolat," which
walked away with only toothaches.
The
playing field was fairly divided with just about everything
getting some acknowledgement. My batting average was in the
usual hit-and-miss range. In my predictions, I scored a correct
12 out of 24. Better luck next year. 
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