Young and Old: Supporting Actress, 1973

Got to this a lot later than usual, so let's just get right to it.

Tatum O'Neal won, the youngest ever in Oscar history

You Spoil Us, Really: Director, 1973

What the hell, 1973? Is this why we get nominees like Alejandro Gonsalez Inarritu and Paul Haggis and Alexander Payne? Did 1973's vortex of visionaries spoil the rest of the Academy Awards for all time?

The winner, George Roy Hill

Neatly Arranged: Adapted Score, 1973

Adapted Score has not been awarded since the 80s, though it still remains an official category -- just tweaked a little.

Alms for the Saint: Art Direction, 1973

This is the category freshest in my mind, since I finally finally got a copy of Tom Sawyer from the library.

Not My Cuppa: Supporting Actor, 1973

In order to be nominated for an Academy Award, you have to show up on enough ballots in a Number One slot. Number One. As in, win or lose, you have to be someone's favorite of the year. I always have to remind myself of this when I look at the Supporting Actor fields. I especially have to think about it when I see some of the winners.

Grr....

Moving About, Looking Good: Cinematography, 1973

My marathoning the films of 1973 tells me at least one thing: Cinematography was rarely flashy back then.

Cries and Whispers cinematographer Sven Nykvist

Tell It Again: Adapted Screenplay, 1973

I find this to be one of the hardest categories to adjudicate. Since we're talking previously-published works, there's reasonable doubt as to what belongs to the original author, and what belongs to the adaptor. I'm familiar with none of these books, so I have no inkling of the writers' fidelity to their source materials. How much is their own dialogue? What plot twists did they invent? What was thrown out to accommodate the world of cinema?