Chicago: 2002 Best Picture

“Chicago” was the Best Picture at the 75th Academy Awards. The other 5 nominees were “Gangs of New York”, “The Hours”, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” and “The Pianist”.

Best Director nominees included the directors of all of the above films except “Lord of the Rings”. The 5th nominee in that category was for “Talk to Her”. Roman Polanski won for “The Pianist” but of course he could not attend the ceremony or he would have been tossed in the hoosegow. Presenter Harrison Ford simply said that the Academy accepted the award on Polanski’s behalf.

Adrien Brody won Best Actor for “The Pianist” and Nicole Kidman won Best Actress for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in “The Hours”

Chris Cooper (“Adaptation” was the Best Supporting Actor and Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Chicago”) was Best Supporting Actress.

The Top 10 box office hits were “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, “Spider-Man”, “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones”, “Men in Black II”, “Die Another Day”, “Signs”, “Ice Age”, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Minority Report”.

Other popular titles included “Bowling for Columbine”, “The ChubbChubbs!”, “Nowhere in Africa”, Talk to Her, “This Charming Man”, “Twin Towers”, “Spellbound”, “The Bourne Identity”, “Road to Perdition”, “The Royal Tenenbaums”, “Barbershop” and “8 Mile”. The kiddies were watching “Lilo & Stitch” and “The Wild Thornberrys Movie”.

Jeopardy! clues on “Chicago”
MOVIE MUSICALS $400: This 2002 flick earned Oscar nominations for Queen Latifah, Renee Zellweger & Catherine Zeta-Jones
OSCAR NIGHT 2003 $400: With 6 Academy Awards total, this adapted musical was the big winner on Oscar Night 2003
CELEBRITY CARDS $600: Her roles include Motormouth Maybelle in “Hairspray” & Matron Mama Morton in “Chicago”

More 2002 clues:
OSCAR-WINNING SONGS $1200: “Lose Yourself” won this rapper an Oscar in 2003, but he took its title to heart & didn’t show up to accept
OSCAR NIGHT 2003 $800: This Best Actress Winner said that Russell Crowe told her not to cry…but she did anyway
OSCAR NIGHT 2003 $1600: For “Talk to Her”, he became the first man in over 30 years to win with a screenplay in a foreign language
WOMEN DIRECTORS $800: British director Gurinder Chadha had a cameo in the wedding scene in this 2002 girls’ soccer film
HANKS GIVING $2000: Tom Hanks gives his family a good life by being an enforcer for Paul Newman’s Chicago mob in this 2002 film
RHYMING MOVIES $800: TV’s Bill Cosby & Robert Culp were replaced by Eddie Murphy & Owen Wilson in this 2002 film
THE PERFORMER $800: J.K. Simmons, seriously evil in “Oz”, brought it down to “not so nice” as publisher J. Jonah Jameson in this 2002 film
THE CINEMA $800: A Jewish musician’s skilled fingers help keep him alive in WWI Warsaw in this 2002 film
EASY ON THE EYES $800: The 2002 Bond film “Die Another Day” has a memorable scene of this actress walking out of the ocean
SCIENCE FICTION FILMS $1600: Alan Young, who co-starred in the 1960 version of this film based on an H.G. Wells book, had a bit role in the 2002 remake
DEADLY FILMS? $1200: Madonna appeared in this 2002 Bond film & sang the title tune
SHOW BIZ STUFF $1000: “I’ve eaten things that didn’t complain this much”, says Diego the saber-toothed tiger in this 2002 animated film
FILM SCHOOL $400: It’s a close shave for Ice Cube when he sells this title place of business in a 2002 film
ANIMATED MOVIES $2000: Paul Simon contributed the song “Father And Daughter” to the soundtrack of this “Wild” 2002 film
DINNER & A MOVIE $200: Mary Jane Watson slings plates at the Moondance Diner in this 2002 superhero film
ACTORS & ACTRESSES $2000: OK, one more time: John C. McGinley is on “Scrubs”; this actor played Amos in the 2002 film “Chicago”
DEAD MAN WALKEN $2000: Walken’s Frank Abagnale Sr. didn’t live to see the end of this 2002 Spielberg scam film
OH, “BOY” $800: In this 2002 film, single guy Hugh Grant’s life is changed by a 12-year old
AT THE MOVIES $1200: In a 2002 film Josh Hartnett vows to stay celibate for this title length of time
ALLISON JANNEY WAS IN THAT? $800: Allison clocked in as Meryl Streep’s domestic partner in the 2002 film with this “timely” title
RATED PG $800: In 2002 Freddie Prinze Jr. went to the dogs in this film
CORN $400: The official website for this 2002 Mel Gibson film explains how they made its crop circles in cornfields
THE SILVER SCREEN $400: In 2002 this “Big Fat” success became the highest-grossing film never to have a No. 1 weekend at the box office
CORNHUSKER CINEMA $200: In this 2002 film Jack Nicholson plays a retired actuary for the Woodmen of the World Insurance Company of Omaha
THE MOVIES $2000: A foe brings former FBI agent Clint Eastwood back into play in this 2002 film
I DIRECT $600: He starred as a highly neurotic film director — what else? — in 2002’s “Hollywood Ending”