The Best Individual Achievements of 2001
By Anthony Kusich
BEST ACTRESS
Naomi Watts, "Mulholland Drive"
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If there was one breakout star
this year, it was Naomi Watts,
who gave a multi-faceted and
frighteningly complex
performance in David Lynch's
latest dreamscape.  Portraying a
wannabe starlet who becomes
lost in the underbelly of
Hollywood, Watts handles two
roles with the stylized skill of a
veteran pro.  There wasn't a
more revealing or vulnerable
performance this year.
BEST
SUPPORTING
ACTRESS
Jennifer Connelly,
"A Beautiful Mind"
-----------------------
In my opinion, she
was also the Best
Supporting Actress
in 2000, for a brave
portrayal of a heroin
BEST ORIGINAL
SCREENPLAY
Christopher and Jonathan
Nolan,"Memento"
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Back to Academy Award Speculation


These choices do not reflect who I think will an Academy Award,
only who I think was the best in his or her respective field this year.
BEST ACTOR
Billy Bob Thornton, "The
Man Who Wasn't There"
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One of America's finest
actors had a sterling year
in 2001, with great turns
in "Monster's Ball" and
"Bandits."  His best work
to date, though, was in
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Steve Buscemi, "Ghost World"
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Buscemi has made a career out of
portraying interesting losers.  In both
"Fargo" and "The Wedding Singer" he was
someone down on his luck who just
couldn't keep it together.  In this year's
"Ghost World" he perfected his on-screen
persona while evoking a sublime likability
and empathy rarely seen.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Todd Field and Rob Festinger, "In the Bedroom"
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Few stories of loss have ever been translated so
movingly to the screen.  Co-writer/director Todd Field
(above) captures the mournful essence of what the
death of a child can erupt between a married couple
unaccepting of each other's faults.  Years of resentment
finally come to the surface in the touching and honest
screenplay in which the consequences of rage bring an
ordinary couple to deal with inhuman choices.
BEST DIRECTOR
David Lynch, "Mulholland Drive"
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Lynch has never been known for
directing movies that "make sense."  
In his first feature since 1999's
relatively linear "The Straight Story,"
he returns to his surreal roots with a
romantic-mystery-seriocomedy-thriller
set in Los Angeles.  Originally
intended as a TV pilot for ABC,
"Mulholland Drive" displays all of the
director's best virtues at their peak --
oddball supporting characters, a dark
sense of humor, innocence lost, a
densely subconscious final act.  And
as is the case with most of the
director's films, this one requires
multiple viewings in order to penetrate
the many dense layers of Lynch-ian
truth.
BEST MOVIE
"Memento"
------------
This film was #1 on my Top 10 Films of 2001
page, and for good reason -- it gave viewers an
authentic and intelligent mystery to solve.
the Coen brothers' noir homage.  As a 1940's Santa Rosa barber
who suspects his wife of infidelity, Thornton exudes an indifferent
subtlety and wit few living actors today could pull off.  His funniest
line is in explaining his lack of "the sex act," perfectly embodying
pre-Baby Boom conservatism and matter-of-fact charm.
Jonathan Nolan came up with the idea, but it was his
brother Christopher (above) who wrote the script and
directed the film that had people across the country
scratching their heads.  Working in reverse order, the
audience follows a short-term amnesiac searching for
his wife's killer.  However, by the last scene -- which
is where the story begins -- more questions are posed
than answers.
junkie in "Requiem for a Dream."  This year,
she matched Russell Crowe's intensity as
Alicia Nash, the long-suffering wife of the
brilliant mathematician.  There's a deeply
affecting sincerity and understanding about
Connelly's performance that defined what
true devotion is.