2004 Oscars 76th Academy Awards

2004 Oscars 76th Academy Awards

  • Winners Announced: February 29, 2004
  • Held at: Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California
  • Host: Billy Crystal
  • Eligibility Year: 2003

2004 Oscars Trivia

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King dominated, winning all 11 nominations and tying with Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscar wins by a single film.
  • This was the fifth time Billy Crystal hosted the Oscars, and he brought his signature humor to the ceremony.
  • Charlize Theron won Best Actress for her transformative role in Monster, gaining weight and wearing prosthetic teeth for the part.
  • Tim Robbins snagged Best Supporting Actor for his role in Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood.
  • Sofia Coppola became the third woman and the first American woman to be nominated for Best Director for Lost in Translation but ultimately lost to Peter Jackson for The Return of the King.
  • The Best Animated Feature went to Finding Nemo, marking Pixar’s first win.
  • Sean Penn won Best Actor for Mystic River, a film that also garnered Best Picture and Best Director nominations.
  • Annie Lennox’s song Into the West from The Return of the King won the award for Best Original Song, adding to the film’s impressive haul for the night.
  • Bill Murray, nominated for Best Actor for Lost in Translation, lost to Sean Penn but gained much acclaim for his dramatic role.
  • Brazilian film The Barbarian Invasions won Best Foreign Language Film, beating out stiff competition from Japan’s Twilight Samurai and the Czech Republic’s Želary.

2004 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Picture:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, producers (WINNER)
Lost in Translation – Ross Katz and Sofia Coppola, producers
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Samuel Goldwyn Jr., Peter Weir and Duncan Henderson, producers
Mystic River – Robert Lorenz, Judie G. Hoyt and Clint Eastwood, producers
Seabiscuit – Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Gary Ross, producers
Best Director:
Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (WINNER)
Fernando Meirelles – City of God
Sofia Coppola – Lost in Translation
Peter Weir – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Clint Eastwood – Mystic River
Best Actor:
Sean Penn – Mystic River as Jimmy Markum (WINNER)
Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as Captain Jack Sparrow
Ben Kingsley – House of Sand and Fog as Massoud Amir Behrani
Jude Law – Cold Mountain as W. P. Inman
Bill Murray – Lost in Translation as Bob Harris
Best Actress:
Charlize Theron – Monster as Aileen Wuornos (WINNER)
Keisha Castle-Hughes – Whale Rider as Paikea Apirana
Diane Keaton – Something’s Gotta Give as Erica Barry
Samantha Morton – In America as Sarah Sullivan
Naomi Watts – 21 Grams as Cristina “Cris” Williams-Peck
Best Supporting Actor:
Tim Robbins – Mystic River as Dave Boyle (WINNER)
Alec Baldwin – The Cooler as Shelley Kaplow
Benicio del Toro – 21 Grams as Jack Jordan
Djimon Hounsou – In America as Mateo Kuamey
Ken Watanabe – The Last Samurai as Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto
Best Supporting Actress:
Renée Zellweger – Cold Mountain as Ruby Thewes (WINNER)
Shohreh Aghdashloo – House of Sand and Fog as Nadereh Behrani
Patricia Clarkson – Pieces of April as Joy Burns
Marcia Gay Harden – Mystic River as Celeste Boyle
Holly Hunter – Thirteen as Melanie Freeland
Best Original Screenplay:
Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola (WINNER)
The Barbarian Invasions – Denys Arcand
Dirty Pretty Things – Steven Knight
Finding Nemo – Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds
In America – Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan and Kirsten Sheridan
Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien (WINNER)
American Splendor – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini based on the comic book series American Splendor by Harvey Pekar and Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner
City of God – Bráulio Mantovani based on the novel Cidade de Deus by Paulo Lins
Mystic River – Brian Helgeland based on the novel by Dennis Lehane
Seabiscuit – Gary Ross based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand
Best Animated Feature Film:
Finding Nemo – Andrew Stanton (WINNER)
Brother Bear – Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker
The Triplets of Belleville – Sylvain Chomet
Best Foreign Language Film:
The Barbarian Invasions (Canada) in French – Denys Arcand (WINNER)
Evil (Sweden) in Swedish – Mikael Håfström
The Twilight Samurai (Japan) in Japanese – Yoji Yamada
Twin Sisters (Netherlands) in Dutch – Ben Sombogaart
Želary (Czech Republic) in Czech – Ondrej Trojan
Best Documentary Feature:
The Fog of War – Errol Morris and Michael Williams (WINNER)
Balseros – Carlos Bosch and Josep Maria Domenech
Capturing the Friedmans – Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling
My Architect – Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr
The Weather Underground – Sam Green and Bill Siegel
Best Documentary Short Subject:
Chernobyl Heart – Maryann DeLeo (WINNER)
Asylum – Sandy McLeod and Gini Reticker
Ferry Tales – Katja Esson
Best Live Action Short Film:
Two Soldiers – Aaron Schneider and Andrew J. Sacks (WINNER)
Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket) – Florian Baxmeyer
Most (The Bridge) – Bobby Garabedian and William Zabka
Squash – Lionel Bailliu
(A) Torzija [(A) Torsion] – Stefan Arsenijevic
Best Animated Short Film:
Harvie Krumpet – Adam Elliot (WINNER)
Boundin’ – Bud Luckey
Destino – Dominique Monfery and Roy Edward Disney
Gone Nutty – Carlos Saldanha and John C. Donkin
Nibbles – Christopher Hinton
Best Original Score:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Howard Shore (WINNER)
Big Fish – Danny Elfman
Cold Mountain – Gabriel Yared
Finding Nemo – Thomas Newman
House of Sand and Fog – James Horner
Best Original Song:
“Into the West” from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Music and Lyrics by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox (WINNER)
“Belleville Rendez-vous” from The Triplets of Belleville – Music by Benoît Charest; Lyrics by Sylvain Chomet
“A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” from A Mighty Wind – Music and Lyrics by Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole
“Scarlet Tide” from Cold Mountain – Music and Lyrics by T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello
“You Will Be My Ain True Love” from Cold Mountain – Music and Lyrics by Sting
Best Sound Editing:
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Richard King (WINNER)
Finding Nemo – Gary Rydstrom and Michael Silvers
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Christopher Boyes and George Watters II
Best Sound Mixing:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek (WINNER)
The Last Samurai – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Jeff Wexler
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Paul Massey, Doug Hemphill and Art Rochester
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Christopher Boyes, David Parker, David Campbell and Lee Orloff
Seabiscuit – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Tod A. Maitland
Best Art Direction:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee (WINNER)
Girl with a Pearl Earring – Art Direction: Ben Van Os; Set Decoration: Cecile Heideman
The Last Samurai – Art Direction: Lilly Kilvert; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Art Direction: William Sandell; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
Seabiscuit – Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall; Set Decoration: Leslie Pope
Best Cinematography:
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Russell Boyd (WINNER)
City of God – Cesar Charlone
Cold Mountain – John Seale
Girl with a Pearl Earring – Eduardo Serra
Seabiscuit – John Schwartzman
Best Makeup:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Richard Taylor and Peter King (WINNER)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Edouard Henriques III and Yolanda Toussieng
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Ve Neill and Martin Samuel
Best Costume Design:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor (WINNER)
Girl with a Pearl Earring – Dien van Straalen
The Last Samurai – Ngila Dickson
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Wendy Stites
Seabiscuit – Judianna Makovsky
Best Film Editing:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Jamie Selkirk (WINNER)
City of God – Daniel Rezende
Cold Mountain – Walter Murch
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Lee Smith
Seabiscuit – William Goldenberg
Best Visual Effects:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke (WINNER)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Dan Sudick, Stefen Fangmeier, Nathan McGuinness and Robert Stromberg
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Terry Frazee
Academy Honorary Award:
Blake Edwards