[Eurytus]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> So why do we have so many Oscar 'experts' and websites mentioning exactly what you are refuting above? If the Acadamey do not think of the films as trilogies, why did they not allow the soundtrack to be nominated for the second film? <BR> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Films are not reviewed by the academy as trilogies. That’s the bottom line. If they were then why did they waste everyone’s time by nominating the 1st two films as individual films the previous two years? Why would both Godfather I and II win? A film can only be assessed on its own merits and should only win if it is the best film out in that year. Based on that I believe that FOTR should have beat the TV-movie of the week “A Beautiful Mind” in 2001 but it makes no sense for a film that is not even out yet to be heralded as already the best in the year and that it should win based on the prior films (which according to the Academy were not good enough).<BR>The reason for critics etc tipping it is because that is what critics do. In the same way that they champion Miramax pictures each year because they know Miramax have an impressive lobbying technique which should not carry any weight but does.<P>As for the soundtrack? I believe there is a rule that a soundtrack cannot be nominated if any part of it has been previously used. That was the reason that Moulin Rouge was not nominated. One of its songs had been written for Romeo & Juliet although not used. Since many of the themes in TTT are taken from FOTR then that could be the reason.<BR>Of course they may simply have not though it good enough.