Every year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences® clears their collective throat to the eager ears of the global film world, and hacks up a loogey of nominations, what they want us to believe are the brightest celluloid achievements for the past 365. And every year, commoners like you and me gripe about their selections. We feel we have as much right to complain as anybody since we pay the outlandish ticket prices to sit in a theater with our feet stuck to the floor and watch those flickering images truck by our greedy pupils. Well, as inaugurated four years ago, I'm once again rectifying the situation with Dr. Daniel's LoscarsTM. With the Loscars, we create recognition where it has been dubiously ignored. We give notice to the unnoticed. We make Oscar losers into Loscar winners. Below, at left, you will see a list of who and what the Academy deems superior -- and the Doc's prediction to win said category. At right, you'll see my choice, the Loscar, a.k.a. the "Best of the Rest" -- or those who got left out, but still deserve attention.

The OSCARS Best Actor: Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls) Russell Crowe (Gladiator) Tom Hanks (Cast Away) Ed Harris (Pollock) Geoffrey Rush (Quills) Dr. Daniel's Pick: Russell Crowe Best Supporting Actor: Jeff Bridges (The Contender) Willem Dafoe (Shadow of the Vampire) Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) Albert Finney (Erin Brockovich) Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator) Dr. Daniel's Pick: Willem Dafoe Best Actress: Joan Allen (The Contender) Juliette Binoche (Chocolat) Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream) Laura Linney (You Can Count On Me) Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) Dr. Daniel's Pick: Julia Roberts Best Supporting Actress: Judi Dench (Chocolat) Marcia Gay Harden (Pollock) Kate Hudson (Almost Famous) Frances McDormand (Almost Famous) Julie Walters (Billy Elliot) Dr. Daniel's Pick: Marcia Gay Harden Best Director: Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger...) Ridley Scott (Gladiator) Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich) Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) Dr. Daniel's Pick: Ridley Scott Best Picture Chocolat Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Erin Brockovich Gladiator Traffic Dr. Daniel's Pick: Gladiator

The LOSCARS Best Actor: Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) Michael Douglas (Wonder Boys) Morgan Freeman (Nurse Betty) Chow Yun-Fat (Crouching Tiger...) Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) And the Loscar goes to: Morgan Freeman Best Supporting Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Almost Famous) Robert DeNiro (Meet The Parents) Mark Ruffalo (You Can Count on Me) Fred Willard (Best in Show) Owen Wilson (Shanghai Noon) And the Loscar goes to: Philip S. Hoffman Best Actress: Renee Zellweger (Nurse Betty) Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger...) Michelle Pfeiffer (What Lies Beneath) Sandra Bullock (Miss Congeniality) Kate Winslett (Quills) And the Loscar goes to: Renee Zellweger Best Supporting Actress: Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger...) Catherine Zeta Jones (Traffic) Marg Helgenberger (Erin Brockovich) Connie Neilsen (Gladiator) Anna Paquin (Finding Forrester) And the Loscar goes to: Catherine Z. Jones Best Director: Joel Coen (O Brother Where Art Thou?) Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) E. Elias Merhige (Shadow of the Vampire) Christopher Guest (Best in Show) Jay Roach (Meet the Parents) And the Loscar goes to: Cameron Crowe Best Picture Best in Show Nurse Betty Shadow of the Vampire Billy Elliot O Brother Where Art Thou? And the Loscar goes to: O Brother...

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