I remember many of us here discussing this on one of the earliest iterations of this forum. Gangs of New York in particular seemed to be the worst out of them, one that even Daniel Day Lewis couldn't carry to be better, and that had a horrible performance by Cameron Diaz, whose character had 0 impact in the film and could easily be removed without affecting anything for any other character in the film. Leo's better film that year, Catch Me if You Can, holds up incredibly well 24 years later and it's certainly considered the must watch classic of the two.Matt wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2026 4:31 am
My god the grip Harvey Weinstein (who's in the clip linked above) had on the Oscars then, elevating mediocrities like The Hours, Chicago, and (I'm sorry) Gangs of New York, while great films like About Schmidt, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and Catch Me If You Can (one of Spielberg's best, to me) go relatively unrecognized.
This is the year of Spike Lee's 25th Hour, Punch Drunk Love, and Soderbergh's Solaris, too.
And lets not forget that the best film of that year, City of God, wasn't even nominated for Best Foreign Film.
