More than once, Miramax has promoted its films so aggressively it has incurred the wrath of the academy and rival studios.
Because nearly 6,000 people decide the nominees for best picture, it's impossible to say why "Cold Mountain," which received generally strong reviews, was left off the short list.
Just as the studio's movies have been in the center of the awards season spotlight, so too have some of its more controversial Oscar tactics. "Miramax has been known as the extreme player, but I do believe all that is born out of the same passion to succeed and win" that is shared by all companies, said Bob Berney of Newmarket Films.
Last year, a Miramax publicist ghost-wrote a column attributed to veteran director Robert Wise touting Martin Scorsese, who directed Miramax's Oscar contender "Gangs of New York." Partially in response, the academy changed its Oscar guidelines. Its new code of ethics discourages "manipulative and excessive" campaigning and aims to curtail an array of promotional activities, from throwing parties for awards contenders to enlisting Oscar voters to endorse films and filmmakers.
The often obstreperous Weinstein, who says he has taken anger-management classes, has been a subdued presence this awards season. At Sunday's Golden Globes, he walked quietly through a ballroom filled with competitors, some of whom had unloaded their worst Weinstein stories in a withering new book by Peter Biskind called "Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film."
Although it is easy to see "Cold Mountain's" absence from the best picture list as a show business referendum on Weinstein's sometimes volatile personality and Miramax's full-throttle campaigning, the film did attract seven nominations -- tying it for the third most -- including best actor for Jude Law and best supporting actress for Renee Zellweger.
But the movie -- based on Charles Frazier's novel -- was blanked in several categories in which nominations were expected, including best actress for Nicole Kidman and production and costume design. "Cold Mountain" director and screenwriter Anthony Minghella, who took the directing Oscar for Miramax's 1996 "The English Patient," was not nominated either.
