I felt Queen Latifah did a marvelous job with Mama Morton, personally. Much better than I imagined she would.
And, BrownEyedGirl, I think I have an explanation (or several possible ones) for you.
When people are making nominations in the acting categories, they fill in the names in any category they wish someone to be nominated in. Thus, someone wishing to nominate Queen Latifah would put her name down. What gets tricky, though, is nowhere does it specify that Queen Latifah is a Supporting Actress. She could actully be nominated under lead, if someone so chooses. In her case, it is crystal clear that she is playing a supporting role. However, in Gere's case, it may not have been clear. Thus, Gere could have received enough votes in both categories PUT TOGETHER to garner a nomination, but they were split enough to leve him under the threshold required in either category for a nomination. It is also theorized tht this may have happened to Gene Hackman in regards to the Royal Tenenbaums.
There is also the fact that there were several outstanding male performances this year. While I definitely enoyed Gere's work, I wouldn't be likely to say it was the most taxing performance. It's even pretty obvious that he didn't do all his own dancing. Put up against the other permormnces of the year, the slight is beleivable, IMHO.
You also have to remember that the Oscars are EXTREMELY fickle. Many of the most notable names in cinema never received a competitive Oscar win. (Judy Garland and Alfred Hitchcock leap to mind.) Many of the most notable movies ever made never received Best Picture. (Psycho, ET, Star Wars, Vertigo... those are just a few.)
Personally, I'm banking on the second possible reason in this case. Figured you'd like to hear the others just because they're interesting...and hey, I could always be underestimating Gere's performance. Maybe I'll be eating my hat in a few decaedes.
-Megan, who likes to think she is an expert on movies and would like to thank you for this opportunity to babble
