Mad #439 (John Ficarra) - Another Oscars Issue - March 2004

Again, Mad editors took aim and threw darts at potential Oscar nominees and winners.  In "Mad's Oscar Preview", five writers (Dick DeBartolo, Greg Leitman, Barry Liebmann, David Shayne and Mike Snider) and five artists (Hermann Mejia, Drew Friedman, Rick Tulka, Sam Viviano and Sam Sisco) evaluated 15 movies and 28 actors.  Eventual male winner, Sean Penn (Mystic River)is applauded for adding three facial expressions, but there was no love for winner Charlize Theron (Monster) who was ignored in the article.  Meanwhile, the stars of Gigli received much more attention than they deserved.  The best movie (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) was sufficiently considered.  Best drawings are Penn by Friedman, Catherine Zeta-Jones by Tulka and Drew Barrymore by Sisco.  In addition to the feature article, Mort Drucker drew the cover dartboard; "Masochist Commander" (parody of Master and Commander) was the subject of Arnie Kogen's six-page parody drawn by Angelo Torres; Sergio Aragones drew a double-splash-page for "A Mad Look at the Oscars"; Mark Stutzman added the two-page movie poster parody ("The Lord of the Bling: The Jewelry Never Ends"); and "Spy vs. Spy" took their dispute to the red carpet.  In my opinion, the best movie of the year was A Mighty Wind.  [JAM 6/16/2014]

Color Pages: 38 of 52 pages (73%)
Humorous Content: 47 of 52 pages (90%)

Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages  [Celebrity Cause-of-Death Betting Odds - Jessica Simpson]
Nothing to Crowe About - Masochist Commander: On the Farce Side of the World
Road Scholars - The Valet Parking Attendant's Secret Club
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at the Oscars
Rap Smear - The Lords of the Bling
Angster's Paradise - Monroe and .. Survivor Jr. Part 2
Is Paris Churning? - Mad's Down-on-the-Farm The Simple Life Outtakes!
The Apple of Our Ire - If Other Companies Copied the iPod Ad Campaign
The Dark Aged - Rock Solid Indications You Are Too Old for the Goth Lifestyle
This Old Douse - If Home Improvement Shows Turned to Arson  [fake department]
A Star Is Scorned - Are You a Member of Hollywood's D-List?
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
We'd Like to Spank the Academy - Mad's Oscar Preview: The Insider's Guide to the Longest, Most Boring Television Show of the Year

Fold-In - Fat Boy