OSCAR $@%$^

[mkilly]

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote" (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow" (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment)
Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features)
Joaquin Phoenix in "Walk the Line" (20th Century Fox)
David Strathairn in "Good Night, and Good Luck." (Warner Independent Pictures)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
George Clooney in "Syriana" (Warner Bros.)
Matt Dillon in "Crash" (Lions Gate)
Paul Giamatti in "Cinderella Man" (Universal and Miramax)
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features)
William Hurt in "A History of Violence" (New Line)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Judi Dench in "Mrs. Henderson Presents" (The Weinstein Company)
Felicity Huffman in "Transamerica" (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films)
Keira Knightley in "Pride & Prejudice" (Focus Features)
Charlize Theron in "North Country" (Warner Bros.)
Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line" (20th Century Fox)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in "Junebug" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Catherine Keener in "Capote" (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Frances McDormand in "North Country" (Warner Bros.)
Rachel Weisz in "The Constant Gardener" (Focus Features)
Michelle Williams in "Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Howl’s Moving Castle" (Buena Vista) Hayao Miyazaki
"Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride" (Warner Bros.) Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
"Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" (DreamWorks Animation SKG) Nick Park and Steve Box

Achievement in art direction
"Good Night, and Good Luck." (Warner Independent Pictures), Art Direction: Jim Bissell, Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"King Kong" (Universal), Art Direction: Grant Major, Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau
"Pride & Prejudice" (Focus Features), Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

Achievement in cinematography
"Batman Begins" (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
"Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features), Rodrigo Prieto
"Good Night, and Good Luck." (Warner Independent Pictures), Robert Elswit
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Dion Beebe
"The New World" (New Line), Emmanuel Lubezki

Achievement in costume design
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (Warner Bros.), Gabriella Pescucci
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Colleen Atwood
"Mrs. Henderson Presents" (The Weinstein Company), Sandy Powell
"Pride & Prejudice" (Focus Features), Jacqueline Durran
"Walk the Line" (20th Century Fox), Arianne Phillips

Achievement in directing
"Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features), Ang Lee
"Capote" (UA/Sony Pictures Classics), Bennett Miller
"Crash" (Lions Gate), Paul Haggis
"Good Night, and Good Luck." (Warner Independent Pictures), George Clooney
"Munich" (Universal and DreamWorks), Steven Spielberg

Best documentary feature
"Darwin’s Nightmare" (International Film Circuit), A Mille et Une Production, Hubert Sauper
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" (Magnolia Pictures), An HDNet Films Production, Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot
"March of the Penguins" (Warner Independent Pictures), A Bonne Pioche Production, Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau
"Murderball" (THINKFilm), An Eat Films Production, Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
"Street Fight", A Marshall Curry Production, Marshall Curry

Best documentary short subject
"The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club", A Dan Krauss Production, Dan Krauss
"God Sleeps in Rwanda", An Acquaro/Sherman Production, Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman
"The Mushroom Club", A Farallon Films Production, Steven Okazaki
"A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin", A NomaFilms Production, Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson

Achievement in film editing
"Cinderella Man" (Universal and Miramax), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"The Constant Gardener" (Focus Features), Claire Simpson
"Crash" (Lions Gate), Hughes Winborne
"Munich" (Universal and DreamWorks), Michael Kahn
"Walk the Line" (20th Century Fox), Michael McCusker

Best foreign language film of the year
"Don’t Tell", A Cattleya/Rai Cinema Production, Italy
"Joyeux Noël", A Nord-Ouest Production, France
"Paradise Now", An Augustus Film Production, Palestine
"Sophie Scholl - The Final Days", A Goldkind Filmproduktion and Broth Film Production, Germany
"Tsotsi", A Moviworld Production, South Africa

Achievement in makeup
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", (Buena Vista), Howard Berger and Tami Lane
"Cinderella Man", (Universal and Miramax), David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
"Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith", (20th Century Fox), Dave Elsey and Annette Miles

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features) Gustavo Santaolalla
"The Constant Gardener" (Focus Features) Alberto Iglesias
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Williams
"Munich" (Universal and DreamWorks) John Williams
"Pride & Prejudice" (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"In the Deep" from "Crash" (Lions Gate), Music by Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker, Lyric by Kathleen "Bird" York
"It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from"Hustle & Flow" (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment), Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
"Travelin’ Thru" from "Transamerica" (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films), Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

Best motion picture of the year
"Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features), A River Road Entertainment Production, Diana Ossana and James Schamus, Producers
"Capote" (UA/Sony Pictures Classics), An A-Line Pictures/Cooper’s Town/ Infinity Media Production, Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, Producers
"Crash" (Lions Gate), A Bob Yari/DEJ/Blackfriar’s Bridge/ Harris Company/ApolloProscreen GmbH & Co./Bull’s Eye Entertainment Production, Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, Producers
"Good Night, and Good Luck." (Warner Independent Pictures), A Good Night Good Luck LLC Production, Grant Heslov, Producer
"Munich" (Universal and DreamWorks), A Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, Producers

Best animated short film
"Badgered", A National Film and Television School Production, Sharon Colman
"The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation", A John Canemaker Production, John Canemaker and Peggy Stern
"The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello" (Monster Distributes), A 3D Films Production, Anthony Lucas
"9", A Shane Acker Production, Shane Acker
"One Man Band", A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews

Best live action short film
"Ausreisser (The Runaway)", A Hamburg Media School, Filmwerkstatt Production, Ulrike Grote
"Cashback" (The British Film Institute), A Left Turn Films Production, Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager
"The Last Farm", A Zik Zak Filmworks Production, Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson
"Our Time Is Up", A Station B Production, Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente
"Six Shooter" (Sundance Film Channel), A Missing in Action Films and Funny Farm Films Production, Martin McDonagh

Achievement in sound editing
"King Kong" (Universal) Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Wylie Stateman
"War of the Worlds" (Paramount and DreamWorks) Richard King

Achievement in sound mixing
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (Buena Vista), Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
"King Kong" (Universal), Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
"Walk the Line" (20th Century Fox), Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland
"War of the Worlds" (Paramount and DreamWorks), Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

Achievement in visual effects
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (Buena Vista), Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
"King Kong" (Universal), Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor
"War of the Worlds" (Paramount and DreamWorks), Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick

Adapted screenplay
"Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features), Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
"Capote" (UA/Sony Pictures Classics), Screenplay by Dan Futterman
"The Constant Gardener" (Focus Features), Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine
"A History of Violence" (New Line), Screenplay by Josh Olson
"Munich" (Universal and DreamWorks), Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Original screenplay
"Crash" (Lions Gate), Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco, Story by Paul Haggis
"Good Night, and Good Luck." (Warner Independent Pictures), Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov
"Match Point" (DreamWorks), Written by Woody Allen
"The Squid and the Whale" (Samuel Goldwyn Films and Sony Pictures Releasing), Written by Noah Baumbach
"Syriana" (Warner Bros.), Written by Stephen Gaghan

[mkilly]

Here's my calls:

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line" (20th Century Fox)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Rachel Weisz in "The Constant Gardener" (Focus Features)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Howl’s Moving Castle" (Buena Vista) Hayao Miyazaki

Achievement in cinematography
"Good Night, and Good Luck." (Warner Independent Pictures), Robert Elswit

Achievement in directing
"Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features), Ang Lee

Best documentary feature
"March of the Penguins" (Warner Independent Pictures), A Bonne Pioche Production, Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau

Achievement in film editing
"Crash" (Lions Gate), Hughes Winborne

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"The Constant Gardener" (Focus Features) Alberto Iglesias

Best motion picture of the year
"Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features), A River Road Entertainment Production, Diana Ossana and James Schamus, Producers

Adapted screenplay
"Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features), Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana

Original screenplay
"Good Night, and Good Luck." (Warner Independent Pictures), Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov

For documentary, I'm glad to have seen Murderball and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room nominated. Both are good (and imo better than March of the Penguins, which I didn't really care for at all, in fact).

[roymond]

I saw four of these films, so I suppose I represent one of the least informed opinions...

"Capote" - this was spell binding, start to finish. OK, maybe not that intense but really good all around. Philip Seymour Hoffman is tremendous, regardless of the loose ends.

"Mrs. Henderson Presents" - Judi Dench in a boring period piece playing the role she always plays in movies, TV, interviews and in her sleep. I like her a lot, but ... how could this seriously be in the running for any category?

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" - this was really fun. I wouldn't really expect it to show up for awards...maybe effects or sound or something. Oh, I see, design, yeah, it was good.

"The Squid and the Whale" - original screenplay? Is that because noone's bothered writing such a stupid screenplay before, so that makes it original? Give me a break, there is nothing here. At least I assume someone got (or gave) a lot of sex in order to get this on the list.

As always, I expect the Oscars to represent the best of the best and reward the genius behind today's cinematic achievements.

[HeuristicsInc]

I saw four of these films, so I suppose I represent one of the least informed opinions...

I'll do one better, I only saw 3. Man, I suck.
(i.e. harry potter, star wars, narnia... hmm, i sense a theme)
-bill

[Adam!]

I saw four of these films, so I suppose I represent one of the least informed opinions...

It's OK. I only saw 21 of them.

Good Night and Good Luck had better win everything it's nominated for. Well, personally it's a toss up between it and Capote for Best Leading Actor.

[Hoblit]

I've only seen 5

King Kong
Brokeback Mountain
Corpse Bride
Wallace & Grommit (TCOTWR)
War of the Worlds

I need to get on the ball and see a couple more. Syriana may be on the top of that list. (Maybe Munich too)

[raisedbywolves]

Favorites and predictions (categories omitted when I haven't seen enough of the nominees):

Actor (no Jeff Daniels???)
favorite - Strathairn; prediction - Ledger

Supporting Actor
favorite - Giamatti; prediction - Giamatti

Actress
favorite - Knightley; prediction - Witherspoon

Supporting Actress
favorite - Keener; prediction - Weisz

Animated
favorite - Howl; prediction - Wallace

Art Direction
favorite - Geisha; prediction - Geisha

Cinematography (I haven't seen New World)
favorite - Brokeback; prediction - Brokeback

Costumes
favorite - Geisha; prediction - Geisha

Directing
favorite - Lee; prediction - Lee

Editing
favorite - Constant Gardener; prediction - Munich

Makeup
favorite - Narnia; prediction - Star Wars

Score
favorite - Iglesias; prediction - Santaolalla

Song
I only know the Pimp song, but I think that will win

Picture
favorite - Brokeback; prediction - Brokeback

Sound Editing
favorite - Kong; prediction - Kong

Sound Mixing
favorite - Kong; prediction - Kong

Visual Effects (really weak this year)
favorite - Kong; prediction - Kong

Adapted Screenplay
favorite - Brokeback; prediction - Brokeback

Original Screenplay
favorite - Squid and the Whale; prediction - *shudder* Crash

[Eric Y.]

Animated; prediction - Wallace

as far as i can tell from my half-assed lazy research, in 1994 the nightmare before christmas was only nominated for visual effects (and lost to jurassic park); there seems not to have been a category for animated feature (unless i missed it) but a wallace&grommit movie won for best animated short.

now i haven't seen the new W&G so i can't say anything about its quality, but i did see TCB; i have to say, while striking in visual appeal, in substance it is incredibly inferior to TNBC. however, i'm wondering whether the academy will (as they sometimes *seem* to do) take burton's prior non-winning masterpiece into account when voting on this year's non-deserving entry?

admittedly i haven't seen hardly any of the movies nominated this year, and i don't know shit about shit anyway, so i'm just throwing out this bit of speculation. feel free to tell me i'm stupid or just ignore me.

[raisedbywolves]

Yeah, I don't know. I'm with you on Corpse Bride - it felt a little uninspired and wasn't even good eye candy for the most part. I'm going with W&G because I believe each of their shorts won an Oscar, and I think it was the most favorably reviewed movie of the year at Rotten Tomatoes. I liked it, but didn't love it like I was expecting to. I think it's stretched a little thin.

[jb]

When I think about Nightmare, I think about all the creativity in it. I mean, that movie kept fucking COMING. It's getting on towards the end, and then they throw freaking Oogie Boogie at us, with all the black-light goodness and it's like HOLY FUCKING COOOOOOOL.

Corpse Bride had nothing like that, and the story wasn't as inventive or clever. Neither film had a really engaging script, which is my least favorite aspect of Nightmare. It could have been really affecting but missed the mark by just a HAIR. Corpse Bride on the other hand, doesn't even come close to making me tear up like it should have.

I can't remember what I gave CB, but right now I'm thinking B-or maybe even C+ if I'm feeling like a bigger dick than usual.

JB

[mico saudad]

who I like but might not win:

David Strathairn (male lead)
Wallace & Gromit (anim)
Harry Potter (art)
Good Night, and Good Luck (cinematography)
Good Night, and Good Luck." (directing)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room = March of the Penguins (doc)
Good Night, and Good Luck (best film)
The Constant Gardener (adaptation)
Good Night, and Good Luck (original)

[Hoblit]

Corpse Bride is a good movie. I don't think it's fair to compare it to anything really. It's natural to compare it to TNBC (which is my favorite movie of all time) because of the similarities...but in the end, thats not fair. What are we comparing Big Fish to?

The Corpse Bride is very disapointing when compared to TNBC. It isn't nearly as good. On it's own though...I think it's pretty good. However, that Wallace & Grommit movie was great and IT SHOULD win when you compare those two together.

[prayformojo]

My early predictions vs favorites (major catagories and whatever else I feel like writing about right now)

Performance by an actor in a leading role
predict: Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote"
favorite: Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote"

I think best actor is pretty much a gimme this year. Hoffman is an actor's actor in the performance of a lifetime. If Capote doesn't win I will be surprised.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
predict: Matt Dillon in "Crash"
favorites: Paul Giamatti and Matt Dillon

This is a tough one my prediction here may change before my oscar pool ballots are due. The hype machine is behind Brokeback. Dillon was amazing in Crash and could steal it. We also have the constantly shafted yet academy favorite Giamatti. He, with another amazing performance, could win as an "I'm sorry" for the past 2 years.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
prediction: Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line"
favorite: Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line"

The golden globes don't mean a thing in the oscar race, but I'm still siding with them here. None of the other nominees have the momentum of Reese right now.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
prediction: Rachel Weisz in "The Constant Gardener"
favorite: Amy Adams in "Junebug"

Another close race with all the performances. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Amy Adams pulled this one out (fingers crossed!), but the safe money is one Weisz right now.

Best animated feature film of the year
prediction & favorite:"Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit"

This is a no brainer. Wallace and Gromit have already earned 2 oscars. They'll get their third this year.

Achievement in cinematography
prediction:"Brokeback Mountain" Rodrigo Prieto
favorite:"Brokenack Mountain"

The excellent black and white of Good Night and Good Luck could steal this, but I think Brokeback's beautifully composed cinematography will take the prize.

Achievement in directing
prediction and favorite: Ang Lee "Brokeback Mountain"

All 5 directors were amazing this year, but the director race is usually decided by momentum going into the voting, and that is firmly (and deservedly) on Ang's side. Again, we could see a surprise, but probably not.

Best documentary feature
prediction:"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"
favorite: "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"

In all fairness, I didn't see three of these. (I still haven't seen "March"), but Enron is one of the best crafted docs I have seen in a long time. Remember, that in order to vote for best Documentary, an academy member has to verify that they saw all fo the nominees. The pinguins were a smash hit, but how many of those people saw all 5 features? Not to mention the arguement in hollywood about whether it's a documentary or a nariative. It could still win, but Enron who I'm leaning towards.

Achievement in film editing
"The Constant Gardener" Claire Simpson
"Crash" Hughes Winborne

I haven't made up my mind here yet. I think it's between these 2. (Though the editing in Cinderella Man was excellent as well. Hell, all 5 were really well cut, but Crash and Gardner were particulary outstanding)

Achievement in visual effects
predict: "King Kong"
favorite: "King Kong"

Another easy call. Looked good, big scale, no real competition... oscar gold.

Adapted screenplay
predict: "Capote" Screenplay by Dan Futterman
favorite: "Capote" Screenplay by Dan Futterman

Another we'll have to see category. It's really between Capote, Brockback, and Gardner. Teh brilliant characterisations in Capote have me leaning that way right now.

Original screenplay
predict and favorite: "The Squid and the Whale" Written by Noah Baumbach

This is where Oscar usually gives out it's indie pats on the back. Not to mention the Squid won most of the guild, producer, and critic circle awards. There are deffinite other contenders in this catergory, but I think Squid will take it. (On a side note, I firmly believe that the biggest nomination slight this year was "The 40 Year Old Virgin" in the original screenplay catergory. That film and it's writers absolutely deserved a nod this year. Soem of the best written comedy scriptwork I've seen and read in a long time.)

Best motion picture of the year
predict: "Brokeback Mountain"
favorite: "Capote"

Again, I side with momentum. Plus, Brokback is just the kind of movie that wins best pic. Beautifully written, acted, shot, edited, and directed. I think it is a deserving winner, even if there wer other movies I liked better this year.

It shoudl be a good year. There's soem room for upsets, and that makes it much more fun.

[jute gyte]

In addition to predicting Academy Award winners, perhaps you could do that cover you've owed Calfborg for over a year now.

[prayformojo]

In addition to predicting Academy Award winners, perhaps you could do that cover you've owed Calfborg for over a year now.

Predicting oscars doesn't require equipment and software that I don't have.

My tardy cover has not gone sincerely un-regretted, and once I have the facilities again I will record it, post it, and beg forgiveness. (You'll notice I haven't recorded anything since around the time of that fateful GOM. Old laptop went poo. Mic went poo. Don't have the money for new software and hardware yet, but recording again is a big goal of mine for this year.)

[jute gyte]

Fair enough.