oscars

ok, the oscars is tomorrow and i usually do this somewhere else (i.e., my notebook/journal or via email with sarge (who takes it personally and gets so pissed when what he likes isn't nominated)) but since i'm doing this film blog now, why not share?

here's how it works: i list the nominees, then i write what i think will win, what i want to win, and oftentimes offers witty comments. ok? ok.

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* Best Picture: "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Munich."

Will win: Brokeback
Should win: Brokeback

In my mind, Brokeback and The New World were the best movies of the year. The fact that Crash is even nominated and people are thinking it has a chance is fucking absurd.

* Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"; Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"; Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"; Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"; David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck."

Will win: Joaquin Phoenix
Should win: Phil Hoffman

This is my upset category. I fucking LOVE Phil Hoffman (I wrote my first full-length script for him) and I hope the convention wisdom that he's a shoe-in is right. However, I have some gut instinct that this will be an upset and they're going to give it to someone else. I think Joaquin, but again, I hope I am wrong.

* Actress: Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"; Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"; Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"; Charlize Theron, "North Country"; Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line."

Will win: Reese
Should win: Reese

I think Reese should win, even though I didn't see the movie, because the Oscars aren't really about who did the best job, they're about politics of who's hot and who does the academy like and respect and all that. And everyone loves Reese and they are right to because she's a really good actress even in shitty pictures (Sweet Home Alabama, for example) and she's cute and likeable and classy. So she'll get it and deserves it.

The truth is that I've only seen one of the above pictures, Pride and Prejudice. And I really liked Keira's nomination. She grounded the movie and, astonishingly, was able to more than hold her own in an awesome kiss-off scene against Judi fucking Dench. That deserves *something*.

Oh, also: Q'Orianka Kilcher should have been nominated here.

* Supporting Actor: George Clooney, "Syriana"; Matt Dillon, "Crash"; Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"; William Hurt, "A History of Violence."

Will win: Paul Giamatti
Should win: Clooney

Giamatti wins because they've overlooked him so many times before. Clooney was fucking great, though. Again, the fact that Matt Dillon was nominated is silly, although I like the William Hurt nomination.

* Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "Junebug"; Catherine Keener, "Capote"; Frances McDormand, "North Country"; Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"; Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain."

Will win: Weisz
Should win: Weisz

She was really good in that movie. But I've heard lots of nice things about the lovely Amy Adams...

* Director: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"; Bennett Miller, "Capote"; Paul Haggis, "Crash"; George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck."; Steven Spielberg, "Munich."

Will win: Li An
Should win: Li An

Why isn't Malick in here?

* Foreign Film: "Don't Tell," Italy; "Joyeux Noel," France; "Paradise Now," Palestine; "Sophie Scholl - The Final Days," Germany; "Tsotsi," South Africa.

Don't know. Is one of these a holocaust movie?

* Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"; Dan Futterman, "Capote"; Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"; Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"; Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich."

Will win: Brokeback
Should win: Brokeback

Although I *really* liked the Capote screenplay, because it did something extremely hard to do: make us care about a character who is dispicable.

* Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco, "Crash"; George Clooney & Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck."; Woody Allen, "Match Point"; Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"; Stephen Gaghan, "Syriana."

Will win: Crash
Should win: Squid

This is going to be the token Crash win. Man that movie sucks, and was not written well. But! Akiva Goldsman has an oscar, so why not?

* Animated Feature Film: "Howl's Moving Castle"; "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"; "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit."

Will win: Wallace
Should win: Wallace

Their studio burnt down, so give it to them. And give them some money.

Check it out -- no CGI movies!

* Art Direction: "Good Night, and Good Luck.," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Pride & Prejudice."

???

* Cinematography: "Batman Begins," "Brokeback Mountain," "Good Night, and Good Luck.," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "The New World."

Will win: Brokeback
Should win: The New World

* Sound Mixing: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Walk the Line," "War of the Worlds."

???

* Sound Editing: "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "War of the Worlds."

???

* Original Score: "Brokeback Mountain," Gustavo Santaolalla; "The Constant Gardener," Alberto Iglesias; "Memoirs of a Geisha," John Williams; "Munich," John Williams; "Pride & Prejudice," Dario Marianelli.

???

* Original Song: "In the Deep" from "Crash," Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker; "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard; "Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica," Dolly Parton.

Three 6 Mafia is playing the oscars! HOLY SHIT!

* Costume: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Mrs. Henderson Presents," "Pride & Prejudice," "Walk the Line."

???

* Documentary Feature: "Darwin's Nightmare," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "March of the Penguins," "Murderball," "Street Fight."

Will win: Penguins
Should win: Murderball

No Grizzly Man is a damn shame.

* Documentary (short subject): "The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club," "God Sleeps in Rwanda," "The Mushroom Club," "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin."

???

* Film Editing: "Cinderella Man," "The Constant Gardener," "Crash," "Munich," "Walk the Line."

OK, I've already made a lot of references to The New World getting robbed, but here's where is REALLY doesn't make sense. Malick's genius is in his cutting and the fact that he basically makes feature length montages that effectively give a filmic version of stream-of-consciousness. He is amazing, and part of the reason is in his editing. Completely outrageous that there's no nomination here.

There are other nominations, but many of them I don't care about. One thing I do like is the Altman tribute. Altman is fucking rad and going to die soon, so good for them for recognizing him before all his cigarettes catch up to him.