The Noms

Well it's that time of year. Oscar time is upon us and I'll be honest, no real surprises in the nominations for me this year. Unless you count the fact that Brokeback Mountain got 8 nominations and it was merely an okay film in my opinion. I won't bore you with a recap of all the categories, but you do get the majors with a sneak peek at my thought process on who might win this year. As soon as I get my fantasy pick 'em league up and running, an invite will be posted here on the old blog for any and all takers. Stay tuned.

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Terrence Howard
Heath Ledger
Joaquin Phoenix
David Strathairn

Here's the thing about Best Actor, I genuinely like 4 of the 5 guys in this group and the fifth, Heath Ledger, gave the best perfromance in his movie Brokeback Mountain. Since Heath has been getting shut out by Hoffman in all the major awards this year, you have to think Philip Seymour is becoming a lock. Three of the five are playing real people, something the academy leans towards, but I must be honest I've only seen 3 performances (Phoenix, Ledger and Howard) and the one I enjoyed most was Hustle and Flow's Terrence Howard.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
George Clooney
Matt Dillon
Paul Giamatti
Jake Gyllenhaal
William Hurt

Matt Dillon was incredible in Crash, but I've only seen his and Jake's performances. Giamatti's nomination appears like a make up for getting snubbed for Sideways, so he ain't winning. Clooney has 3 nominations this year, so look for him to get shut out of this one as well. William Hurt from what I hear is only in his movie for 8 minutes of screen time, something that hasn't prevented Paul Newman and Judi Dench from winning in this type of category in the past. However, I think the good money could be on Matt this year.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Judi Dench
Felicity Huffman
Keira Knightley
Charlize Theron
Reese Witherspoon

Felicity Huffman has been battling Reese for trophies this award season, making this more interesting that you might think, but ulitmately Reese will have the edge based on the fact that she is playing June Carter. Looking across the nominations here I can't help but think that woman's roles are starting to suck again. What happened ladies?

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams
Catherine Keener
Frances McDormand
Rachel Weisz
Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams getting a nomination is exciting to me as a former Dawson's Creek die hard, but honestly she doesn't have much of a shot against such heavys as Catherine Keener and Frances McDormand. Rachel Weisz in addition to being the hottest nominee this year, apparently adds a lot to her film where as the other nominees are just what the title implies, supporting roles. But, the buzz is all over Amy Adams and Junebug, so she could pull this one out and shock us a la Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny.

Achievement in directing and Best motion picture of the year
Brokeback Mountain
Ang Lee
Capote
Bennett Miller
Crash
Paul Haggis
Good Night, and Good Luck.
George Clooney
Munich
Steven Spielberg

I can't recall when the last time all 5 nominated Best Pictures shared the honor with their respective directors in the Best Director category, but it's nice to see. I am always mystified when a movie is nomiated for Best Picture and the director, the guy or girl who put the fucking thing together gets overlooked. Right on Academy. I think this is a two horse race between Crash and Brokeback Mountain, with the edge going to Brokeback due primarily to buzz. I would give it to Crash to be honest. What I don't get is the omission of Walk the Line here? Did Cloonely do that great a job with Good Night, and Good Luck?


Adapted screenplay
Brokeback Mountain
Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
Capote
Screenplay by Dan Futterman
The Constant Gardener
Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine
A History of Violence
Screenplay by Josh Olson
Munich
Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Brokeback can pretty much lock this one up. This pick is my LOCK of the show. Mark my words.

Original screenplay
Crash
Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco
Story by Paul Haggis
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov
Match Point
Written by Woody Allen
The Squid and the Whale
Written by Noah Baumbach
Syriana
Written by Stephen Gaghan

Cool to see Gaghan nominated again, Traffic was a solid winner a few years back, and now that he is nominated for a movie starring a fellow writing nominee in Clooney is an interesting twist on things. The Wood man usually squeaks in a direting nomination, but here he is at 97 years old getting a writing nod. My dark horse is the buzz heavy The Squid and the Whale, but Crash has the best shot here.

So there you have it. My lingering questions will hopefully be answered before the big night, I have several of the major films on my Netflix list so I can handicap things accordingly, so some of my predicitons may change based on a viewing.

What I'm bummed about is that Jeff Daniels didn't get a nomination for The Squid and the Whale, nor did Steve Carell for 40 Year Old Virgin. It would be nice for the Academy to step up and acknowledge that it's not easy to play comedy for once. And with regard to Jeff Daniels, he's just a guy who has been plugging along for years and he could use the encouragement.