Sunday, March 05, 2006

Bet the Farm...Your Guaranteed Oscar Winners


I thought I'd publish my picks, so the rest of you can empty your bank accounts into Oscar pools and reap the rewards of my famed Academy Awards instincts. It should be noted that these picks are of the nominees that will win, not necessarily the ones that should win. Also, the fact that I have not seen any of the shorts should not hamper my ability to pick films that just feel like winners.

BEST PICTURE
"Brokeback Mountain," Diana Ossana and James Schamus, producers
"Capote," Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, producers
"Crash," Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, producers
"Good Night, and Good Luck," Grant Heslov, producer
"Munich," Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, producers

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Junebug"
Catherine Keener, "Capote"
Frances McDormand, "North Country"
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
George Clooney, "Syriana"
Matt Dillon, "Crash"
Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt, "A History of Violence"

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

BEST 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"

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Bennett Miller, "Capote"
Paul Haggis, "Crash"
George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Steven Spielberg, "Munich"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Woody Allen, "Match Point"
Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"
Steven Gaghan, "Syriana"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Dan Futterman, "Capote"
Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"
Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Don't Tell" (Italy)
"Joyeux Noël" (France)
"Paradise Now" (Palestine)
"Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" (Germany)
"Tsotsi" (South Africa)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Howl's Moving Castle," Hayao Miyazake
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
"Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit," Nick Park and Steve Box

BEST ART DIRECTION

"Good Night, and Good Luck," Art Direction: Jim Bissell; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Art Direction: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"King Kong," Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau
"Pride & Prejudice," Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Batman Begins," Wally Pfister
"Brokeback Mountain," Rodrigo Prieto
"Good Night, and Good Luck," Robert Elswit
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Dion Beebe
"The New World," Emmanuel Lubezki

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Gabriella Pescucci
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Colleen Atwood
"Mrs. Henderson Presents," Sandy Powell
"Pride & Prejudice," Jacqueline Durran
"Walk the Line," Arianne Phillips

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Darwin's Nightmare," Hubert Sauper
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot
"March of the Penguins," Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau
"Murderball," Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
"Street Fight," Marshall Curry

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club," Dan Krauss
"God Sleeps in Rwanda," Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman
"The Mushroom Club," Steven Okazaki
"A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin," Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson

BEST FILM EDITING
"Cinderella Man," Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"The Constant Gardener," Claire Simpson
"Crash," Hughes Winborne
"Munich," Michael Kahn
"Walk the Line," Michael McCusker

BEST MAKEUP
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Howard Berger and Tami Lane
"Cinderella Man," David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
"Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"Brokeback Mountain," Gustavo Santaolalla
"The Constant Gardener," Alberto Iglesias
"Memoirs of a Geisha," John Williams
"Munich," John Williams
"Pride & Prejudice," Dario Marianelli

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"In the Deep" from "Crash," Music by Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker; Lyrics by Kathleen "Bird" York
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," Music and Lyrics by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
"Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica," Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"Badgered," Sharon Colman
"The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation," John Canemaker and Peggy Stern
"The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello," Anthony Lucas
"9," Shane Acker
"One Man Band," Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Ausreisser (The Runaway)," Ulrike Grote
"Cashback," Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager
"The Last Farm," Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson
"Our Time Is Up," Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente
"Six Shooter," Martin McDonagh

BEST SOUND EDITING
"King Kong," Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Wylie Stateman
"War of the Worlds," Richard King

BEST SOUND MIXING
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
"King Kong," Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
"Memoirs of a Geisha," Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
"Walk the Line," Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland
"War of the Worlds," Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
"King Kong," Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor
"War of the Worlds," Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick

2 Comments:

Blogger Andrew said...

I'm with you on most of these. My crystal ball predicts the following differently, though:

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
"Tsotsi" (South Africa)

BEST FILM EDITING:
The Constant Gardener

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"Travelin' Thru" by Dolly Parton
(do you really think they put hip hop ahead of country?)

10:15 AM  
Blogger Sam Goldberg said...

Hmmm, I think you may be right about "Tsotsi", but I am sticking with my pick. As for your other two predictions, you have had too much Chocolate Cake. The Academy is going to want to pat itself on the back for being cool enough to pick "Pimp". Hey, we should see "Block Party" this afternoon...

10:35 AM  

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