It’s that time of year again already! I can hardly believe it. Well, here are the nominees from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the highest achievement in film for 2006. With each category, there will be the list of nominees. Following the list will be:
WILL) Who I think WILL win
WNT) Who I WANT to win
SHLD) Who I think SHOULD win
Plus I may add any additional commentary below each nominee listing. Please feel free to give me your own picks and ideas in the COMMENTS section below. I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts. Also, we’re having a special OSCARS CINECAST (episode #31) late tonight; so be sure to check that out. Anyway, without further ado, the nominees are…
BEST MOTION PICTURE:
Babel
The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
WILL) Babel
WNT) Babel
SHLD) Babel
No Dreamgirls! I’ve been saying for weeks that there are 7 films that will be considered: these five, plus Dreamgirls and United 93 (with Half Nelson having about a 3% chance of getting in as well). This is going to be a tough category. Scorsese is very deserving this year, but I think the Academy will continue their snub streak. They NEVER recognize comedy, so LMS is out. This is between Babel and Letters - let the fight begin.
BEST ACTOR:
Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond)
Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson)
Peter O’Toole (Venus)
Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness)
Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
WILL) Forest Whitaker
WNT) Ryan Gosling
SHLD) Forest Whitaker
Just like the Golden Globes, this is a no-brainer and a lock. Of all the categories this year, DO NOT mark anyone but Whitaker on your Oscar ballots this year. I would LOVE to see Gosling win though for his performance in my pick for the 4th best film of the year, Half Nelson. It’s only been ten minutes since the nominees were announced and I’ve already heard grumblings about no Sacha Baron Cohen. Please. A) The Oscars don’t recognize comedy. B) It barely can be considered acting. He dresses up in a funny costume with a fake accent and messes with people. Funny? Yes. Acting? No.
BEST ACTRESS:
Penelope Cruz (Volver)
Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal)
Helen Mirren (The Queen)
Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada)
Kate Winslet (Little Children)
WILL) Helen Mirren
WNT) Penelope Cruz
SHLD) Helen Mirren
I actually think all the women are extremely deserving this year but Mirren is the obvious and best choice. Since Penelope and I are announcing our engagement soon, I am pulling for her though.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children)
Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond)
Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls)
Mark Wahlberg (The Departed)
WILL) Eddie Murphy
WNT) Alan Arkin
SHLD) Djimon Hounsou
Jack Nicholson is snubbed in place of Mark Wahlberg. Wow! Again, no way will a comedic performance garner a win. So this is all Hounsou.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Adriana Barraza (Babel)
Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal)
Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine)
Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)
Rinko Kikuchi (Babel)
WILL) Jennifer Hudson
WNT) Abigail Breslin
SHLD) Adriana Barraza
Follow the Golden Globe road.
BEST DIRECTOR:
Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel)
Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
Clint Eastwood (Letters from Iwo Jima)
Stephen Frears (The Queen)
Paul Greengrass (United 93)
WILL) Clint Eastwood
WNT) Paul Greengrass
SHLD) Paul Greengrass
Here we go again, Eastwood is going to capture the Academy’s heart once again. I think the last 8 seconds of The Departed ruined Scorsese’s chances. Iñárritu has a chance (as he should!) and United 93 was some of the best directing I’ve seen in a while, but The Academy has always and will always give love to Dirty Harry.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House
WILL) Cars
WNT) Cars
SHLD) Cars
Cars was the best, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Monster House take it (no way in hell) - it was a great movie.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
After the Wedding - Denmark
Days of Glory (Indigènes) - Algeria
The Lives of Others - Germany
Pan’s Labyrinth - Mexico
Water - Canada
WILL) Pan’s Labyrinth
WNT) Pan’s Labyrinth
SHLD) Pan’s Labyrinth
Two things: first of all, I admit I’ve only seen Pan’s of these but I know it will win. Second, this category should be changed to “Best Foreign Film” and take out the language part of the title. Otherwise, Letters from Iwo Jima and Apocalypto would surely be up for this (yes I understand how the Academy works it’s foreign section and why these two films can’t be included - I wrote about it HERE).
I’m also a bit surprised to not see VOLVER in this category.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Vilmos Zsigmond (The Black Dahlia)
Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men)
Dick Pope (The Illusionist)
Guillermo Navarro (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Wally Pfister (The Prestige)
WILL) Pan’s Labyrinth
WNT) Children of Men
SHLD) Pan’s Labyrinth
Apocalypto is out for obvious reasons. The only true sense of the word “snub” in the Oscars this year. This is unfortunate because it was masterfully done. This is a tough call between Children of Men and Pan’s. And as much as I hated Black Dahlia, I did mention the great cinematography in my review.
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP:
Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano (Apocalypto)
Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso (Click)
David Marti and Montse Ribe (Pan’s Labyrinth)
WILL) Pan’s Labyrinth
WNT) Apocalypto
SHLD) toss-up: Apocalypto, Pan’s
Click? Please. I’m rooting for Sodano as he actually wrote to me and I think that movie had some of the best make-up I’ve ever seen.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Poseidon
Superman Returns
WILL) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
WNT) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
SHLD) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
As much as I think Pirates 2 was crap, the effects from this film blow everything else out of the water (no pun intended Poseidon). Though the plane sequence in Superman was pretty damn cool.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal
WILL) The Departed
WNT) Little Children
SHLD) Little Children
Uh… Am I missing something? Wasn’t Borat almost completely improv? No one wrote what all those people were going to say. The story is very simple and rough. Hardly deserving of an Academy Award. If this wins, I’m going to puke.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Babel by Guillermo Arriaga
Letters from Iwo Jima by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis
Little Miss Sunshine by Michael Arndt
Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro
The Queen by Peter Morgan
WILL) Little Miss Sunshine
WNT) Little Miss Sunshine
SHLD) Little Miss Sunshine
This may be the one category that comedy is recognized. All of these are more than deserving, but I’m betting on the darling of the year.
BEST ART DIRECTION:
Dreamgirls
The Good Shepherd
Pan’s Labyrinth
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
The Prestige
WILL) Dreamgirls
WNT) Pan’s Labyrinth
SHLD) Pan’s Labyrinth
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Curse of the Golden Flower
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Marie Antoinette
The Queen
WILL) Curse of the Golden Flower
WNT) Curse of the Golden Flower
SHLD) Curse of the Golden Flower
LOCK
BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Deliver Us from Evil
An Inconvenient Truth
Iraq in Fragments
Jesus Camp
My Country, My Country
WILL) An Inconvenient Truth
WNT) I don’t care
SHLD) I don’t care
A little surprised that Shut up and Sing isn’t here, as well as Who Killed the Electric Car? But I’ve not seen any of these, nor do I care to.
BEST SCORE:
Babel - Gustavo Santaolalla
The Good German - Thomas Newman
Notes on a Scandal - Philip Glass
Pan’s Labyrinth - Javier Navarrete
The Queen - Alexandre Desplat
WILL) Gustavo Santaolalla
WNT) Gustavo Santaolalla
SHLD) I’m not musically inclined enough to know this.
I like Phillip Glass a lot, but Santaolalla also did Motorcycle Diaries and Brokeback Mountain; two AWESOME soundtracks.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
“I Need to Wake Up” from An Inconvenient Truth
Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge
“Listen” from Dreamgirls
Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler
Lyric by Anne Preven
“Love You I Do” from Dreamgirls
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Siedah Garrett
“Our Town” from Cars
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Patience” from Dreamgirls
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Willie Reale
WILL) I have no idea
WNT) Love You I Do
SHLD) I have no idea
BEST SOUND MIXING:
Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
Dreamgirls
Flags of Our Fathers
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
WILL) I have no idea
WNT) I have no idea
SHLD) I have no idea
I have no idea how they judge this with the new rules on sound this year. I didn’t know last year either though. For that matter, I’m not sure what the difference is between mixing and editing.
BEST SOUND EDITING:
Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
Flags of Our Fathers
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
WILL) I have no idea
WNT) I have no idea
SHLD) I have no idea
Same nominees as in Mixing; save for Dreamgirls. And again, I have no idea how they or I should judge this category.
Be sure to check out our special OSCARS CINECAST (episode #31) for more “in depth analysis”.
The Golden Rasberries (Razzies) nominations were announced today for unachievement in film. Thankfully, I have not seen many of these as I try to avoid “bad” pictures, although sometimes it is unavoidable. Therefore, I have not made any predictions or picks. Although personally, I would have to say that Lady in the Water, Poseidon and Pulse were three of the worst films I saw in 2006. More commentary on Tuesday night’s 
