Yup, we’ve learned that the 12 animated features being considered as nomination for the Academy’s big night have been announced. The twelve titles submitted are:

 

Alvin and the Chipmunks
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
Bee Movie
Beowulf
Meet the Robinsons
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Shrek the Third
The Simpsons Movie
Surf’s Up
Tekkonkinkreet
TMNT

     Now, without even having seen all of these, I can tell you which three SHOULD be nominated: Persepolis, Ratatouille and Tekkonkinkreet. Which three probably WILL be nominated? Ratatouille, Shrek and Surf’s Up (it’s about penguins; think it ain’t gonna get nominated?). Depending on the Academy’s thoughts on motion capture, Beowulf has a shot at it too.

     Point is, aside from Ratatouille, it’ll probably be a bunch of Hollywood gobble-dee-gook that gets nominated and not the truly good stuff. We shall see I guess. If Alvin is nominated, I might have to vomit in my sleeve.

     Though not yet announced officially on the main TAD site, Twitch is declaring Alone (MP review) as the winner for the 2007 audience choice awards. This is very good news. This little Thai horror flick had me nearly gasping for breath with the scares and then totally enthralled with a great story to boot.

     While predictions of a travesty looming as Troma’s Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (MP review) stood a good chance of taking the honor, I’m pleased to say that that theory can be laid to rest. The crowds in Toronto seem to concur with my personal pick for the best movie at TAD this year: Alone (a possible limited theatrical release may be imminent and a bullshit American remake is already in the works).

     It’s nice to see Jon Stewart confirmed to host the Oscars again. I always feel that every host should get two cracks at being there. First time hosts never really get comfortable until about the last 30 minutes of the show, so let em try again next year I say.

     Two years ago, Stewart did a fine job hosting I thought. He was bright, witty, improvisational and not too politically controversial. He definitely was a little stale at first but really started to get into during the second half. I think that now he knows what to expect, he’ll be much crisper from the get-go. I hope he’s allowed more improv than scripted stuff as this seemed to definitely be his forte last time.

“I’m thrilled to be asked to host the Academy Awards for the second time because, as they say, the third time’s a charm,” Stewart joked. However, some jokes bombed [in 2006] and he got mixed reviews. The 44-year-old Stewart noted the split decision on his own cable TV show the night after the Oscars, saying he had a great time but didn’t know how he did until he saw the reviews. “I sucked and was great!” he said. “I was a painfully smug and unfunny heir to Johnny Carson.”

     Oscar show producer, Gil Cates, has always done a pretty good job of choosing the host I think. His previous choices were Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Billy Crystal and ‘06 Stewart. I still like Crystal the best - I wish he would come back.

     At the press release, The Academy didn’t state why DeGeneres wasn’t asked back. She wasn’t the greatest, but she definitely had her moments and I thought she was decent overall, though clearly not one of the best in the last five years.

     Yet this is my second television related post in as many days. Well, for anyone who cares and wants to comment, here are most of the nominees for the “best” television shows available now…

Outstanding Comedy Series
Entourage
The Office
30 Rock
Two And A Half Men
Ugly Betty

Outstanding Drama Series
Boston Legal
Grey’s Anatomy
Heroes
House
The Sopranos

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
Ricky Gervais, Extras
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Steve Carell, The Office
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
James Spader, Boston Legal
Hugh Laurie, House
Denis Leary, Rescue Me
James Gandolfini, The Sopranos
Kiefer Sutherland, 24

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series:
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Patricia Arquette, Medium
Minnie Driver, The Riches
Edie Falco, The Sopranos

     Kurt just sent me the link to this story from The Hollywood Reporter about the 36th annual Key Art Awards. I’ve never heard of this ceremony before, but apparently these are the awards that recognize achievement in marketing in regards to film. It ties in really nicely with our recent discussions (both in the Cinecast and posts) about cool movie posters, but it also includes trailers, TV spots and web design.

     These awards break down marketing into several categories. There are awards for different genres in TV spots, posters and trailers, also DVD packaging and even an award for marketing that gets people to go to see a movie that has gotten poor reviews (winner: Step Up); just to name a few.

     Little Miss Sunshine (review) won best overall poster while the terribly underrated Little Children (review) was co-winner for best in show audio-visual along with Thank You for Smoking (review).

excerpt from the main article at Hollywoodreporter.com…

     In the main competition, 442 movie advertising and marketing professionals judged a record 1,452 entries. The eligibility period was January-December 2006. A judging event was held April 25 at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.

“The marketing has never been more stimulating,” said John Kilcullen, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. “The submissions reflect the great work the community is doing.”

     New categories were added this year to recognize work in animation, documentary and horror films. To present the animation awards, Nancy Cartwright — who provides the voice of Bart Simpson –arrived onstage with a Bart puppet, with whom she conversed in a comedic exchange.

     This year’s presenters also included Tobin Bell, Wes Craven, Rob Cohen and Dave Foley.

Click on this link to unwrap text of all the night’s winners and some images:

UNWRAP TEXT or SHOW **SPOILER**

     While there are plenty of great and important awards ceremonies each year praising film, only one has the glitz, glamour and fun factor of The MTV Movie Awards without meaning jack shit. MTV is always fun (in a juvenile, teenie-bopper sort of way) and has unique award categories that are just… fun. Plain and simple. Fake trailers and parodies abound and everyone always has a good time with it; including myself. So here’s a list of the nominees and the winners (in red) from this year’s ceremony. I’m not going to make predictions or mark who I’d like to win, because honestly, I don’t really care.

     So for this year’s Golden Popcorn award ceremony, the hilariously offensive Sarah Silverman hosting the night’s show. It should prove to be a riot.

Best Movie

• “300″
• “Blades of Glory”
• “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
• “Little Miss Sunshine”
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”

Best Performance

• Gerard Butler, “300″
• Johnny Depp, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
• Keira Knightley, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
• Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls”
• Beyoncé Knowles, “Dreamgirls”
• Will Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness”

Breakthrough Performance

• Emily Blunt, “The Devil Wears Prada”
• Abigail Breslin, “Little Miss Sunshine”
• Lena Headey, “300″
• Columbus Short, “Stomp the Yard”
• Jaden Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness”
• Justin Timberlake, “Alpha Dog”

Best Comedic Performance

• Emily Blunt, “The Devil Wears Prada”
• Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
• Will Ferrell, “Blades of Glory”
• Adam Sandler, “Click”
• Ben Stiller, “Night at the Museum”

Best Kiss

• Cameron Diaz & Jude Law, “The Holiday”
• Will Ferrell & Sacha Baron Cohen, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”
• Columbus Short & Meagan Good, “Stomp The Yard”
• Mark Wahlberg & Elizabeth Banks, “Invincible”
• Marlon Wayans & Brittany Daniel, “Little Man”

Best Villain

• Tobin Bell, “Saw III”
• Jack Nicholson, “The Departed”
• Bill Nighy, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
• Rodrigo Santoro, “300″
• Meryl Streep, “The Devil Wears Prada”

Best Fight

• Jack Black & Héctor Jiménez vs. Los Duendes (Wrestling Match), “Nacho Libre”
• Gerard Butler vs. “The Uber Immortal” (The Spartan/Persian Battle), “300″
• Sacha Baron Cohen vs. Ken Davitian (Naked Wrestle Fight), “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
• Will Ferrell vs. Jon Heder (Ice Rink Fight), “Blades of Glory”
• Uma Thurman vs. Anna Faris (Super Girl Fight), “My Super Ex-Girlfriend”

Best Summer Movie You Haven’t Seen Yet

• “Evan Almighty” (June 22)
• “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (June 15)
• “Hairspray” (July 20)
• “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (July 13)
• “Rush Hour 3″ (August 10)
• “Transformers” (July 4)

mtvU Best Filmmaker On Campus

• Robert Dastoli, “Southwestern Orange County vs. The Flying Saucers”(University of Central Florida)
• Maria Gigante, “Girls Room” (Columbia College, Chicago)
• Josh Greenbaum, “Border Patrol” (University of Southern California)
• Alexander Poe, “Please Forget I Exist” (Columbia University)
• Andrew Shipsides, “Bottleneck” (Savannah College of Art & Design)

Best Spoof Movie - you can see these short films HERE, but I warn you, they are stupid and not very funny.

• United 300
• Texas Chainsaw Musical
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Rehab
• Casino Royale with Cheese
• Quentin Tarantino’s Little Miss Squirtgun

     The nominations are up over at MTV.com for this years MTV movie awards. While I’m not too into awards I still follow them and like seeing if I can guess right. I’ve bolded the ones I think will win but have put the ones I would like to win in italics. Feel free to comment and tell me how wrong I am.

Best Movie

• “300″
• “Blades of Glory”
• “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
• “Little Miss Sunshine”
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”

Best Performance*

• Gerard Butler, “300″
• Johnny Depp, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
• Keira Knightley, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
• Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls”
• Beyoncé Knowles, “Dreamgirls”
• Will Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness”

Breakthrough Performance

• Emily Blunt, “The Devil Wears Prada”
• Abigail Breslin, “Little Miss Sunshine”
• Lena Headey, “300″
• Columbus Short, “Stomp the Yard”
• Jaden Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness”
• Justin Timberlake, “Alpha Dog”

Best Comedic Performance

• Emily Blunt, “The Devil Wears Prada”
• Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
• Will Ferrell, “Blades of Glory”
• Adam Sandler, “Click”
• Ben Stiller, “Night at the Museum”

Best Kiss**

• Cameron Diaz & Jude Law, “The Holiday”
• Will Ferrell & Sacha Baron Cohen, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”
• Columbus Short & Meagan Good, “Stomp The Yard”
• Mark Wahlberg & Elizabeth Banks, “Invincible”
• Marlon Wayans & Brittany Daniel, “Little Man”

Best Villain

• Tobin Bell, “Saw III”
• Jack Nicholson, “The Departed”
• Bill Nighy, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
• Rodrigo Santoro, “300″
• Meryl Streep, “The Devil Wears Prada”

Best Fight

• Jack Black & Héctor Jiménez vs. Los Duendes (Wrestling Match), “Nacho Libre”
• Gerard Butler vs. “The Uber Immortal” (The Spartan/Persian Battle), “300″
• Sacha Baron Cohen vs. Ken Davitian (Naked Wrestle Fight), “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
• Will Ferrell vs. Jon Heder (Ice Rink Fight), “Blades of Glory”
• Uma Thurman vs. Anna Faris (Super Girl Fight), “My Super Ex-Girlfriend”

Best Summer Movie You Haven’t Seen Yet***

• “Evan Almighty” (June 22)
• “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (June 15)
• “Hairspray” (July 20)
• “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (July 13)
• “Rush Hour 3″ (August 10)
• “Transformers” (July 4)

mtvU Best Filmmaker On Campus****

• Robert Dastoli, “Southwestern Orange County vs. The Flying Saucers”(University of Central Florida)
• Maria Gigante, “Girls Room” (Columbia College, Chicago)
• Josh Greenbaum, “Border Patrol” (University of Southern California)
• Alexander Poe, “Please Forget I Exist” (Columbia University)
• Andrew Shipsides, “Bottleneck” (Savannah College of Art & Design)

* None of these performances rank as best in my mind. Sure doesn’t care about actual artistic merit.
** I haven’t seen any of these so I’ll just go the comedic route here.
*** If Rush Hour 3 wins I am going to boycott the MTV awards from now on.
**** I have no idea about this one at all. Does anyone else know what it actually is. I’m guessing its some show about making movies on MTV.

“Look what I stole!”

     Well, not exactly. After snubbing three of the best films of 2006 of a nomination, The Academy goes with a remake of an already really great movie from three years ago as the best picture of the year. Once best editing and screenplay went to The Departed, we all pretty much knew instantly that it was all over. Then, after losing 5 times in previous years, Scorsese gets his first Oscar for directing (that should’ve gone to Greengrass) and it became a sure thing that his film would be a slam dunk to win best picture and receive the largest ovation of the evening. At least Marty remembered to thank the original film makers (not by name) for allowing him to copy their film and receive all the accolades. All of this of course after the academy presenters incorrectly labelled them as JAPANESE! Tools.

     As far as the acting categories went, no one was surprised to see Mirren and Whitaker take home the win. If you didn’t mark both of those two stars on your ballot tonight (ahem… Kurt), you weren’t paying attention. These were the two most absolute locks in the history of The Oscars; and deservedly so.

     Speaking of slam-dunks, I swear I saw Guillermo Del Toro stand up and begin to walk towards the stage only to realize about 20 seconds later that Pan’s Labyrinth was not the title he heard announced as best foreign language film. It was like Zoolander all over again. My jaw hit the floor as this major upset took me completely by surprise. Let’s see, Pan’s won for art direction, cinematography, make-up and was nominated in two other categories, but miraculously, a film that was not nominated for anything else and very few people have even heard of, The Lives of Others (which is playing in theaters now, by the way), takes home the award. Forget the fact that Pan’s is one of the most critically hailed films of the year (foreign or domestic). Since I have not seen Lives yet, I refrain from making too harsh of a judgement; but I think it’s safe to say that most everyone was shocked.

     Now to answer the title of this post more specifically, let’s just go over a couple of categories point by point before discussing the ceremony as a whole, shall we?
1- Happy Feet wins best animated movie. This is so many shades of wrong I don’t even know where to begin. Oh wait, it’s about global warming, so it must be better than the other two films that were much more entertaining, better looking and far more technically aware and superior in almost every way.
2- Speaking of global warming, we all knew that Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth would win for best doc. feature, but I don’t think anyone predicted it would win Melissa Etheridge an Oscar for best song did they? I’m sorry, but this is atrociously incorrect. When this three chord song was announced as the winner right after Hudson and Beyonce’s spectacular performances of three, count ‘em three, glitteringly, electrifying songs from Dreamgirls, projectile vomiting did occur; and I must apologize to my hosts for the permanent stains on their leather sofa. Next year remind me to bring a barf bag.

MORE THOUGHTS NOT RELATED TO THE NOMINEES…
     Maybe the biggest talk this year was not of the films themselves, but about who the host of the awards would be. I myself was hoping that Jon Stewart would’ve gotten a second chance as he really seemed to warm up after the first half of last year’s show. But The Academy decided to go another route this year and choose Ellen DeGeneres as their host. It seems to me that Ellen is really a love her or hate her personality. Personally I think she’s alright and I enjoyed her interactive banter with the stars. Giving Scorsese a script was pretty funny and telling Spielberg he didn’t take the picture of her and Eastwood very well was gold. But these charades started to wear thin after a while and I felt like her ideas were less and less funny as the night wore on. The vacuum cleaner bit was not very funny at all. I think I’ll be surprised if we see her asked back again next year; though I wouldn’t be opposed to it.

     If you’re looking for commentary on how the stars were dressed and how beautiful their gowns were, etc, you’re on the wrong movie site. But I think it must be said that Ms. Penelope Cruz looked extremely fine; even if she did kill two pink sheep dogs to wrap around her legs. Still, I think Helen Mirren was dressed classically and conservatively and in relation to her age, she was the finest looking woman at the Kodak theater tonight.

     To get this article moving a bit faster, I’ll just make several, specific points quickly and easily that you may’ve or may not have missed…
1- The Oscar ceremony is long enough. Let’s cut out the overly long montages and tributes. There were several this year: recognizing writers, foreign films of the past 50 years, Ennio Morricone’s films that he’s scored (followed by maybe the longest speech of the night in Italian that I fell asleep during), movies about Americana and the tribute to the deaths in Hollywood over the past year. This last tribute is the only montage they should have. End of discussion.
2- Jack Nicholson has shaved his head. I actually could get used to it.
3- As I’ve screamed about for years (click HERE for article), John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell and Jack Black make a hilarious plea to the Academy to start recognizing comedy. Ferrell’s bit about a man with no arms and no legs teaching gang bangers Hamlet was beautiful.
4- Two interesting things happened when nominees were announced this year. First, with screenplays, the presenter actually read a few lines of the actual script; describing the locale and the actions of the actors before we hear the actual words from the actors. Very nice touch I thought. Second, with the costumes, instead of showing sketches and drawings, there were actual models on the stage (that looked very much like the actors in the film) showing off the garments. This was a delightful surprise that I feel should continue.
5- Hudson and Arkin were the sole, two criers of the evening.
6- Get rid of performing the songs (except the ones I approve); they take too long and usually suck anyway as they are far better within the context of the film.
7- Animated short films: I didn’t see any of them and either did you. So why bother?

     Finally, I’d say that the award ceremony was a bag of mixed emotions for me. Already disappointed that some of the best films of ‘06 were not nominated (Little Children, United 93, Children of Men) I became more disgusted when the foreign langauge and best picture winners were announced. Not to mention one of my favorite films of the year, Babel, goes home with nothing but best score. Still, I was pleasantly surprised to see Arkin take home a statue as well as Little Miss Sunshine winning best screenplay.

To sum everything up…
Out of 22 categories (not including doc. short or animated short), the number that the Oscars
got right = 8
got wrong = 14

Because I’m Andrew James and I said so.

Listen Monday night to a very special podcast (#36) covering everything Oscar. I know Kurt is pissed about at least one thing and so am I!

Boy Was I wrong (see below). Lots of surprises at this years Academy Awards. A Remake won best picture.
Lose the Songs in the Broadcast, it crashes the show.
Ellen was OK, but not memorable.

Andrew is no doubt rushing home with lots of opinions and ideas for Tomorrows podcast.

Results are below:
Kurt’s Original Picks
Andrew’s Original Picks

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Winner: The Departed (2006) - Graham King
Kurt was WRONG
Andrew was WRONG
Academy was WRONG

Best Achievement in Directing
Winner: Martin Scorsese for The Departed (2006)
Kurt was RIGHT
Andrew was WRONG
Academy was WRONG

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Kurt was WRONG
Andrew was RIGHT
Academy was RIGHT

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Winner: Helen Mirren for The Queen (2006)
Kurt (and everyone else!) was RIGHT
Andrew was RIGHT
Academy was RIGHT

Best Achievement in Editing
Winner: The Departed (2006) - Thelma Schoonmaker
Kurt was WRONG
Andrew was WRONG
Academy was WRONG

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Winner: An Inconvenient Truth (2006) - Melissa Etheridge(”I Need To Wake Up”)
Kurt doesn’t CARE
Andrew THREW UP
Academy was WRONG

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Winner: Little Miss Sunshine (2006) - Michael Arndt
Kurt was WRONG
Andrew was RIGHT
Academy was RIGHT

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Winner: Babel (2006) - Gustavo Santaolalla
Kurt forgot to guess on this one
Andrew was RIGHT
Academy was RIGHT - could’ve gone to Glass and Notes on a Scandal though too.

Best Documentary, Features
Winner: An Inconvenient Truth (2006) - Davis Guggenheim
Kurt was RIGHT
Andrew was RIGHT
Academy was…

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Winner: The Blood of Yingzhou District (2006) - Ruby Yang, Thomas Lennon
Kurt didn’t see them, any of ‘em
Andrew either

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner: Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006)
Kurt was RIGHT
Andrew was RIGHT
Academy was WRONG

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Winner: Leben der Anderen, Das (2006)(Germany)
Kurt was WRONG (and is pissed, about Pan’s loss)
Andrew was WRONG (and pissed)
Academy was WRONG

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Winner: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) - John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel, Charles Gibson, Allen Hall
Kurt didn’t bother to guess
Andrew was RIGHT
Academy was RIGHT

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Winner: Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006) - Guillermo Navarro
Kurt was WRONG
Andrew was RIGHT
Academy was RIGHT

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Winner: Marie Antoinette (2006) - Milena Canonero
Kurt was SURPRISED, this one should have won, but I guessed with the more safe choice and was WRONG
Andrew was WRONG
Academy was PROBABLY RIGHT (how should I know? I’m not gay.)

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Winner: The Departed (2006) - William Monahan
Kurt was WRONG
Andrew was RIGHT
Academy was WRONG

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Winner: Happy Feet (2006) - George Miller
Kurt was WRONG (but Happy Feet was better than Cars)
Andrew was WRONG
Academy was WAY WRONG

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner: Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Kurt was WRONG (but loves Arkin!)
Andrew was WRONG (but happy)
Academy was RIGHT (recognizes comedy! A miracle!)

Best Achievement in Sound
Winner: Dreamgirls (2006) - Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer, Willie D. Burton
Kurt didn’t CARE
Andrew has NO IDEA
Academy is RIGHT(?)

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Winner: Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) - Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
Kurt was WRONG
Andrew has NO IDEA
Academy is RIGHT(?)

Best Short Film, Live Action
Winner: West Bank Story (2005) - Ari SandelK
Kurt didn’t see any of ‘em
Andrew was WRONG
Academy was WRONG

Best Short Film, Animated
Winner: The Danish Poet (2006) - Torill Kove
Kurt didn’t see any of ‘em (go Canada!)
Andrew ” ” ” ” ” ” (chanting: USA…USA….USA…)
Academy… whatever

Best Achievement in Makeup
Winner: Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006) - David Martí, Montse Ribé
Kurt did guess, but is not surprised
Andrew was WRONG
Academy was ADEQUATE (might’ve gone to Apocalypto to be more accurate)

Best Achievement in Art Direction
Winner: Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006) - Eugenio Caballero, Pilar Revuelta
Kurt was RIGHT
Andrew was WRONG
Academy was RIGHT

     While the world’s excitement reaches climax about the recognition of the best in film achievement over the past year at tonight’s Oscar award ceremony, the Golden Rasberries (Razzies) winner go largely unnoticed. But not around here. The winners (or losers depending on your perspective) 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.

Razzie Winners are highlighted in RED…

Worst Picture:
Basic Instinct 2 (a.k.a. Basically, It Stinks, Too)
Bloodrayne
Lady In The Water
Little Man
Wicker Man

Worst Actor:
Tim Allen - The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, The Shaggy Dog and Zoom
Nicolas Cage - Wicker Man
Larry, The Cable Guy (Dan Whitney) - Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector
Rob Schneider - The Benchwarmers and Little Man
Marlon Wayans & Shawn Wayans - Little Man

Worst Actress:
Hilary Duff & Haylie Duff - Material Girls
Lindsay Lohan - Just My Luck
Kristanna Loken - Bloodrayne
Jessica Simpson - Employee Of The Month
Sharon Stone - Basically It Stinks, Too

Worst Supporting Actor:
Danny DeVito - Deck The Halls
Ben Kingsley - Bloodrayne
M. Night Shyamalan - Lady In The Water
Martin Short - Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
David Thewlis - Basically, It Stinks, Too! and The Omen

Worst Supporting Actress:
Kate Bosworth - Superman Returns
Kristin Chenoweth - Deck The Halls, Pink Panther and RV
Carmen Electra - Date Movie and Scary Movie 4
Jenny McCarthy - John Tucker Must Die
Michelle Rodriguez - Bloodrayne

Worst Screen Couple:
Tim Allen & Martin Short - Santa Clause 3
Nicolas Cage & His Bear Suit - Wicker Man
Hilary & Haylie Duff - Material Girls
Sharon Stone’s Lop-Sided Breasts - Basically, It Stinks, Too
Shawn Wayans & EITHER Kerry Washington OR Marlon Wayans - Little Man

Worst Remake or Rip-off:
Little Man (Rip-off of the 1954 Bugs Bunny cartoon “Baby Buggy Bunny”)
Pink Panther
Poseidon
The Shaggy Dog Story
Wicker Man

Worst Prequel or Sequel:
Basic Instinct 2 (a.k.a. Basically, It Stinks, Too)
Big Momma’s House 2
Garfield 2: A Tail Of Two Kitties
Santa Clause 3
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

Worst Director:
Uwe Boll - Bloodrayne
Michael Caton-Jones - Basic Instinct 2
Ron Howard - The Da Vinci Code
M. Night Shyamalan - Lady In The Water
Keenan Ivory Wayans - Little Man

Worst Screenplay:
Basically, It Stinks, Too
(Screenplay by Leora Barish & Henry Bean)
Bloodrayne
(Screenplay by Guinevere Turner, Based on the Video Game)
Lady In The Water
(Written by M. Night Shyamalan)
Little Man
(Written by Keenan Ivory Wayans, Marlon Wayans, and Shawn Wayans)
Wicker Man
(Screenplay Adapted by Neil LaBute from a Screenplay by Anthony Schaffer)

Worst Excuse for Family Entertainment:
Deck The Halls
Garfield 2: A Tail Of Two Kitties
RV
Santa Clause 3
The Shaggy Dog

Awards Per Picture:

Basically, It Stinks, Too — 4 “Wins”:
Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Sequel, Worst Screenplay

Little Man — 3 “Wins”:
Worst Actor, Worst Screen Couple and Worst Remake/Rip-Off

Lady in the Water — 2 “Wins”:
Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Director

In the past I’ve been OK at predicting the major awards (about an 80% average, which I understand is pretty high), but the past year and this year have been extra hard to predict. The academy has been getting less predictable in their nominations and fewer prestige films are being made in favor of comic book films and blockbusters ranging from things like National Treasure to The Da Vinci code (heh - yes those are from 2005; and yes that is limited range). Everyone knows the teen comedies and Horror remakes are where the real money is made ($10M movie, $15M marketing - $45M box office).

Anyway, here is my stab at predicting the major awards. Guessing ‘original make-up effects is purely a hail-Mary guess, so I just do not bother. My picks (***) are based on what I think will happen, not my favorites. Other than Pan’s Labyrinth and Little Children, I don’t have much ‘rooting interesting’ in most of categories. I’ll say this though, the BEST DIRECTION in a motion picture is certainly Alfonso Cuaron for Children of Men, and he was not even nominated.

BEST PICTURE
***BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN

BEST DIRECTING
Alejandro González Iñárritu, BABEL
***Martin Scorsese, THE DEPARTED
Clint Eastwood, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
Stephen Frears, THE QUEEN
Paul Greengrass, UNITED 93

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley – LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou – BLOOD DIAMOND
***Eddie Murphy – DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg – THE DEPARTED

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adriana Barraza - BABEL
Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
***Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi - BABEL

BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio - BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling - HALF NELSON
***Peter O’Toole - VENUS
Will Smith - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whittaker - LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

BEST ACTRESS
Penélope Cruz – VOLVER
Judi Dench – NOTES ON A SCANDAL
***Helen Mirren – THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep – THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet – LITTLE CHILDREN

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
***CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE

BEST ART DIRECTION
DREAMGIRLS
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
***PAN’S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
THE PRESTIGE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE BLACK DAHLIA
***CHILDREN OF MEN
THE ILLUSIONIST
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE PRESTIGE

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
***DREAMGIRLS
MARIE ANTOINETTE
THE QUEEN

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
DELIVER US FROM EVIL
***AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
JESUS CAMP
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY

BEST FILM EDITING
***BABEL
BLOOD DIAMOND
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
AFTER THE WEDDING
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
***PAN’S LABYRINTH
WATER

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

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
***BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN

     British Academy of Film and Television Arts has chosen its winners. Notice best director and editing. My pick precisely for both of those awards. Should be up for best picture as well. At least someone has a bit of sense over at 195 Piccadilly.

     Here are the nominees in film, with wnners in MoviePatron Blue…

FILM
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN

THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year
CASINO ROYALE
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
NOTES ON A SCANDAL
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film
ANDREA ARNOLD (Director) - Red Road
JULIAN GILBEY (Director) - Rollin’ with the Nines
CHRISTINE LANGAN (Producer) - Pierrepoint
GARY TARN (Director) - Black Sun
PAUL ANDREW WILLIAMS (Director) - London to Brighton

THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement in Direction
BABEL
THE DEPARTED LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BABEL
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CASINO ROYALE
THE DEPARTED
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
NOTES ON A SCANDAL

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
APOCALYPTO
BLACK BOOK (ZWARTBOEK)
PAN’S LABYRINTH
RANG DE BASANTI (PAINT IT YELLOW)
VOLVER

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
CARS
FLUSHED AWAY
HAPPY FEET

ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE
DANIEL CRAIG - Casino Royale
LEONARDO DICAPRIO - The Departed
RICHARD GRIFFITHS - The History Boys
PETER O’TOOLE - Venus
FOREST WHITAKER - The Last King of Scotland

ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE
PENÉLOPE CRUZ - Volver
JUDI DENCH - Notes on a Scandal
HELEN MIRREN - The Queen
MERYL STREEP - The Devil Wears Prada
KATE WINSLET - Little Children

ACTOR in a SUPPORTING ROLE
ALAN ARKIN - Little Miss Sunshine
JAMES MCAVOY - The Last King of Scotland
JACK NICHOLSON - The Departed
LESLIE PHILLIPS - Venus
MICHAEL SHEEN - The Queen

ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING ROLE
EMILY BLUNT - The Devil Wears Prada
ABIGAIL BRESLIN - Little Miss Sunshine
TONI COLLETTE - Little Miss Sunshine
FRANCES DE LA TOUR - The History Boys
JENNIFER HUDSON - Dreamgirls

THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music
BABEL - Gustavo Santaolalla
CASINO ROYALE - David Arnold
DREAMGIRLS - Henry Krieger
HAPPY FEET - John Powell
THE QUEEN - Alexandre Desplat

CINEMATOGRAPHY
BABEL - Rodrigo Prieto
CASINO ROYALE - Phil Meheux
CHILDREN OF MEN - Emmanuel Lubezki
PAN’S LABYRINTH - Guillermo Navarro
UNITED 93 - Barry Ackroyd

EDITING
BABEL - Stephen Mirrione/Douglas Crise
CASINO ROYALE - Stuart Baird
THE DEPARTED - Thelma Schoonmaker
THE QUEEN - Lucia Zucchetti
UNITED 93 - Clare Douglas/Christopher Rouse/Richard Pearson

PRODUCTION DESIGN
CASINO ROYALE
CHILDREN OF MEN
MARIE ANTOINETTE
PAN’S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST

COSTUME DESIGN
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
MARIE ANTOINETTE
PAN’S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
THE QUEEN

SOUND
BABEL
CASINO ROYALE
PAN’S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
UNITED 93

ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
CASINO ROYALE
CHILDREN OF MEN
PAN’S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
SUPERMAN RETURNS

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Nicki Ledermann/Angel De Angelis
MARIE ANTOINETTE - Jean-Luc Russier/Desideria Corridoni
PAN’S LABYRINTH - José Quetglas/Blanca Sànchez
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST - Ve Neill/Martin Samuel
THE QUEEN - Daniel Phillips

SHORT ANIMATION FILM
DREAMS AND DESIRES - FAMILY TIES
GUY 101
PETER AND THE WOLF

SHORT FILM
CARE
CUBS
DO NOT ERASE
HIKIKOMORI
KISSING, TICKLING AND BEING BORED

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
EMILY BLUNT
EVA GREEN
NAOMIE HARRIS
CILLIAN MURPHY
BEN WHISHAW

     It seems I’m not the only one who agrees that United 93 is by far the best film of the year; best directed and edited as well. The Evening Standard British Film Awards announced their winners yesterday. I can’t find the full list of nominees anywhere online. In fact, not knowing how these awards work, maybe there are no nominees. Maybe it’s just simply tally votes and see who wins. At any rate, here are the winners…

Best Film - United 93

Best Actor - Daniel Craig (Casino Royale)

Best Actress - Dame Judi Dench (Notes On A Scandal)

The Peter Sellers Award for Comedy - Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan)

Best Screenplay - Peter Morgan (The Queen/The Last King of Scotland)

Technical Achievement - Anthony Dod Mantle (cinematographer, The Last King of Scotland/Brothers of the Head)

Most Promising Newcomer - Paul Andrew Williams (director, London To Brighton)

The Alexander Walker Special Award - Stephen Frears

Only two more weeks til the Oscars

     This made me laugh. “[Hollywood’s] garrish gold-plated reacharound they call the Oscars.” Good stuff. Tell us more Stephen…

     The Screen Actors Guild have announced their winners for outstanding achievement in acting. Not really any big surprises, but here they are anyway…

Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen

Supporting actor: Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Supporting actress: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Cast: Little Miss Sunshine

     Aside from the cast category, this is pretty much how I expect the Oscars to go as well. And by the way, I did manage to finally see The Last King of Scotland last night. Wow. Forest Whitaker needs to buy some gold polish right now.

     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</