We had a predictions party on the couch this morning at 5:30 AM.

I am happy because I got everything I wanted. Amy Adams got the nom for her supporting turn in Junebug, and Capote got noms for film/director/actor/supporting actress. Don't skip Junebug, Moonie or Leo. It's terrific.

I am not unhappy with Brokeback taking the lead-- I prefer it to Crash.

I did predictions for every category and I came out 62/95. Beaten by that movie whiz of a boyfriend, who got 67/95. We have much better batting averages at the actual awards.

Of the big eight categories, the only nominated films we haven't already seen are Mrs. Henderson and North Country, for which their actresses were nominated. Funny enough, actress was the only category I predicted five out of five (except animation, which I nailed three out of three. But animation's my area of expertise.)

I thought that Match Point had one really interesting moment/twist and the rest of it was bilgewater. I thought that Munich had the right sentiment but terrible structure. I thought that Pride and Prejudice was a delight but not a heavyweight. I thought that March of the Penguins was the best date movie I'd ever seen. I thought that Hustle and Flow won me over after the first half hour. I thought that the Forty-Year-Old Virgin or Wallace and Gromit or Junebug should have been included in the original screenplay category, instead of the splattermess that was Syriana-- but when does the Academy ever rightly recognize comedy? I thought that Good Night and Good Luck was smart and well-timed but not overwhelmingly superior.

The only huge disappointment was the lack of nomination for "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish." It was the best use of music in a film all year, and once again proves AMPAS' inability to crack a smile. ("It's Hard Up Here for a Pimp" was pretty good, too, and it was rightfully nominated.)

Now: who's coming with us to watch the nominated short films at Cinemateque? Hmm? Hmm? It was my absolute favorite movie outing of all year in 2005. I'm so excited to see this year's batch.

Did the animated feature category get whacked?

GD ~ Sorry, here's the complete list...

Best Picture:

Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Munich

Best Director:

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

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 Actress:

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

Best Supporting Actor:

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

Best Supporting Actress:

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


Original Screenplay:

Crash, written by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco; story by Paul Haggis
Good Night, and Good Luck., written by George Clooney & Grant Heslov
Match Point, written Woody Allen
The Squid and the Whale, written by Noah Baumbach
Syriana, written by Stephen Gaghan

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, Josh Olson
Munich, screenplay by Tony Kushner & Eric Roth

Best Animated Feature:

Howl's Moving Castle
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Best Foreign-Language Film:

Don't Tell, Italy
Joyeux Noel, France
Paradise Now, Palestine
Sophie Scholl--The Final Days, Germany
Tsotsi, South Africa

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

Costume Design:

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

Documentary Short:

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

Makeup:

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith

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" (Crash), music by Kathleen "Bird" York & Michael Becker; lyrics by Kathleen "Bird" York
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" (Hustle & Flow), music and lyrics by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman & Paul Beauregard
"Travelin' Thru" (Transamerica), music and lyrics by Dolly Parton

Animated Short:

Badgered
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
9
One Man Band

Live-Action Short:

Ausreisser (The Runaway)
Cashback
The Last Farm
Our Time Is Up
Six Shooter

Sound Editing:

King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
War of the Worlds

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

Visual Effects:

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
King Kong
War of the Worlds

Howl's Moving Castle! Whoohoo!

OK. I've got me some films to see.

Terrence Howard! WOO!!!! I think he's wonderful. He was excellent in Hustle and Flow. That's unexpected and fantastic. Go, go Academy.

Also, yay for Squid and the Whale.

I've seen:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
The Constant Gardener
Syriana

For some reason I'm really glad Michelle Williams got a nomination. I've been re-watching Dawson's Creek on DVD recently (got Seasons 2 and 3 on DVD right before Christmas) and I love that whole DC to Oscar thing:)

I've got to get me to 'Capote.'

And, I must see 'Howl's Moving Castle,' though I've zero desire to see 'Mrs. Henderson Presents.' Oh, and I've still got to see 'Walk the Line' someday.

Other than that, I'm pretty caught up on nominated films this time around. And so I will say that 'Good Night and Good Luck' is majorly over-rated. 'Munich' got what it deserved, because it has been majorly under-rated.

I adored 'Match Point,' and was surprised it only got one nom. Telling that it was for screenplay, because that's the core of any film's creation. I thought 'A History of Violence' was also under-served by the noms. But it also got a very pointed screenplay nom, and one for the brilliant supporting performance by William Hurt. It's one of my absolute favorite films of the year.

Much as I liked 'Crash,' I don't consider it anywhere in the same league with its fellow nominees (with the caveat that I haven't yet seen 'Capote.')


And I'm all homo smilie about Brokeback Mountain's slew of nominations. Huzzah.

This is a new low for me. I haven't seen a single one of the nominated films. Not from any category. I think that I have literally seen one film in the past year, and it's not on the list. This is really very sad.

Well, there is always Netflix, you do have a month to catch up. ;)
Donna