Oscar Nominations
 

They're being announced soon!

Anyone watching?

I'm stuck at my desk.

:(

'Brokeback' ~ 8 Noms, including Best Picture.

No BP nom for 'Walk the Line'. That surprises me.

The nominees for best picture are "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Munich."

The nominees for best actor are Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Capote"), Heath Ledger ("Brokeback Mountain"), Joaquin Phoenix ("Walk the Line"), David Strathairn ("Good Night, and Good Luck") and Terrence Howard ("Hustle & Flow").

The nominees for best actress are Felicity Huffman ("Transamerica"), Reese Witherspoon ("Walk the Line"), Charlize Theron ("North Country"), Judi Dench ("Mrs. Henderson Presents") and Keira Knightley ("Pride and Prejudice").

The nominees for best supporting actor are Paul Giamatti ("Cinderella Man"), George Clooney ("Syriana"), Matt Dillon ("Crash"), Jake Gyllenhaal ("Brokeback Mountain") and William Hurt ("A History of Violence").

The nominees for best supporting actress are Rachel Weisz ("The Constant Gardener"), Amy Adams ("Junebug"), Catherine Keener ("Capote"), Frances McDormand ("North Country") and Michelle Williams ("Brokeback Mountain").

The nominees for best director are Paul Haggis ("Crash"), Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain"), Bennett Miller ("Capote"), George Clooney ("Good Night, and Good Luck") and Steven Spielberg ("Munich").

The nominees for best original screenplay are "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Match Point," "The Squid and the Whale," and "Syriana."

The nominees for best adapted screenplay are "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "The Constant Gardener," "A History of Violence" and "Munich."

Wow! A Clean sweep for me. I've not seen a single one of those films. I guess I can skip watching the Oscars this year.

I realize that many get excited about such things, but I just can't.

I suppose the Oscars used to be special and meaningful, but now they are simply the awards show du jour. How many hundreds of awards shows are there in the entertainment industry where members of their industry pat one another on the back?

Not to spoil the fun for those that find it fun.....I just don't get it.

I have yet to see 'The Constant Gardner', 'Match Point', 'Mrs. Henderson', 'P&P' and 'A History of Violence'. I want to see them all soon.
:)

I saw Match Point and was underwhelmed. Mrs. Henderson Presents passed through here so quickly I did not get a chance to see it (DRAT).
The Constant Garderer is upcoming for me on Netflix. I still need to see Brokeback Mountain!

The nominations are not anything surprising to me, although I was surprised to see the nod to Spielberg for direction and Munich for best picture.

I doubt the awards will be any surprise either. I feel Philip Seymour Hoffman richly deserves for Capote, Reese Witherspoon will likely win for Walk the Line. Best Direction I hope goes to Ang Lee as I admire him so much (and have not seen the movie....)

This will be the first year I won't be having an Oscar party, I'll be engaged elsewhere and will have no time to cook or plan. :snap:

Donna

I really hope Good Night & Good Luck gets recognition. It more than deserves it.

"Mama's House II" didn't get any nominations?!?

Or did it not come out in time for this year's Oscars?

The other Nominations:

Foreign 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."

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."

Sound Editing:
"King Kong,"
"Memoirs of a Geisha,"
"War of the Worlds."

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

Costume:
"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 subject):
"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."

Animated Short Film:
"Badgered,"
"The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation,"
"The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello,"
"9,"
"One Man Band."

Live Action Short Film:
"Ausreisser (The Runaway),"
"Cashback,"
"The Last Farm,"
"Our Time Is Up,"
"Six Shooter."

Visual Effects:
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,"
"King Kong,"
"War of the Worlds."

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

Unfortunately, Netflix will not yet have many of the nominated films. That's why it pays to be a member of the Academy (or know one), so the DVDs come directly to your home without even ordering them. Before the onslaught of the screeners, I had seen only a couple of the nominated films - - and now I have seen the vast majority of them. Connections, baby!

* * * *

There was an article in today's L.A. Times pointing out that the best picture nominees come straight out of the arthouse world, and that no one in America has seen them. The writer accused the Academy of being out of touch, noting that the combined domestic box office of the 5 best picture candidates did not equal that of 'The Wedding Crashers,' and that the combined screen total of the b.p. nominees was a third that of 'The Dukes of Hazzard.'

I'm not quite sure what the article was getting at ... but if it was accusing the Academy of nominating obscure quality over popular drek, I think the accusation would be warmly welcomed.

'The Constant Gardener' has been in my queue since it was released and the status of this flick still says "Long Wait". Stupid Netflix.
Grrrr.

Remember when a box office of $100 million meant something?

There is not one unnominated film in the top 19 movies of 2005 (those that crossed $100 million) that screams out for a nomination. The closest you get are Narnia and King Kong and I don't think anybody can express surprise at the lack of nominations.

If relatively underwatched movies got nominated maybe it isn't a sign that the Academy is out of touch but a sign that audiences are stupid and just go where the commercials on TV tell them.

That was the same drivel someone used to attack Brokeback's GG win. "How can it be the best picture when no one saw it? It's just the liberals pushing their agenda."

I guess they should just dispense with the whole voting nonsense and give it to the top grossing film every year. Who needs Ghandi when you have E.T.? And I know it was just his birthday, but the box office proved that Axel Foley is truly deserving of the Oscar, not that Mozart hack, since Beverly Hills Cop was #1 over Amadeus (pfft, 12th). Maybe Out of Africa would have actually deserved the win if it had a DeLorean, like the #1 movie that year, Back to the Future, instead of a boat. Or how's this for a travesty...The Last Emperor, the 25th grossing movie of 1987 was selected over the clearly superior (because it made the most money) Three Men and a Baby! Outrageous!

Hey, it worked for Titanic!

It's just the same bitch and moan as in 1996 when Fargo (67th), Secrets & Lies (108th), Shine (41st), and The English Patient (19th) were competing against Jerry Maguire (4th). Remember how the nominations that year were a sign of doom for the studios? That the world was being taken over by independents.

I wondered what the "most popular" year recently for nominations was so I took the ranking of the nominations and averaged them. Since I did the work out of curiosity, I might as well share the results:

2004: 36.8
2003: 29.8 (and the #1 won)
2002: 36.4
2001: 36.6
2000: 15.2 (lowest was Chocolat at 32nd)
1999: 27.4
1998: 35.5
1997: 16.4 (three top 10 films nominated, #1 won)
1996: 47.8
1995: 33.0
1994: 27.8

As things currently stand the number for the 2005 nominees would be 63.0. With Oscar buzz this number will improve but likely remain higher than 1996 and will be the least commercial nominating class in a decade. The numbers seem to show that as more anomolous than a trend, though.

Heehee, GD.

I would have given Back to the Future my own best picture award. No, I'm serious. BttF changed our culture forever. Same goes for many pop films that may not have been Citizen Kane but were nonetheless well put-together, enjoyable entertainment that captured our imaginations.

The Oscars are for the industry, not average joe, so I don't expect BttF to win best picture there. Anyone who wants a pop film to win at the Oscars has no clue what the Oscars are.

'Jaws' was the beginning of the end for movies. Top grossing film, yaddah yaddah. Then everyone wanted to beat it...
I doubt anyone will beat 'Titanic's' numbers for a long, long time. ('Titanic'... bleh)
:D