If Hollywood thinks Brokeback Mountain is more interesting and artful than A History of Violence and The New World, and when nobody even notices a piece of rare big screen treasure like Millions… well, they’ve just lost any interest or respect I had for this year’s Oscar event. I’m not even sure host John Stewart will be enough to make me tune in.
BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain – Focus Features
Capote – Sony Pictures Classics
Crash – Lions Gate
Good Night, & Good Luck – WIP
Munich – Universal
RIGHT. I challenge anyone to watch Brokeback Mountain and then watch Millions, The New World, or A History of Violence and then explain to me why BM is the better film.
BEST DIRECTOR
George Clooney – Good Night, And Good Luck
Paul Haggis – Crash
Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller – Capote
Steven Spielberg – Munich
RIGHT. I challenge anyone to explain to me why the directorial efforts of Ang Lee or Bennett Miller are more accomplished than the masterful work done by David Cronenberg (who directed his masterpiece this year), Danny Boyle, or Terrence Malick.
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
It’s a shame no one noticed the incredible work done by Daniel Day-Lewis in The Ballad of Jack and Rose, or Bruno Ganz in Downfall.
BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench – Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman – Transamerica
Keira Knightly – Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron – North Country
Reese Witherspoon – Walk The Line
WATCH ‘THE NEW WORLD.’ How they could nominate Knightley and not Q’orianka Kilcher… it defies all reason.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Dillon – Crash
George Clooney – Syriana
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
WHERE IS MARIA BELLO????? Bello’s work in A History of Violence should have won the Oscar. She’s not even nominated.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Match Point – Woody Allen
The Squid & The Whale – Noah Baumbach
Good Night. And, Good Luck – George Clooney, Grant Heslov
Syriana – Stephen Gaghan
Crash – Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Constant Gardener – Jeffrey Caine
Capote – Dan Futterman
Munich – Tony Kushner, Eric Roth
Brokeback Mountain – Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana
A History Of Violence – Josh Olson
If A History of Violence doesn’t win, man…
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Don’t Tell – Italy
Joyeux Noel – France
Paradise Now – Palestine
Sophie Scholl – Germany
Tsotsi – South Africa
Unbelievable. Just… unbelievable. Where’s Cache?
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Darwin’s Nightmare
Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
March Of The Penguins
Murderball
Street Fight
This category actually looks pretty good. I’m glad they didn’t count Werner Herzog’s films, since they’re not really documentaries, the way he manipulated them.
ANIMATED FILM
Howl’s Moving Casle
The Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit
Slam dunk. All deserving. A complete shut-out for the Dreamworks/Disney trash.
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
THE NEW WORLD. If Brokeback Mountain beats The New World here, the Academy has just passed up a masterpice for a postcard of some open ground in Canada.
COSTUME DESIGN
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Walk The Line
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
Where’s Sin City?
MAKEUP
The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
Star Wars: Episode Iii Revenge Of The Sith
MUSIC (SCORE)
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Munich
Pride & Prejudice
MUSIC (SONG)
“In The Deep” From Crash
“It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” From Hustle & Flow
“Travelin’ Thru” From Transamerica
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Badgered
The Moon And The Son: An Imagined Conversation
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations Of Jasper Morello
9
One Man Band
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
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
RIGHT. How anyone could say Narnia’s effects were better than those in Revenge of the Sith… it boggles the mind. The opening sequences alone are like the difference between CGI ten years ago and cutting-edge.