Ok, I wasn't planning on doing a post on the Academy Award nominations this morning, since I really have not seen many of the films (for the record: Brokeback, Walk The Line, Munich)...
But heck, the performance in the film (or the film itself) has little to do with why someone (something) wins. So here are this year's nominees and who I think will win:
Best Picture
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich
Despite being a bit concerned about Crash winning at this weekend's SAG awards, I still think Brokeback will take home the biggie. Was kind of surprised to see Munich here, but what's the Oscars without a Spielberg film? I am guessing it probably nudged out Walk The Line.
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"
This one is a runaway for Hoffman.
Actress
Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron, "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"
A two-horse race between Huffman and Witherspoon... before this weekend, I thought Huffman had a fairly decent lead, until Witherspoon took home the SAG... still too close to call, but I think Huffman is showing signs of momentum loss.
Supporting Actor
George Clooney, "Syriana"
Matt Dillon, "Crash"
Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt, "A History of Violence"
Nice to see Gyllenhaal get a nod since he has largely be ignored during the award season (perhaps confusion about where to put him... is this really a supporting character?)... who would have ever thunk we'd see Academy Award nominee Matt Dillion? But this one, I think will go to Giamatti... with Clooney being the only other nominee with a chance.
Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, "Junebug"
Catherine Keener, "Capote"
Frances McDormand, "North Country"
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain"
No real thoughts on this one... but my gut (and the name I have seen most) in this category goes to Weisz.
Director
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Bennett Miller, "Capote"
Paul Haggis, "Crash"
George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Steven Spielberg, "Munich"
Even if there is a Crash upset in the Picture category, Lee appears pretty safe to take home the directing trophy.
Adapted Screenplay
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Dan Futterman, "Capote"
Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"
Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich"
Again, a pretty safe call for the respected McMurtry and his writing partner Ossana.
Original Screenplay
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Woody Allen, "Match Point"
Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"
Stephen Gaghan, "Syriana"
Crash is gaining momentum... but I will still go with Clooney and Heslov as a way of honoring the film and allowing Clooney to win one of his three nominations.
A full list of the nominees can be found here.
On Saturday, we finally got around to seeing
Well call off the posse, we finally saw
I don't read as much as I used to and we certainly do not go out to the movies all that often these days... so it was quite a surprise opening the year-end issue of Entertainment Weekly and seeing that I was reading the #1 non-fiction book of the year (The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion... blog review of that still pending) and that we had just returned from seeing Owen Gleiberman's #1 movie of the year - Steven Spielberg's
Ok, back to Friday night and Evita. This was my third go-round with the stage production and I have seen the Madonna film at least a couple of times as well. Since this was my first ever Broadway musical back in the early 80s I pretty much know every word.
Our Evita came full circle on Saturday night seeing the movie version of Rent (if you have seen Rent, you know an Akita named Evita has a bit of an accident). Now Rent has ascended to the top of my list of favorite musicals. So I went into the movie with a bit of trepidation... I love the play, would the movie ruin it? 