*** Official Oscar Nominations and Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Adam_S]

I need to see (As the films with multiple nominations that I've not seen. ) :
The Constant Gardener (4)
A History of Violence (3)
North Country (2)
Transamerica (2)

Single nominations I've not seen are:
Darwin's Nightmare (1)
Don't Tell (1)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (1)
Joyeux Noel (1)
Junebug (1)
Match Point (1)
Murderball (1)
The New World (1)
Paradise Now (1)
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (1)
The Squid & the Whale (1)
Street Fight (1)
Tsotsi (1)

of these, I'm ost likely to see, Match Point, New World and Squid and the Whale and Tsotsi.

 

[Nathan V]

NUMBERS OF NOMINATIONS

Brokeback: 8, inc. BP
Crash: 6, inc. BP
Good Night: 6, inc. BP
Memoirs: 6
Munich: 5, inc. BP
Capote: 5, inc. BP
Walk the Line: 5
Constant Gardener: 4
Pride and Prejudice: 4
King Kong: 4
War of the Worlds: 3
Cinderella Man: 3
Syriana: 2
Narnia: 2
Transamerica: 2
Mrs. Henderson: 2
Hustle and Flow: 2

Films not on this list have 1 or 0 nominations.

I do not know how Geisha and Crash have the number of noms that they do. Same thing for GNGL, but to a much lesser extent. (I think it is being recognized more for its social awareness and importance than its quality, which is very good but not incredible)

Regards,
Nathan

 

[Adam_S]

I, for one, am thrilled at Narnia's nomination in VFX, I think SW should have been nominated over the excellent War of the Worlds. The beavers, the fox, the wolves, Tumnus, Aslan, Philip, everything that was character related in the film was absolutely perfect. It was not transcendental as Kong's performance was, but there also wasn't any set piece as terrible looking as the Bronto stampede. The final battle was excellent, it's only bad, imo, in the way the LOTR battles are bad (ie if you know about MASSIVE you start seeing some similarities/patterns methods of movement etc). Everything about the film was Outstanding.

Truth is, it's almost a surprise VFX isn't a five nomination category, it's a shame that 14-15 films don't make the 'initial' cut so we could have five films nominated, this year, especially, deserved 5 nominations here.

 

[Adam_S]

Predictions:

BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain - Focus Features
_________________________________________

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain

BEST ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
(Ledger should win, and I'll be rooting all night for a win)


BEST ACTRESS
Reese Witherspoon - Walk The Line

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Giamatti - Cinderella Man
(sorry about Sideways, though sympathy votes for Clooney could help him)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Crash - Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco
(I wish anything else would win)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Constant Gardener - Jeffrey Caine
(I don't see BBM winning here)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Paradise Now - Palestine
(this or Tsotsi)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
March Of The Penguins

ANIMATED FILM
Howl's Moving Casle

ART DIRECTION
Good Night, And Good Luck.
(please don't let Geisha win, though it has the best)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Brokeback Mountain
(I'd love to see GNGL win, or NW or BB, any would be a delight)

COSTUME DESIGN
Mrs. Henderson Presents
(naked women, not Geisha!)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
God Sleeps In Rwanda

FILM EDITING
Crash
(by default, sigh)

MAKEUP
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge Of The Sith
(Narnia was brilliant, either would please me)

MUSIC (SCORE)
Brokeback Mountain
(Here I would not mind a Geisha win)

MUSIC (SONG)
"Travelin' Thru" From Transamerica
(go Dolly!)

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Badgered


SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Cashback


SOUND EDITING
King Kong

SOUND MIXING
King Kong


VISUAL EFFECTS
King Kong

 

[Shawn_KE]

BEST PICTURE
Munich - Universal
_________________________________________

BEST DIRECTOR
Steven Spielberg - Munich

BEST ACTOR
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk The Line

BEST ACTRESS
Reese Witherspoon - Walk The Line

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Dillon - Crash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Syriana - Stephen Gaghan

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Constant Gardener - Jeffrey Caine

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Didn't see them.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
March Of The Penguins

ANIMATED FILM
Wallace & Gromit

ART DIRECTION
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Batman Begins

COSTUME DESIGN
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
God Sleeps In Rwanda

FILM EDITING
Munich

MAKEUP
Star Wars: Episode Iii Revenge Of The Sith

MUSIC (SCORE)
Munich

MUSIC (SONG)
"In The Deep" From Crash

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
One Man Band

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Six Shooter

SOUND EDITING
War Of The Worlds

SOUND MIXING
Walk The Line

VISUAL EFFECTS
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith hands down!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chris Atkins]

Adam:

I'm happy that Narnia got a nomination, because I really loved the movie. But, when I step back and just consider the technical merits, it's hard to put ROTS on the list ahead of Narnia.

 

[mattCR]

I'll be the lone person on the other side: so far, last year, Capote was the film that stands out to me as clearly a contender. I did not care for "Walk the Line" nearly as much, but I would have put "Munich" and "Good Night, Good Luck" on the outside looking in, in favor of other films.

 

[Michael Reuben]

You're not alone. I thought Walk the Line had some fine performances in an otherwise dull film. Every candidate on the list (and several that aren't) would be preferable as a best picture nominee. And I think Capote is a masterpiece (though it won't win except for Hoffman).

M.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Not even just the two of you. Walk The Line is a fine biopic with some great performances, but as a BP nominee, it's mediocre at best. It's basically a "this happened to Cash" film.

 

[Paul Case]

One word sums up these nominations and the entire oscar race this year for me: boring.

Chuck is absolutely correct. The New World should have gotten recognition for Picture, Directing, and Actress. IMO, it completely trumps BBM in all of those categories.

As for the Star Wars VFX snub, I can only guess that AMPAS really, really dislikes Lucas for some reason. I wouldn't complain if Sith was nommed and lost to Kong. Kong is worthy. But Narnia? Pathetic.

on the whole oscar race this year.

Though I might change my mind a little if Phoenix somehow manages an upset and walks away with Best Actor...

 

[Quentin]

I'm with you, Paul. I'll watch for Hoffman to win (loved Capote). But, IMO, a boring list of noms from a ho-hum year.

I will also root for Weisz as supporting actress and Constant Gardener in Editing and Screenplay. I think it has a good chance at all 3.

THE NEW WORLD was one of the best films of the year...unfortunately, no one saw it!

 

[PaulP]

Here're my predictions:

 

[Craig S]

Remember, the VFX nominees were chosen by the effects branch, not all of AMPAS. I can't imagine these technicians have a grudge against Lucas.

But it's clear (as I and others have said before) that it is way past time to expand this category to 5 nominees. Like it or not, VFX has become as important as the other major crafts, and the Academy needs to acknowledge that.

For the acting awards, I'll be rooting for Hoffman, Witherspoon, Giamatti & Weisz. I actually believe those are going to be the four winners as well. Best chance for an upset will be Huffman over Witherspoon (I wouldn't consider Ledger winning an upset).

For Best Actor, it'll certainly be close between Hoffman and Ledger. I don't think anyone can complain about about either of these brilliant performances winning. In fact, if there's ever going to be a tie for Best Actor, this would be a good year for it to happen.

 

[PaulP]

Can't believe Crash's amaizng score wasn't nominated! Shame!

 

[Holadem]

This isn't the type of film the Academy rewards though, to be fair. Outside of Cinematogaphy, Performances, and stuff typically associated with period films, like costumes, art direction and the like, I can't seen them nominating it for the much else... If they even bothered to watch the damn thing, which they probably didn't.

The Thin Red Line got a buncha noms didn't it? I suspect it's because the bigger number and pedigree of the actors involved (even those who showed up for 2 seconds) created a favorable Hollywood and media buzz. Actors are after all the biggest voting block?

My point being, we should all know how the Academy works by now, they're not gonna change overnight.

I am not as sold on Kilcher's performance as others. She was very good, but not out of this world... I would have liked to see her nominated (underdog thing) but it's OK if she isn't.

--
H

 

[Holadem]

That would be one hell of an upset, but one I wouldn't mind .

After last years M$B win over The Aviator, methinks the Oscars can be more unpreditable than often given credit for.

--
H

 

[Seth Paxton]

I had a good feeling about Capote's chances after seeing the film. It's sits at #1 of the year for me right now. It was far more than just an actor showcase. It's strong on many counts, especially writing and direction. Glad it got those noms.


When I walked out of History of Violence the first thing I said, I think even in the review thread was NOM for WILLIAM HURT. It was looking unlikely till now. I thought that was a homerun by him and I'm thrilled it got the Oscar nom.


Editing typically is a "make or break" Best Pix category. It's very tough to win without that nom, but Brokeback seems so strong right now. True that if I was a voter I would pick Capote over it, but that doesn't seem anywhere close to the overall sentiment.

And yet... another disturbing "miss" category (by the old, broken formula )is getting 10 nominations. It has not separated itself from the other 4 films in this aspect. All 5 seem in the running based on how many and which nominations they got.

This could be the tighest race since SPR/SiL. M$Baby was not a tight race, it was a flat out upset. It appeared to be a distant 2nd till it went blowing past Aviator at the finish.

I disagree Chuck. While Capote is far better, Walk the Line was less an "and then" biopic than Ray. WtL's theme was right in the title, saying that most of Cash's life, motivation and inspiration was June Carter and his pursuit of her. The "and then" scenes mostly focus on that drive and his drive to rebel at every turn, and those 2 are synthesized by showing that his desire for her tamed his desire to rebel.

I like the editing nom especially.


Best Actress Race looks great - Huffman vs Witherspoon.

S. Actor Race is wide open. I know Clooney appears like some H'wood darling, but a win would be deserved. Yet I don't think it's close to a lock at all. I think only Gyllenhaal remains on the outskirts here. He was good but not quite great, not enough to win. The others were all very impressive to me.


Cinematography seems nom'd well. I haven't seen Geisha or New World yet, but both have been lauded for their photography and clips look great. I expect nothing less than a winning caliber effort when I see New World.


Docs - Penguins, Murderball...but no Grizzly Man, or was it not eligible?


Editing - I wasn't that impressed with the Munich editing. Good, but not great to me. Brokeback missing here seems wrong. I did really like the WtL editing. Yet to see CM or CG.

Score - I've only seen BBMtn and Munich, but both were strong. I'd give it to Munich and thought so even while watching the film. Very poweful scoring.


Sound - I think War of the Worlds deserves to win in both categories. It was some of the most impressive sound work I've heard in years. The sound came across as another actor in the film, and often the sounds alone put me in a terrified state.


VFx - Hey, if a film with a Land of the Lost caliber dino chase can get nom'd then I don't see how people can complain about Narnia here. Kong should win inspite of some awful FX just because Kong himself is so well done.


Love all of the Writing noms that I've seen (need to see CGard and MPoint). My winners of these noms would be Capote and Squid and the Whale, but I can see the voters going Brokeback and Crash.

 

[Craig S]

I agree completely. Of the five films nominated, I would vote for Capote for BP (it will probably end up at #2 on my Top Ten behind The Constant Gardener). Of the five, it's the most perfect film. The other four are all great films, but each had elements I can nitpick at. Not so with Capote. For me, it just worked from start to finish.

It hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of winning, but I'm glad it got the nominations it did.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Kristian, I'm in the opposite camp on this one. I felt like PJ HURT the film and kept it from being as good as it could/should have been. To me the film is painfully overindulgent and needed to remain as streamlined as the original.

So I would give the film a nom before giving him a BD nom, and I wouldn't give the film a nom.

This is the first year in a long time that all 5 Best Pix noms were in my top 10, at least at the time. With GNaGL at 9 for me, it's likely that they will all remain at least in the top 15. So I definitely don't see where I would move in a director in any of these spots, unless it was Herzog for Grizzly Man which seemed unlikely anyway.

 

[Adam_S]

Is it just me, or with all the first time nominations this year, it almost seems like a 'new hollywood' year straight out of the early seventies. Very little old guard nominated in the Acting categories.

I'd also say both BBM and Munich and Capote and Good Night and Good Luck feel more in the vein of seventies movies, are we past post-modernism and into neo-modernism? From a theory perspective, seems that LOTR really has ushered in a new age, the film theorists will be all over this concept in twenty years or so.

fyi, according to USC (Drew Casper/Rick Jewell/Dana Polan) film theory there have been five eras of american film
Silent
Classical (28-45)
Post Classical (45-early sixties)
Modern (sixties - 77)
Post-Modern (77-present/2001)

Adam