Oscar 2006 Comments

Well, there had to be a surprise as always, but I really didn't expect Crash to take Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain, a film that has really gotten into the audiences minds and into society's culture. But maybe it's not a surprise at all, we've gotten hints all the way, like Crash winning Best Ensemble Cast at the SAG Awards, or Brokeback not being nominated for Best Editing. It's fine though, I loved Crash and I think it deserved it too, it's just that society loses more by having Brokeback losing than if Crash had lost, because now it's like Hollywood didn't want to give the gay cowboy movie the Oscar.

The rest of the ceremony was very predictable, with John Williams indeed canceling himself for having 2 nominations leaving the road empty for Gustavo Santaolalla to win it for his amazing work with the Brokeback score. Too bad the Academy didn't give Brokeback and Rodrigo Prieto the award for Best Cinematography, which went to Geisha instead.
Another controversial pick by the Academy was to give Best Foreign Film to Tsotsi instead of to the amazing Palestinian film Paradise Now. And a very pleasant surprise came when Three 6 Mafia won Best Original Song for their song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow.
The ceremony was great, the montages worked fine I thought and Jon Stewart was amazing. The opening scene with all the past hosts was excellent.

And here's the list of winners:

Best Picture
Crash

Best Director
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

Best Actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

Best Actress
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

Best Supporting Actor
George Clooney, Syriana

Best Supporting Actress
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener

Best Adapted Screenplay
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain

Best Original Screenplay
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash

Visual Effects
King Kong

Animated Feature
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Costume Design
Memoirs of a Geisha

Make-Up
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Documentary Feature
March of the Penguins

Art Direction
Memoirs of a Geisha

Original Score
Gustavo Santaolalla, Brokeback Mountain

Sound Mixing
King Kong

Sound Editing
King Kong

Original Song
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," from Hustle & Flow

Foreign Language Film
Tsotsi (South Africa)

Film Editing
Crash

Cinematography
Memoirs of a Geisha

Short Film (Live Action)
Six Shooter

Short Film (Animated)
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation

Documentary Short Subject
A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin

Oscar 2006 Predictions

I know it’s kind of close, but I have no time to do this anymore so sorry to whoever has been out there waiting for this, if any. Anyway, tomorrow are the Oscars 2006 and while I expect maybe just 1 or 2 surprises and the rest is pretty much all locks, the night will still be exciting and great.

I will only fully predict the bigger categories since I have no idea between sound and sound editing and I don’t care to know either. I would like for Hustle & Flow’s “It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp” to win for Best Song, but I don’t see it happening. It’s the first rap song even being performance at the ceremony, but a rap song already won an Oscar (Eminem for 8 Mile) so I’m going with Dolly Parton’s “Travelin’ Thru” just because she’s the only name in the competition, and nobody has heard that Crash song.
I also expect King Kong and its WETA team to win all the Best Special Effects awards and even the Best Sound awards, though Memoirs of a Geisha could win this last few and also Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. The Chronicles of Narnia will take Best Make-up.
For the bigger names here but still technical awards, Gustavo Santaolalla will take Best Score for Brokeback Mountain over the superpowerful John Williams who I predict will cancel himself having 2 nominations here for Munich and Geisha. Best Editing will go to Crash and Brokeback Mountain should also take Best Cinematography in the name of Rodrigo Prieto.
Then Palestine’s Paradise Now and South Africa’s Tsotsi will fight for the Best Foreign Language film award, but I predict Paradise Now to take it. Best Animated Film will go to Wallace & Gromit (they’ve won 3 previous Best Animated Short Oscars before) and finally Best Documentary will go, sadly, to box office champion March of the Penguins instead of to the amazing Murderball.
And now the big awards:

Best Original Screenplay will be all about Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco’s work in Crash, a movie that despite being released early in the year, has had very strong legs and it’s pretty much a lock to win it now. Syriana’s screenplay by Stephen Gaghan had a hard time getting here since it was originally considered as adapted and they changed. Woody Allen is back and the nomination for Match Point is enough for now. The Squid and the Whale should have a chance, it’s amazing, but the lack of support in the other categories tells me it won’t happen for Noah Baumbach. And finally the only possible spoiler is Good Night, and Good Luck for two reasons. The film will probably not win anything else, and Clooney is not a lock for Best Supporting Actor for Syriana, so if he doesn’t win that one at the beginning of the night then he could end up taking this one for writing with Grant Heslov. Hakeem’s Prediction: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco for Crash.

Best Adapted Screenplay is a lock for Brokeback Mountain and its writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, unless for some reason the Academy decides to go with Crash for Best Picture, and so Dan Futterman could take this one for Capote. I don’t think so. The Constant Gardener’s Jeffrey Caine and A History of Violence’s Josh Olson don’t have a chance, while there’s a minimal chance for Munich to take awards, especially from some very respected (but totally wrong in this case) big name critics, and so Tony Kushner and Eric Roth could win this if that happens, but don’t expect it. Hakeem’s Prediction: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana for Brokeback Mountain.

Best Supporting Actress went from being an easy pick before the Golden Globes to being one of the toughest ones to predict. Frances McDormand for North Country and Catherine Keener for Capote have no chance. The former for having won before, and the latter for deserving one but not for this very small part that is not even important to the main story. So it’ll be all between Amy Adams for Junebug, a beloved performance in a great little movie nobody watched but me and a few others, Michelle Williams for her astonishing work in Brokeback Mountain, the early favorite, and the now most probable winner Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener who won the Golden Globe and the SAG. She’s the obvious pick right now, and she deserves one for her great career, but I don’t want her to win for this. Also, Adams and Williams are to young win it now, but the Academy loves to give these supporting Oscars not to the locks. Hakeem’s Prediction: Michelle Williams for Brokeback Mountain.

Best Supporting Actor should go to George Clooney, a great performance, but mostly because he’s not winning the other 2. I would love for Matt Dillon to win it, his was my favorite performance in Crash and it’s his strongest work in a very long and respected career. Jake Gyllenhaal will be happy with his nom for Brokeback Mountain, and William Hurt should too with a nom for 8 minutes of work. And then it comes Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man. He was overlooked twice already, and everybody loves him, but this role was not in the same caliber as his previous work, and he shouldn’t win for it, so Clooney has the best Chance. Hakeem’s Prediction: George Clooney for Syriana.

Best Actress will definitely go to Reese Witherspoon for her excellent portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. She sings in the movie, and cries and she’s tough and she has an accent to do. It’s just perfect. There’s been some buzz for Felicity Huffman’s work in Transamerica, the only possible spoiler, but still, nobody has seen it, and giving to the beautiful and happy Reese will be just a delight for the Academy.
The other 3 have no chance. Charlize Theron won a few years ago so she’s out for her work in the not great North Country. Keira Knightley was excellent in Pride & Prejudice but the nom is all they are giving her hoping she stops doing crap like Domino. And Dame Judi Dench (for Mrs. Henderson Presents) should be happy with this out of respect nom. Hakeem’s Prediction: Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line.

Best Actor will go to Philip Seymour Hoffman for sure. His amazing performance in Capote plus the fact that everybody likes him and also that he deserves one for an excellent career of weirdly amazing characters make him a lock to win. Joaquin Phoenix was a favorite once for his work as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line but then it all faded. He won the Golden Globe and that will be all he gets this Awards Season. Then we have the other critics’ darling David Strathairn for Good Night, and Good Luck. Great performance, very monotone for me, but still great. He has little chance though, especially since he’s being considered 4th in line even behind the beloved and well respected, and in my opinion the actor of the year, Terrence Howard and his marvelous work as a pimp with a dream in Hustle & Flow. But the only one with a chance to beat Philip right now is Heath Ledger who I loved Brokeback Mountain and still maintain that did a better job with a more difficult job. But the Golden Globe went to Hoffman, the SAG went to Hoffman, and pretty much everything else went to Hoffman so the chances are slim. Hakeem’s Prediction: Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote.

Best Director will go to Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain. He’s won all the critics’ awards, and he’s really loved and respected by everybody. Brokeback was a risky move, but he took it and made something wonderful with it. Newbie Bennett Miller can be happy he was nominated and then the other 2 up for the award have little chance. Steven Spielberg got the nod out of respect for a very political film and the risks he took with it, but he’s not getting away with this one. And George Clooney has more chances than him, just because he’s got to win at least one having 3 nominations, but this is the one where he has less chances to do so. Hakeem’s Prediction: Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain.

Best Picture will go indisputably to Brokeback Mountain. It’s the most awarded movie of the year and a movie that despite it’s controversial theme, has become one of the most talked about films ever. People who haven’t seen it love it and quote it like crazy. And all those who say that didn’t like it it’s because they are afraid to admit it or because they are pushing for a different film. Crash has had some buzz lately, with many big time critics saying it’ll win, but while it would be fine if it were to win, it’s not going to happen. Good Nigh, and Good Luck is a great little film, also loved and respected but it’s too small in comparison to the others, and it’s even worse for Capote, a film that didn’t even deserve to be nominated and whose spot should’ve gone instead to Walk the Line or A History of Violence. And finally Munich, which has currently very little chance. Just a few really loved it, but the general consensus is that it was a disappointment, especially since it was the frontrunner way back last year when it was announced. Hakeem’s Prediction: Brokeback Mountain.

Oscar Nominations 2006

Well, I got 35 out of 40 correct in the big categories. And I got the 3 animated features right too though those were pretty obvious.
And about the nominations:
- Very weird that they nominated William Hurt for supporting actor and not Maria Bello for supporting actress.
- Awesome to see Amy Adams and Keira Knightley nominated as I predicted.
- And it's very weird, but Munich got best picture, director and screenplay, yet it seems like everybody is putting it in 5th place in their lists.
- Revenge of the Sith is the first Star Wars movie that didn't get a nomination, pretty much because World of the Worlds got the nod and both were done by ILM and the Academy always gives each of the big companies one nod. WETA got teh nod for King Kong while Narnia was a mix of all of them.
- Walk the Line didn't get a best picture nod, nor director or screenplay, which makes me think that the Academy might go with Felicity Huffman for the win instead of the favorite, Reese Witherspoon. And we already know Joaquin Phoenix doesn't have a chance.
- Memoirs of a Geisha got a lot of technical nominations and nothing else.
- Hustle & Flow getting a best song nomination is great, hope it wins. And where did that Crash song come from? Haven't heard it yet, but great to not see Alanis nominated for her Narcia closing credits song.
- Brokeback Mountain leads everybody with 8 nominations despite not getting a nod for editing.

Anyway, on to the actual nominations:

PICTURE
"Brokeback Mountain" - Focus Features
"Capote" - Sony Picture Classics
"Crash" - Lionsgate
"Good Night, and Good Luck" - Warner Independent Pictures
"Munich" - Universal Pictures and Dreamworks Pictures

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"

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

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

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

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

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Crash," Bobby Moresco and Paul Haggis
"Good Night, and Good Luck," Grant Heslov and George Clooney
"Match Point," Woody Allen
"The Squid and the Whale," Noah Baumbach
"Syriana," Stephen Gaghan

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"Brokeback Mountain," Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana
"Capote," Dan Futterman
"The Constant Gardener," Jeffrey Caine
"A History of Violence," Josh Olson
"Munich," Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year:
"Howl's Moving Castle" Hayao Miyazaki
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" Tim Burton and Mike Johnson
"Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" Nick Park and Steve Box

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year:
"Don't Tell" Italy
"Joyeux Noël" France
"Paradise Now" Palestinian Authority
"Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" Germany
"Tsotsi" South Africa

Achievement in Art Direction
"Good Night, and Good Luck."
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
"King Kong"
"Memoirs of a Geisha"
"Pride & Prejudice"

Achievement in Cinematography
"Batman Begins" Wally Pfiste
"Brokeback Mountain" Rodrigo Prieto
"Good Night, and Good Luck." Robert Elswit
"Memoirs of a Geisha" Dion Beebe
"The New World" Emmanuel Lubezki

Achievement in Costume Design
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
"Memoirs of a Geisha"
"Mrs. Henderson Presents"
"Pride & Prejudice"
"Walk the Line"

Best Documentary Feature
"Darwin's Nightmare"
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"
"March of the Penguins"
"Murderball"
"Street Fight"

Best Documentary Short Subject
"The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty Dan Krauss of the Bang Bang Club"
"God Sleeps in Rwanda"
"The Mushroom Club"
"A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson of Norman Corwin"

Achievement in Film Editing
"Cinderella Man"
"The Constant Gardener"
"Crash"
"Munich"
"Walk the Line"

Achievement in Makeup
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
"Cinderella Man"
"Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith"

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
"Brokeback Mountain" Gustavo Santaolalla
"The Constant Gardener" Alberto Iglesias
"Memoirs of a Geisha" John Williams
"Munich" John Williams
"Pride & Prejudice" Dario Marianelli

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
"In the Deep" from "Crash"
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow"
"Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica"

Best Animated Short Film
"Badgered"
"The Moon and the Son: An Imagined John Canemaker and Peggy Stern Conversation"
"The Mysterious Geographic Explorations Anthony Lucas of Jasper Morello"
"9"
"One Man Band"

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

Achievement in Sound Editing
"King Kong"
"Memoirs of a Geisha"
"War of the Worlds"

Achievement in 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"

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

Oscar Nominations 2006 Predictions

Nominations in 5 minutes. These are my predictions:

Best Picture:
Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck
Crash
Capote
Walk the Line

Best Director:
Ang Lee
George Clooney
Paul Haggis
Steven Spielberg
David Cronenberg

Best Actor:
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Heath Ledger
Joaquin Phoenix
David Strathairn
Terrence Howard (or Russell Crowe, but I'm going with Terrence)

Best Actress:
Reese Witherspoon
Felicity Huffman
Charlize Theron
Dame Judy Dench
Keira Knightley (I'm going with her but It'll probably be Ziyi Zhang)

Supporting Actor:
Paul Giamatti
Jake Gyllenhaal
George Clooney
Matt Dillon
Bob Hoskins (or Howard if he doesnt get best actor, but Im going with Hoskins)

Supporting Actress:
Maria Bello
Michelle Williams
Amy Adams
Rachel Weisz
Catherine Keener

Original Screenplay:
Match Point
Good Night, and Good Luck
Crash
The Squid and the Whale
Cinderella Man (or Syriana but I think it won't get enough votes)

Adapted Screenplay:
Brokeback Mountain
Munich
Capote
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence

Animated Feature:
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
Howl's Moving Castle
Wallace and Gromit

Match Point

If you thought Woody Allen was back after his early 2005's great tragicomedy Melinda & Melinda, you were so wrong. Now Match Point is a comeback to form, a work of art and just a tremendous film I didn't know Woody was able to give create. It's not amazingly original like to get an Award for it, but that because a few (and maybe just 2) other original scripts are better, but it's very nomination worthy.

Match Point is a thriller, a romantic thriller. It's very smart and leaves a couple questions unanswered and that are to tertiary you won't even notice them on your first viewing (at least it took me more than one).
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays Chris Wilton, a young retired tennis player who was a pro but left the tour not because of injuries, but because he knew he couldn't be on the same level as Agassi, he says. He also mentions Greg Rusedski but I didn't he meant it 'not even as Rusedski' who was obviously not in the same level as Andre. And way to go Woody, mentioning 2 players who are no longer playing, but hey, he made the movie last year and at least Agassi was still active so the whole thing is maybe 25% ok.
Anyway, sorry for the tennis talk (though tennis is part of the movie), but Chris is now a tennis instructor in a big name club and there is where he meets Matthew Goode's Tom Hewett, with he hits it off (not in a gay way though it kind of looks like it) right from the start due to their love for opera, and after meeting the family Chris gets invited to their country house where he starts a relationship with Tom's sister Chloe, played by the delightful Emily Mortimer, whose part in that disaster called Formula 51 is pretty much the only low point of her career (2005's Dear Frankie was excellent btw).
But that's not all, as in that same visit to the country house Chris meets Nola Rice, a young American with whom he immediately flirts, the tension is palpable, right there he learns that Nola is Tom's fiance, a failed actress with a very low self esteem when somebody talks about her career.

This whole thing with Nola is a problem, because Chris will eventually marry Chloe (who gets immediately crazy about having a baby right after getting married) but he has Nola always in mind. An affair in imminent, but before that we get one of the best scenes in the movie, and there are many, but in this one, Chris and Nola walk into each other on the street and go to a bar for a drink after one of Nola's blown auditions.
They are sitting at a table, drinking, she's smoking, and they are talking about the effect Nola has on men, and how sexy she is, and then they talk about their respective partners, how they met and if it was love at first sight. "He was handsome", she says about Tom. "She's sweet", he says about Chloe. And they stare at each other, and that leaves the door very open for what will happen later, which they will spend the entire movie trying to keep hidden from the other members of the family.

But this is a thriller, and that comes when it gets increasingly difficult for Chris to keep up with Nola on one side and the Hewett's on the other. After all, getting married to Chloe means that he's very well liked by mom Eleanor (Shaun's mom Penelope Wilton) and also by mighty rich dad Alec (a back to his normal shape Brian Cox). Chris gets an easy and high paid job, a car and chauffer, secretary, expense accounts, and of course the access to the country house, which has all the commodities he never had. Can he give all this up for Nola? Tough choice.

The tour de force performance everybody talks about (including the award givers) is that of the amazingly hot Scarlett Johansson as Nola. She's sexy and beautiful, and just perfect, but Nola gets difficult and clingy towards the end and so she loses likeability. And Rhys-Meyers' performance is more than great in the lead, especially in the gripping and highly tense scenes at the end when the movie reaches its higher levels of greatness.
But there's also the Woody Allen tough of course. He found a very nice spot in London that works just like his high class Manhattan neighborhoods he always used (remember that he got tired of it seems and decided to go across the Atlantic and make movies in England and at least one in Spain as of right now). It's London of course, but it's Woody's London.
And the music is also his touch, the beautiful opera sound every now and then even when it's not featured.
The acting, the writing and everything else, Match Point is what Woody is capable of these days, and it's magnificent.