Gone to America

Duncan has lost two leaves. I don’t know why. I don’t think it will ever get to play with Gonder.

I’m a little late with these picks, I know. I’m sorry. You may have to sue me. I’m just going to pretty much copy and paste the first bit from last year.

These aren’t predictions – I have no idea how the Academy works. I freely admit to not having seen many of the films.

I will base my picks on the following criteria, which I believe closely mirror those of actual Academy voters:

1. Do I know any of the nominees?
   Nobody this year, although I have met Michael Semanick and Paul Massey.


2. Was I involved in any of the movies?
   None this year.


3. My actual opinion
   Yes, this only comes third. And obviously it doesn’t apply if I haven’t seen the movies or know anything about the category. (People wear makeup in movies? Even the guys?)


4. Other peoples opinions
   Depends on the other people, obviously.


5. The Righting of Injustice
   Walk the Line should have been nominated for best picture and was not (Capote? Really?) so it will get preferential treatment in all other categories.


6. Best title
   I’ll be bringing this into play in the Documentary and Shorts categories.


7. Blind prejudice
   I hate gay people. Only joking. I’m not yet sure how blind prejudice will come into it this year. But it will.

And so, the list.

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Capote”
Terrence Howard in “Hustle & Flow”
Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain”
Joaquin Phoenix in “Walk the Line”
David Strathairn in “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

Most people seem to think this is between Heath Ledger and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It should go to Joaquin Phoenix. Hoffman is great in Capote, and he should have at least two Oscars under his belt by now anyway. If there’s any justice he will someday be hosting Oscar juggling parties and putting on exhibitions with his awards (“Can he do five? Wow!”). But Capote the movie doesn’t live up to his peformance, and therefore doesn’t let him play all the notes of the character he created. Phoenix’s Johnny Cash really gets to run the gamut in Walk the Line, a far superior movie. His performance is less showy, but more intense and admirable for that. And he did all his own singing. Ledger was great, but for some reason that performance didn’t grab my imagination to the same extent as the others. David Strathairn was fine and I haven’t see Hustle & Flow.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
George Clooney in “Syriana”
Matt Dillon in “Crash”
Paul Giamatti in “Cinderella Man”
Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain”
William Hurt in “A History of Violence”

I’m gonna go with Jake Gyllenhaal here, mainly for the scenes where he drove to Ennis with a broad grin on his face and then drove away shattered. Paul Giamatti is always good, but this wsn’t anything special from him. George Clooney would probably be my second choice. It was more of an attitude than a performance, but it was a complex attitude. William Hurt was hilarious in A History of Violence, but an Oscar?

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Judi Dench in “Mrs. Henderson Presents”
Felicity Huffman in “Transamerica”
Keira Knightley in “Pride & Prejudice”
Charlize Theron in “North Country”
Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the Line”

Reese Witherspoon, because a) it’s the only one I’ve seen and b) the Righting of Injustice.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in “Junebug”
Catherine Keener in “Capote”
Frances McDormand in “North Country”
Rachel Weisz in “The Constant Gardener”
Michelle Williams in “Brokeback Mountain”

Michelle Williams. She was better than Catherine Keener (which is the only other one I’ve seen), and I’m pretty much going to be dissing Brokeback Mountain in the major categories even though I though it was great. The Righting of Internal Injustice.

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

I only saw Wallace and Gromit, which was hilarious. Plus my friend Shea was one of the lead animators. Aardman for the win!

Achievement in art direction
“Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Art Direction: Jim Bissell
Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
Art Direction: Stuart Craig
Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“King Kong”
Art Direction: Grant Major
Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
“Memoirs of a Geisha”
Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau
“Pride & Prejudice”
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

Ummm, King Kong?

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

I’m going to go with The New World, because I feel guilty about not having seen it.

Achievement in costume design
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” Gabriella Pescucci
“Memoirs of a Geisha” Colleen Atwood
“Mrs. Henderson Presents” Sandy Powell
“Pride & Prejudice” Jacqueline Durran
“Walk the Line” Arianne Phillips

Wasn’t the whole point of Mrs. Henderson Presents that they weren’t wearing costumes? I’ll go with Memoirs of a Geisha. I didn’t think it was so great, but they were wearing costumes pretty much the whole time.

Achievement in directing
“Brokeback Mountain” Ang Lee
“Capote” Bennett Miller
“Crash” Paul Haggis
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” George Clooney
“Munich” Steven Spielberg

Martin Scorsese. I don’t care if he isn’t nominated.
Oh, all right. I’ve actually seen all of these. I’m a big fan of Ang Lee, and Brokeback Mountain is great, but it’s not his best movie, and it’s not the best movie here. Second best. Capote? Really? Wow. Crash – I though it was an excellent portrayal of the racial tensions I remember from my brief time in LA – the way people justify them and handle them. But it was a bit too heavy handed. Good Night, and Good Luck was just dull. I’m sorry, but it was boring. Many people I spoke to about it liked it because they felt “it needed to be said”. Maybe it did, but couldn’t it have been said entertainingly? Munich is my pick. Steven Spielberg just is the best director, hands down. This is the first time he’s put his talent at the service of complexity and the resulting movie is really remarkable.

Best documentary feature
“Darwin’s Nightmare” Hubert Sauper
“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot
“March of the Penguins” Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau
“Murderball” Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
“Street Fight” Marshall Curry

I have seen none of these. Best title: Darwin’s Nightmare.

Best documentary short subject
“The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club” Dan Krauss
“God Sleeps in Rwanda” Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman
“The Mushroom Club” Steven Okazaki
“A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin” Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson

Or these. Best title: The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club. Bang Bang club, eh?

Achievement in film editing
“Cinderella Man” Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
“The Constant Gardener” Claire Simpson
“Crash” Hughes Winborne
“Munich” Michael Kahn
“Walk the Line” Michael McCusker

Walk the Line. For knowing when to cut, and when not to cut. Plus Righting of Injustice.

Best foreign language film of the year
“Don’t Tell” Italy
“Joyeux Noël” France
“Paradise Now” Palestine
“Sophie Scholl – The Final Days” Germany
“Tsotsi” South Africa

Tsotsi is the only one I’ve even seen a trailer for. So Tsotsi.

Achievement in makeup
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” Howard Berger and Tami Lane
“Cinderella Man” David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
“Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith” Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley

Ummm, Narnia? After all, Tumnus.

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

Brokeback Mountain. It was great, plus Righting of Internal Injustice.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“In the Deep” from “Crash” Music by Kathleen “Bird” York and Michael Becker Lyric by Kathleen “Bird” York
“It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from “Hustle & Flow” Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
“Travelin’ Thru” from “Transamerica” Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp because that would be hilarious.

Best motion picture of the year
“Brokeback Mountain” Diana Ossana and James Schamus, Producers
“Capote” Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven,
“Crash” Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, Producer
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” Grant Heslov, Producer
“Munich” Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, Producers

Walk the Line. Sorry, what? Not nominated? Really? Oh well, Munich then.

Best animated short film
“Badgered” Sharon Colman
“The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation” John Canemaker and Peggy Stern
“The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello” Anthony Lucas
“9” Shane Acker
“One Man Band” Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews

9, because it’s quick to type.

Best live action short film
“Ausreisser (The Runaway)” Ulrike Grote
“Cashback” Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager
“The Last Farm” Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson
“Our Time Is Up” Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente
“Six Shooter” Martin McDonagh

Six Shooter because of the knowing people rule. I don’t know Martin McDonagh, but the Irish film industry is small and I’m sure I’ve stood in the same room as some of the people who worked on this. And I heard it was excellent.

Achievement in sound editing
“King Kong” Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
“Memoirs of a Geisha” Wylie Stateman
“War of the Worlds” Richard King

King Kong.

Achievement in sound mixing
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
“King Kong” Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
“Memoirs of a Geisha” Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
“Walk the Line” Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland
“War of the Worlds” Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

I’m going to go with Walk the Line, because I remember Paul Massey as being a really nice guy who could mix music beautifully. I’m thinking about the performance in the prison. Thump Thump Thump Thump…

Achievement in visual effects
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
“King Kong” Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor
“War of the Worlds” Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randal M. Dutra and Daniel Sudick

War of the Worlds.

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” Screenplay by Josh Olson
“Munich” Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

A History of Violence. That was a great movie. Layered and surprising.

Original screenplay
“Crash” Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco Story by Paul Haggis
“Good Night, and Good Luck.” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov
“Match Point” Written by Woody Allen
“The Squid and the Whale” Written by Noah Baumbach
“Syriana” Written by Stephen Gaghan

Match Point? Sound interesting. I must make the effort.

Anyway, these aren’t predictions. This is good because if they were they would almost certainly all be wrong. In know there isn’t much time to comment before the awards. This is probably a good thing.