Okay, so the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences is about to give out their shiny awards this Sunday but there’s still a chance to get this right guys – just listen to me. Please!!! Yeah, maybe not, but here you guys go with my picks for Oscar night including mention of a few snubbed individuals and films that should be represented on Oscar night.
Well here goes…
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich
Deserves a spot on the list – A History of Violence was the most haunting film of 2005 and as good if not better than every film on this list. Personally I would add the noirish comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Frank Miller’s bloody Sin City to the list but these aren’t the type of films the Academy acknowledges.
Doesn’t belong – Brokeback Mountain and
Capote are both fine films but neither is in the same category as the other nominees.
Who should win – With Violence ignored it’s a two man race between Good Night and Munich with Clooney’s baby coming out on top. Good Night, and Good Luck is a remarkable film filled with great performances and an important message; for me it is the best film of 2005.
Who will win – Despite late pushes for Crash and Capote I don’t see either derailing the Brokeback train. Sadly I expect the most flawed film of the five nominees, Brokeback Mountain, to take home the Oscar.
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennet Miller, Capote
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Steven Spielberg, Munich
Deserves a spot on the list – Joe Wright, Pride & Prejudice. A remarkably refreshing interpretation of Jane Austen’s novel that is beautiful to look and impossible to not enjoy.
Doesn’t belong – Bennet Miller, Capote. Much like the man, Capote never finds a true heart or message and never engages the audience in the way the material should.
Who should win – George Clooney. Clooney infects his film with the same effortlessness he shows in his own on-screen performances. An important moment in is well captured in black and white and never becomes preachy or or dull. Amazing work by a still very young director.
Who will win – Ang Lee. Write it down. The Director’s Guild winner will take home the Oscar in the one definite lock of the night.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrance Howard, Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck
Deserves a spot on the list – Mickey Rourke, Sin City and Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence. Two violent performances that are the heart of each film. Mortensen has never been better and Rourke’s depth and range just blew me away.
Doesn’t belong – I’m okay with the list the Academy picked, though if I had to take one off it would be Phoenix’s portrayal as Johnny Cash not for fault in the performance itself but for the subject matter that never let us get close enough to the real man.
Who should win – Rourke, but as he’s not on the list I’ll go with my second choice David Strathairn for his portrayal of newsman Edward R. Murrow. Much like Hoffman, Strathairn takes on the pressure of portraying a real life figure but where Hoffman shows us a one-sided manipulator Strathairn shows both Murrow’s angels and demons in a complete performance that’s just outstanding.
Who will win – Philip Seymour Hoffman. Mark it down folks; he’s won at every award ceremony. I don’t see any signs that this award show will be any different.
Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Keira Knightly, Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron, North Country
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Deserves a spot on the list – Joan Allen, The Upside of Anger. How the single best female performance of the year by a well respected actress like Allen was completely ignored is inexcusable.
Doesn’t belong – I can’t argue with this list which is easily the most competitive this year.
Who should win – With Allen left off the list this is the hardest category for me as I think every performance is Oscar worthy. Huffman and Witherspoon are the two favorites and both have picked up awards for their wonderful performances and Dench was perfect as Mrs. Henderson. But on Oscar night I’m going to be pulling for dark horse Knightly who gave two of the best performances of the year (Pride and Domino).
Who will win – Reese Witherspoon pulls out the close win over Huffman.
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence
Deserves a spot on the list – Jesse L. Martin and Wilson Jermaine Heredia for RENT, Val Kilmer for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Donald Sutherland for Pride & Prejudice, and Alexander Siddig for Syriana
Doesn’t belong – The entire list except for Gyllenhaal, and the possible exception of Hurt playing completely against type, give fine but not really noteworthy performances.
Who should win – Since Gyllenhall’s performance is best role from Brokeback Mountain, and since no one was nominated who I think deserves it, I guess I’ll take one of the gay cowboys here.
Who will win – Paul Giamatti will take home the gold in a classic Oscar moment of rewarding great acting a year late.
Amy Adams, Junebug
Catherine Keener, Capote
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Deserves a spot on the list – Maria Bello for A History of Violence, Rosario Dawson for RENT, Jennifer Carpenter for The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Shirley MacLaine for Rumor Has It...
Doesn’t belong – Frances McDormand is terrific but seriously this is a role she could have done in her sleep.
Who should win – Bello deserves the award with Dawson coming in a close second and MacLaie third but again the Academy didn’t recognize these tremendous performances. Out of this list I’m inclined to vote for Catherine Keener who gives a much fuller performance than Hoffman’s celebrated one in Capote though I’d be fine with Weisz taking home the award for a very fine performance in an incredibly predictable so-so film.
Who will win – Rachel Weisz is the favorite and I don’t see Michelle Williams beating her out or enough voters to have seen Junebug to push Amy Adams over the top.