March 2, 2006
By Jeff Roedel
All right. Hold onto your hats. Crank-call Jon Stewart. Double check whether Keira Knightley has a date. Here are my extremely reluctant and probably way-off-the-mark picks for the 78th Academy Awards.
Best 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) and Stephen Gaghan (Syriana).
I’ll give Woody Allen a slight edge over the other actor-turned-director George Clooney. Good Night and Good Luck is a strong film, but Match Point is both a return-to-form for Allen and also comes across as more daring and left field than Clooney’s straightforward Edward R. Murrow biopic.
Best Director: George Clooney (Good Night and Good Luck), Paul Haggis (Crash), Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain), Bennett Miller (Capote), Steven Spielberg (Munich).
The grandpas could win again in the Best Director category, thanks to Spielberg’s unforgiving tour de force Munich. It’s really Ang Lee’s statue to lose, but Oscar likes to play the upset card once a year, and this could be the category. Brokeback Mountain will come out on top in other races.
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams (Junebug), Catherine Keener (Capote), Frances McDormand (North Country), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain).
One of her generation’s most understated and overlooked actresses, Weisz should take home an Oscar for her portrayal of strong-willed activist Tessa Quayle in The Constant Gardener.
Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney (Syriana), Matt Dillon (Crash), Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man), Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) and William Hurt (A History of Violence).
Clooney may have pulled off his most accomplished role in Syriana, but the erratic film failed to connect with audiences. Matt Dillon’s name will be called for his fearless portrayal of a racist LAPD officer with an ailing father in Crash.
Best Actress: Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents), Felicity Huffman (Transamerica), Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice), Charlize Theron (North Country) and Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line).
If she doesn’t win, they might riot in Memphis. She was the perfect June Carter. The wit. The grace. The hurt. The heart. The perfect rescue for a drowning Johnny Cash. Reese Witherspoon, Oscar winner 2006.
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Terrence Howard (Hustle and Flow), Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain), Joaquin Phoenix (Walk The Line) and David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck).
Joaquin has a fighting chance, but it’s a small fight. After Jamie Foxx’s win for Ray last year, Academy members may be reluctant to give top honors to another music legend role. Heath Ledger should come away one-for-one at the Oscars for his subtle, nuanced performance in Brokeback Mountain.
Best Motion Picture: Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night and Good Luck, and Munich.
With eight total Oscar nods, Brokeback Mountain is certainly the most acclaimed of the Best Picture nominees. Though Capote, Munich and the unfortunately snubbed Walk The Line will probably have longer legacies, Brokeback Mountain obliterated a taboo for major studio films, Ang Lee once again proved he is a master storyteller and a remarkable cast pulled off the most devastating and controversial love story of the year.
Comments
Posted by RedStuck on March 6 at 2:37 p.m.
Monday Morning Quarterbacking---
Your picks weren't bad, Jeff. Woody Allen's relevance as a filmmaker is rather in question these days, but he's still good for what I'll dub "Film Quirk."
I'm upset that Brokeback's Best Picture was snagged by the Crash crew. Loved Crash, but Brokeback was much more of a cultural force. In the end, Haggis & Co. won based on the sheer number of votes the huge cast and their friends commanded.
Posted by thebrittster on March 7 at 11:02 a.m.
We had our doubts while renting it, but my girlfriend and I decided to give 'Crash' a chance.
We had to turn it off after the first 5 minutes.
Sandra Bullock and Brendan Fraser on the same screen...? Aaahh! Is this what they call "acting"? Should we be so annoyed, watching these two dullards so unconvincingly scream such terrible dialogue at each other?
Two words: un-watchable. I dunno, maybe it's just me. I have been known to not give movies a fair chance. *Sigh* I'm sure everything worked out well in the end. But I guess I'll never know.
(By the way, we have recently become hopelessly addicted to The Sopranos. And we're only on the fifth episode! Do they have rehab for mob-movie addicts?)
Posted by Jeff_Roedel on March 7 at 5:04 p.m.
Hello, thebrittster. It's funny that you mention being "known to not give movies a fair chance," because I've heard that about you.
You do make a good point about Bullock and Fraser, probably no one's favorite actors...the only thing I can say in defense is that they were playing dull, vapid characters (i.e. people from Los Angeles). That, and the film does get better after the first five minutes.
Posted by maotsetung96 on March 8 at 4:49 p.m.
I agree that Brokeback Mountain will help to define our current culture's understanding of a relationship between two men. For that reason, it was daring and unapologetic; it was deserving of the nod. In the end, Ang Lee received the Best Director nod but the stir of the movie was enough to reinforce its importance to our society.
Crash was a great movie with a compelling all star cast! I believe it was beautifully written and raved about it for weeks! However, to compare the two movies is unfair. Crash had several different story lines that converged in the end and with no clear leading role(s). This did not make the movie any less convincing but when you compare it to Brokeback, which had leading roles and one central, flowing story line, it becomes hard to compare apples to oranges - it's impossible and unwise.
Think about this, which movie will have a long-lasting affect on our society?
Posted by Jeff_Roedel on March 13 at 4:15 p.m.
Mao,
I don't think either Crash or Brokeback will have a long-lasting effect on society (though I'm sure George Clooney will disagree with me), but Brokeback will probably have the longer-lasting effect on HOLLYWOOD. The industry loves to copycat. Look for more mainstream dramas about about homesexual love in the near future. I've read Brad Pitt specifically told his agent that his next role needed to be a gay role to increase his Oscar chances. I can't recall the project, but it's supposed to be about a closeted track coach who falls in love with one of his athletes.
As far as the Oscars go, you're right: different movies and roles are hard to compare. It's all subjective, but it's good fun.
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