And Now To Happier News....

The Oscar nominations are in! Sadly, I couldn't follow my usual tradition to watch them be announced live this morning cuz I was at a breakfast meeting. :-( But now I'm all caught up, and I have to say that overall I am very pleased. This is a rare year in which I've seen almost all of the films nominated in the major categories. So I'm full of opinions. Here's my take on the biggies (stealing Entertainment Weekly's usual shtick):

Best 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
I've seen every single one of these, and they're all fantastic performances.
Should Win: Terrence Howard
Will Win: Philip Seymour Hoffman (sorry, Heath, but PSH has won more of the critics' awards)

Best Actress:
Judi Dench - MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS
Felicity Huffman - TRANSAMERICA
Keira Knightley - PRIDE & PREJUDICE
Charlize Theron - NORTH COUNTRY
Reese Witherspoon - WALK THE LINE
Here's where I suck, cuz I've only seen one of these. So this is just based on what I've been reading.
Should Win: Felicity Huffman
Will Win: Reese Witherspoon (I love her!)

Best Supporting Actor:
George Clooney - SYRIANA
Matt Dillon - CRASH
Paul Giamatti - CINDERELLA MAN
Jake Gyllenhaal - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
William Hurt - A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
I've also seen all of these. This is my only major quibble with the nominations, cuz I thought William Hurt's performance was the worst piece of acting I've ever seen.
Should Win: Matt Dillon. Out of all of these, his was the most provocative performance and represented, to me, the biggest stretch in what I'd previously thought were his abilities.
Will Win: Paul Giamatti. The Academy is huge on giving the award to someone they'd snumbbed the year before (paging Russell Crowe).

Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams - JUNEBUG
Catherine Keener - CAPOTE
Frances McDormand - NORTH COUNTRY
Rachel Weisz - THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Michelle Williams - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Here I've seen all of them except North Country.
Should Win: Amy Adams. She was great, and totally brightened up the entire otherwise-dour movie.
Will Win: Rachel Weisz. She's got the awards momentum, and I like her a lot, too.

Best Documentary Feature:
DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
MURDERBALL
STREET FIGHT
I've seen two of these and heard of 2 - Street Fight is new to me. But I love that this category is getting more and more popular.
Should Win: Murderball
Will Win: March of the Penguins (I love, love, love this movie, but I do think Murderball is a worthy competitor.)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
CAPOTE
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
MUNICH
Ah ha, I've seen all of these films, too!
Should Win: Brokeback Mountain
Will Win: Brokeback Mountain Anyone who can take a 10 or 12-page short story and make it into such a beautiful feature-length film deserves the Oscar.

Best Original Screenplay:
CRASH
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
MATCH POINT
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE
SYRIANA
I've seen 4 of these - I keep meaning to check out The Squid and The Whale soon!
Should Win: Crash
Will Win: Good Night and Good Luck. This is a really hard one - they're all very intricate, complex stories. But if this wins, it means my George will have an Oscar!

Best Director:
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
CAPOTE
CRASH
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
MUNICH
Ditto, I've seen all of these, which are the same for the next category. At least this year no one from Best Picture got shut out of the director's race. This is a very tough call because I really loved all 5 of these movies. I guess it's been a really good year for movie-making, eh?
Should Win: Ang Lee.
Will Win: Ang Lee.

Best Picture:
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
CAPOTE
CRASH
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
MUNICH
Should Win: Brokeback Mountain
Will Win: Brokeback Mountain. You can't deny that momentum.... love me some gay cowboys! :-)

For more picks:
Footnotes: It's the most wonderful time of the year