Todd’s Oscar picks

Note: although I am a member of the Writer’s Guild, I am not a member of the Academy.  I’m just a guesser like anybody.

Further, note that I have never won an Oscar pool in my life.  If you want to know who is going to win at the Oscars, ask Mrs. James urbaniak.  She has won every Oscar pool I’ve ever entered.

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Leonardo DiCaprio – BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling – HALF NELSON
Peter O’Toole – VENUS
Will Smith – THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker – THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

I actually haven’t seen any of these movies.  I’m going to say Forest Whitaker, because the trailer for Venus set my teeth on edge.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Alan Arkin – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley – LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou – BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy – DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg – THE DEPARTED

A strong field, but Eddie Murphy is due.  He is one of our greatest actors and a national treasure.  I am astonished he was not nominated for The Nutty Professor.

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Penélope Cruz – VOLVER
Judi Dench – NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren – THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep – THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet – LITTLE CHILDREN

These are all extraordinary performances.  I wish Cate Blanchett was in this category so we could have three Queen Elizabeths fighting against each other. 

Everyone is saying Helen Mirren is going to win it, but I preferred Meryl Streep’s performance.  She was astonishing in that movie.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Adriana Barraza – BABEL
Cate Blanchett – NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson – DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi – BABEL

I’m baffled by Cate Blanchett in this category — she’s easily the co-lead in Notes, and extraordinary as always, easily the most gifted actress of her generation.  Abigail Breslin gives one of several excellent kid performances of the year.  But Jennifer Hudson is the walk-away favorite here.

Best animated feature film of the year

CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE

Happy Feet, although it gets weighted down with a “message” in Act III, is by far the best animated film of the year.  Utterly original in a year of achingly similar talking-animal movies, character design that is authentic and subtle without sacrificing kid appeal, an organic, felt storyline instead of a forced, programmatic formula, and living, breathing characters.

Achievement in art direction

DREAMGIRLS
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
PAN’S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
THE PRESTIGE

Dreamgirls.

Achievement in cinematography

THE BLACK DAHLIA
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE ILLUSIONIST
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE PRESTIGE

All of these movies are really well shot.  Children of Men has two sequences which count as two of the most jaw-dropping action sequences ever shot, but I’ll say Pan’s Labyrinth.

Achievement in costume design

CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
DREAMGIRLS
MARIE ANTOINETTE
THE QUEEN

Dreamgirls.

Achievement in directing

BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93

Has to be Scorsese.  Has to be.  Babel and Iwo Jima feel like homework, The Queen feels too performance driven, United 93, while amazingly directed, far too painful to sit through.  Has to be Scorsese.

Best documentary feature

DELIVER US FROM EVIL
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
JESUS CAMP
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY

Inconvenient Truth.  They can’t pass it up.  Plus I don’t think any of the others are about the Holocaust.

Best documentary short subject

THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT
RECYCLED LIFE
REHEARSING A DREAM
TWO HANDS

No idea.

Achievement in film editing

BABEL
BLOOD DIAMOND
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93

I’m going to say United 93.

Best foreign language film of the year

AFTER THE WEDDING
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
PAN’S LABYRINTH
WATER

Oh, Pan’s Labyrinth.  Definitely.

Achievement in makeup

APOCALYPTO
CLICK
PAN’S LABYRINTH

The makeup in Apocalypto is quite an achievement, but I don’t think the Academy can give it an award.  And if they can’t give it to Apocalypto, they can’t give it to an Adam Sandler movie.  A lot of the makeup effects in Pan’s Labyrinth are computer generated, but I still say it will win.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

BABEL
THE GOOD GERMAN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN

I’m going to say Notes on a Scandal, only because it’s by my favorite living composer, Philip Glass, and I want to see him win.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“I Need to Wake Up” – AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
“Listen” – DREAMGIRLS
“Love You I Do” – DREAMGIRLS
“Our Town” – CARS
“Patience” – DREAMGIRLS

I’m going to say one of the songs from Dreamgirls.  But I could be wrong.

Best motion picture of the year

BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN

Has to be The Departed.  The other ones on this list don’t even come close.

Best animated short film

THE DANISH POET
LIFTED
THE LITTLE MATCHGIRL
MAESTRO
NO TIME FOR NUTS

Not a clue.

Best live action short film

BINTA AND THE GREAT IDEA (BINTA Y LA GRAN IDEA)
ÉRAMOS POCOS (ONE TOO MANY)
HELMER & SON
THE SAVIOUR
WEST BANK STORY

West Bank Story.  (It’s about Israel, right?)

Achievement in sound editing

APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST

Hmmm — a toss up.  I’m going to say Flags, just because that’s the only one where I remember being impressed by the sound effects editing.  (Last time I used this logic was for Dances With Wolves, and I was right then too.)

Achievement in sound mixing

APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
DREAMGIRLS
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST

Dreamgirls.

Achievement in visual effects

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
POSEIDON
SUPERMAN RETURNS

Pirates.  Bill Nighy with an octopus on his face is, hands down, the greatest, most sophisticated, most successful, most daring visual effect of the year.

Adapted screenplay

BORAT CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
LITTLE CHILDREN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Not sure what makes Borat an “adapted screenplay,” but whatever.  Little Children is the best screenplay of the year.

Original screenplay

BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN

Gosh.  I’m actually going to say Little Miss Sunshine, only because I don’t think they’ll give it to Pan’s Labyrinth.  Plus, Little Miss Sunshine was, you know, this year’s “little movie that could,” and otherwise won’t win anything.

There you go.  And remember, I’m always wrong about these things.