Oscars 2006: Okay, so I did it

Good Lord, it's too late for this. I should be in bed.

Unfortunately, I made promises to a friend to convert some audio from a minidisc to a CD. Well, three minidiscs to three CDs. One is done, one is in progress, and one -- I think -- will be done tomorrow morning.

What that means, though, is I'm, sitting here with at least another hour to kill, and not a heck of a lot to do. So, in spite of the fact that I really didn't think I was going to get this out, here it is.

If you want to see my pics for the top six awards (best actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, director, picture) you'll have to check the column. This blog post is for every other category.

And so, let's begin, in no particular order.

ANIMATED FEATURE
Howl's Moving Castle
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Winner: Wallace & Gromit
I haven't heard of "Howl's Moving Castle" but I seem to recall hearing at some point that this was an odd year for the animated feature category, because none of the films had been traditionally animated. Which, I've gotta admit, is pretty cool. I have huge support for anyone doing something non-traditionally. Traditions are made to be broken just as much as rules are. Having said all of that, I'm putting my support behing Wallace & Gromit because, I dunno, they seem to have quite a following. I've never seen any of their stuff myself, so I can't speak with any conviction, but apparently it involves cheese, so there's bonus points there, as far as I'm concerned. Plus, I hear "Corpse Bride" wasn't quite as good as "Nightmare Before Christmas" so...well, "A" for effort, I guess, but try again.

ART DIRECTION
Good Night, and Good Luck
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King King
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
Winner: Good Night, and Good Luck
Okay, I might as well get this out of my system now. I'm not seeing much going in King Kong's favour at the Oscars. Peter Jackson has already had his massive love-fest with the third Lord of the Rings film, and while I'm sure it's an honour just to be nominated, I don't see too many awards heading his way anytime soon. Quite frankly, I'd be kind of pissed if he had a major Oscar clean-up again. Or am I maybe one of the few that thinks he might be just a *little* overrated. What was I talking about? Oh, right, the award for Art Direction. "Good Night, and Good Luck" creates a paranoid, McCarthy-esque, early-60s feel, complete with the oh-so-artsy black and white photography. Haven't seen the film, but I heard it looks very much like a 60s-ish live television drama, with limited sets, which in a way is probably perfect for the material. With an artistic approach like that, risks were clearly taken, and sometimes those risks are honoured.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Batman Begins
Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck
Memoirs of a Geisha
The New World
Winner: The New World
Terrance Mallick is one of those funny filmmakers who often has years between projects. His last film -- "The Thin Red Line" -- hit theatres seven years ago, and before that it was twenty years back to "Days of Heaven." He's clearly the type who's very careful with his work, and doesn't do something until it's completely, perfectly ready. He'd also be the type to be very careful, and very particular with his cinematography. Though I suppose it's possible that it might go to "Good Night..." just because it's black and white. But that'd be kind of sad.

COSTUME DESIGN
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Walk the Line
Winner: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
It's usually a good bet to go with the historical epics in the costume design category, because they tend to really stand out in their era-accurate costumes. "Charlie" seems to be the underdog in this category, but I'm gonna support it. Tim Burton had a fantastic vision for this film, and it was a vision that -- by necessity -- found its way into the costumes. They're weird, but they're wonderful, and I'm willing to bet that they'll win.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Darwin's Nightmare
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
March of the Penguins
Murderball
Street Fight
Winnter: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
I made a mistake last year by picking the popular documentary (Super Size Me) following the win of Fahrenheit 911 the previous year. This year's popular pick would have to be "March of the Penguins" which took a lot of people by surprise, but I'm not going to be tricked two years in a row. As for my "Enron" pick...well, what could possible be more interesting or topical than a film about that company, really?

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club
God Sleeps in Rwanda
The Mushroom Club
A Note of Trumph: The Gold Age of Norman Corwin
Winner: The Death of Kevin Carter
Okay, c'mon, it's the documentary short category -- you haven't heard of any of these films either. So let's just accept that any prediction is going to be yanked out of your arse. Having said, that I stumbled upon Kevin Carter's name a day or two after making this prediction, and read a little bit about his story, and am now convinced that, at the very least, this would probably a very, very interesting film. As for why I picked it...well, it seemed like an interesting title.

FILM EDITING
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Munich
Walk the Line
Winner: Munich
Okay, so Munich is going to be mostly passed over by the Oscars. Sorry Steve. Good try, maybe next time. Still, I'm inclined to think they'll have a hard time passing over the film entirely, so this is one of those categories where they could toss the film a bone and say, "Hey, thanks for being there."

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Don't Tell
Joyeux Noel
Paradise Now
Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
Tsotsi
Winner: Sophie School - The Final Days
I don' tknow who Sophie Scholl is, but any film about someone's final days simply has to be interesting on at least some level.

MAKEUP
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
Stars Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
Winner: Narnia
I can' really make any logical, sensible judgement about whether or not Star Wars' makeup was better because the movie just sucked so much ass. Massive amounts of ass. There was so much ass sucking going on it was unbelievable. So, fine, Narnia wins.

ORIGINAL SCORE
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant gardener
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Pride & Prejudice
Winner: Munich
Well, there's no Danny Elfman in the list of nominees this year, so I'll give it to John Williams. And I'll give it to Munich because the music is probably all emotional and complicated and stuff. Like the film. Yeah.

ORIGINAL SONG
"In the Deep" - Crash
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - Hustle and Flow
"Travellin' Thru" - Transamerica
Winner: "In the Deep"
I actually saw this film, but have no recollection of the song. But, you know, there'll probably be an award or two tossed in its direction, and this one of the places where they could get away with the toss.

SHORT FILM - ANIMATED
Badgered
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
9
One Man Band
Winner: Badgered
Because badgers are funny. If not this one, then "9" because numbers as title as funny, especially if they're not spelled out.

SHORT FILM - LIVE ACTION
Ausreisser )The Runaway)
Cashback
The Last Farm
Our Time is Up
Six Shooter
Winner: Six Shooter
Mostly just becauese it sounds kind of violent.

SOUND EDITING
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
War of the Worlds
Winner: War of the Worlds
This is one that could easily go to Kong, but I'm still predicting that the Academy is going to pretend like Peter Jackson simply doesn't exist after devouring the Oscars last year.

SOUND MIXING
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
King Koong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Walk the Line
War of the Worlds
Winner: Narnia
Have I mentioned that I've seen this film? Have I mentioned that I found it spectacularly average? And really, that's kind of the worst thing a film can be. I mean, if you're going to be good, then be *good*. And if you're going to be bad, you know, be *bad*. Still, mixing together all that battle sound probably gives it the upper hand.

VISUAL EFFECTS
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
King Kong
War of the Worlds
Winner: War of the Worlds
Same as with Sound Editing -- I think they're gonna ignore Kong.

SCREENPLAY - ADAPTED
Brokback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Munich
Winner: The Constant Gardener
As much as I'd love to see "Violence" get it, because it's adapted from a comic book, and because it's a Cronenberg film, I think this'll be another tip of the hat to "Gardener." But what do I know...

SCREENPLAY - ORIGINAL
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana
Winner: Crash
Having seen this film, I've got to admit that it's only real strong point is the screenplay. In so many ways it just seemed like an average, trying to make a profound point, kind of film. But the screenplay is fantastic. It manages to just kind dabble in the interconnectedness of things without going over the top. And did you know that the screenplay was written by the guy who created the slightly cheese-ball "Canada-Meets-US" television drama "Due South"? I shit you not.

And so there it is. My crappy Oscar predicitions, now officially released to the general public so I can mocked and scorned and ridiculed when my predicitons turn out to be completely false. But I'm okay with that. As I think I've mentioned a time or two in the past, it's been a real long time since I cared much what other people thought of me or, apparently, my opinions about the Oscars.

Seeya later.