Oscar nominations

The only real surprise is that there aren't any real surprises. MUNICH got in after all, which tells me something political is in the air out in Hollywood- something that says we need to address serious worldly issues instead of worrying about crowd-pleasing hits. Oh man, are the conservative pundits going to have a field day...

Hey, I just noticed... One awesome surprise is that "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" got a best song nomination. Not that it's that great a song ("Whoop That Trick" is much cooler), but it's still pretty awesome that they went for it. Hope Terrence wears his wife-beater and DJay pendant when he's onstage.

BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich
My thoughts: Guess it didn't matter that MUNICH wasn't a big hit, or that it wasn't as huggable as Spielberg's previous Oscar-nominated films. Maybe they just realized that WALK THE LINE, music and performances aside, just wasn't anything special.

BEST DIRECTOR
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Paul Haggis, Crash
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller, Capote
Steven Spielberg, Munich
My thoughts: Wow, how creative- all five best picture nominees also got nominated here. No "critic's choice" shout-out like we've had pretty much every year for the past decade. Were they even trying? Also, I really wish people would stop saying that CAPOTE is a debut. Bennett Miller directed a documentary called THE CRUISE in 1998. Sure, it's not a respectable Hollywood movie, but it doesn't matter- he's made a feature before CAPOTE, so stop acting as though he didn't. And hey, I called the Spielberg picture/director combo- just not, ya know, officially.

BEST ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrence Howard, Hustle and Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck
My thoughts: Just because I didn't predict Howard here doesn't mean I didn't have a good idea he'd make it. The guy's been out there, making the rounds, pressing the flesh, showing up in magazines and the like. And it's worked. Crowe didn't really do this, so he's out. My Daniels prediction was as much an attempt to shake things up as anything else. I hate predicting cookie-cutter nominations, but the voters don't seem to mind them at all. At least Howard got nominated for the right movie.

BEST ACTRESS
Dame Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman, TransAmerica
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron, North Country
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
My thoughts: So they went with Charlize. Whoopdie frickin' doo. At least I called Keira. And yeah, Allen was a long shot (early release, low on precursors), but again, couldn't bore myself with obvious picks.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence
My thoughts: Good job Academy only giving CRASH one nomination. Good job Hurt (and the hype-sters) on getting the Beatrice Straight Award for memorable acting in five minutes. I love the movie, but I thought Harris was worthier than Hurt. But that's just me.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Junebug
Catherine Keener, Capote
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
My thoughts: Looks like the early screeners for JUNEBUG did the trick- voters received DVDs back in November for it, and they got to watch them early before the others rolled in, for a movie that might otherwise be consigned to the bottom of the stack. Smart thinking, guys. In other news, McDormand gets nominated for supporting a lead actress nominee (and, admittedly, for playing a very bait-y role). And what does Maria Bello have to do to get recognized here? Hurt turns up for five minutes and gets in, while Bello gives one of the year's most searing performances and she stays home? Was it the 69 scene, guys? Was it the cheerleader getup?

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana
My thoughts: Hey, look at me predict them all. I'd feel prouder if this category wasn't so easy to predict.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Munich
My thoughts: Once again, an easy 5 for 5.

More analysis/armchair quarterbacking to come, probably.