JANUARY 23, 2007: This is the list of Oscar nominations, accompanied by
my personal vote, were I given one as of this morning. I also listed a few
"unfairly overlooked" items, off the top of my head. I will get to my
predictions soonish, as well as filling in the blanks of a couple of leftover
films I didn't see.
As for comments, I was pleasantly surprised to see both Pan's
Labyrinth and Children of Men -- both of which I liked -- get
more nominations that I expected, with six and three, respectively. I
was also pleasantly surprised to see Dreamgirls -- which I didn't
like -- get fewer nominations than I expected. (It leads the pack with eight nods, but three of those
are in Best Song.) Four of the five Best Picture nominees are actually good films,
which is an unusual development. And a couple of my dark horse favorites
wound up with nominations, Marie Antoinette for Costume Design and
The Black Dahlia for Cinematography. (Art School Confidential
and Inland Empire came away with nothing.)
I was also very happy to see the animated short The Little Matchgirl,
released on Disney's The Little Mermaid DVD, get a nomination. It's a heartbreakingly
lovely little film, and I'm rooting for it very strongly.
The Oscars will be announced February 25th. More later...
FEBRUARY 25, 2007: Some happy wins and some disappointments, but more good choices than not.
Two of the year's best films, The Departed and Pan's Labyrinth led the night, with
4 awards and 3 awards, respectively, though Pan's Labyrinth lost the Best Foreign Film award
to the more award-friendly The Lives of Others (a film no one will ever remember or
ever want to see again). The overrated Dreamgirls took two awards, and five years from now
people will wonder why, just as they did with Roberto Benigni. As for silver linings, the wonderful Happy Feet
beat out the more conventional Cars and Sofia Coppola's under-appreciated Marie
Antoinette picked up a surprise award for Costume Design. Even Clint Eastwood's
Letters from Iwo Jima picked up a single Oscar for Sound Editing. But the most important pair of
awards went to An Inconvenient Truth. Let's hope they inspire even more people to see it and to
take its warnings to heart. As for my predictions, I got a lousy ten right, which has
to be my worst year ever. Just wait till next year...
The Winner: Martin Scorsese My Prediction: Martin Scorsese My Vote: Martin Scorsese Unfairly Overlooked: Guillermo Del Toro, Pan's Labyrinth;
Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men;
David Lynch, Inland Empire
The Winner: Forest Whitaker My Prediction: Forest Whitaker My Vote: Peter O'Toole Unfairly Overlooked: Clive Owen, Children of Men; Denzel Washington, Inside Man
The Winner: Helen Mirren My Prediction: Helen Mirren My Vote: Meryl Streep Unfairly Overlooked: Lee Yeong-ae, Lady Vengeance; Laura Dern, Inland Empire
The Winner: Alan Arkin My Prediction: Djimon Hounsou My Vote: Alan Arkin Unfairly Overlooked: Jim Broadbent, Art School Confidential;
Bill Nighy, Notes on a Scandal;
John Hurt, The Proposition
The Winner: Jennifer Hudson My Prediction: Jennifer Hudson My Vote: Abigail Breslin Unfairly Overlooked: Sandra Bullock, Infamous;
Meryl Streep, A Prairie Home Companion;
Robin Tunney, Hollywoodland;
Jodie Foster, Inside Man;
Gillian Anderson, The Last King of Scotland
The Winner:The Lives of Others My Prediction:The Lives of Others My Vote:Pan's Labyrinth Unfairly Overlooked:Three Times, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Lady Vengeance
The Winner: Guillermo Navarro, Pan's Labyrinth My Prediction: Emmanuel Lubezki, Children of Men My Vote: Emmanuel Lubezki, Children of Men Unfairly Overlooked: Pin Bing Lee, Three Times; Lance Acord, Marie Antoinette
"Patience" from Dreamgirls, Henry Krieger, Willie Reale
The Winner: "I Need to Wake Up," Melissa Etheridge My Prediction: none My Vote: none Unfairly Overlooked: "Put Your Records On" from Venus, Corinne Bailey Rae
The Winner:Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest My Prediction:Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest My Vote:Superman Returns Unfairly Overlooked:The Prestige, The Fountain
