I have to agree with you Gabe. Putting War of the Worlds before Sith in the VFX department is a joke, and aside from the big ape himself, the CGI effects in King Kong weren't that special.

As usual the awards are little more than light entertainment and certainly shouldn't be taken that seriously.

£ukasz D wrote: Jonny "Me You" wrote: I'm gonna stick my neck out and interpret that £ukasz means that it'll probably win simply because it's a breakthrough movie centered on being gay.

I think there may be some validity to that. I havent seen it, so I can't judge, but the academy is known for awarding oscars to movies and actors simply because of popularity in some circles, crossed with prepackaged and bought media campaigns.

..amen...that is exactly what I ment

To say that it is nominated solely because it is centered on being gay is a bit silly.  Many homosexual movies have been well received by critics, but have found no room at the Oscar's.  I really don't think that Brokeback Mountain is really a "breakthrough movie".  Many of these themese have been covered before, just in movies that many people never see.

I'd rather think that it was nominated because it was a good movie.

Adrian wrote: To say that it is nominated solely because it is centered on being gay is a bit silly.  Many homosexual movies have been well received by critics, but have found no room at the Oscar's.  I really don't think that Brokeback Mountain is really a "breakthrough movie".  Many of these themese have been covered before, just in movies that many people never see.

I'd rather think that it was nominated because it was a good movie.That's what I was trying to say. I have yet to see the film and I'll probably catch it on DVD when it comes out, but most critics were saying it was great, and it must be great to be nominated for an Academy Award.

That said, anyone want to put a prediction down for who you want to win? My predictions are marked with a *




BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
Brokeback Mountain*
Capote
Crash
Good Night, And Good Luck.
Munich

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain*
Bennett Miller - Capote
Paul Haggis - Crash
George Clooney - Good Night, And Good Luck.
Steven Spielberg - Munich

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Terrence Howard - Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain*
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line
David Strathairn - Good Night, And Good Luck.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Judi Dench - Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman - TransAmerica
Keira Knightley - Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron - North Country
Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line*

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
George Clooney - Syriana
Matt Dillon - Crash*
Paul Giamatti - Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt - A History of Violence

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams - Junebug
Catherine Keener - Capote
Frances McDormand - North Country
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener*
Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana - Brokeback Mountain
Dan Futterman - Capote
Jeffrey Caine - The Constant Gardener
Josh Olson - A History of Violence*
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth - Munich

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco - Crash
George Clooney & Grant Heslov - Good Night, And Good Luck.*
Woody Allen - Match Point
Noah Baumbach - The Squid and the Whale
Stephen Gaghan - Syriana

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Don't Tell
Joyeux Noel
Paradise Now*
Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
Tsotsi

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
Howl's Moving Castle*
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Good Night, And Good Luck.*
Art Direction: Jim Bissell
Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Art Direction: Stuart Craig
Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
King Kong
Art Direction: Grant Major
Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
Memoirs of a Geisha
Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau
Pride & Prejudice
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Batman Begins
Wally Pfister
Brokeback Mountain*
Rodrigo Prieto
Good Night, And Good Luck.
Robert Elswit
Memoirs of a Geisha
Dion Beebe
The New World
Emmanuel Lubezki

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Gabriella Pescucci
Memoirs of a Geisha
Colleen Atwood
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Sandy Powell
Pride & Prejudice
Jacqueline Durran
Walk the Line*
Arianne Phillips

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Darwin's Nightmare
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
March of the Penguins*
Murderball
Street Fight

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
Cinderella Man*
Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
The Constant Gardener
Claire Simpson
Crash
Hughes Winborne
Munich
Michael Kahn
Walk the Line
Michael McCusker

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe*
Howard Berger and Tami Lane
Cinderella Man
David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
Dave Elsey and Annette Miles

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES
(ORIGINAL SCORE)
Brokeback Mountain
Gustavo Santaolalla
The Constant Gardener
Alberto Iglesias
Memoirs of a Geisha*
John Williams
Munich
John Williams
Pride & Prejudice
Dario Marianelli

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES
(ORIGINAL SONG)
"In the Deep" - Crash
Music by Kathleen “Bird” York and Michael Becker
Lyric by Kathleen “Bird” York
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - Hustle & Flow*
Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
"Travelin' Thru" - TransAmerica
Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
King Kong
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
Memoirs of a Geisha
Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
Walk the Line
Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland
War of the Worlds*
Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
King Kong*
Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
Memoirs of a Geisha
Wylie Stateman
War of the Worlds
Richard King

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
King Kong
Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor
War of the Worlds*
Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sud**k

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club
God Sleeps in Rwanda
The Mushroom Club
A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin*

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Badgered
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
9
One Man Band*

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Ausreisser (The Runaway)
Cashback
The Last Farm
Our Time is Up*
Six Shooter



Now, granted I didn't see more than half of these films, I'm judging them from what I heard from friends and family, and critics.

I think George Clooney is going to win best supporting actor just to p**s off Fox News and the far right off.

floyd dylan wrote: I think George Clooney is going to win best supporting actor just to p**s off Fox News and the far right off.

good on him

"king KOng" should win!  The problem with "Star Wars" is that George has too maney things going on in the background on all of newest "Star Wars Movies" the actors get lost because "MR Lucas" makes all the scenes too busy with special effects.