Bloodless Coup

First, yeah, Crash, blech. Bla bla bla, racial strife, bla bla bla, taboo breaking by letting characters sling around racial slurs, bla bla bla, no, really, this doesn't look like a more tragic variation on Grand Canyon. Don Cheadle's the best thing about virtually every movie he does, and Crash deserved some regard both in its own right and for its chilly examination of a sort of racism we all sort of stumble around pretending doesn't exist, but it was hamfisted and preachy and doesn't deserve a best of much of anything nod among the movies I saw.

Ditto, History of Violence -- it turns up way more on this list than it ought. That said, eff you on William Hurt. He was awesome. And it's nice to see the academy do one of those true supporting noms (as opposed to roles that basically are co-leading but are marketed as supporting in order to ensure max exposure -- {cough} Gyllenhaal {cough} -- for their respective films), a la Duvall in Apocalypse.

I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain, Capote, or Walk the Line, so whatever I say is basically pointless about categories that substantially involve these movies. That said, Strathairn was brilliant in Good Night and Good Luck, and were he not up against another by all account skillful interpretation of a real person I think he'd win hands down for the art of his portrayal. As it stands, I don't know, but I've certainly seen lesser performances garner oscars in the past.

As for cheering, I really was floored by both Good Night and Good Luck and Syriana, and I'll be very disappointed if they don't win some awards. Of the three original screenplay nominees I've seen, I'd probably choose Syriana narrowly over GN&GL (my feelings on Crash I've already covered), but Match Point evidently is very good as is Sq. & Wh, and of course I'd be hard-pressed to bitch about Baumbach getting an oscar.

I hope War of the Worlds wins nothing except, perhaps, the odd visual or sound award, and ditto Crash. Ditto history of violence too, except William Hurt.

The only documentary nominee I've seen is Murderball, and it was fantastic. I hope it wins over the penguins, but of course everyone in the universe loves the stupid penguins (I thought Winged Migration to be a rather ridiculous waste of my time and swore I wouldn't be conned into seeing what sounds an awful lot like the earthbound sequel) so they'll probably win too.

I think I'm a little disappointed, as well, that Jarhead got nothing. If nothing else, I thought either Foxx or Sarsgaard deserved supporting consideration, and it might also have deserved a best adapted screenplay aw well. The competition in that category obviously is fierce, but have I mentioned lately that I really don't think HoV deserves to be there?

I could probably go on, given time, but I'll leave it here. Oh wait, when was the official release of Mirrormask? That also deserved something in the art direction category, or something.

Yep - History of Violence and Crash - SUCKED!!! Well, at least once HoV decided to stray from from the oral sex. :)

Yeah, I've got to see Good Night, and Good Luck. It was in town for a month, and I've heard so many good things but I never got a chance to see it.

And while I will likely keep pulling for Syriana on the screenplay award - you make a good point about Squid and the Whale. Quite good, quite well written and it would be such fun to see Baumbach get an Oscar. Can't wait to see what he wears, too.

I was pondering these again on my walk home today, and I've got to say that if there's one acting win I really want to see happen it's Jake winning Supporting Actor. Sadly, that prize is likely going to Giammati or Clooney - and while I have nothing against either one of those guys, that's going to really piss me off.

Do what? I turned Constant Gardner off after an hour because it was boring me, and they gave it a nomination for best editing? And what do they have against Lucas? I'll admit King Kong had great visual effects and deserves its nomination, but to say that War of the Worlds had better visual effects than Revenge of the Sith is preposterous. Preposterous, I tell you! Of course, I was hoping ROTS might come through with a best score nomination (I don't remember the score from the Constant Gardener), but at least it deserved something in the sound category, moreso than WOTW.

And to preclude the inevitable objections, I know we could have done a better job on the last fifteen minutes of ROTS, but the first fifteen minutes were pretty amazing from a visual effects standpoint.

I believe Brokeback Mountain is the thinking man's Best Picture and I hope it wins. I also believe Jake deserves Best Supporting Actor. Crash, Capote and Good Night and Good Luck just don't cut it.

I thought GNaGL was fantastic.