2006 Academy Awards Commentary and Predictions

Earlier this morning the nominations for this year's upcoming Academy Awards were released. Who will walk away with an Oscar come February 26th? More often than not who should win and who does win conflict, that is why I've decided to list out my projected winners in bold and mark who should win (among the nominees) with an asterisk(*). Here are both my picks and predictions - and for all those considering gambling, stay with the predictions.

Best Picture:

*Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

Best Actor:

*Phillip Seymour Hoffman for Capote
Terrence Howard for Hustle and Flow
Heath Ledger for Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix for Walk the Line
David Strathairn for Good Night, and Good Luck

Best Actress:

Judi Dench for Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman for Transamerica
Keira Knightly for Pride & Prejudice
*Charlize Theron for North Country
Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line

Best Supporting Actor:

*George Clooney for Syriana
Matt Dillon for Crash
Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal for Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt for A History of Violence

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams for Junebug
Catherine Keener for Capote
Francis McDormand for North Country
*Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams for Brokeback Mountain

Best Director:

George Clooney for Good Night, and Good Luck
Paul Haggis for Crash
*Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller for Capote
Steven Spielberg for Munich

Best Original Screenplay:

*Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Brokeback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
*A History of Violence
Munich

Best Cinematography:

Batman Begins
*Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck
Memoirs of a Geisha
The New World

Best Editing:

Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Crash
*Munich
Walk the Line

Best Art Direction: (I have no preference as to who wins this catagory)

Good Night, and Good Luck
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride and Prejudice


Best Costume Design: (Same as above...)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Walk the Line

Best Original Score:

*Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Pride & Prejudice

Best Original Song: (No idea who is going to win this category or how they decide the credentials for a best song)

*"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - Hustle and Flow
"In the Deep" - Crash
"Travelin' Thru" - Transamerica

Best Makeup:

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
*Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Best Sound:

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
*Walk the Line
War of the Worlds

Best Sound Editing: (I'm tired of pretending I know what this category means so I have neither a pick nor a prediction)

King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
War of the Worlds

Best Visual Effects: (It is disgraceful that Sin City was not nominated)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
*King Kong
War of the Worlds

Best Foreign Film: (Of my many favorite foreign films released this year, none were nominated)

La Bestia nel Cuore
Joyeux Noël
Paradise Now
Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage
Tsotsi

Best Documentary:

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