The Oscar predictions so huge that they have to be broken into two pieces! Two for the price of one! Whatever you want to call it, this is part two of the 2005 Oscar preview better know as the what the hell are these categories.
Foreign Language Film
I have to admit that I don’t know much about most of these films. What I do know is that The Sea Inside, a Spanish film about a euthanasia activist, has done very well here in the US and is also up for another award in makeup besides, it won the Golden Globe and a slew of other awards. So I will go with The Sea Inside, the one film I know anything about.
Music(Song)
Again surprise that the Golden Globe winner Old Habits Die Hard as performed by Mick Jagger is not nominated here for the Oscar. I think everyone is the poorer for not getting to see Mick play the Academy Awards. Especially ABC, it probably would have boosted what will most likely be lackluster ratings. Two of the nominated songs are not in English with Al Otro Lado Del Rio from The Motorcycle Diaries and Vois Sur Ton Chemin from an unknown film called The Chorus. Then there is the one new song added to The Phantom of the Opera and the song Believe from The Polar Express. At least we will get to see Counting Crows play their delightfully upbeat Accidentally In Love from Shrek 2.
Art Direction
There are a number of interesting films in the art direction category. First there is The Aviator whose art direction challenges ran from airplanes to breasts and included lots of people watching movies. The scenery was almost exclusively southern California but the film is expansive. Next is Finding Neverland which benefits from the play inside a movie challenge as well as flights of imagination. I’m very surprised to see that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is not here and in some of the other technical categories such as cinematography and film editing since I though that the way they portrayed the inner workings of the mind through the medium of film was fascinating and well executed. Additionally in the art direction category were Lemony Snicket and its fanciful scenery, The Phantom of the Opera and its lush sets, and A Very Long Engagement which I know nothing about. I think that The Aviator will win this one for the breadth and scope presented in its California settings.
Cinematography
This category often tracks closely with the art direction category, after all, if you have great things to film it is easier to film them well. Thus the category includes the familiar The Aviator, The Phantom of the Opera, and A Very Long Engagement. The nominees also include House of Flying Daggers, the latest impressive looking Chinese martial arts film and surprisingly The Passion of the Christ. Though I expect The Passion of the Christ to upset in one or two other categories I don’t expect that here. The film The Aviator shows as much of Howard Hughes passion for airplanes and movies through its masterful cinematography as it does through its actors.
Costume Design
Again, I wasn’t as impressed with the films for costuming this year as I was last year when The Lord of the Rings Return of the King costumer Ngila Dickson was nominated twice and went home with the prize. This year the competition seems to be 1940s Hollywood versus 1900’s England versus BC Greek. I don’t think that the costumes in Ray really astounded and Lemony Snicket was too removed from reality to make an impact. I think that this one will go to The Aviator though I wouldn’t mind giving it to Bob Ringwood who dressed Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, and Eric Bana in skirts.
Documentary Feature
Of course notably absent in this category is the documentary Farenheit 9/11 which director Michael Moore refused to nominate for best documentary. He was probably holding out for a Best Film nod but it didn’t come through. I would be interested to see what he has to say about this on Oscar night but I fear that the Academy won’t let him within 100 feet of the building. What Farenheit 9/11’s omission does do is break this category open. One other high profile documentary Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me is nominated here but I am surprised to see that the Al Jazeera favoring film Control Room is not here as that was generally a better organized film. The other nominees in this category are Born into Brothels, The Story of the Weeping Canel, Tupac: Resurrection, and Twist of Fate. I don’t really have a good feel for the winner of this one except that I didn’t like Super Size Me, it was amateurish and highly partisan (of course not in that provoking Michael Moore way, just in a bad I didn’t look beyond myself and what I thought way.)
Documentary Short Subject
I don’t know anything about any of these nor are they easy to come by to watch. If you have any comments on the films please let me know.
Short Film (Animated)
I thought that Pixar’s dancing sheep would have been nominated here but I was mistaken. I’ll pick Lorenzo, anything about a cat and his possessed tail sounds like fun.
Short Film (live Action)
See comment under Documentary Short Subject
Film Editing
Interesting that Collateral shows up here and for supporting actor. There was one interesting car crash and a club scene but overall I was not impressed with the film editing in Collateral. I was impressed with the editing of The Aviator both with the massive airplane scenes depicting the making of Hell’s Angels as well as the scenes of Hughes alone in his theater falling apart at the seems. Also nominated are the magical Finding Neverland, Ray, and Million Dollar Baby.
My choice is The Aviator.
Sound Editing
Another film pops up that you would have thought you’d see before this, Spider-man 2 is nominated for sound editing and sound mixing. I always think of these two categories together but I can’t analyze a film until it is out on video. My analysis of a film’s sound comes when I listen to it in a surround sound home theater. As such I would have added Terminator 3 to last year’s nominations, the film had little more than a great amount of sound effects and editing propping up a meager story. Additionally in this category are The Incredibles and The Polar Express. I think that this one is a tossup between Spider-man 2 and The Incredibles. I would give it to The Incredibles.
Sound Mixing
This one goes with the sound editing category though there are a few more nominees. In addition to The Incredibles, The Polar Express, and Spider-man 2 there is Ray and The Aviator. Again I find it harder to tell how good the mix is in various theaters than I do at home in my own surround sound so I tend again to go with The Incredibles though I imaging the plane crash in The Aviator will be impressive once I get it home.
Visual Effects
There are three nominees in this category. First there is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which presented effects such as the creepy dementors. Then there is I, Robot which made robots seem to feel and emote as well as jump from tall buildings and moving vehicles but which came out so long ago I’m surprised anyone remembered to nominate it. Third there is Spider-man 2 which had some spectacular movements, and moments, with Doc Ock. I think that Spider-man 2 deserves this award and I wish it had been nominated for more as it is an all around gem.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
If you’ve read all of this article you don’t really need to read the last two entries since I already picked my winners and gave my reasoning. These are the two consolation categories for some of the other acting awards. Adapted screenplay nominees include Before Sunset, Million Dollar Baby, Finding Neverland, and The Motorcycle Diaries. You would think that will all of the biopics up for film and acting awards there would be more of them in the adapted screenplay but only Finding Neverland is here, The Aviator and Hotel Rwanda are in the original screenplay category. The winner for the adapted writing award will most likely be Sideways which will probably be passed over for every other award it is up for.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Same comments as above, this award is a consolation prize. I maintain what I said for the Golden Globes, to not give this award to Charlie Kaufmann for his brilliant script for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind would be a sin. Of course it didn’t win the Golden Globe but that is because Sideways did and it is now in a different writing category. The others here The Aviator, Hotel Rwanda, and The Incredibles are all well and tightly written but not as unique and mind bending as Eternal Sunshine. True astonishment should be felt for Vera Drake being nominated as it is well known that Mike Nichols works from a skeleton of a script and has the actors flesh out the characters before filming begins.
Overall The Aviator leads the nominations with 11 and I expect it to win at least 6 of them being shut out mostly in the acting categories. Finding Neverland and Million Dollar Baby follow with 7 nominations apiece but each will be fortunate to walk away with even two awards.
Related posts:
- Oscars 2005 part 1
- Oscars - 2009
- Academy Awards Wrapup 2005
- 2005 Golden Globes In Retrospect
- Golden Globe Picks 2005
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