Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote"

Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow"

Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain"

Joaquin Phoenix in "Walk the Line"

David Strathairn in "Good Night, and Good Luck"

Everyone on this list is deserving, but clearly the winner should be Hoffman for his incredible portrayal of Truman Capote.



Hoffman is not imitating Capote; instead, he portrays the famed writer Capote as if channeling him. A sure second pick would



Strathairn for his exceptional performance as legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow. However, both these gentlemen are older,



and Academy voters, if they follow suit, love to give Oscars to "young, good-looking stars." Therefore, I would not be



surprised if the Oscar for lead actor goes to Phoenix for his portrayal of Johnny Cash or Ledger for playing what should be



called a bisexual cowboy. Howard should have been nominated also for his role in "Crash," for which he was just as effective.



As a young actor, Howard has great range as an actor.

Choice: Philip Seymour Hoffman



Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

George Clooney in "Syriana"

Matt Dillon in "Crash"

Paul Giamatti in "Cinderella Man"

Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain"

William Hurt in "A History of Violence"

This looks like Clooney's year to win because of his views of the American government. His movies of recent have all been



political, something many in movie circles are pushing. Many are cheering Clooney but not this critic. While Clooney's movies



make interesting statements, his acting was not the best in "Syriana," and others in this category are much more talented.



Hurt was good for the short amount of time he was in "A History of Violence," yet his role does not merit the award. Which



leaves three people who should really be in the running for this group. In "Brokeback Mountain," Gyllenhaal was good, but



Heath Ledger is thought of as the best of the two main actors in that production. So only Dillon and Giamatti are left. Dillon



was good in "Crash," but Giamatti is my pick, mainly because he was fantastic and deserving for his work in 2004's "Sideways."



And if Oscar voters stick to their process of selecting winners based on present work combined with an actor's body of work in



the past, Giamatti is the man.

Choice: Paul Giamatti



Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Judi Dench in "Mrs. Henderson Presents"

Felicity Huffman in "Transamerica"

Keira Knightley in "Pride & Prejudice"

Charlize Theron in "North Country"

Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line"

While the Academy is wanting to give Witherspoon an award, the picks here should be Dench, who is like royalty in the acting



world, or Huffman of ABC's "Desperate Housewives." Dench is worth her weight in gold in "Mrs. Henderson Presents." Dench would



be deserving of another Oscar ‹ her first was for an eight-minute appearance in 1998's "Shakespeare in Love." But Dench has



won an Oscar already and has been nominated multiple times, so the race for best-actress will probably be between Huffman and



Witherspoon. Huffman stars in a gender-bending role as a man near undergoing a sex-change surgical operation in



"Transamerica." Witherspoon was great as singer June Carter in "Walk the Line" and will perhaps win for all-American



sweetheart popularity. However, this year should belong to Huffman.

Choice: Felicity Huffman



Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Amy Adams in "Junebug"

Catherine Keener in "Capote"

Frances McDormand in "North Country"

Rachel Weisz in "The Constant Gardener"

Michelle Williams in "Brokeback Mountain"

Little is known of Adams. Keener is good but over shadowed by the performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote," and



McDormand's role in "North Country is fascinating but not powerful. It boils downs to Williams and Weisz, and if you have seen



Weisz in "The Constant Gardener," the choice is easy. Weisz was fantastic. If Weisz does not win look for Williams second and



Keener following a close third.

Choice: Rachel Weisz



Achievement in directing

Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"

Bennett Miller, "Capote"

Paul Haggis "Crash"

George Clooney "Good Night, and Good Luck"

Steven Spielberg "Munich"

Clooney received three nominations, including one for acting and one for directing. His nomination as a director is the better



of the these two. "Good Night, Good Luck," artistically speaking, is a fascinating movie. What Clooney did with the black and



white and color scenes to emphasize dynamic features of change in script or mood is exceptional. While Ang Lee will perhaps



win this category for "Brokeback Mountain" or Clooney, Paul Haggis should be highly considered. Frankly, it would be nice if



Haggis would win. The large ensemble cast in "Crash" had to take a significant amount of work to coordinate for such a



thought-provoking movie about how racism, stereotypes, bureaucratic institutions, law-enforcement, politics, socioeconomic



status of American citizens play a large role in the everyday lives of people interacting on the streets of Los Angeles.

Choice: Paul Haggis (Although Clooney or Lee will probably take home the

award.)



Best Motion Picture of the Year

"Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features)

"Capote" (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)

"Crash" (Lions Gate)

"Good Night, and Good Luck" (Warner Independent Pictures) "Munich" (Universal and DreamWorks) All the movies in this category



are impressive. The leader of the bunch going into the Oscar race is "Brokeback Mountain." Yet, "Capote" is my pick. The



acting and plot of "Capote" are topnotch. If these movies were graded on which was the most artistic, "Good Night, Good Luck"



would be my pick, although "Crash" would be an exceptional screenplay for an award for its great drama. "Munich" is a great



film but is not as focused as it could have been.

Choice: "Capote"



Adapted Screenplay

"Brokeback Mountain" Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana "Capote" Screenplay by Dan Futterman "The Constant Gardener"



Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine "A History of Violence" Screenplay by Josh Olson "Munich" Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth

Choice: "Capote"



Original Screenplay

"Crash" Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco, Story by Paul Haggis "Good Night, and Good Luck" Screenplay by George



Clooney & Grant Heslov "Match Point" Written by Woody Allen "The Squid and the Whale" Written by Noah Baumbach "Syriana"



Written by Stephen Gaghan

Choice: "Crash"



OTHER SELECTIONS

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

"Howl's Moving Castle" (Buena Vista) Hayao Miyazaki

"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" (Warner Bros.) Mike Johnson and Tim Burton "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit"



(DreamWorks Animation

SKG) Nick Park and Steve Box

Choice: "Wallace & Gromit in 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)

Choice: "Good Night, and Good Luck"



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

Choice: "Good Night, and Good Luck" Robert Elswit



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

Choice: "Memoirs of a Geisha" Colleen Atwood



Best Documentary Feature

"Darwin's Nightmare" Hubert Sauper

"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot "March of the Penguins" Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau



"Murderball" Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro "Street Fight" Marshall Curry

Choice: "March of the Penguins" Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau (If this French film does not win this category, it has been



"robbed" and protests are needed.)



Best Documentary Short Subject

"The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club" Dan Krauss "God Sleeps in Rwanda" Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy



Sherman "The Mushroom Club" Steven Okazaki "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin" Corinne Marrinan and Eric



Simonson

Choice: "God Sleeps in Rwanda" Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman



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

Choice: "Munich" Michael Kahn



Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

"Don’t Tell" Italy

"Joyeux Noël" France

"Paradise Now" Palestine

"Sophie Scholl ‹ The Final Days" Germany

"Tsotsi" South Africa

Toss up between between "Tsotsi" and "Joyeux Noel." Both garnered nice reviews last year and "Tsotsi" is still showing in many



theaters and fresh on people minds.

Choice: "Tsotsi" South Africa



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 Nikki Gooley)

Choice: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"



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

Choice: "The Constant Gardener" Alberto Iglesias



Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original song) "In the Deep" from "Crash" Music by Kathleen "Bird" York and



Michael Becker Lyric by Kathleen "Bird" York "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from"Hustle & Flow" Music and Lyric by Jordan



Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard "Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica" Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

Choice: "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow" Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul



Beauregard



Best Animated Short Film

"Badgered" Sharon Colman

"The Moon and the Son:An Imagined Conversation" John Canemaker and Peggy Stern "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of



Jasper Morello" Anthony Lucas "9" Shane Acker "One Man Band" Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews

Choice: "One Man Band" Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews



Best Live Action Short Film

"Ausreisser (The Runaway)" Ulrike Grote

"Cashback" Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager

"The Last Farm" Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson

"Our Time Is Up" Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente

"Six Shooter" Martin McDonagh

Choice: This is one category in which I have not seen enough of the entries to make call, but "Six Shooter" (Martin McDonagh)



is buzzing in some circles



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

Choice: "King Kong" Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn



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

Choice: "War of the Worlds" Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins



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, Randal M. Dutra and Daniel

Sudick)

Choice: "King Kong" (Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor)