Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Countdown to the Oscars - 9

Before I get started, did I tell you that I have a horrible track record for guessing the winners? But I’m still going to give you my predictions because I write these as if it actually mattered (I like to stay in my own delusions). I'm also skipping any category where I haven't seen/heard of a single film.

Achievement in sound editing

King Kong” (Universal) Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Wylie Stateman
War of the Worlds” (Paramount and DreamWorks) Richard King

Achievement in sound mixing

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (Buena Vista)Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
King Kong” (Universal) Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing)Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland
War of the Worlds” (Paramount and DreamWorks)Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

Does anybody in the Academy really understand the difference? Is War of the Worlds going to be the change given to Speilberg because it won’t win anything for Munich? Will it go to the mighty King Kong or will Memoirs of a Geisha and Walk the Line be given it as a consolation prize? Or will it be a Narnia sweep in the technical categories? My vote is for King Kong and Narnia again. Who deserves it? Probably King Kong.

Achievement in film editing

Cinderella Man” (Universal and Miramax)Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features) Claire Simpson
Crash” (Lions Gate) Hughes Winborne
Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks) Michael Kahn
Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox)Michael McCusker

The Constant Gardener probably deserves it the most, but Crash will probably win because of the multiple storylines and the fact its up for an Oscar. Munich was slightly too confusing to people will probably not win.

Best documentary feature

Darwin’s Nightmare” (International Film Circuit) A Mille et Une Production, Hubert Sauper
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” (Magnolia Pictures)An HDNet Films ProductionAlex Gibney and Jason Kliot
March of the Penguins” (Warner Independent Pictures) A Bonne Pioche ProductionLuc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau
Murderball” (THINKFilm)An Eat Films ProductionHenry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
Street Fight”A Marshall Curry ProductionMarshall Curry

The fact that one of the films in this category made millions and millions of dollars is weird enough, the fact that it wasn’t a Michael Moore film even more so. March of the Penguins will win, just because everyone actually saw this film, but there’s good competition from Enron and Murderball. I haven’t seen those too but heard they were very good. The Penguins movie kinda bored me actually but I if those guys get an Oscar for sitting out in the cold harsh snow of Antartica for over a year, I won’t complain.

Achievement in costume design

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (Warner Bros.)Gabriella Pescucci
Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing)Colleen Atwood
Mrs. Henderson Presents” (The Weinstein Company)Sandy Powell
Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features)Jacqueline Durran
Walk the Line” (20th Century Fox) Arianne Phillips

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory all the way! The most inventive of the bunch. The rest were all just historical copies (and with Geisha, inaccurate historical copies apparently). Geisha might just win it for its exoticness but its critical panning might cost them.

1 comment:

highbrow said...

Fantasy films never seem to win Costume or Art Direction, so I'm going predict that Charlie will not win this category. What tends to win here are historical (English) period pieces, so I'm putting my money on Pride & Prejudice or Memoirs of a Geisha. I realize the latter isn't an English movie, but it's period.

Damn straight they should win for living in the Antarctic for 13 months! It's the least they should be awarded for that kind of dedication. Plus, I hear the original French version is way better than the English narration by Morgan Freeman.

Heeeyyy, you didn't watch any of the foreign films....