Oscar Picks

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Jamie Foxx in Booty Call
Don Cheadle "Hotel Rwanda"
Johnny Depp "Finding Neverland"
Leo "The Aviator"
Clint "Million dollar Baby"
Jamie Foxx "Ray"

I got Jamie on this one. The problem with a lot of comedians turned actors is that they try to incorporate their shtick into their performance. The worst is Robin Williams who is Robin Williams in every role he plays. Not Jamie. Jamie Foxx is definitely Ray Charles in this movie. There is no doubt in my mind that he will take home that little statue. Leo was great too. He spent a lot of time around people with OCD and it shows, man he pulled it off wonderfully. I thought Frankie Dunn was a real interesting character and gruff is Clint's bread and butter, but I liked him better as Bill Munny in Unforgiven and he didn't win that year either. Al Pacino took it from him for playing a blind guy. If Foxx wins it proves that irony can be a cruel bitch sometimes. I saw Finding Neverland and really liked it. Johnny Depp was... well... Johnny Depp with an Irish accent.
Performance by an actor in a supporting role.

Thomas Hayden Church as Lowell Mather

Alan Alda "The Aviator"
Thomas Hayden Church "Sideways"
Jamie Foxx "Collateral"
Clive Owen "Closer"
Morgan Freeman "Million Doller Baby"

Now I've seen all of these but Collateral and Closer. I hear Clive Owen did a great job and Jamie's real hot right now but I'm going to pick Thomas Hayden Church because it's high time that Lowell got his. If I'm wrong on any of these it's this one because I'm biased. This guys a Texan, I loved wings, and I like to root for the underdog. Anyhow, this is just one of those cases where the shoe just fit. His performance was so natural and real. He's an amoral sleezebag actor that uses his acting to convince himself what he's doing isn't wrong and when the jig is up still no lesson learned. His life is destined to move only sideways. Morgan was awesome too. If Swank and Clint were the body of this movie, Freeman was the backbone. He moves the movie along by narrating and by pushing the other characters in the direction they really want to go. Alan Alda was your quintessential asshole politician. What a sleezebag this guy is. I hated him which means he did his job.

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Hilary Swank looking busty.

Annette Benning "Being Julia"
Catalina Sandino Moreno "Maria Full of Grace"
Imelda Staunton "Vera Drake"
Hilary Swank "Million Dollar Baby"
Kate Winslet "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

Can't say I've seen The top three. One movie about being a woman and two controversial roles for women. Good lineup. I'll take Swank over Winslet though. Hilary was just such a solid character. The whole movie had this creepy dark tone and all the characters fit in their roles so well, it's hard not to give it to her. Kate was good too but I think her role might confuse and befuddle the old white guys on the academy.


Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Cate Blanchett in Lord of the Rings

Cate Blanchett "The Aviator"
Laura Linney "Kinsey"
Virginia Madsen "Sideways"
Sophie Okonedo "Hotel Rwanda"
Natalie Portman "Closer"

Again, I've only seen two of these so my pick is kind of useless. I'm going with Cate. She won the SAG but not the Golden Globe. She was great as Catheren Hepburn. She had great energy and did the voice so well. As much as I love Sideways I think Virginia Madsen had one really good scene but Cate was definitely a presence when on screen.

Best animated film of the year


Incredible!
The Incredibles
Sharks Tale
Shrek 2

The Incredibles. Nuff' said. Great flick, great freken flick!

Achievement in directing

Look at those brows.
Martin Scorsesse "The Aviator"
Clint "Million Dollar Baby"
Taylor Hackford "Ray"
Alexander Payne "Sideways"
Mike Leigh "Vera Drake"

Haven't seen Vera Drake, and Payne is not going to get it in this category. This is a tough one but I have to go with Scorsesse. This movie is huge! It's got everything! There are several moments in this movie where you really feel the tension that Howard is feeling. Things like Howard's fear of crowds and his awkwardness at Hepburn's estate were just as nerve racking as the airplane crash. Moments like these make Scorsesse a freakin' genius. Ray was good, but it didn't seem to wrap things up as tightly as The Aviator did. Ray seemed to have transitional problems to me. It was noticeable enough to take my attention away from the action. Clint could have a shot at this but it was high time Scorsesse got his.

Best Picture

Perfect movie.

The Aviator
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby
Ray
Sideways

Million Dollar Baby is almost too perfect. The story is flawless. The main characters are fantastic. I hate to say too much about it because you have to see it to believe it. It's a dark movie literally and metaphorically. The lighting itself is like it's own character. The boxing scenes are brutal. It's just a great movie.

The rest of the awards I could care less about except original and adaped screenplay. Original screenplay will hopefully go to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" because I love Charlie Kaufman. My problem with that movie is that there is NO WAY that Kirsten Dunst's character would fall for Tom Wilkinson's character. He's way to old for her hot little ass. Since it's the biggest plot point of the story, it just ruined it for me. "Sideways" is a shoe in for best original screenplay. "Election" and "About Shmit" are two of my favorites. A movie I would have liked to have seen nominated that wasn't was "House of Flying Daggers." I can't believe this isn't in the running for best foreign movie. If "Crouching Tiger hidden Dragon" can get nominated as a kung fu movie this one surely should have. The end isn't as cryptic and I love movies that take you one way for a while and then do a 180 on you. Oh well.