http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051212/ap_ ... s_awards_2


The picks:


Best Picture:

Good Night, and Good Luck


The Runner-Up's:

Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
History of Violence
Match Point
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Syriana
Walk the Line.


Best Director:

Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)


Best Actor:

Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)


Best Actress:

Felicity Huffman (Transamerica)


Best Supporting Actor:

Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain)


Best Supporting Actress:

Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha)


Best Acting By An Ensemble:

Mrs. Henderson Presents


Best Breakthrough Actor:

Terrence Howard (Get Rich or Die Tryn', Hustle & Flow, Crash)


Best Breakthrough Actress:

Q’Orianka Kilcher (The New World)


Best Animated Feature:

Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride


Best Foreign Picture:

Paradise Now


Best Foreign Picture Runner-Up's:

2046
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Downfall
Walk on Water


Best Documantary:

March of the Penguins


Best Documentary Runner-Up's:

Ballets Russes
Grizzly Man
Mad Hot Ballroom
Murderball


Best Original Screenplay:

The Squid and the Whale


Best Adapted Screenplay:

Syriana


Best Film or Mini-Series Made for Cable TV:

Lackawanna Blues


Best Visual Effects:

King Kong


Best Directorial Debut:

Julian Fellowes (Separate Lies)


Billy Wilder Award for Excellence in Direction:

David Cronenberg


Producer of the Year Award:

Saul Zaentz


Special Mention for Excellence in Filmmaking:

Breakfast on Pluto
Cape of Good Hope
The Dying Gaul
Everything Is Illuminated
Hustle & Flow
Junebug
Layer Cake
Lord of War
Nine Lives
The Thing About My Folks
The Upside of Anger


Career Achievement in Film Music Composition:

Howard Shore


Career Achievement:

Jane Fonda



__________________________________________________________________________________________________



Good Night, and Good Luck got Best Picture, but Ang Lee got Best Director.

Exactly as I have expected.

Okay, so....Memoirs of a Geisha is on there too. Does it have any chance at a Best Picture nom still ? I mean, seriously, BFCA picked it, NBR picked and and just wait and see how GG will pick it as well.

My general thoughts:


- Good Night, and Good Luck is still a lock fort a Best Pictrure nomination, in my opinion and that just solidified it. I mean Gods and Monsters as well as Quills didn't make it, but this one has better reviews in general, I think and a bigger box-office than each as well as Clooney behind it. Can't see it not making it, really.

- King Kong's absence from the list is not worriesome as none of the LOTR movies ever made on it either. NBR has something against Jackson, obviously.

- The New World is out of the race. Just out. The end.

- Match Point got the little boost it needed finally. To maintain its chances it needs to win over as many critics as possible now. The NY critics awards will be crucial.

- Cinderella Man was severely hurt while Crash has proven that it is still in the running.

- Ang Lee's win bodes very well for the Oscars. As of now I consider him the frontrunner for the Best Director Oscar.

- Memoirs of a Geisha still puzzles me. I suppose they just put it on there because they thought it just must be so good. Seriously...It made BFCA and now this...

- Gong Li is still in the running as I have expected. She just got the much-needed boost. Dolce will be happy...very happy.

- Felicity Huffman's chances at a nom rose quite a bit as well

Oh... Since when the top ten is in alphabetical order?

I think it is usually not...but I searched the whole net and could not find the rankings, not even at Oscarwatch.

More mentions for Syriana!

Phillip S. Hoffman is definitely making some noise.

Ang Lee is definitely moving into a good position.

Glad to see a mention for Junebug, as Amy Adams is going to need every bit she can get to get a Best Supporting Actress nom.

That mention for Junebug doesn't mean anything as their "Excellence in Filmmaking" category is somewhat of a pity category for movies that were somewhat good and missed out elsewhere.

Finally.... although I was hoping for Brokeback, this is the much needed boost to lock Good Night, and Good Luck.

Other than that, this list is the most interesting yet...

*I'm thinking Joaquin Pheonix's chances are slipping for the win. If I were voting, I'd probably choose Hoffman (although I haven't see Lrdger's performance yet) for his body of work but also because that performance did deserve it.

*Felicity Huffman did get the desperate push she needed. This should be expanding pretty soon... I don't know what their deal is with stalling it. But we're finally getting somewhere concrete.

*This does solidify Ang Lee as the front-runner for Best Director, which places Brokeback Mountain at a great position (no pun intended).

*I agree that King Kong not showing up isn't that big a deal, though honestly I was expecting it too.

*This also pretty much solidifies Gyllenhaal's nod (unless the Academy ha some anti-Mountain propoganda this year)

*Bodes well for Gong Li and Geisha in general, but I'd be cautious. It took ALOT for me to take it off my final 5 predicts, and I don't want to deal with it anymore

*Squid and Whale should be getting a screenplay nod, they've been mentioned too many times this early in the race for the small film it is. Good for them.

*Last but not least, I think this list solidifies the question marks associated with the following films/actor: Crash, Kilcher, Terrence Howard, and Memoirs of a Geisha.

Also, Capote keeps getting very sable mentions in almost anything....

They are here:

http://www.oscarwatch.com/Awards/nbr.html

At least in the last three years, they did. Shame, It could have been more interesting to see how the films placed.

I meant I could not find the rankings for this year, dar. : )

I wouldn't say it doesn't mean "anything". Better to get a mention than to not get a mention.

Ooops, sorry.

That´s what I meant, for some reason they didn´t do it this year. I had a morbid fascination to see how Munich, BBM, Memoirs and Walk the line, placed.

Maybe it'll be announced later. But I am pretty sure that Brokeback Mountain is in the Top 5, most likely it is #2.

Memoirs should be in the lower half of the Top 10.

I would love to know where they placed Match Point.

Oh yes, "Match point"...

Very glad to see It finally got some recognition somewhere.

Memoirs got its expected nomination from BFCA and NBR, so it's not alive, not by a long shot. The only good thing is to keep Gong Li's name out there to a supporting actress nom. It's still done for the major categories otherwise, and I say that with the full knowledge of it may be getting 4-5 nominations from GG.

I've never seen a movie do so bad with the critics and still managing to score noms with the BFCA and NBR (and possibly a best drama Globe nomination?), not to mention a supporting acress win from NBR... not even Phantom got this far..


but yeah, great for Good Night and Good Luck, BBM, Hoffman and Huffman, Gyllenhaal, Li..


Both Keaton and Johansson really need the Globe nomination right now.. with a few critics awards helping them, if possible..


The New World is definitely out - and not even Globes (which snubbed The Thin Red Line btw) will bring it back..



so... the nominees seem to be:

- Brokeback Mountain
- Good Night and Good Luck
- Munich
- Walk the Line
and
- Crash/King Kong/Capote

?

Awesome for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN! It would have been better if it got Best Film though, but whatever. I still don't think GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK will win Best Picture at the Oscars, but now it will likely receive a nomination.

Also awesome for WALK ON WATER! It's one of the best films of the year and I've been wishing it could end up receiving a Best Foreign Film nomination at the Oscars.

Kudos to Felicity Huffman. If she won Best Actress at the Oscars, which I think she very well could, then TransAmerica would actually have a great shot at playing at the theater an hour from me and I'd like to try and check it out then.

What was second? I assume Brokaback Mountain since it received two other awards?

Either way that and Good Night and Good Luck seems like absolute locks at this point.

Although...Good Night And Good Luck does seem like the kind of film that would win something like this and could still miss out on the Oscar.

That's also excellent for Felicity Huffman and makes her pretty much as safe as Reese Witherspoon.

Hahahahhahaha Memoirs.

Either two things...

1. Everybody "thought" Memoirs was going to get smashing reviews so these groups jumped the gun and ignored the fact that King Kong and The New World weren't going to be contendors.

2. These people actually liked it enough to award it better than King Kong or The New World.

Good for Match Point.

The New World is buried now (for Picture and Director).

A History of Violence is bigger than we thought.

Otherwise no change.

That Foxnews article did mention Memoirs was high on the list of someone who is in charge of the voting committee for NBR.

no real surprises.

Go PiSH

I'm very pleased with these wins.... *schemes*

I'm pretty sure Johansson will get the GG nomination.

She's gotten three in the past 2 years, including one for A Love Song for Bobby Long (which made less than $200k at the box office).

Yeah, more and more I'm seeing A History of Violence's name pop up. I know I'm hugely biased by my love for that film, but god it would be awesome if it got that fifth BP slot. However, at this point I think Good Night, and Good Luck has it, which would give us BBM, Kong, GNGL, Munich, and Walk the Line. Sounds pretty solid, but still, a man can hope.

Cronberg is building up towards a director nod though and there is usually always a director nod without a picture nod. (woody)Allen would be my choice this year, but if Cronberg can keep up the momentum that was just rejuvinated, he could get in there. Plus, I always hear how he's really liked and respected within the industry.