Well, I'd say every time when the Oscar nominations are announced, there are some odd choices for major categories that seem to come out of nowhere and were not expecxted. Of course, also everytime there will be someone who says that he/she saw it coming, but what I am talking about are generally big surprises.

Last year, I'd say, the surprises were the nomination of Clint Eastwood and (to a higher degree) Mike Leigh's nom for Vera Drake.

What crazy surprises do you expect this year?

While it would not be a huge surprise, I think Woody Allen might still very well upset and get a directing nom. The Academy loves giving him those.

Another surprise could result in the 5th spot nominee in either Best Supporting Actor or Best Supporting Actress. With Mickey Rourke getting some steam for Sin City, it would not be an absolute shock, but still a really big surprise. They might also still go for a veteran actress like Diane Keaton for The Family Stone or make up for past snubs and nominate Scarlett Johansson in the 5th spot.


What surprises do you consider possible?

The Squid and The Whale That would be cool.

For what?

For what?

For acting, I'd agree.
Although I gotta say I was just as impressed, and maybe a bit more, with the 2 young boys' performances as I was with Daniels and Linney's.

Wong Kar-Wai for Best Director. Also, Mike Haneke for Cache (which I am currently going so far as to predict.)

Frank Langella, Best Supporting Actor.

Clifton Collins, Jr. for Best Supporting Actor in Capote.

Laura Linney.

A screenplay or supporting nomination (Sutherland OR Blethyn) for Pride & Prejudice.

Ralph Fiennes or Eric Bana would be pretty damn shocking at this point.

Actually I do consider Langella as a possibility. GNGL's cast is strong.

How would Rourke's nom be anything short of miraculous? People seem to be saying he's "gaining steam" a lot lately, but I think that would be easily the biggest surprise of the night.

I dunno about a "big" surprise, though. Hm.

Mickey Rourke would make my head literally explode all over this screen, so great would be the shock.

Is adapted really so strong that this would be a surprise? I hope not...I kinda figured it was a given. :o

Jeff Daniels could slip in to a lead spot, but I see it being Hoffman, Phoenix, Ledger, Strathairn, and Howard.

I'd love to see Kevin Costner and Mickey Rourke slip into the supporting actor category. One spot could be fought for, IMO.

Jeff Daniels has the 'never been nominated' card in his favor, and he's been hitting the talk show curcuit. HARD. I think he's got an excellent chance, fighting it out with Crowe and Howard.



To the best of my knowledge, kypade, P&P's wonderful screenplay has not been nominated anywhere, although I don't believe the screenwriter is a member of the WGA, thereby making her ineligible. It's gotta get by Syriana, Constant Gardener, Brokeback, History of Violence, Munich, and Capote. It's a long, long, long, long shot to get nominated.

Are we talking about surprising inclusions or surprising snubs?

To see Diane Keaton or Gong Li pop up in supporting actress after all the pre-cursor snubs will count as a big surprise.

Munich getting an acting nomination.

Wong Kai-Wai for Best Director.

2046 for Cinematography won't be too much a surprise to me, but it will be really cool.

Screenplay for Kung Fu Hustle.

Screenplay as a whole could have a couple of surprises.

What is 2046 eligible for?

I have a feeling another foreign film is gonna sneak in and grab something big. Maybe Cache?

Who has seen Cache? How good is that AMPAS favorite, Juliette Binoche?

Everything that a 2005 U.S. domestically-released film is eligible for, i.e. all categories except for Foreign Language and other genre specific categories (documentary, animated, live short film, etc.)

Ah. Well, that's rather disappointing. I hadn't even been considering Syriana and Gardner (either forgotten or just never paid any attention to the fact that they're adapted.) And Capote...meh.

Surprising nominations was what I had in mind.

Kong for BP.

Wait, miracles or surprises?

Ah, 2046 pulling a City of God would also be a nice surprise (Directing, Cinematography, etc.)

Nope. I've seen Cache, and my lackluster reception for the actress (barring Blue) aside, it was underwhelming. Cache's strength lies in direction and content, not really in any one actor's efforts. As France passed it up for some movie about Christmas (uh?), Cache gets zippo this year.

Umm, the French contender is actually about an occiasion during World War I, not just about Christmas...it is a well-reveived flick. I expect it to get a nom. Its IMDB grade is just 0.1 smaller than Cache's.

Hoodwinked has to be one of them. A lot of people expected it to bomb hard, and it ended up being #1, and will end with upwards of $40 million. I think that is a huge surprise.

Amy Adams is gonna win gold!

LAURA LINNEY

I still believe either constant gardner or king kong or history of violence will end up getting best picture nominations.

Anne Hathaway would be a surprise if they REALLY go for Mountain. And it wouldn't be completely undeserving.

Hathaway gives one of the year's most underrated performances.
That would be cool. All 4 get nominated