I guess I seemed to have connected more than some of you here.
I liked it alot. Of course Hoffman's work is incredible. I don't need to repeat that. I don't think it was among the 5 best of the year, but I did find myself quite invested in the second half.

I really just don't understand it at all.

All of the other nominees for BP have a lot of support. People are passionate about Munich, Brokeback, Crash and Good Night. But Capote?????????????

It's nominations beyond acting is weird.

It's a very good film. There's no passion because it never broke out in more than 70 theatres (maybe one weekend it broke 100, that's it). If you check out its run, it had an incredibly high pta run throughout. Its just a quiet film. Hard to respond to in the instant, since its not political, social, easily legible per se. It just is very observant of the social landscape, creative processes, struggles with visions of grandeur...

I agree. It's a lot better than I was expecting.

I went in thinking it was another acting showcase film, a la Monster, Transamerica or Walk The Line - basically your average vapid, paint-by-numbers biopic fare. But it's actually quite great in its own right.

Can someone here rationalize to me why there is no controversy over Catherine Keener's nomination for best supporting actress, because in my opinion that is one of the worst nominations in Academy Awards history. Her character hardly even registers in this movie, she doesn't even differ in facial expression and has zero scenes that develop anything about her. It's pretty sickening to think of the performances that were snubbed in favour of this horrendous nomination.

Capote itself was a decent film. I thought there was a fascinating mid-section in there, sandwiched between a meandering beginning and end. Truman Capote, by the nature of his mannerisms and speech, is quite a tough nut to crack, but as the film goes along the layers are peeled away and we get a window into his obsession. Hoffman is excellent and pulls off all the eccentricities without it ever seeming over-the-top. Technicals were all quite nice, but I think Miller is undeserving of his director nomination. The movie is plainly shot without an ounce of ingenuity or passion and has real pacing issues that made it seem more like two hours passed in the theatre, rather than actual 98 minute run-time. Now having seen all the nominated pictures I must say that Capote is the only one I think is undeserving.


But seriously, Catherine Keener ? Fucking weak. Fucking VERY weak.

Wow. Great stuff. It deserves to be in there. It's sort of that movie that's great, and just that. No need for controversy and whatnot. Hoffman was really exceptional. I was... surprised. Pleasantly.

As for Keener, I can't decide if she was worth a damn or not. She didn't show any emotional range, but I thoroughly enjoyed her performance. I'll have to see it again and think about whether or not she deserved her nom.

Best picture:

01. Good Night, and Good Luck.
02. Capote
03. Munich
04. Brokeback Mountain
05. Crash

(It's great. :up:)

As I said before, Keener should've been nominated for 40 Year Old Virgin over Capote, but Capote got a Best Picture nomination.

In fact, they should have just nominated Diane Keaton for The Family Stone! She was really great. Or Bello for AHOV.

I'd probably have seen Capote about a week ago, I had it downloaded and set to go and everything. But I've had a French exchange student at my house for the entire time, staying in my computer room, so...yeah. He's gone tomorrow, so it's then that I'll probably finally watch it.

Fantastic film. Hoffman, as usual, is fantastic and deserves to win the Oscar, which seems pretty likely.

Catherine Keener was nominated most likely because for her body of work for the previous year (she should've been nominated for 40 Year Old Virgin over this - but hey, Capote is the one getting all the support) - plus the fact that she played a real person (Harper Lee) AND a famous writer at that.

Just watched it.

I thought it was brilliant. It wowed me in every way. Not just the acting, but the entire thing in itself. I wasn't expecting an experience like this, it hit me very hard. It's going to take a while before it sinks in. Just...wow. Fantastic movie, easily the best of all the Oscar movies I've seen so far. I'm completley happy and satisfied with it's nomination. In fact, I'd say I'm cheering for it to win. I guess I'm on the Capote passion bandwagon now.

EDIT - Just confirmed it on my Best movies of 2005 list. It's my new #1 of the year. I think it deserves Best Picture.

I wish I wasn't tricked into seeing this film by all the award nominations.

you didn't like it?

Just finished watching it.

I thought Hoffman was fantastic, but overall I felt underwhelmed. Unfortunately, its my least favorite out of the Best Picture line up. (oh, why didn't The Constant Gardener get nominated... *sigh*) And how on earth did Keener get a nomination?

Besides Munich and possibly King Kong I think it's the best made film of the year, and completely deserving of everything it's been nominated for. Oh yeah, and I never get sick of saying "Told ya so!" to all the people who kept shooting down my feeling that it had serious major Oscar potential. It's heavy material, and a film that lets the viewer make their own decisions rather then being emotionally manipulative, so I can understand why it didn't appeal to some people. But it's a virtually flawless film and beautifully made in all it's minimalistic glory.

Except Keener. I would love for you to give me a good defence of that nomination that doesn't talk about how good she was in other movies this year.

As someone who hated the film, I thought Keener's performance was just about the only good part of the movie. It seemed really natural and subtle, unlike the impersonation/overacting of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

I thought she was a blank face through her incredibly short amount of screen time. She existed and read lines simply to have something for Truman to respond to. The character had zero development. You could have completely removed her from the movie and not lost anything and that's not exactly supporting the film very well is it? Clifton Collins would be a fine example of an integral supporting player, as he directly affects the main protagonist and is significantly developed.

Funny that you mention a "blank face" when her facial expressions were anything but. I wouldn't mind if they had kept just her scenes and removed the whole rest of the movie, it would've been a better movie even if it's not about Capote. Btw, your criticisms about Keener seem to be against the screenwriter's weak writing for that particular character rather than being a criticism against her acting performance, which I thought gave extra oomph to an otherwise ordinary role.

I kind of agree with Alex, actually. Her role wasn't tears and break-downs, but it can be equally as hard to be engaging when one isn't having a nervous breakdown. I thought her facial expressions and composure really brought her into the limelight when she was a peripheral character to Capote's experience. I liked her quite a bit in this role.

Yes, you can definitely blame the screenwriter for creating what is essentially a pretty thankless role, but I just didn't think Keener brought any sort of presence to it that would elevate it. She was more memorable in an equally thankless role in The Interpreter. But as good as you two think she was, do you really think it's academy award worthy? Did nobody else manage to stand out more, while bringing their acting talents to a role with some actual meat to it? I'm going to stick to my guns on this one and maintain that this is one of the worst nominations in Oscar history.

I haven't seen Capote, so I can't judge, but I think the fact that Keener is playing somewhat of an historical figure - Harper Lee, the renowned author of To Kill a Mockingbird - might have given her role some weight that led to a lot of this awards attention.

Keener's character in Capote reminded me of Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio, minus the song & dance routine. I wonder what Capote would have been like as a musical, hm. Or better yet, as a cartoon!

And I disagree with the contention that she should have been nominated for The 40 Year Old Virgin, I kept hoping someone would slip her a sedative during that film.