Could see nominations in:

Costumes
Make-Up
Visual Effects
Sound Effects
Sound Effects Editing
Score
and most importantly Art Direction

Really, the Art Direction in this film is just amazing. If someone made the argument that Make-Up is a lock to win, I might support that. Visual Effects is probably a done deal. But yeah, top notch on the production. I would go so far as to say the Cinematography is great too, but other factors play into those nominations.

No for Depp on this one (which nixes my previous topic) oh well!

What about Cinematography?

superman and pirates are 100% locks for nominations in sound, sound editing, and visual effects. bothj had good shots at cinematography, art direction, and pirates with costumes.

Is S. Editing 5 nominations now?

If not I think Superman Returns is a good bet for Visual Effects but nothing else. Sound wouldn't *surpsise* me, but Mission:Impossible III in Sound wouldn't be surprising to me either. I'm not ready to call it a "lock". If there is 5 noms for SE. then I'm more open to that possibility. SR won't get any production design type nominations I think.


Cinematography is a tough one. Is it deserving? Not ahead of films like United 93. Is it bad? No. But then Cinematography (for me) is always one of the tougher categories. I would say no, just because Cinematography like Editing seems to align closer with the Best Picture favorites.

Yup, Sound Editing now has 5 nominees.

Yeah, Cinematography is probably (aside from Editing) is the "pickiest" of all the techs. As Andaroo said, Best Picture favorites tend to score here... also, "outdoor" movies and... Chinese films.

That's true. I always gotta wonder about The Matrix, though. It not only was nominated for, but actually WON editing. I wonder whether it was close to other major noms.

Well... I'm not a fan of the Editing and Cinematography nominations/wins. Then again, I think of all the awards, they are the hardest to really "understand" as far as the power they bring to cinema. I usually just go with a combination of a couple of big pretty movies and likely Best Picture nominees.

Re: Superman. I can see S. Editing with 5 nominees. Sound as a *maybe*, but then again, musicals and the more epicy Best Picture nominees do really well here too. I liked Lex's costumes and the dresses in Supes, but compared to some of the period pieces later this year, they aren't impressive enough, and the new Superman costume isn't necessarily that great or inventive. The Art Direction is also decent, but not enough for a nomination. If they go with a blockbuster choice, I feel they'd be more likely to go after Pirates (so far) than anything this year.

Pirates has pretty much already won Visual Effects in my mind. ILM has done some really cutting edge work with this. Add to this that POTC #1 was nominated and lost to Rings, and it's likely gigantic box office, it really becomes one of the films to beat in all of the technicals.

superman gotta good shot at a nom in cinemtography and art direction cause it had so many friggin location.smallville, new krypton, frotress of solitude, metropolis, daily planet, ect. fos was absolutly stunning. i dont see how superman can lose special effects, it was all soo real.pirates will win in make up and art direction, but i would give visual effects to superman.then both will get nominations in sound and sound editing.

Oh and Pirates an outsider for Score (added above). I liked Superman's score, but I would wager it's inelligible being it's purpose was to just expand on the Williams score from 1978.

I though Superman deserved a nom for Art Direction, but the category will be competitive.... my useless post for the night. I'll see Pirates tomorrow after work...

Yeah, I was quite impressed with the art direction in Dead Man's Chest. Of Particular note are the ship designs (the hull of the Flying Dutchman where Jones plays his organ is stunning). Gorgeous stuff.

I also believe we have our first lock for an Academy Award and that's in the visual effects category. Honestly, is there anything else coming out this year that could challenge it? I can't think of anything. ILM should finally end Weta's streak.

As a note, Spider-Man 2 won in between Return of the King and King Kong so it's not really an unbroken streak... does WETA have a big film this year?

I do agree that there is much in Pirates which really pushes the edge of visual effects. The detail on the Kraken was pretty insane.

benny its our SECOND lock. superman and pirates are both locks for 2 of the 3 nominations.

Well that figures, doesn't it? That completely undeserved win must have slipped my mind, eh?

And to Excel: I actually meant that Pirates is a lock for the win, not just a nomination. I also think Supes will get a nom.

I'd say it's a lock for Visual FX as well. The only others that would even come close are X3 and Superman, and they won't. With no WETA films, this is pretty much a sure things. X3 and Superman will be the other two nominees, I think.

It should be nominated in Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, and Sound/Sound Editing. I don't know about Cinematography or Editing, though. It's far too early to predict wins, though, without seeing what the fall/winter films will look like.

I think he deserves it, but I'm willing to bet traditionalists in the Academy will again snub Zimmer and Media Ventures.

oh well yes, id say pirates has a decent shot at winning. though ill pull for superman for now. and wow will be the third nominee be waaaay behind these 2 films. the theme cant be nominated cause it snot original. klaus baldet made it. zimmer should not only been nominated, but won-for his pearl harbour score in 2001.

This thing doesn't even come close to warranting a score nomination. It's the same damn shtick from the first film, with a few cues rehashed from The Rock.

i say ERAGON or NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM have a shot for being nominated for BEST SFX this oscar.

I would prefer

POTC 2
X3
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (the trailer i watched with POTC 2 last night was AWESOME!!! it got lots of great reactions)



is SR gets nominated i will lose all my respect for OSCARS.
ERAGON haven't seen anything for it yet so can't say much

Yeah, I think Lecter's picks are Pirates, Supes and Night at the Museum.

I'm pretty sure about Pirates (the most impressive, and at this point, the monster box office, and ILM pick), Supes (which had good reviews, and was much more effects driven than X3) and "some misc. epic film with stunning vistas"... kind of a "Master & Commander" type pick. I have doubts based on what people have said that there's anything worth noting about Eragon.

Actually I just found out that X3 is WETA Digital so hrm.

2007 is going to be another 2003 in my mind, ILM alone has Pirates 3, Harry Potter 5, Transformers among others. WETA has likely already got 2008 in the bag for Avatar (James Cameron's film).

I go with A Night at the Museum as my third pick per default. This year is frankly rather poor when it comes to effects. Poseidon's any chances at a nom disappeared the moment it tanked big time at the box-office (far more than Supes). X3 had good effects, but they were not better than in X2 and those were snubbed as well. What else do we have? I have seen Eragon footage and it looked rather mediocre. That's pretty much it.

Surprising that Pirates will do that well at the Oscars, but it's deserving. The Kraken's underside was the best CGI that I've ever seen. Depp is also not out of the nominations, though I think it's unlikely now with the reviews being just ok, and the lack of freshness around it.

Depp will almost certainly win the Globe. I mean he was nominated six times and never won before...

Not too surprising I think. Pirates #1 got nominations in Actor, Makeup, Sound, Sound Editing, and Visual Effects. Being that there is no Narnia or Lord of the Rings this year, I would at least expect those four nominations (minus Depp) again.

I can see Costumes not happening but it would be a shame. There doesn't seem to be a lot of "epic" type films this year and even Troy was able to get a Costumes nomination .

I can see Art Direction not happening but that would depress me.

eragon.