http://movies.yahoo.com/news/va/200...0307477300.html

Best Picture - Sideways

Best Director - Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Best Actor - Paul Giamatti, Sideways

Best Actress - Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake

Best Supporting Actor - Clive Owen, Closer

Best Supporting Actress - Virginia Madsen, Sideways

Best Screenplay - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Best First Feature - Maria Full of Grace

Best Animated Film - The Triplets of Belleville

Best Canadian Film - The Triplets of Belleville

Best Foreign Language Film - Hero

Best Documentary - The Fog of War

Sideways...


It starts getting redundant...

Yeah. It's basically breaking down to this:

Best Picture - Sidways
Best Screenplay - Sideways/Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Best Actor - Jamie Foxx/Paul Giamatti
Best Actress - Imelda Staunton
Best Supporting Actor - Thomas Haden Church/Clive Owen
Best Supporting Actress - Virginia Madsen

Looks like best director is the only category that critics don't have a consensus. Getting boring.

Sideways is this year's Lost in Translation, which means it will lost in almost every Oscar category it's nominated in. Here's to Best Original Screenplay.

It's getting more love than Lost in Translation, and Far From Heaven for that matter. ROTK rivals LiT in term of critic loves; it won NYFCC, and Jackson was winning best director left and right. But for Sideways, it's sweeping awards from coast to coast. I seriously haven't seen this kind of critic unity since Schindler's List. It's not just an indie fave either, considering the love from Hollywood Foreign Press. It has a lot more chance at winning a few Oscar than LiT.

I agree with Michael. Sideways appears more well-liked than Lost in Translation. If it wasn't for this movie's rather low profile and a rather low box-office gross, it'd definitely rival The Aviator & Million Dollar Baby for Best Picture.

Nonetheless, I see wins for Virginia Madsen and Alexander Payne for the Screenplay.

Well, had Virginia won every Supporting Actress Awards so far? And Clive and Thomas have won every Supporting Actor Award?

This is starting to get a little boring...

How close are you to naming it the front runner for Best Picture?

For that question, no, not close yet. I still think it's between The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby, with The Aviator being the frontrunner. All these loves for Sideways only made it a lock for nomination because it started some way behind and had to overcome a lot of obstacles. As long as The Aviator's quality is good, and it seems to be getting way better receptions than Gangs of New York, it will win. Scorsese will probably never make a film as good as GoodFellas, but it doesn't mean he has to match that to win an oscar.

We weren't sure about Lost in Translation until when the nominations were announced, but a lot of people feel quite confident about Sideways' chance now, so it certainly has come further along than LiT. It'll translate into more nominations and as Arthur pointed out, at least one more win I believe.

Million Dollar Baby:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/million_dollar_baby/

RT Rating: 100%
Fresh - 16, Rotten - 0

Average Rating: 8.4/10


This one is going to be a serious competitor...

I'm torn. I do think it comes down to Clint and Marty. It seems like after 25 films, some good, some great, Clint has made his greatest masterpiece yet.

Marty on the other hand, has really sucked as of late but with The Aviator, he has seemingly made a really good film. But is that enough to overcome Clint? I'm not sure.

Clint made Million Dollar Baby in record time and on the heels of Mystic River. That's hard to pass up.