Oscar handicapping: analysis
There’s been a lot of attention paid to the indie focus of this year’s Oscars -- there’re no big blockbusters among the nominees -- and whether that will affect how many people watch and how many people care. But it won’t affect the eccentric and complicated calculus that seems to arise unbidden from the Academy’s choices. Who leaves happy and who leaves disappointed is about so many things other than quality. It really is an honor to be nominated, and a nomination is almost always a genuine mark of excellence. Beyond the nomination point, it’s all a matter of recognizing artists who’ve been overlooked in previous years, about spreading the wealth around in a way so that a goodly number of worthy films get pats on the back.
Surprising shutouts, and near-shutouts? There’s always a few: Terence Malick’s luminous The New World (just one nom, a worthy one, for cinematography, but still...); Werner Herzog’s profoundly insightful documentary Grizzly Man (no noms at all? that’s just crazy). But even they say something about the tenor of the Academy as a whole: weird and quirky is fine. Just don’t be too weird and quirky.
Below, my picks -- and reasons why I picked 'em -- in major categories. Coming up, an easy to crib rundown of every category with picks, and reviews of some of the nominated films I missed covering in 2005.
Best Actor
Who's nominated: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote; Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow; Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain; Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line; David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Who shoulda been nominated: Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence
Who's going home with Oscar: If only the Oscars were a catfight -- a literal one, that is; it's already a figurative one -- cuz then we'd get to see Joaquin and Heath wrassle for the statue: it's a tossup between the two for the best performance of the year (though Phoenix is my favorite). Watch for voters to split the difference and give it to Hoffman by default.
Best Actress
Who's nominated: Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents; Felicity Huffman, Transamerica; Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice; Charlize Theron, North Country; Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Who shoulda been nominated: Georgie Hensley, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Who's going home with Oscar: It comes down to this: Who surprised us the most? Dench is awesome, as always, but she's phoning in her awesomeness this time. Thanks to Monster, we already knew Theron had chops. Huffman's got the Oscar bonus points for portraying a character suffering a strange affliction, but her performance is too mannered. Knightley's excellent but a tad young for this award. Look for Witherspoon to be making room on her mantel, her reward to proving she's way more than merely charming and adorable.
Best Supporting Actor
Who's nominated: George Clooney, Syriana; Matt Dillon, Crash; Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man; Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain; William Hurt, A History of Violence
Who shoulda been nominated: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Serenity
Who's going home with Oscar: All worthy performances. This could be where the Academy shows it's not completely averse to Violence, but its more likely to take this opportunity to recognize Clooney's impressive and multidiscipline body of work for the year. Expect snarky political commentary in Clooney's acceptance speech.
Best Supporting Actress
Who's nominated: Amy Adams, Junebug; Catherine Keener, Capote; Frances McDormand, North Country; Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener; Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Who shoulda been nominated: Mario Bello, A History of Violence
Who's going home with Oscar: Of all categories, this one is always where the voters are most adventurous. Capote and Brokeback will find love in other areas that night; Country is too weak overall and McDormand isn't any more extraordinary than she usually is. If there could be ties, it'd be between Adams and Weisz, but expect the outta-nowhere nominee Adams to walk away with the prize for the sad amiability of her Southern girl.
Best Animated Feature Film
What's nominated: Howl's Moving Castle, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
What shoulda been nominated: Mirrormask
What's gonna win: With all the gorgeous and strikingly original imagery in the CGI-heavy Mirrormask, a nod here would have at least been an acknowledgement that the line between live-action and animation is rapidly disappearing. Still, if the very traditional claymation of Wallace & Gromit doesn't win, there's no justice in this universe. Castle's story is a mess, even if some of the animation is breathtaking, and Bride is a retread of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Only the cheese-loving Englishman and his trusty canine sidekick have a great film to their name, not merely a great-looking one.
Adapted Screenplay
Who's nominated: Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain; Dan Futterman, Capote; Jeffrey Caine, The Constant Gardener; Josh Olson, A History of Violence; Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, Munich
Who shoulda been nominated: Debra Moggach, Pride & Prejudice
Who's going home with Oscar: The Academy loves actors who cross over into other categories, so they might have some especial sympathy for Capote's screenwriter... except that surely even some voters are going "Dan who? And he's an actor, you say?" (Quite a fine one, actually.) If Hurt doesn't hog the limited love for Violence and snag Supporting Actor, the script could win here. This may be this year's hardest category to call, but I suspect Brokeback won't sweep, and the Academy will give Munich its sole award for the night to Kushner and Roth.
Original Screenplay
Who's nominated: Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco, Crash; George Clooney & Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck.; Woody Allen, Match Point; Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale; Stephen Gaghan, Syriana
Who shoulda been nominated: Joss Whedon, Serenity
Who's going home with Oscar: I'm not surprised by Whedon's omission -- the Academy doesn't know what to do with SF films beyond oohing over their FX -- but Serenity is at least as full of sociopolitical import as three of the five nominees here. It could be Woody's turn here, for his clever Hitchcockian mystery, but the Academy members know he won't show up to accept, and that cheeses them off. So they'll give it to Baumbach, not just because his is the little movie that could, but also because they know he'll be ecstatic.
Director
Who's nominated: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain; Bennett Miller, Capote; Paul Haggis, Crash; George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck.; Steven Spielberg, Munich
Who shoulda been nominated: David Cronenberg, A History of Violence
Who's going home with Oscar: Lee, without a doubt. He's owed it from Crouching Tiger, but more than that, the industry loves Brokeback, loves how it dares to say to the flyover states that Hollywood's liberal bent does too apply everywhere, loves its warmth and humanity, loves its appeal to the political without being, you know, political about it.
Best Picture
What's nominated: Brokeback Mountain; Capote; Crash; Good Night, and Good Luck.; Munich
What shoulda been nominated: A History of Violence
What's gonna win: Brokeback Mountain. See above. The film has it all: tragedy, romance, an historical aspect, an epic quality that doesn't diminish its intimacy, fabulous and daring performances, and artistically defensible sex. Me, I still contend that A History of Violence is the best film of the year, with its withering satiric eye on our society's schizophrenic attitudes toward brutality. But a heartbreaking commentary on our society's hypocritical attitudes toward sex and love? I'm all for that, too.
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