I suppose that I could go ahead and give my Oscar® picks for the weekend in the big five categories. Problem is, I haven't seen most of the nominated films, so mine is an uninformed opinion if there ever was one. Also, I wanted to post another picture of Renee Zellweger, and this was a good as any excuse to do so.
BEST PICTURE: Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Pianist. Of these, I've only seen Chicago and The Two Towers. I really wanted to see Gangs, but it played the worst shithole theatre in Bowling Green so I decided to wait for the DVD (July 1, by the way). Between the two I did see (and after Tequila Mockingbird's review, I wouldn't see the Hours on a dare) I enjoyed The Two Towers the most, so Two Towers it is. Of course I know damn well that Chicago will win.
In fact, the Two Towers is really getting the shaft this time out. Did all the actors, like Ian McKellen (who should just have his name retired-he's always the best actor regardless of who the other nominees are), suddenly forget their craft? Only two nominees for best makeup, one for slapping a unibrow on Salma Hayek in Frida, and no nomination for a movie that was full of great makeup effects? feh.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:Adrien Brody, Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson. I haven't seen any of the movies these fellows are nominated for, so I'll root for Day-Lewis because he has that cool moustache and top hat in Gangs. I understand Nicholson was good, too, but the very thought of seeing Kathy Bates naked will cause me to avoid that movie for a LONG time.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Chris Cooper, Ed Harris, Paul Newman, John C. Reilly, Christopher Walken. What we have here are five actors that I always usually like in films, and two which are heroes of mine, Harris and Walken. It'll probably go to Cooper, but I could never vote against Harris.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman, Diane Lane, Julianne Moore, Renée Zellweger. I think you know by now who gets my vote. Sigh. Again, the only movie I saw out of this group was Chicago. Kidman's usually pretty good, and I hear she's great in the Hours, fake nose and all. I'm surprised the same person that nominated Frida for that makeup award didn't nominate this flick as well.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Kathy Bates, Julianne Moore, Queen Latifah, Meryl Streep, Catherine Zeta-Jones. Gotta give Bates credit for being a gamer, and Latifah was a hell of a lot better than I thought she would be...but Zeta-Jones-Douglas was smokin, in more ways than one.
"ACHEIVEMENT IN DIRECTING": Rob Marshall for CHICAGO, Martin Scorsese for GANGS OF NEW YORK, Stephen Daldry for THE HOURS, Roman Polanski for THE PIANIST, Pedro Almodóvar for TALK TO HER. Seems like it will come down to Marshall and Scorcese, and Scorcese may have shot himself in the foot with that bogus campaign thing a few weeks ago, so I say Marshall. But you never know.
What the hell, I'll pick another one:
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: Ice Age, Lilo & Stitch, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Spirited Away, Treasure Planet. My 3 year old nephew Josh adores Spirit, but I haven't seen it. Neither have I seen Spirited Away or Treasure Planet. Ice Age bored me, and Lilo & Stitch was pretty darn good but not great...so I'll choose Spirited Away, which didn't make it to a theatre near me or you can bet your ass I would have been there to see it. From the previews I saw it looked amazing. I'll pick Spirited Away in advance.
