Hello World. Oscar season is here!
The season officially started this morning, bright and early on the West coast, when the president of the Academy, Sid Ganis, and actress Mira Sorvino announced the nominations.
There were no surprises, really. Brokeback Mountain received the most nominations at 8, including nominations for the biggest six awards – Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography; Brokeback also garnered nominations for Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress.
The Academy also dished out its love for George Clooney, who came away from the early morning announcements with four nominations for two films–Picture, Director, and Screenplay for (Good Night, and Good Luck), and Supporting Actor (Syrianna).
Other than Brokeback Mountain and Good Night, and Good Luck, the other pictures nominated for Best Picture were Capote, Crash, and Munich. This core of nominations marks another year when the Academy turned its eye to the smaller, art-house films. In fact, these films are so small that not one of them grossed more than the favorite documentary of the year, March of the Penguins, which grossed $77.41 million; nor the favorite animated film of the year, Wallace & Gromit, which grossed a mere $56.07.
Out of the nominated films for Best Picture, Crash grossed the most at $53.38, followed by Brokeback Mountain ($51.02), Munich ($40.65), Good Night, and Good Luck ($25.13), and Capote ($15.13).
Add their total grosses together ($185.31), that’s only enough to be the eleventh highest grossing film of the year, just falling behind Mr & Mrs. Smith, not nominated.
The top ten grossing films of the year did see some action this morning. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe was the most recognized film by the Academy, garnering nominations Visual Effects, Sound, and Makeup. The most startling revelation, and it suits me just fine, is that George Lucas and his visual effects team of wizards were completely shut out of the technical awards category. Lucas’ farewell film Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith had to settle for a Best Makeup nomination. (Hah!)
Other nominations awarded to the top ten films of the year include: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire (Best Art Direction); War of the Worlds (Sound, Editing, and Visual Effects); King Kong (Sound, Art Direction, and Editing); Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Best Costume); and Batman Begins (Cinematography).
The film that garnered the most nominations without being nominated for Best Picture is Memoirs of a Geisha with six– Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume, Sound, Score, and Editing.
USATODAY has an excellent article compiling reactions from the actors and directors nominated today. One of my favorite comments is from Ang Lee, nominated for Best Director. As reported by Donna Freydkin:
He spent his morning taking his son to school and did not watch the announcement. His assistant called him with the news. "I tried to not worry about it. I tried to go back to sleep, but then the phone rang, and I heard about the results," he says.
He's not celebrating with a glass of bubbly. Instead, says Lee, he'll have two cups of a fine Taiwanese tea he opened up because it's a special occasion. And he's not worried about the competition come Oscar night. "I don't want this to be the movie to beat," he says of Brokeback. "This year, I really enjoy this group. It's a great bunch of people. We're happy for each other. There's a certain togetherness. There's a family kind of feeling. We're all small movies. Even Steven's movie is relatively small. It's issue-oriented, emotion-oriented, and when society finds it, it's a positive feeling in a frustrating time we're in. It's the most sweet and unselfish year."
Here is a complete list of the Oscar nominations.
Best Motion Picture of the Year
- Brokeback Mountain
- Capote
- Crash
- Good Night, and Good Luck
- Munich
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
- Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
- Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow)
- Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)
- Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line)
- David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
- Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents)
- Felicity Huffman (Transamerica)
- Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice)
- Charlize Theron (North Country)
- Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
- George Clooney (Syriana)
- Matt Dillon (Crash)
- Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man)
- Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain)
- William Hurt (A History of Violence)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
- Amy Adams (Junebug)
- Catherine Keener (Capote)
- Frances McDormand (North Country)
- Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)
- Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain)
Best Achievement in Directing
- George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck)
- Paul Haggis (Crash)
- Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
- Bennett Miller (Capote)
- Steven Spielberg (Munich)
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
- Crash - Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco
- Good Night, and Good Luck. - George Clooney, Grant Heslov
- Match Point - Woody Allen
- The Squid and the Whale - Noah Baumbach
- Syriana - Stephen Gaghan
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
- Brokeback Mountain - Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana
- Capote - Dan Futterman
- The Constant Gardener - Jeffrey Caine
- A History of Violence - Josh Olson
- Munich - Tony Kushner, Eric Roth
Best Achievement in Cinematography
- Batman Begins
- Brokeback Mountain
- Good Night, and Good Luck
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- The New World
Best Achievement in Editing
- Cinderella Man
- The Constant Gardener
- Crash
- Munich
- Walk the Line
Best Achievement in Art Direction
- Good Night, and Good Luck.
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- King Kong
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Pride & Prejudice
Best Achievement in Costume Design
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Mrs. Henderson Presents
- Pride & Prejudice
- Walk the Line
Best Original Score
- Brokeback Mountain
- The Constant Gardener
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Munich
- Pride & Prejudice
Best Original Song
- Hustle & Flow - Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, Paul Beauregard ("It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp")
- Crash - Michael Becker, Kathleen York ("In the Deep")
- Transamerica - Dolly Parton ("Travelin' Thru")
Best Makeup
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Cinderella Man
- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Best Sound
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- King Kong
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Walk the Line
- War of the Worlds
Best Sound Editing
- King Kong
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- War of the Worlds
Best Visual Effects
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- King Kong
- War of the Worlds
Best Animated Film
- Corpse Bride
- Hauru no ugoku shiro
- Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Best Foreign Language Film
- Bestia nel cuore, La - Cristina Comencini (Italy)
- Joyeux Noël - Christian Carion (France)
- Paradise Now - Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine)
- Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage - Marc Rothemund (Germany)
- Tsotsi - Gavin Hood (South Africa)
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