Day After Oscar Predictions

I wanted to briefly share with you my picks for next year's Academy Awards. I have only predicted the top 8 categories with 5 alternates in each. At the end of the list I will also give my winner predictions. In my opinion, it's never too early to start predicting the Oscars and maybe if my picks are accurate enough someone may notice me. Here they are:

BEST PICTURE
1. “Revolutionary Road”
2. “Blindness”
3. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
4. “Milk”
5. “Frost/Nixon”

6. “The Soloist”
7. “Australia”
8. “The Changeling”
9. “Doubt”
10. “The Reader”

BEST DIRECTOR
1. Sam Mendes, “Revolutionary Road”
2. Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
3. Gus van Sant, “Milk”
4. David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
5. Fernando Meirelles, “Blindness”

6. Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York”
7. Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
8. Baz Luhrmann, “Australia”
9. Joe Wright, “The Soloist”
10. Clint Eastwood, “The Changeling”

BEST ACTOR
1. Leonardo DiCaprio, “Revolutionary Road”
2. Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
3. Algenis Perez Soto, “Sugar”
4. Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
5. Sean Penn, “Milk”

6. Ben Kingsley, “The Dying Animal”
7. Hugh Jackman, “Australia”
8. Will Smith, “Seven Pounds”
9. Benicio del Toro, “The Argentine”/ “Guerilla”
10. Jamie Foxx, “The Soloist”

BEST ACTRESS
1. Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”
2. Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
3. Julianne Moore, “Blindness”
4. Angelina Jolie, “The Changeling”
5. Anne Hathaway, “Dancing with Schiva

6. Keira Knightley, “The Duchess”
7. Nicole Kidman, “Australia”
8. Penelope Cruz, “The Dying Animal”
9. Naomi Watts, “The International”
10. Diane Lane, “Nights in Rodanthe”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
2. Robert Downey, Jr., “The Soloist”
3. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
4. Michael Sheen, “Frost/Nixon”
5. Gael Garcia Bernal, “Blindness”

6. Josh Brolin, “Milk”
7. Russell Crowe, “Body of Lies”
8. John Malkovich, “The Changeling”
9. Ralph Fiennes, “The Reader”
10. Jim Broadbent, “Dirty Tricks”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1.Amy Adams, “Doubt”
2. Cate Blanchett, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
3. Amy Ryan, “The Changeling”
4. Catherine Keener, “Synecdoche, New York”
5. Catalina Sandino Moreno, “The Argentine”/“Guerilla”

6. Rachel McAdams, “The Time Traveler’s Wife”
7. Samantha Morton, “Synecdoche, New York”
8. Frances McDormand, “Burn After Reading”
9. Franke Potente, “The Argentine”/ “Guerilla”
10. Kathy Bates, “Revolutionary Road”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1. “Synecdoche, New York”
2. “The Wackness”
3. “Wall-E”
4. “Milk”
5. “The Soloist”

6. “Burn After Reading”
7. “Hamlet 2”
8. “The Changeling”
9. “Australia”
10. “The Argentine”/“Guerilla”


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1. “Revolutionary Road”
2. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
3. “Blindness”
4. “Doubt”
5. “Frost/Nixon”

6. “Body of Lies”
7. “The Reader”
8. “The Road”
9. “Defiance”
10. “The Box”

WINNERS:
PICTURE: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes, "Revolutionary Road"
ACTOR: Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
ACTRESS: Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road"
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Night"
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams, "Doubt"
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: "Milk"
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Post-Oscar Thoughts.

I found this year's Academy Awards to be quite entertaining. There were not really any major upsets, except for maybe "The Golden Compass" winning for Best Visual Effects. Here's a rundown of what I liked and didn't like.

3 Best Acceptance Speeches:
1. Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"- You could see the shock, excitement, and joy resonating on her face when they called her name. She was at a total loss for words, and even though I didn't particularly care for the movie, she did give a good performance. It was exhilarating to watch her just take the moment in.

2. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, "Once"- I loved Hansard's humbleness when he spoke. He was truly grateful. My favorite moment of the entire night was Jon Steward calling Marketa Irglova back out to give the speech she didn't get a chance to give. It was a really good speech and much better than just the typical "Thank you....." From the reaction, the crowd really loved this film. This is truly the great independent film story of the year.

3. Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"- I thought her speech was hilarious. She gave a very entertaining speech even though she looked dreadful. She, like Cotillard, was shocked, and that is when the best Oscar moments occur.

BEST DRESSED (Don't have the time to find pictures right now, but I am just going to name who I liked.)
Amy Adams
Katherine Heigl
Jennifer Garner
Marion Cotillard

WORST
Tilda Swinton
Ellen Page

Also, I am working on next year's predictions all ready. I hope to have those out later today.

Final Predictions

Sorry the blog hasn't been active lately (if anybody reads this). I wanted to post my final Oscar predictions. I am thinking about recalling some of my gutsy calls that I made for my initial reactions of the nominees. Well, here are my predictions:

PICTURE
No Country for Old Men
alt: Juno

DIRECTOR
Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
alt: Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
alt: George Clooney, Michael Clayton

ACTRESS
Julie Christie, Away from Her
alt: Ellen Page, Juno

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
alt: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno
alt: Michael Clayton

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
No Country for Old Men
alt: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

ART DIRECTION
Sweeney Todd
alt: Atonement

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
alt: There will Be Blood

COSTUME DESIGN
Atonement
alt: Sweeney Todd

EDITING
There Will Be Blood
alt: The Bourne Ultimatum

MAKEUP
La Vie en Rose
alt: At World's End

SONG
"Falling Slowly" Once
alt: "That's How You Know" Enchanted

SCORE
Atonement
alt: 3:10 to Yuma

SOUND EDITING
Transformers
alt: No Country for Old Men

SOUND MIXING
Transformers
alt: The Bourne Ultimatum

VISUAL EFFECTS
Transformers
alt: At World's End