2005 Academy Award Predictions…

You think it’s hard out here for pimp? You should try being a clueless blogger making wild guesses about the Oscar race. Anyway, I’m not the one being tested here. It’s the Motion Picture Academy that is being tested, and it’s failed miserably. Anyway, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. After all, it seems to work for the professional film critics.

So, the scotch trance thing didn’t work out. Next year I’ll try dry gin.

Thank goodness the awards didn’t follow conventional wisdom too closely. At least it kept the evening mildly interesting. Nice to see that, despite its heavy use of formula and standard plots, Hollywood can still pull off the twist ending.

Category

Most Likely to Win

Most Deserving to Win

Hmmm…

Best Picture

Brokeback Mountain

Crash

Best Actor

Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)

Best Actress

Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)

Felicity Huffman (Transamerica)

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Dillon (Crash)

Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man)

George Clooney (Syriana)

Best Supporting Actress

Catherine Keener (Capote)

Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain)

Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)

Best Director

Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)

Paul Haggis (Crash)

Best Original Screenplay

Stephen Gaghan (Syriana)

Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale)

Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco (Crash)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (Brokeback Mountain)

Josh Olsen (A History of Violence)

Best Animated Feature

Corpse Bride

Howl’s Moving Castle

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Best Foreign Language Film

Sophie Scholl (Germany)

Paradise Now (Palestine)

Tsotsi
(South Africa)

Total Scores

3 cases of raw predictability

2 awards well done

5 half-baked guesses

Color Key to Actual Results:
You complete me…
I wish I knew how to quit you…