Oscar Predictions, Again
The day the Oscar nominations came out, I posted my predictions for who will win in each category and promised to repost the predictions a week before the Academy Awards broadcast. Well, here we are and here are my predictions once again. This time though, I have added a few comments about some of the picks. The picks are exactly the same as the last time even though some of them go against what most people are predicting. But I like to go with my initial gut instinct and thats what Ive done here.
Best Picture: The Departed - Of all my picks, this one has me the most worried as everyone seems to be picking Babel and there has even been some talk about an upset win for Little Miss Sunshine. But Im still picking The Departed, partially because I believe it is finally Scorseses year and the Best Director usually wins Best Picture as well. Plus last year everyone (including myself) said that Brokeback Mountain was going to win and nobody picked Crash (despite the fact that I was hoping it would win as it was a better movie). Crash won and nobody seemed to see that coming. The Departed will be similar.
Actor in a Leading Role: Forest Whitaker -The Last King of Scotland - Almost a guarantee.
Actress in a Leading Role: Helen Mirren - The Queen - A definite guarantee.
Actor in a Supporting Role: Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Actress in a Supporting Role: Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Director: Martin Scorsese - The Departed
Original Screenplay: Babel - Guillermo Arriaga
Adapted Screenplay: The Departed - William Monahan
Cinematography: Laberinto del Fauno, El - Guillermo Navarro - Pans Labyrinth has garnered so much attention that I picked it for most of these, what I call epic movie categories.
Editing: Babel - Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Art Direction: Laberinto del Fauno, El
Costume Design: The Queen
Original Score: Laberinto del Fauno, El - Javier Navarrete
Original Song: Our Town - Cars - Randy Newman - When Dreamgirls has three songs nominated it seems like a lock to get a win, so I went out on a limb and predicted long-time Oscar favorite Randy Newman.
Makeup: Laberinto del Fauno, El - David Mart, Montse Rib
Achievement in Sound: Flags of Our Fathers
Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Flags of Our Fathers
Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Best Animated Feature: Cars
Foreign Language Film: Laberinto del Fauno, El - (Mexico) - If it doesnt win with so many other nominations, there is something wrong.
Best Documentary, Feature: Deliver Us from Evil - While An Inconvenient Truth has gotten the most attention because of Al Gore, Ive heard better things about Deliver Us From Evil.
Best Documentary, Short Subject: Recycled Life
Best Short Film, Animated: Maestro
Best Short Film, Live Action: West Bank Story
So, there is my reposted predictions. I hope everyone enjoys the Oscars!.
Pan’s Labyrinth expands to Over 1,000 Screens This Weekend
Ever wonder what an Academy Award nomination can mean to a film? Up until January 18th, the critically acclaimed Pan’s Labyrinth was only being shown on just under 200 screens nationwide. With six nominations, the film will expand to over 1,000 screens on Friday. This is one of the must see movies of last year. If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to go to your local theater this weekend and see it on the big screen. Press release after the jump.
PICTUREHOUSE EXPANDS PANS LABYRINTH
TO OVER 1,000 SCREENS THIS WEEKEND
(New York, February 1, 2007)
Picturehouse will expand Pans Labyrinth to over 1000 screens this weekend. Pans Labyrinth was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Foreign Film, Cinematography, Art Direction, Makeup, Music Written for Motion Pictures (original score) and Best Original Screenplay.
Pans Labyrinth won 7 GOYA Awards this past weekend including Best original screenplay, Best Cinematography, Special Effects, Makeup, Sound, Montage, and best new actress for Ivana Baquero! It is also the best reviewed film of 2006 and 2007 (mentioned on over 100 top ten lists).
Directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pans Labyrinth is a fanciful and chilling story set against the backdrop of a fascist regime in 1944 rural Spain. The film centers on Ofelia, a lonely and dreamy child living with her mother and adoptive father; a military officer tasked with ridding the area of rebels. In her loneliness, Ofelia creates a world filled with fantastical creatures and secret destinies. With post-war repression at its height, Ofelia must come to terms with her world through a fable of her own creation.
Launched in April 2005, Picturehouse is the joint venture of two leaders of the entertainment community - HBO and New Line Cinema. Currently in release is Guillermo del Toros gothic fairy tale Pans Labyrinth, Starter for 10 from Tom Hanks Playtone Productions; El Cantante, a music-infused biography of Puerto Rican, salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe, starring Jennifer Lopez and her husband, Marc Anthony; Olivier Dahans Edith Piaf biopic, La Vie En Rose; Gracie, directed by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) and starring Oscar Nominee-Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue and Carly Schroeder (Firewall, Mean Creek); and Francois Girards Silk, starring Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Koji Yakusho, and Alfred Molina.
Has Guillermo Del Toro Got One Ring To Rule Them All?
Having had months of rather depressing news that The Hobbit would be made without Peter Jackson in sight, came the rather joyful news that Peter Jackson would actually be involved. But due to his commitments on Tin Tin and Lovely Bones, he could only serve as executive producer, with approval over creative elements of the films. There were also rumblings that Jackson and fellow Lord Of The Rings writer Fran Walsh, would have some input on the script. Things keep getting better and better, and The Hobbit’s boulder of joy continues to roll: Guillermo Del Toro is apparently in talks to take the director’s chair.
With continuity the main issue, having a fellow plump and bearded man in the directors chair can only be a good thing. Witnessing Peter Jacksons dramatic weight loss while shooting the trilogy, Del Toro may want a bit of that Middle Earth weight loss goodness. But whatever his motives, having Guillermo del Toro as director is a great thing. Fans have been wanting Del Toro directing ever since it was announced Jackson couldn’t. Toro is best known for his work on Blade 2 and Hellboy, with the sequel being released later this year. Not only that, Pans Labyrinth earned 3 Oscars, along with another 61 wins and 55 nominations. Not only that, he turned down the chance to direct I Am Legend, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Halo, for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. If that isn’t dedication to something you love, then I don’t know what is.
The Hobbit is expected to start filming sometime in 2009, to be released in 2010, and the second in 2011. The films are expected to be filmed back-to-back, with each film being given $150 million budget. New Line are hoping the films will bring in similar numbers to The Lord Of The Rings, which is currently the highest grossing trilogy in the history of the universe.
2010 is a heck of a long time to wait, but if all goes well, it will be worth the wait!