paul picks the prizes

It's that time, time for me to guess who will win (and who I think SHOULD win) at this year's Oscar ceremony. You may have heard before that the race is wide open but this year it really and truly is; for some races at least. Such as Best Picture. I really have no clue what will win but I'm going to try to correctly guess all 24 races. Last year I correctly guessed 17 including the acting races and best pic and best director. Here goes:



Best Makeup:

Should Win: Pan's Labyrinth
Will Win: Pan's Labyrinth



Sound Mixing:

Should Win: Apocalypto
Will Win: Dreamgirls



Sound Editing:

Should Win: Letters From Iwo Jima
Will Win: Letters From Iwo Jima



Visual Effects:

Should Win: Pirates Of The Caribbean
Will Win: Pirates Of The Caribbean



Costume Design:

Should Win: Curse Of The Golden Flower
Will Win: Marie Antoinette



Original Score:

Should Win: Notes On A Scandal
Will Win: Babel



Original Song:

Should Win: I Need To Wake Up
Will Win: I Need To Wake Up


Animated Feature:

Should Win: Monster House
Will Win: Happy Feet


Animated Short Film:

Should Win: The Danish Poet
Will Win: The Danish Poet



Documentary Feature:

Should Win: An Inconvenient Truth
Will Win: An Inconvenient Truth



Documentary Short Subject:

Should Win: Two Hands
Will Win: The Blood Of Yingzhou District



Live Action Short Film:

Should Win: Eramos Pocos
Will Win: Eramos Pocos



Art Direction:

Should Win: Pan's Labyrinth
Will Win: Pan's Labyrinth



Cinematography:

Should Win: Pan's Labyrinth
Will Win: Pan's Labyrinth



Film Editing:

Should Win: United 93
Will Win: The Departed



Best Foreign Language Film:

Should Win: Pan's Labyrinth
Will Win: The Lives Of Others



Best Adapted Screenplay:

Should Win: The Departed
Will Win: The Departed



Best Original Screenplay:

Should Win: Little Miss Sunshine
Will Win: Little Miss Sunshine



Best Supporting Actress: This race is an interesting one. The only one I don't think should win is Abigail Breslin; although I do agree with her nomination. Adriana Barraza did a phenomenal job in Babel (her co-star Rinko Kikuchi did too but her role was not as meaty) and Blanchett is good in just about anything she does. Of course, Hudson, is the girl to beat. It would be neat to see a tie between Hudson and Barraza. This is one category that has never had a tie.

Should Win: Adriana Barraza (call me a heretic)
Will Win: Jennifer Hudson



Best Supporting Actor: This is probably the toughest race to call (outside of best pic) althought Eddie Murphy is the front runner. Alan Arkin didn't give the best performance of his career (see his 60's films) but is the veteran here. Hounsou has also been more memorable than in Blood Diamond and, while Wahlberg could make a sneak attack, I really think the best of the five is Jackie Earle Haley.

Should Win: Jackie Earle Haley
Will Win: Eddie Murphy



Best Actress: Winslet needs to win an Oscar one of these years, and while Streep did a great job with a role that could have been just caricature, she isn't even close (in my opinion). Cruz is even further away although I hope Hollywood now knows what she can do and cast her in the right roles. Dench is deliciously nasty in an un-Queen like role (remember Shakespeare In Love) but this is Mirren's year.

Should Win: Helen Mirren
Will Win: Helen Mirren



Best Actor: Ok, it would have made more sense for Leonardo DiCaprio to be nominated for The Departed instead of Blood Diamond. Will Smith would be the only reason to see The Pursuit Of Happyness and even watching him is a downer. Ryan Gosling gave an impressive look-here-I-am performance but it's so dark (as was the movie). Peter O'Toole has still got it but for the film Venus it's just not enough. See the Forest for the trees this year.

Should Win: Forest Whitaker
Will Win: Forest Whitaker



Best Director: All five of them are good and, while Scorsese has the always-the-bridesmaid-never-the-bride factor, his film is still good and even surprised me. The best film of the year (again, in my opinion) was United 93 so I would like to see Greengrass win and Frears did do a great job with The Queen. Inarritu probably had the most difficult job with filming in different countries and dealing with a character who was a deaf mute; not to mention that sprawling cast. And Flags Of Our Fathers director Eastwood bested that WWII drama with another one in Letters From Iwo Jima. But I would bet Marty will beat the Hitchcock curse.

Should Win: Martin Scorsese
Will Win: Martin Scorsese



Best Picture:

All five of these films are great in their own right. I think all five are quite worthy to contend. In terms of longevity, Little Miss Sunshine has it. It was released last summer and people are still talking about it and discovering it. That worked for Crash last year; will it work again? The race really is between all five but the front runner seems to be The Departed.

Should Win: Little Miss Sunshine
Will Win: The Departed

paul