Who Took Home Oscar, 2006

Another side by side rendition of picks and predictions versus the actual winners, this time with the Academy Award winners.  I didn't do half as bad as the Globes, but my picks are still not substantial enough to qualify me as an expert...  How'd everyone else do?  Refer to the original post if you must, here we go:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Pick - Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Winner - Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Now, having said that, I am really in need of watching this movie.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Pick - George Clooney, "Syriana"
Winner - George Clooney, "Syriana"
It is Clooney's year after all.  Luckiest man on the planet takes home another trophy, the granddaddy of them all.  He gave a classy speech, by the way.

BEST ACTRESS
Pick - Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"  
Winner - Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"
They anointed yet another starlet on Oscar night.  I'm just hoping that she doesn't fall prey to the same fate as Marisa Tomei.

BEST ACTOR
Pick - Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Winner - Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
The more flamboyant of performances takes it.  Anyone want to bet he received the award almost as a celebration of his body of work thus far?

BEST DIRECTOR
Pick - Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Winner - Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
An earlier review of the movie noted how any other director may have turned this movie into a lesser film.  Ang Lee's tender direction elevated it to something really special.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Pick - Woody Allen, "Match Point"
Winner - Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"
Should've gone with the safe bet.  Crash was a little over the top, but I imagine the message was what saved this film.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Pick - Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Winner - Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Larry McMurtry thanked all booksellers in his acceptance speech.  Who wants to bet sales of this book spike?

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Pick - "Paradise Now", Palestine
Winner - "Tsotsi", South Africa
The second winner from South Africa.  The winner gave an emotional acceptance speech marked by the recognition of his two young stars.

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Pick - "Howl's Moving Castle," Hayao Miyazaki  
Winner - "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit", Nick Park and Steve Box
I still contend that Miyazaki is king for his sheer imagination.  I imagine loveability really does play a part in this category.  How many of the voters do you think really saw all three movies?  Gotta love the bow-ties though.

BEST PICTURE
Pick - None
Winner - "Crash"
Many may have a bone to pick with the Academy, but I can see how they may be trying to pick what they consider an innovative film as winner.  Not sure what to think of this yet.

BEST ART DIRECTION
Pick - "Memoirs of a Geisha," Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau.
Winner - "Memoirs of a Geisha," Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau.
Good call.  Truly, a pretty film with nice touches all around.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Pick - "Memoirs of a Geisha," Dion Beebe
Winner - "Memoirs of a Geisha," Dion Beebe
Once again, the prettiest of films takes the prize.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Pick - "Memoirs of a Geisha," Colleen Atwood
Winner - "Memoirs of a Geisha," Colleen Atwood.
Now a two-time winner, the costume designer really gave the modern feel I'm sure the studio was looking for a classic twirl.  It's a shame none of the leading ladies were nominated since it was a strong year for actresses.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Pick - "March of the Penguins," Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau
Winner - "March of the Penguins," Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau
They thanked all the children of the world who saw the film.  Touching.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT -
Pick - "God Sleeps in Rwanda," Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman
"A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin," Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson
I'd like to see the compilation DVD of all short subjects each Academy voter gets to see.  Maybe that would be more fair next time.

BEST FILM EDITING
Pick - "The Constant Gardener," Claire Simpson
Winner - "Crash," Hughes Winborne
After seeing the film, I should have changed my answer.  The many storylines really lent itself to the art of snip snip snip.

BEST MAKEUP
Pick - "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Howard Berger and Tami Lane
Winner - "The Chronicles of Narnia:  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Howard Berger and Tami Lane
Put it in the queue, I must see this.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Pick - "Memoirs of a Geisha," John Williams
Winner - "Brokeback Mountain," Gustavo Santaolalla
In an upset, Brokeback takes it home.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Pick - None
Winner - "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," Music and Lyrics by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
A revolutionary pick as winner, I don't know if we'll be seeing any more hip-hop winners in the near future.  They were indeed the most enthusiastic winners of the night.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Pick - "9," Shane Acker
Winner - "The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation," John Canemaker and Peggy Stern
Remember that compilation of short documentaries?  Same goes for this category.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Pick - None
Winner - "Six Shooter," Martin McDonagh
It would do the Academy well to release all of these to the public prior to the ceremony, but I'm sure there's too many licensing/distribution issues at hand.

BEST SOUND EDITING
Pick - "King Kong," Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
Winner - "King Kong," Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
Kong swept all the technical awards.  For good reason too.

BEST SOUND MIXING
Pick - "King Kong," Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
Winner - "King Kong," Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
Another technical award for the technical juggernaut.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Pick - "King Kong," Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor
Winner - "King Kong," Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor
3 for 3.  What a surprise!

Overall, I notched up a 14/24 for a 58% score.  Not bad at all, but still needs work.

The ceremony itself was nothing to shake a stick at.  I was actually disappointed in John Stewart's performance at host, but I didn't dislike it.  I think nervousness really played a part in the end.  There were way too many montages and not enough levity, in my opinion.  But really, who am I to tell them how to run the show.  We actually timed the TiVo viewing quite well if it had ended on time. Unfortunately, with the show running about a half hour or so overtime, the last bit was in real-time.  Now all I can really say is that this next year hopefully will excel even further past the previous and turn out more original films of high quality.  Less remakes and sequels and the Academy will reward you.