Oscar Nominees and Initial Thoughts

Oscar Nominees were announced this morning and the following is a short list of the nominees in the major categories. Also my thoughts on the nominees (not who will win).

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Nominees:

Babel (2006):
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Steve Golin, Jon Kilik

The Departed (2006):
Nominees to be determined

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006):
Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Robert Lorenz

Little Miss Sunshine (2006):
Nominees to be determined

The Queen (2006):
Andy Harries, Christine Langan, Tracey Seaward

AE's Take: Big upset here as it seems Little Miss Sunshine takes the spot that everyone was giving to Dreamgirls. Dreamgirls did score the most number of noms this year, but to get shut out of the Best Picture race is a shock

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Leonardo DiCaprio
for Blood Diamond (2006)

Ryan Gosling
for Half Nelson (2006)

Peter O'Toole
for Venus (2006/I)

Will Smith
for The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Forest Whitaker
for The Last King of Scotland (2006)

AE's Take: I am surprised that Leo got nominated for Blood Diamond and not The Departed. Like I said in my Golden Globes recap, I thought that The Departed was more of a lock for a Leo win. Also, my pick for a dark horse candidate, Sasha Baron Cohen for Borat, seems to have not come to fruition. It is sad that the Academy continues to ignore straight comedies.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Penélope Cruz
for Volver (2006/I)

Judi Dench
for Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Helen Mirren
for The Queen (2006)

Meryl Streep
for The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Kate Winslet
for Little Children (2006)

AE's: Nice to see that Ms. Winslet continues to shine as a performer, but this has to be the most boring major category.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Alan Arkin
for Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Jackie Earle Haley
for Little Children (2006)

Djimon Hounsou
for Blood Diamond (2006)

Eddie Murphy
for Dreamgirls (2006)

Mark Wahlberg
for The Departed (2006)

AE's Take: Who would have thought that the former Marky Mark and star of Planet of the Apes would ever be nominated for an Oscar? I enjoyed Alan Arkin's performance in Little Miss Sunshine (anothe surprise nominee!), and while I would have liked to see Steve Carrel in this slot, I acknowledge that Arkin's character had more of an impact on the plot.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Adriana Barraza
for Babel (2006)

Cate Blanchett
for Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Abigail Breslin
for Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Jennifer Hudson
for Dreamgirls (2006)

Rinko Kikuchi
for Babel (2006)

AE's Take: Another surprise nominee concerning Little Miss Sunshine. Abigail Breslin was a delight in the movie, and I did predict an Oscar nom for her. Ok, it was a tongue-in-cheek statement, but still.

Best Achievement in Directing

Nominees:

Clint Eastwood
for Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Stephen Frears
for The Queen (2006)

Paul Greengrass
for United 93 (2006)

Alejandro González Iñárritu
for Babel (2006)

Martin Scorsese
for The Departed (2006)

AE's Take: It's good to see that Paul Greengrass slipped in here for his work on the stellar United 93 (which, again, I haven't seen, but it got great reviews). Of course, the big story is whether or not this will be Scorsese's year. I would say it may be, but the Oscars has a tendency to shock, so it could really be anyone on this list.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Nominees:

Babel (2006):
Guillermo Arriaga

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006):
Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis

Little Miss Sunshine (2006):
Michael Arndt

Laberinto del Fauno, El (2006):
Guillermo del Toro

The Queen (2006):
Peter Morgan

AE's Take: The second-to-last movie listed is also known as Pan's Labrynth. The writing categories always interest me, as I fancy myself a writer. I thought the writing on LMS was average at best, and the rest of the movies listed have more dramatic weight, so once again, this race is up in the air. Paul Haggis, who wrote Letters from Iwo Jima, also won last year for Crash.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Nominees:

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006):
Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer, Todd Phillips

Children of Men (2006):
Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby

The Departed (2006):
William Monahan

Little Children (2006):
Todd Field, Tom Perrotta

Notes on a Scandal (2006):
Patrick Marber

AE's Take: The joke in this category is Borat being nominated for adapted screenplay. I guess they considered the movie adapted from The Ali G Show? Hopefully, Borat and Cohen win, so we can get another hilarious speech.

So that's it. Those are the nominees for what are considered the major categories of the Academy Awards. With the inclusion of Little Miss Sunshine to the top race and the supporting categories, I am actually interested in the show this year. Let's see if it can live up to my expectations.

The Academy Awards will air on February 25th.