movie shark deblore
Film Critic to the Culver City Observer and over 132 Publications Worldwide including: The Observer, Inc., John Schimmenti, Inc., CCN, Inc.,
Santa Monica Observer, Inc., Beacon-Times, Inc., Columbus-Register, Inc., and a Host of Others

Like a herd of cattle at a feeding trough, the media descended on the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills this morning for the announcements everyone has awaited since last year - the nominees for the 78th Annual Academy Awards. I was one of the few print journalists present along with my radio and tv colleagues as well as photographers from the world over. Pre-nomination chatter among the press was rampant as veteran reporters and photographers regaled "war stories" from prior awards and opined their "sure fire picks" for Oscar this year. (Many were already provide disappointed and wrong when nominations were announced.) But, perhaps in honor of SAG Award winner and Oscar nominee, Paul Giamatti, the food was the hot topic. (Yes, the Academy feeds us. And the verdict - better selection and more quantity than last year! But I have to wonder - do some of these guys not eat at home?)

Ultimately, at 5:30 a.m. with the ever present Oscar Producer Gil Cates walking the room and running the show, Oscar winner Mira Sorvino and AMPAS President Sid Ganis took the stage for the world’s most anticipated announcements. Amid cheers and applause, they announced the Oscar nominees for 10 of the 24 award categories and at the end of their brief appearance, we found ourselves with a few surprises, some new "records" and some interesting Oscar factoids.

As to be expected, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN led the pack with 8 nominations including including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. CAPOTE, a relatively low budget, low profile film that has garnered enormous amounts of notoriety of late thanks to Best Oscar Nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman’s impeccable performance as the late Truman Capote, pulled in 5 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, and a surprise announcement in the Best Supporting Actress category for Catherine Keener.

Two of my picks of the year, CRASH and GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, each received 6 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Matt Dillon received an Oscar nod as Best Supporting Actor in CRASH while David Strathairn picked up a nomination for Best Actor for his work as David R. Murrow in GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. But the real story (and irony) here may be with the nominations Paul Haggis for CRASH and George Clooney for GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, as each was nominated for Best Director and for penning the Best Screenplay. What most of you may not know is that many years ago, Haggis was one of the primary writers on a little sitcom called "The Facts of Life" on which a relatively unknown actor named George Clooney began his catapult to stardom.

And Steven Spielberg should be turning his recent frowns upside down after picking up nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (his 6th nomination) and Best Original Screenplay for MUNICH. Based on events involving the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Olympic Games, it is rumored that Spielberg has been a little dismayed at late over the lack of "awards acknowledgment" for this impeccable work. With 5 Oscar nominations, that should all change. Its interesting to note that this is also the first time since 1981 that Best Director and Best Picture nominations have honored the same films. . .and in 1981, Spielberg was nominated for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Two big surprises were the announcements of Kiera Knightley as a nominee for Best Actress for her work in PRIDE & PREJUDICE and William Hurt for Best Supporting Actor in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. Knightley finds herself up against previous Oscar Winners Judi Dench and Charlize Theron, Golden Globe and SAG Winner Felicity Huffman, and Golden Globe and SAG Winner Reese Witherspoon. Meanwhile, previous Oscar Winner Hurt picks up his 4th overall Oscar nomination, but first as Supporting Actor. In what could prove to be the most hotly contested race in town, the veteran Hurt finds himself up against 4 first time nominees - Matt Dillon for CRASH, Golden Globe and SAG Winner Paul Giamatti for CINDERELLA MAN, Jake Gyllenhaal for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and the triple threat of the night, George Clooney for SYRIANA. With Clooney’s nomination, this is the first time in Academy history that a Best Director nominee is also nominated in an acting category for a different film.

In the Best Supporting Actress category look for a tight race between my pick and Golden Globe and SAG winner, Rachel Weisz for THE CONSTANT GARDENER and Michelle Williams for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. Both first time nominees, they are facing some stiff competition from Oscar winner and 4 time nominee Frances McDormand for NORTH COUNTRY, newcomer Amy Adams for JUNEBUG and surprise nominee, Catherein Keener for CAPOTE.

Interestingly of the acting nominees, 14 are first-time nominees.

In another surprise move, Woody Allen picked up his 14th nomination for Best Original Screenplay with MATCHPOINT. (He has 21 total.) This puts him up against Paul Haggis (who was nominated last year for Million Dollar Baby) & Bobby Moresco for CRASH, previous Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan for SYRIANA, and first time nominees George Clooney & Grant Heslov for GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, and Noah Baumbach for THE SQUID AND THE WHALE.
 

Tim Burton and Mike Johnson pick up their first nomination for Best Animated Film with CORPSE BRIDE. But early predictions are favoring Nick Park and Steve Box for WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT. Hayao Myazaki rounds out the category for HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE. This is the first time since the inception of this category in 2001 that none of the nominated films was produced primarily by CGI. Three cheers for good old fashioned film-making!!

No surprise are nominations 44 and 45 for composer John Williams who is pitted against himself for scoring MUNICH and MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. These nominations put him in first place in the total nominations in Music categories and places him only second to Walt Disney’s 59 overall nominations.

A banner year for documentaries, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS is the front runner as it faces some stiff competition from the likes of MURDERBALL and ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM. Foreign films also stepped out of the box this year and the competition is fierce. Italy, which has taken Oscar home 10 times, picks up its 27th Academy Award nomination with DON’T TELL. France, with 9 Oscars to its credit, grabs nomination 34 with JOYEUX NOEL. Germany is once again represented, this time with SOPHIE SCHOLL-THE FINAL DAYS. With 6 previous nominations and one win and 8 since 1990, the Federal Republic of Germany also nabbed 8 nominations and 1 win prior thereto while the German Democratic Republic received 1 nomination. But the big story in the Foreign Film category comes from Palestine and South Africa. With its 1st Oscar nomination, Palestine submits Golden Globe winner, PARADISE NOW, while South Africa brings us its second nomination in as many years with TSOTSI. Look for my reviews on these two films in the coming weeks.

When it comes to Technical Awards, Art Direction, Make-Up and Set Design, look no further than the leader board which includes THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA with 3 nominations, KING KONG with 4, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA with 6 and WAR OF THE WORLDS with 3.

Over the next month, I’ll be bringing you my annual Oscar updates and predictions for Best Picture, Best Foreign Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor & Actress, Best Actor & Actress and Best Original & Adapted Screenplay. So check back each week, or go online to www.moviesharkdeblore.com for my picks and pans and reviews of some Oscar nominated films.

Who will take Oscar home and who will go home alone? What SWAG will everyone get? We’ll all find out together on March 5, 2006, when the 78th Annual Academy Awards air live from the Kodak Theater on ABC at 5PM PT/8PM ET. I’ll be there rooting and reporting on my faves.