Nominees
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| The Departed | Babel | Letters From Iwo Jima | Little Miss Sunshine | The Queen |
What? Where is Borat? And Dreamgirls? And what is The Departed doing here? There's some serious boo boos in this category this year but at least Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen are here too. The Academy has also seemed to at least made an effort to commend comedies this year with an inclusion of Little Miss Sunshine in the Best Picture lineup, seeing that it has a long standing preference for heavily dramatic films.
Will Win: Babel
The current the Hollywood darling Babel looks set to win, having just won the Best Picture (Drama) and nominated for another 6 other categories at the Golden Globes last week. With 7 nominations at this year's Oscars, it is the second most nominated film behind Dreamgirls, which has 8 nominations. Although not my personal favourite for the Oscar, the Academy seems to have caught "the Grand Hotel formula" fever, with Crash winning last year's Best Picture award and Munich and Good Night, and Good Luck nominated as well.
Should Win: Little Miss Sunshine
"Where's Olive?!?!". Yes doesn't this dysfunctional family just scream "Love Me!". The perky seven-year-old beauty queen wannabe. The failed motivational speaker. The embittered, angst-ridden, Nietzsche-reading mute-by-choice teenager. The over-stressed, over-worked and too tightly wound mother. The gay suicidal uncle. And of course, the Nazi hating heroin snorting grandfather. While Babel brings out the dire, dark reality of human nature Little Miss Sunshine is, on the other hand, the stunning actuality of family life. Besides, it has been way too long since a comedic film as won Best Picture (think 1998's Shakespeare in Love).
Black Horse: The Queen
This biopic about HM Queen Elizabeth II has it's own share of Oscar buzz. Having won 2 Golden Globes (Best Actress - Drama and Best Screenplay) and nominated for (gasp!) 10 BAFTA awards, The Queen is giving Babel a run for its money. This time nominated for 6 Oscars, The Queen is undeniably the most successful British export of 2006. Ranging from its leading lady Helen Mirren to its assiduously crafted screenplay, The Queen has all the chops to bang Best Picture.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees
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| Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond | Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson | Peter O'Toole for Venus | Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness | Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland |
It's all dramatic heavy hitters (surprise surprise!) again this year, all of them who have had their own share of alluring screen personas. Be it beguiling young budding socialites onboard ill fated passenger liners (Dicaprio), policing alien activity on Earth while looking intrepid in black sunglasses and suits (Smith) or as a Trojan king whose youngest son's taste for women results in his entire city being massacred (O'Toole), these 5 leading man are all legends in their own right. Well, at least most of them.
Will Win: Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
The awards season has been good to Forest Whitaker this year. When both the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild name you the best actor of 2007 it just says something. Think clouds gather before a storm, but in a good way.
Should Win: Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
Forest Whitaker deserves every ounce of the 3.85kg Oscar statuette. His enthralling performance in The Last King of Scotland as Ugandan president Amin will leave you drooling in your seats till the very end of the film. Interchanging effortlessly between a insecure homicidal tyrant and a charismatic people's president whose personal magnetism seems to be irresistible, Forest Whitaker not only gives his character a tint of realism but depth and dimension as well. Definitely one of the best performances of the year.
Black Horse: Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond
Now, doesn't everyone just loooove Leonardo Dicaprio? That dashing boyish good looks has captivated girls (and auntys) everywhere. Dicaprio also seems to be Hollywood's darling too thanks to his performance in Blood Diamond. His acting didn't really sit with me though. Sporting a goatee and moustache, Dicaprio played tough man diamond smuggler Danny Archer. Try as he can, his boy band looks just makes him look like little boy Danny wanted to play with daddy's cigarettes. Not to mention that extremely unconvincing pseudo English/African accent, causing him to be thoroughly overshadowed by his co-star Djimon Hounsou's flawless acting. But then again since the Academy Award is given out based on voting by its members and seeing that Dicaprio is winning hearts in America male or female alike, he could very well steal thunder from Forest Whitaker.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Nominees
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| Penélope Cruz for Volver | Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal | Helen Mirren for The Queen | Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada | Kate Winslet for Little Children |
Here we have one of the most unpredictable and controversial categories of the Academy Awards. Remember crying out in outrage when (gasp!) Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress last year over Felicity Hoffman? I remember
Will Win: Helen Mirren for The Queen
The hot favorite to win the Best Actress Oscar this year is none other then Helen Mirren. Playing the current English reigning monarch Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, not only was she expected to give an entertaining and captivating performance, there was an extra pressure to do the character justice. Queen Elizabeth II is, after all still very much alive. Not only was she able to do that, she also managed to bring to the character a sense of humility and effectively brought out the private side of Queen Elizabeth II that is seldom seen; the grandmother, the mother-in-law, the monarch torn between family and country. A worthy winner.
Should Win: Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal, Kate Winslet for Little Children
These two English roses have long been snubbed by the Academy Awards. Kate Winslet, despite having been nominated 4 times (Best Actress; Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Best Supporting Actress; Sense and Sensibility, Iris) prior to this year, making her nomination for Little Children her fifth Oscar nomination and third Best Actress nomination, has never won an Oscar.
Dame Judi Dench on the other hand is the matriarch of film and theatre back home in Britain in her own right while in Hollywood remains fairly underrated and overshadowed by her flamboyant and colourful American counterparts. But when it comes to acting chops, the English win hands down.
Black Horse: Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada
The coat tossing, the half muttered "that's all" and the insouciant "please bore someone else..." If it takes a legend to play a legend, Meryl Streep definitely nailed it. This is after all her 14th Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, breaking Katharine Hepburn's record for most nominations for an actress. Who cares whether you're Disney's favourite princess of some fictional European state, we're talking acting chops honey! Tsk, amateurs.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominees
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| Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine | Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children | Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond | Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls | Mark Wahlberg for The Departed |
Will Win: Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls
Why Eddie Murphy? Well I don't know either. But he seems to be raking in all the big awards this season. Winning both the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Dreamgirls, Eddie Murphy is the best bet to win this year. Come on, how often do you get to see him singing and dancing in tight 60s pants.
Should Win: Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond
I managed to catch Blood Diamond on my coach ride back to Singapore from Malacca. It was in between winks and dissing Leonardo DiCaprio that I realised, "Hey! This guy CAN act!" Djimon Hounsou plays a fisherman enslaved to work in the diamond fields under revolutionaries, thus in the process separated from his family while his son Dia is forced to become a child soldier. It is in an intense scene where Djimon's character reunites with his wife and daughter at a refugee camp and at the same time learning the fate of his son that he manages to display his prowess as an actor. Then again maybe it was acting beside wooden Leonardo DiCaprio that made him look good.
Black Horse: Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children
This nomination marks the return of Jackie Earle Haley to the silver screen. The former child star of The Bad News Bears waaaay back in 1976 plays a recently paroled sex offender in Little Children. Not only was he hauntingly convincing (remember that self castration scene? omg yes haunting), he manages to make you sympathize with his character up to the point that you actually forget he was a pedophilic sex offender.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominees
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| Adriana Barraza for Babel | Cate Blanchett for Notes on a Scandal | Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine | Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls | Rinko Kikuchi for Babel |
Will Win: Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
Move over Beyonce! Chunky is the new slim. As Effie White, Hudson has garnered more than two dozen awards and nominations from film critics as Best Supporting Actress and Breakthrough Performer of 2006. Hudson apparently beat out hundreds of professional singers and actresses for the role including, ironically, Fantasia Barrino who had beaten Hudson in American Idol. In addition she gain 20 pounds in order to play the role and it has not gone to waste. Look out for her rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" in the movie. Chilling.
Should Win: Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine
I know she'll never beat Jennifer Hudson but there's still a tiny bit of me that knows she stand a chance. This girl had to balls to perform a striptease-style burlesque performance to the tune of Rick James' Super Freak on movie screens all over the world, and while retaining her naivety and on screen innocence.
Black Horse: Rinko Kikuchi for Babel
Her performance as a deaf-mute girl struggling to cope with her mother's suicide probably stole the show from her Caucasian costars. She compelling and convincing enough to bring across both the angst and desperation in her character, with no words no less. Hudson better watch her back.
Best Achievement in Directing
Nominees
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| Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima | Stephen Frears for The Queen | Paul Greengrass for United 93 | Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel | Martin Scorsese for The Departed |
Will Win: Martin Scorsese for The Departed
I don't know much about directing, but when you win the Directors Guild of America Awards, you know you're going to win the Oscar for best director, seeing that the DGA Award for Feature Film has traditionally been a near perfect barometer for the Best Director Academy Award. Only six times since the DGA Award's inception has the DGA Award winner not won the Academy Award. Though I personally didn't really enjoy the movie, critics in the West are calling it Scorsese's masterpiece for the decade. Hmm...
Should Win: Stephen Frears for The Queen
After Dangerous Liaisons, Dirty Pretty Things and Mrs. Henderson Presents, Stephen Frears finally gets his big break as a director with The Queen. Seeing that Frears is most likely to remain overshadowed in Hollywood due to the American's fondness for their "gangsta" films (Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford Coppola), he might have to settle for a BAFTA instead of Academy Award.
Black Horse: Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima
I mean, come on! It's Clint Eastwood. Even if he churned out something Gigli-esque it would probably still be nominated for an Oscar. Letters from Iwo Jima depicts the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of Japanese soldiers, thus making it probably a complementary film to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same battle from the American viewpoint. The film was originally entitled Red Sun, Black Sand (tsk, talking about being tacky).
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Nominees
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| Laberinto del Fauno, El (Pan's Labyrinth) | Babel | Letters From Iwo Jima | Little Miss Sunshine | The Queen |
Will Win: The Queen
You probably would have realised by now America's infatuation with The Queen. Its screenplay, written by Peter Morgan, is touted for its realism and accuracy to which it portrayed the events following the death of Princess Diana. Morgan reconstructed the events of that week through extensive interviews with many unnamed sources close to the Prime Minister and the Royal Family. Even minor details like Cherie Blair's hostility to the monarchy, including her refusal to curtsey (said to amuse the Queen in private, as it does in the film) is not left out. According to Morgan, "cabbage" is an actual term of endearment Philip uses for his wife. Saying that, Philip is probably the only person in the world who dares to address the Queen of the United Kingdom and monarch of fifteen other sovereign states as a leafy wild mustard plant.
Should Win: The Queen
While writing a movie based on, say a historical figure like Marie Antoinette would be challenging due to the need to be historically accurate and making sure the movie is entertaining at the same time. However writing a movie based on events so recent and scrutinized by international media and people all over the world is an even more convoluted and arduous task.
Black Horse: Babel
A beautifully crafted story about how due to cultural assumptions, people of different types are still unable to communicate to each other despite living in a modern world. Underneath the many different cultures and disabilities, these people are all simply doing what all humans do- a man worrying over his wife, a nanny taking care of children, young boys trying to better each other, teenagers trying to catch the attention of the opposite sex etc. Above all the authorship controversy that has surrounded this screenplay, it's a possible contender for the Oscar.
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Nominees
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| The Departed | Little Children | Children of Men | Notes on a Scandal | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan |
Will Win: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Jagshemash! Dzien Dobre! Unless you have been living in a cave for the past few months you would have at least heard of Borat. Originally a character in Sacha Cohen's satirical TV series Da Ali G Show, Borat is a highly enthusiastic Kazakh journalist, recording a "guide" to either Britain or the United States, depending on the version of Da Ali G Show in which he appears. The boorish, sexually obsessed, and misogynistic character got his own movie in the hilarious Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan realised late last year. Most scenes in the film were unscripted and the characters are not actors with the exceptions of Borat, Azamat, Luenell the prostitute and Pamela Anderson (who is an old friend of Cohen). Best mockumentary comedy since Drop Dead Gorgeous in 1999.
Should Win: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
If this doesn't deserve to win, nothing does.
Black Horse: Children of Men
Loosely adapted from P.D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men, this film tells the story of London in the year 2027 where the world's human female population has become infertile. Although not as blockbuster-ish as Babel, Children of Men is rawer in its story telling and human emotions.
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Nominees
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| 满城尽带黄金甲 (Curse of the Golden Flower) | The Devil Wears Prada | Dreamgirls | Marie Antoinette | The Queen |
Will Win: 满城尽带黄金甲 (Curse of the Golden Flower)
The Academy seems to have taken a liking to Asian garb recently with Memoirs of a Geisha bagging last year's Best Costume award and good money says Curse of the Golden Flower will probably win this year. If the profuse display of cleavage didn't scare them off of course.
Should Win: 满城尽带黄金甲 (Curse of the Golden Flower)
The Emperor and Empress' regalia that Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li wore in during the night of the Chrysemtinum Festival were the set pieces of the movie. The gowns alone took more than 20 artisans a few months to construct, with the dragon robe and phoenix gown weighing over 40kg each. Gong Li's headpiece weighed another 40kg. If anyone deserves the Oscar for best costume they do.
Black Horse: Marie Antoinette, The Devil Wears Prada
As Meryl Streep said in her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, the costumes in The Devil Wears Prada are the special effects for the film. Using $1 million worth of clothing, Patricia Field (who also did costumes for Sex and the City) dressed her cast in generous helpings of designer togs, making it the most expensively costumed movie in cinema history.
The extremely colourful and elaborate sets and costumes of Marie Antoinette on the other hand is practically Chingay parade French style. Sofia Coppola had Spanish footwear designer Manolo Blahnik create hundreds of specially made shoes for the film and Ladurée to make all of the brightly colored pastries and cakes for the film (which according to Kirsten Dunst tastes like plain flour).
