I picked all five best actresses, all five best actors (except DiCaprio was nominated for Blood Diamond not The Departed), and four of five for the supporting ranks. I was glad Jack Nicholson’s performance did not get a nomination; Mark Wahlberg deserved the nod and got it. Since I’m not a fan of Little Miss Sunshine, I didn’t predict either Alan Arkin or child star Abigail Breslin, although both were excellent in the movie. What fun it would have been if Catherine O’Hara had slipped in for playing an actress desperate for a nomination in For Your Consideration. Oh, well.
In the best picture category, the Dreamgirls slot was apparently taken by Letters From Iwo Jima. When it became clear that Flags of Our Fathers did not have enough juice to earn Oscar consideration, Warner Bros. had the brilliant idea of releasing Letters in 2006, rather than waiting to release it 2007 as planned. Obviously, the plan worked. I had though that Eastwood would earn the nod, but not for best picture. The other surprise was no nomination for Dreamgirls’ Bill Condon. Instead Paul Greengrass was nominated for United 93. That gives me a four for five in both the director and best picture category. While Children of Men did not get picture or director nods, it did earn an adapted screenplay nomination, plus nominations for film editing and cinematography. Click here for the complete list; vist here for my predictions in AC Weekly.
You can bet the house that Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson will win Feb. 25. So will Martin Scorsese at last. The only decision up in the air is best picture. My feeling at the moment is that it will be The Departed vs. Little Miss Sunshine, and that Scorsese’s film will take it.