Oscar Predictions
Here are the Oscar predictions for the 72nd annual Academy Awards. My friend Aaron and myself are having a little competition to see who can correctly guess the most winners. Here are the nominees...
PICTURE
AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks) A Jinks/Cohen Company Production; Bruce Cohen and
Dan Jinks, Producers
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (Miramax) A FilmColony Production; Richard N. Gladstein,
Producer
THE GREEN MILE (Warner Bros.) A Castle Rock Pictures, Inc. Production; David Valdes and
Frank Darabont, Producers
THE INSIDER (Buena Vista) A Touchstone Pictures Production; Michael Mann and Pieter Jan
Brugge, Producers
THE SIXTH SENSE (Buena Vista) A Hollywood Pictures/Spyglass Entertainment Production;
Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Barry Mendel, Producers
My guess: American Beauty, hands down.
Aaron's guess: American Beauty
ACTOR
Russell Crowe in THE INSIDER (Buena Vista)
Richard Farnsworth in THE STRAIGHT STORY (Buena Vista)
Sean Penn in SWEET AND LOWDOWN (Sony Pictures Classics)
Kevin Spacey in AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks)
Denzel Washington in THE HURRICANE (Universal and Beacon)
My guess: Everything points to Denzel Washington getting the Oscar because he played a more sympathetic character in a more "feel-good" movie. But I have this unshakeable feeling that Kevin Spacey will pull an upset. So that's who I'm going with.
Aaron's guess: Denzel Washington
ACTRESS
Annette Bening in AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks)
Janet McTeer in TUMBLEWEEDS (New Line)
Julianne Moore in THE END OF THE AFFAIR (Columbia)
Meryl Streep in MUSIC OF THE HEART (Miramax)
Hilary Swank in BOYS DON'T CRY (Fox Searchlight)
My guess: Hilary Swank
Aaron's guess: Hilary Swank
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Caine in THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (Miramax)
Tom Cruise in MAGNOLIA (New Line)
Michael Clarke Duncan in THE GREEN MILE (Warner Bros.)
Jude Law in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (Paramount & Miramax)
Haley Joel Osment in THE SIXTH SENSE (Buena Vista)
My guess: Tom Cruise
Aaron's guess: Tom Cruise
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Toni Collette in THE SIXTH SENSE (Buena Vista)
Angelina Jolie in GIRL, INTERRUPTED (Columbia)
Catherine Keener in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (USA Films)
Samantha Morton in SWEET AND LOWDOWN (Sony Pictures Classics)
Chloe Sevigny in BOYS DON'T CRY (Fox Searchlight)
My guess: Catherine Keener because her role called for a skillful dislay of a variety of emotions. She delivered.
Aaron's guess: Catherine Keener
DIRECTOR
AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks) Sam Mendes
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (USA Films) Spike Jonze
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (Miramax) Lasse Hallstrom
THE INSIDER (Buena Vista) Michael Mann
THE SIXTH SENSE (Buena Vista) M. Night Shyamalan
My guess: Sam Mendes will win for his skillful directorial debut. But, although it's likely not to happen, I think it would also be cool if Spike Jonze got it.
Aaron's guess: Sam Mendes
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks) Written by Alan Ball
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (USA Films) Written by Charlie Kaufman
MAGNOLIA (New Line) Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
THE SIXTH SENSE (Buena Vista) Written by M. Night Shyamalan
TOPSY-TURVY (USA Films) Written by Mike Leigh
My pick: Being John Malkovich is the most inventive and crazy thing on this list.
Aaron's guess: American Beauty
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (Miramax) Screenplay by John Irving
ELECTION (Paramount) Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
THE GREEN MILE (Warner Bros.) Written for the screen by Frank Darabont
THE INSIDER (Buena Vista) Written by Eric Roth & Michael Mann
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (Paramount & Miramax) Screenplay by Anthony Minghella
My guess: The Talented Mr. Ripley will pick one up here to make up for its general lack of nominations everywhere else.
Aaron's guess: The Cider House Rules
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER An El Deseo S.A./Renn/France 2 Cinema Production; Spain
CARAVAN A Galate Films - France 2 Cinema - Les Productions de la Gueville/Les Productions
JMH/Antelope (UK) Limited/National Studio Limited/Bac Films Production; Nepal
EAST-WEST A UGC YM Production; France
SOLOMON AND GAENOR An Apt Film and Television Company Production; United
Kingdom
UNDER THE SUN A Sweetwater AB Production; Sweden
My guess: Caravan, because its name reminds me of the classic musical western, Paint Your Wagon!
Aaron's guess: All About My Mother
CINEMATOGRAPHY
AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks) Conrad L. Hall
THE END OF THE AFFAIR (Columbia) Roger Pratt
THE INSIDER (Buena Vista) Dante Spinotti
SLEEPY HOLLOW (Paramount and Mandalay) Emmanuel Lubezki
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS (Universal) Robert Richardson
My guess: The End of the Affair
Aaron's guess: Snow Falling on Cedars
FILM EDITING
AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks) Tariq Anwar
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (Miramax) Lisa Zeno Churgin
THE INSIDER (Buena Vista) William Goldenberg, Paul Rubell and David Rosenbloom
THE MATRIX (Warner Bros.) Zach Staenberg
THE SIXTH SENSE (Buena Vista) Andrew Mondshein
My guess: The Matrix has to win something. Its best bet is in this category.
Aaron's guess: American Beauty
ORIGINAL SCORE
AMERICAN BEAUTY (DreamWorks) Thomas Newman
ANGELA'S ASHES (Paramount and John Williams (Universal Pictures International)
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (Miramax) Rachel Portman
THE RED VIOLIN (Lions Gate) John Corigliano
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (Paramount & Miramax) Gabriel Yared
My pick: Although I enjoyed the score for The Talented Mr. Ripley, I think American Beauty's will win because I found myself remembering it for several days after I saw the film. It's very striking and goes with the movie well.
Aaron's guess: The Cider House Rules
ORIGINAL SONG
"Blame Canada" from SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT (Paramount and Warner
Bros.) Music and Lyric by Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman
"Music Of My Heart" from MUSIC OF THE HEART (Miramax) Music and Lyric by Diane
Warren
"Save Me" from MAGNOLIA (New Line) Music and Lyric by Aimee Mann
"When She Loved Me" from TOY STORY 2 (Buena Vista) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
"You'll Be In My Heart" from TARZAN (Buena Vista) Music and Lyrics by Phil Collins
My guess: If "Blame Canada" won it would be stupendous. But it's too unconventional and therefor "Save Me" from Magnolia will get it. It's a good song in its own right anyway.
Aaron's guess: "You'll Be In My Heart"
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB (Artisan) A Road Movies Production; Wim Wenders and Ulrich
Felsberg
GENGHIS BLUES (Roxie Releasing) A Wadi Rum Production; Roko Belic and Adrian Belic
ON THE ROPES (WinStar Cinema) A Highway Films Production; Nanette Burstein and Brett
Morgen
ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER An Arthur Cohn Production; Arthur Cohn and Kevin Macdonald
SPEAKING IN STRINGS (Seventh Art) A CounterPoint Films Production; Paola di Florio and
Lilibet Foster
My guess: On the Ropes
Aaron's guess: One Day in September
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
EYEWITNESS A Marbert Art Foundation Production; Bert Van Bork
KING GIMP A Whiteford-Hadary/University of Maryland/Tapestry International Production;
Susan Hannah Hadary and William A. Whiteford
THE WILDEST SHOW IN THE SOUTH: THE ANGOLA PRISON RODEO A Gabriel Films
Production; Simeon Soffer and Jonathan Stack
My guess: Eyewitness
Aaron's guess: The Wildes Show in the South: The Angola Prison Rodeo
ANIMATED SHORT
HUMDRUM An Aardman Animations Limited Production; Peter Peake
MY GRANDMOTHER IRONED THE KING'S SHIRTS A National Film Board of Canada &
Studio Magica a.s. Production; Torill Kove
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA A Productions Pascal Blais/Imagica Corp./ Dentsu Tech./NHK
Enterprise 21/Panorama Studio of Yaroslavl Production; Alexandre Petrov
3 MISSES A Cin‚T‚ Film Production; Paul Driessen
WHEN THE DAY BREAKS A National Film Board of Canada Production; Wendy Tilby and
Amanda Forbis
My guess: My Mother Ironed the King's Shirts, because its title really stands out.
Aaron's guess: The Old Man and the Sea
LIVE-ACTION SHORT
BROR, MIN BROR (Teis and Nico) A Nimbus Film & Dansk Novellefilm Production; Henrik
Ruben Genz and Michael W. Horsten
KILLING JOE A Joy Films and Chelsea Pictures Production; Mehdi Norowzian and Steve Wax
KLEINGELD (Small Change) A Production of Die Hochschule for Film und Fernsehen
"Konrad Wolf" Potsdam-Babelsberg; Marc-Andreas Bochert and Gabriele Lins
MAJOR AND MINOR MIRACLES A Dramatiska Institutet Production; Marcus Olsson
MY MOTHER DREAMS THE SATAN'S DISCIPLES IN NEW YORK (American Film Institute)
A Kickstart Production; Barbara Schock and Tammy Tiehel
My guess: Major and Minor Miracles, because it sounds ambitious.
Aaron's guess: Killing Joe
ART DIRECTION
ANNA AND THE KING (20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Luciana Arrighi; Set Decoration:
Ian Whittaker
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (Miramax) Art Direction: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Beth
Rubino
SLEEPY HOLLOW (Paramount and Mandalay) Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs; Set Decoration:
Peter Young
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (Paramount & Miramax) Art Direction: Roy Walker; Set
Decoration: Bruno Cesari
TOPSY-TURVY (USA Films) Art Direction: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: John Bush
My guess: Sleepy Hollow. Did you see how much atmosphere that movie had? It was perfect.
Aaron's guess: Anna and the King
COSTUME DESIGN
ANNA AND THE KING (20th Century Fox) Jenny Beavan
SLEEPY HOLLOW (Paramount and Mandalay) Colleen Atwood
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (Paramount & Miramax) Ann Roth and Gary Jones
TITUS (Fox Searchlight) Milena Canonero
TOPSY-TURVY (USA Films) Lindy Hemming
My guess: Titus, because I remember the trailer was freaky looking and had lots of elaborate and distinct outfits.
Aaron's guess: Anna and the King
MAKEUP
AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME Michele Burke and Mike Smithson (New
Line)
BICENTENNIAL MAN (Buena Vista) Greg Cannom
LIFE (Universal) Rick Baker
TOPSY-TURVY (USA Films) Christine Blundell and Trefor Proud
My guess: Austin Powers, for Fat Bastard alone. "GET IN MY BELLY!"
Aaron's guess: Austin Powers
SOUND
THE GREEN MILE (Warner Bros.) Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Michael Herbick and Willie D.
Burton
THE INSIDER (Buena Vista) Andy Nelson, Doug Hemphill and Lee Orloff
THE MATRIX (Warner Bros.) John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David Campbell and David Lee
THE MUMMY (Universal) Leslie Shatz, Chris Carpenter, Rick Kline and Chris Munro
STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (20th Century Fox) Gary Rydstrom,
Tom Johnson, Shawn Murphy and John Midgley
My guess: Star Wars Episode I.
Aaron's guess: The Matrix
SOUND EFFECTS EDITING
FIGHT CLUB (20th Century Fox) Ren Klyce and Richard Hymns
THE MATRIX (Warner Bros.) Dane A. Davis
STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (20th Century Fox)Ben Burtt and Tom
Bellfort
My guess: Star Wars Episode I.
Aaron's guess: The Matrix
VISUAL EFFECTS
THE MATRIX (Warner Bros.) John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley and Jon Thum
STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (20th Century Fox) John Knoll, Dennis
Muren, Scott Squires and Rob Coleman
STUART LITTLE (Columbia) John Dykstra, Jerome Chen, Henry F. Anderson III and Eric
Allard
My guess: Star Wars Episode I. Despite its faults, it did make some big leaps in CGI graphics.
Aaron's guess: The Matrix
Head back to the main page?