ACS Picks the Oscars...

[reismark]

... All I'll say is that I should pass on putting up the Academy ballot and propose everyone just fills out a blank one instead, because after one year of getting the nominations for the most part right, the Academy went back to sucking the big time this year, but here goes anyway...

BEST PICTURE
Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist

BEST DIRECTOR
Pedro Almodovar, Talk to Her
Stephen Daldry, The Hours
Rob Marshall, Chicago
Roman Polanski, The Pianist
Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York

BEST ACTOR
Adrien Brody, The Pianist
Nicolas Cage, Adaptation
Michael Caine, The Quiet American
Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt

BEST ACTRESS
Salma Hayek, Frida
Nicole Kidman, The Hours
Diane Lane, Unfaithful
Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven
Renee Zellweger, Chicago

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chris Cooper, Adaptation
Ed Harris, The Hours
Paul Newman, Road to Perdition
John C. Reilly, Chicago
Christopher Walken, Catch Me if You Can

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kathy Bates, About Schmidt
Julianne Moore, The Hours
Queen Latifah, Chicago
Meryl Streep, Adaptation
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
El Crimen del Padre Amaro (Mexico)
Hero (China)
The Man Without a Past (Finland)
Nowhere in Africa (Germany)
Zus & Zo (The Netherlands)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Pedro Almodovar, Talk to Her
Jay Cocks, Kenneth Lonergan & Steve Zaillian, Gangs of New York
Alfonso & Carlos Cuaron, Y Tu Mama Tambien
Todd Haynes, Far from Heaven
Nia Vardalos, My Big Fat Greek Wedding

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Bill Condon, Chicago
David Hare, The Hours
Ronald Harwood, The Pianist
Peter Hedges, Chris & Paul Weitz, About a Boy
Charlie & Donald Kaufman, Adaptation

BEST SCORE
Elmer Bernstein, Far From Heaven
Philip Glass, The Hours
Elliot Goldenthal, Frida
Thomas Newman, Road to Perdition
John Williams, Catch Me if You Can

BEST SONG
Fred Ebb & John Kander, "I Move On," Chicago
Eminem, Jeff Bass & Luis Resto, "Lose Yourself," 8 Mile
Elliot Goldenthal & Julie Taymor, "Burn it Blue," Frida
Paul Simon, "Father & Daughter," The Wild Thornberrys Movie
U2, "The Hands That Built America," Gangs of New York

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
Ice Age
Lilo & Stitch
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
Spirited Away
Treasure Planet

BEST ART DIRECTION
Felipe Fernandez del Paso & Hannia Robledo, Frida
Dante Ferretti & Francesca Lo Schiavo, Gangs of New York
Dennis Gassner & Nancy Haigh, Road to Perdition
Grant Major, Dan Hennah & Alan Lee, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
John Myhre & Gord Sim, Chicago

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Michael Ballhaus, Gangs of New York
Dion Beebe, Chicago
Pawel Edelman, The Pianist
Conrad L. Hall, Road to Perdition
Edward Lachman, Far from Heaven

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Colleen Atwood, Chicago
Sandy Powell, Gangs of New York
Ann Roth, The Hours
Anna Sheppard, The Pianist
Julie Weiss, Frida

BEST FILM EDITING
Peter Boyle, The Hours
Herve de Luze, The Pianist
Thelma Schoonmaker, Gangs of New York
Michael Horton, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Martin Walsh, Chicago

BEST MAKEUP
John M. Elliott, Jr. & Barbara Lorenz, The Time Machine
John Jackson & Beatrice de Alba, Frida

BEST SOUND
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges & Hammond Peek, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty & Ivan Sharrock, Gangs of New York
Scott Millan, Bob Beemer & John Patrick Pritchett, Road to Perdition
Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella & David Lee, Chicago
Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell & Ed Novick, Spider-Man

BEST SOUND EDITING
Scott A. Hecker, Road to Perdition
Richard Hymns & Gary Rydstrom, Minority Report
Ethan Van der Ryn & Michael Hopkins, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll & Ben Snow, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara & John Frazier, Spider-Man
Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Bowling for Columbine
Daughter from Danang
Prisoner of Paradise
Spellbound
Winged Migration

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
The Collector of Bedford Street
Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks
Twin Towers
Why Can't We Be a Family Again?

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Fait d'Hiver
I'll Wait for the Next One... (J'Attendrai le Suivant...)
Inja (Dog)
Johnny Flynton
This Charming Man (Der er en Yndig Mand)

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
The Cathedral
The Chubbchubbs!
Das Rad
Mike's New Car
Mt. Head

A couple of thoughts: There are way too many glaring omissions to get into, so I'll point them out as you guys bring them up. There are a couple of sure things, and conversely, several categories are totally stacked, especially that Original Screenplay one...

...but you do the thinking for now.

[David Floyd]

I'll bet Chicago wins a lot of stuff, because the Academy seems to have a penchant for ****ty movies.

[loinburger]

I haven't seen most of these, but hey, that's never stopped me before.

BEST PICTURE: Gangs of New York. I don't know why.
BEST DIRECTOR: Roman Polanski, The Pianist. Sounds pretty arts-fartsy.
BEST ACTOR: Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt. Go Jack! Whoooooo!
BEST ACTRESS: Not even gonna try.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Walken, Catch Me if You Can. C'mon, people. It's Christopher Walken! Whoooo!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kathy Bates, About Schmidt. She's a whole lotta woman.
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: Not gonna try.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Jay Cocks, Kenneth Lonergan & Steve Zaillian, Gangs of New York. Hahaha, cocks! Ha!
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Ronald Harwood, The Pianist. Harwood! Ha!
BEST SCORE: Philip Glass, The Hours.
BEST SONG: Pleh.
BEST ANIMATED PICTURE: Spirited Away. Of course.
BEST ART DIRECTION: Grant Major, Dan Hennah & Alan Lee, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Whatever, dude.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST COSTUME DESIGN, BEST FILM EDITING, BEST MAKEUP, etc. etc. Whatever.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Bowling for Columbine. Not saying I want it to win, just saying that my money's on it.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT: The Collector of Bedford Street. Sounds like a Monty Python sketch.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT: Inja (Dog). It's almost about a ninja...
BEST ANIMATED SHORT: The Chubbchubbs! Ha!

[Rasbelin]

Only one Oscar vote by me...

Best foreign language film: The Man Without a Past

[Provost Harrison]

I don't have very strong views on some of them. TTT for the best movie, and Christopher Walken for best supporting actor, although I have always been an admirer of his. And probably best effects to AOTC...I have still to see some of these films yet...

[Zopperoni]

Re: ACS Picks the Oscars...

BEST PICTURE
The Hours

BEST DIRECTOR
Stephen Daldry, The Hours

BEST ACTOR
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt

BEST ACTRESS
Nicole Kidman, The Hours

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Walken, Catch Me if You Can

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Meryl Streep, Adaptation

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Zus & Zo (The Netherlands)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Todd Haynes, Far from Heaven

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
David Hare, The Hours

BEST SCORE
John Williams, Catch Me if You Can

BEST SONG
U2, "The Hands That Built America," Gangs of New York

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
Ice Age

BEST ART DIRECTION
Grant Major, Dan Hennah & Alan Lee, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Conrad L. Hall, Road to Perdition

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Sandy Powell, Gangs of New York

BEST FILM EDITING
Michael Horton, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST MAKEUP
John Jackson & Beatrice de Alba, Frida

BEST SOUND
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges & Hammond Peek, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST SOUND EDITING
Ethan Van der Ryn & Michael Hopkins, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara & John Frazier, Spider-Man



In short: GO ICE AGE!!!

[Stuie]

I actually thought TTT had better special effects than AOTC. Duke whatshisname flying on that bike toward the end just looked ludicrous for my money, while there was little that didn't pass muster for me in TTT. Gollum was simply incredible, while Yoda was, well, not as bad as I was expecting.

[Boris Godunov]

Re: ACS Picks the Oscars...

BEST PICTURE
The Pianist

BEST DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York

BEST ACTOR
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt

BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ed Harris, The Hours

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Meryl Streep, Adaptation

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Hero (China)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Alfonso & Carlos Cuaron, Y Tu Mama Tambien

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Ronald Harwood, The Pianist

BEST SCORE
John Williams, Catch Me if You Can

BEST SONG
Paul Simon, "Father & Daughter," The Wild Thornberrys Movie

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
Ice Age

BEST ART DIRECTION
Grant Major, Dan Hennah & Alan Lee, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Michael Ballhaus, Gangs of New York

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Sandy Powell, Gangs of New York

BEST FILM EDITING
Michael Horton, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST MAKEUP
John Jackson & Beatrice de Alba, Frida

BEST SOUND
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges & Hammond Peek, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST SOUND EDITING
Ethan Van der Ryn & Michael Hopkins, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Bowling for Columbine

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Stuie
I actually thought TTT had better special effects than AOTC. Duke whatshisname flying on that bike toward the end just looked ludicrous for my money, while there was little that didn't pass muster for me in TTT. Gollum was simply incredible, while Yoda was, well, not as bad as I was expecting.

Agree. Of the three nominated, only LoTR actually was awe-inspiring. AoTC was standard, while Spider-Man was dissapointing, IMO. I thought all of his web-swinging shots looked incredibly fake.

[SnowFire]

Re: ACS Picks the Oscars...

Haven't seen that much this year, but most of it's been pretty good.

BEST PICTURE
Minority Report not nominated? Bah. I'll vote The Hours then as the best of the nominated ones, although my roommate makes a very good case for why Chicago will win, unfortunately (it being a musical, it being the only one without a downer of an ending save LOTR which has sequelitis and isn't as good as FOTR, which had a much better chance).

BEST DIRECTOR
Um... I'll guess Scorcese.

ACTORS & STUFF
Never was much for picking this stuff; truly wonderful performances are rare, and most of these seem just good. I'll guess Nicholson, Kidman, Harris, and Zeta-Jones off the top of my head.

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
No Spirited Away here, too? Bah. Zus & Zo has the coolest name, congratulations.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
I'll guess Haynes for FFH.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Hare?

BEST SCORE
Glass, easily. Not that I've heard the other scores.

BEST SONG
I've actually heard "The Hands that Built America" and it's pretty decent, so I'll say that.

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
Hmm... which will win, Spirited Away or Lilo & Stitch? I'll say SA, although L&S is actually supposed to be pretty good.

ARTSY STUFF
I'll give it to GOTY for all 3 groups because I suspect it probably deserves it. And I will actually see the movie some day.

BEST FILM EDITING
Horton for LOTR.

BEST MAKEUP
Don't care! I'll say Frida because it's shorter.

BEST SOUND
LOTR, gotta love clanking swords and stuff.

BEST SOUND EDITING
Finally, some place I can vote for Minority Report!

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
LOTR again.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Bowling for Columbine, the easy choice.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Mighty Times sounds like a good title to me.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
I agree with loinbuger, the Ninja movie has to win. Er Inja movie.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
And the d5 says.... Mike's New Car! Congratulations!

[reismark]

I'm surprised that certain individuals haven't found this thread yet...

[Rasbelin]

I'm more like suprised that certain Finns haven't yet showed their support for Aki's film.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2 !U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U 2!U2!U2!U2!U2!
U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2 !U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U 2!U2!U2!U2!U2!
U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2!U2 !U2!U2!

[The Vagabond]

Oops, never mind.

[Ned]

Did I count correctly? Road to Perdition got six nominations? When is the last time a film got so many nominations and did not get a nomination for best film?

Tom Hanks performance was excellent in that film. So was Paul Newman's who did get nominated.

Something is very seriously wrong here.

Also, "Talk to Her" should have been nominated for best film since it was not submitted by Spain for the foreign film category. Why wasn't it, if anyone knows.