Oscars

Technical Categories

Marked below are my predictions as to who will win and who could win (my 2nd guess). For my comments and opinions on who should win, scroll all the way down. The toughest races: Best Score and Original Song.

Cinematography

• Batman Begins
• Brokeback Mountain
• Good Night and Good Luck
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• The New World

Editing

• Cinderella Man
• Crash
• Constant Gardener
• Munich
• Walk the Line

Art Direction

• Good Night and Good Luck
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• King Kong
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• Pride & Prejudice

Costume Design

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• Mrs. Henderson Presents
• Pride & Prejudice
• Walk the Line

Makeup

• The Chronicles of Narnia
• Cinderella Man
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Visual Effects

• The Chronicles of Narnia
• King Kong
• War of the Worlds

Original Score

• Brokeback Mountain (Gustavo Santaolalla)
• The Constant Gardener (Alberto Iglesias)
• Memoirs of a Geisha (John Williams)
• Munich (John Williams)
• Pride and Prejudice (Dario Marinelli)

Sound Editing

• King Kong
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• War of the Worlds

Sound Mixing

• The Chronicles of Narnia
• King Kong
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• Walk the Line
• War of the Worlds

Original Song

• Crash - In the Deep
• Hustle and Flow - It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp
• Transamerica - Travelin Thru

Best Cinematography

Should Win: There are several worthy nominees in this category. The big pleasant surprise was seeing Emmanuel Lubezki nominated for his work with Terrence Malick in The New World. Could Win: Black & White cinematography always has a special appeal and Robert Elswit's work doesn't pass unnoticed (Good Night...) Will Win: Cinematography is easy to associate with the Best Picture whenever it plays a significant part in the film's mood and success. Rodrigo Prieto will take it home for Brokeback Mountain.

Best Editing

A few relatively surprising presences here that replace some of the Best Picture nominees. Walk the Line is definitely a worthy presence here, but not likely one that would threaten the frontrunners. The two movies with most chances of winning in this category are the 2 BP nomnees: Could Win: Michael Kahn (Munich) at his 7th nomination (3 wins), he is no stranger to this position and obviously voters appreciate his collaborations with Spielberg (this is the 5th nomination in a Spielberg movie, including the 3 times he won). Should Win/Will Win: I venture however to believe that the award will go to first timer Hughes Winborne for the juggling of intersecting stories in Crash, which is also less controversial than Munich, an aspect that always helps.

Art Direction

Interesting group of nominees. Stuart Craig (Harry Potter) is at his 8th nomination (3 wins) and it is perhaps the most surprising presence of the group. Grant Major (King Kong) would have a good chance of winning this but has the "baggage" of 3 consecutive nominations and a win for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Everybody predicts here that Chicago will win with King Kong as a possible upset. I might end up changing my opinion to line up with the rest of the world but, for now, I'll stick with my first instinct.

Could Win; John Myhre (Memoirs of a Geisha) (3rd nomination/1 win - Chicago). Will Win: Jim Bissel (Good Night...) for his black & white achievement. His only problem is that this category tends to avoid wins for first-time nominees.

Costume Design

Gabriella Pescucci (3rd nom/1 win) for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's over the top extravaganza might do it, or Sandy Powell's track record (6th nomination/2 wins) might show she has a better chance than we think for Mrs. Henderson. However in the top 2: Could Win: Jacqueline Durran (1st nomination) for Pride & Prejudice, a movie that is present in much more categories than anyone expected. Will Win: This one will probably go to the "classic" way of lavish set costumes with an exotic touch: Colleen Atwood is likely to collect her 2nd win (after Chicago) in 6 nominations for Memoirs of a Geisha.

Makeup

Should Win/Will Win: Newcomers Howard Berger and Tami Lane deserve to win this for their great work on the Ice Queen and not only in The Chronicles of Narnia. Could Win: David Leroy Anderson may strike for the 3rd time with his make-up for boxing events in Cinderella Man. Star Wars... hehe everything is possible but... really?

Visual Effects

No_ Star Wars_ here? This is a first (literally). Could Win: Dennis Muren leads the War of the World visual team and his name is truly associated forever with this category - 14 previous nominations and 8 wins. He always has a chance even when his movie is not that great. Will Win: Joe Letteri leads the King Kong team and even though they may be aversely affected by the "LOTR whiplash", their movie is truly the most spectacular in terms of Visual Effects.

Original Score

One of the hardest categories to predict. John Williams_ does not have the number of wins to match his nomination count and it will be hard for many to vote against him. However, none of his scores are clearly the best of the year and the votes come from the entire voting body, not just the composers. Could Win: There is no other person with more Academy nominations than John Williams. In fact, he singlehandedly has more nominations than all the other nominees in all the other categories combined! Well... that's not true. But it feels that way :). Getting his 44th and 45th nominations this year, he is the only nominee to be previously nominated in this category and obviously stands a good chance of winning it. Munich is probably the more important score of his two nominations, but the movie has no love therefore Geisha is the favorite for Williams. Will Win: Santaolalla for Brokeback Mountain may pull it home, both on merit but mainly due to the movie's strong support.

Sound Editing

Could Win: Richard King won previously for Master and Commander and could pull a semi-surprise win this year. Should/Will Win: King Kong. Both Hopkins and Van der Ryn have a previous win for LOTR: The Two Towers but that should not stop them for getting a second one.

Sound Mixing

Should/Will Win: Walk the Line is all about sound and music and no matter how good the acting, a movie like this will be nothing if the sound wasn't perfect. Could Win: Memoirs of a Geisha is represented by a team who totals 37 nominations and no win... Will that affect voters? Also King Kong is definitely a deserving nominee and has a slight edge in most prediction charts across the net.

Original Song

Should Win: Hustle and Flow. It's really hard out there for a pimp and whoever watched the movie will certainly remember the song. Could Win: Transamerica, just because it's Dolly Parton. Will Win: I will go with Hustle and Flow although it is definitely an open category, where any of the three might win. In the Deep which I don't even mention is actually the perceived frontrunner due to its movie prominent status.

Posted on February 11, 2006 10:48 AM | TrackBack