No problem, Absolute, your whooshing gave me an unanticipated chuckle.
Not so. The guilds (actor, director, editing) nominate from within their categories, but the entire Academy votes on every category once the nominations are announced (I think there is an exception for one of the categories…an artistic/technical one.)
There have been many differences between Guild Awards and Oscar.
But I cannot see how PSH can lose. He won almost every pre-Oscar award.
I predict Brokeback in all its categories except best pic, which will go to Crash, and possibly supporting actor, which will be Giamatti because of last year’s shaft, or if not, William Hurt.
Oh, except that PSH might win out over Ledger in best lead.
Sorry CK.
I think the worth of Oscars (any awards show) is that nominations bring attention to smaller films and films that people may have overlooked. Brokeback Mountain is small and deserves all the nominations it got, but it has had publicity. Tiny films with tiny budgets that many moviegoers, those that aren’t hard-core movie buffs, might not have even heard about like Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Transamerica, A History of Violence, Junebug, Hustle & Flow, The Squid & the Whale (though I didn’t like it much, the performances were fantastic) are getting some publicity because of the nominations that they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Even if it’s only for this one month between nominations and the telecast, these movies are being put on more people’s radars than they had been.
Several somewhat bigger movies (or movies with bigger names) like Syriana, The Constant Gardener, Match Point, Mrs Henderson Presents and North Country can benefit from the publicity boost. Even Munich, a big studio film with a big name director, has been woefully underrated until now. It seems like all people heard about was grumbling and groaning, when it actually was one of the best movies of the year, and one of Spielberg’s best films, if not the best. I’m thrilled that the members of the Academy recognized that.
Were excellent films and performances overlooked. Absolutely, but there are only so many spots. Are some of the nominations a bit dodgy? Sure, but that always happens, and it’s all a matter of opinion anyway. I don’t like the Crash nominations for Picture and Director, but what can you do? It was a good film, but I preferred other films and directors.
In the end, everybody always forgets who was nominated. Hell, people forget who actually won. But that one month shines a light that even if it soon grows dim, is worthwhile. Lots of people are going to remember Amy Adams and Terrence Howard, even if they didn’t see the movies and even if those actors don’t win. The director, Bennett Miller, of Capote can now be billed as the Academy Award nominated director of an Academy Award nominated film. That’s so great for him. George Clooney went from never having attented an Oscars to getting 4 nominations. That’s so great for him. There are so many first-time nominees that this year might be a record (I’d have to look it up). That gets a lot of fresh blood into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (since nominees automatically are invited to join.
There are any number of reasons why the Oscars are good, and for me they all have to do with the films themselves, so that’s why I like them.
**ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING **
KING KONG
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
WAR OF THE WORLDS
**ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING **
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
KING KONG
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
WALK THE LINE
WAR OF THE WORLDS
Since my brother is a Sound Designer, and credited with doing so on the yet to be released Two Weeks starring Sally Field, he gets to vote in these categories
If he’s a member of AMPAS, he was able to nominate in only those categories, but shouldn’t your brother be able to vote in everything now? Excluding Foreign-language, Documentary and Shorts, that is. I envy your brother. I’d love to be a member of AMPAS. All those screenings and screeners! 
My cousin is a voting member of the academy, and she gets all those free DVDs flooding her mail in the months leading up to the nominations. Plus she gets to go the effing Oscars. Someday I’ll kill her husband, or at least lock him in a closet, and go with her. I’m already designing my gown . . .
Can i ask what, in the history of Academy Award nominations, would lead you to believe that a Steven Spielberg emotion-tugger would be “shut out”?
I’ll have to look for the re-releases of a lot of this stuff. I did see Crash, and while it’s a string of implausible coincidences, it’s a provocative and well-acted movie.
Except Herb Stempel, of course.
Good post, Equipoise.
If you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of controversy surrounding the film. It’s gotten bizarre reviews, ranging from pure hatred, to apathy, to disinformation (idiots calling it a “pro-terrorist” film), to people just wanting to see it die because it’s a Spielberg film. It’s been absent from or underrepresented at most of the precursor awards, which is where most oscarwatchers get their bearings on what might be nominated. The possibility of a shutout was very seriously considered. I’m glad it didn’t happen.
lissener, AMPAS members can’t automatically go to the Academy Awards. I don’t know what the procedure is (a lottery maybe?), but there is one. There are well over 5000 members of AMPAS. They can’t all fit into the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion or the Shrine Civic Auditorium or the Kodak Theater along with the new nominees and their guests. Did she say she goes every year?
I’ve seen all of the nominated films except for Crash, which is on my Netflix queue for this week. Of the other four I’d choose Good Night & Good Luck. I thought that both Capote and Brokeback were very good films but way overrated and (no pun intended) overblown in scope and media coverage, and that goes double for Hoffman’s performance (he was good, but I honestly just don’t think he was as astounding as his buzz). Munich was good but just lacked… something, though I’m surprised Bana didn’t get a nomination.
For performances I’d go with Heath Ledger (Oscar clip: the cuddle flashback) for actor. Phoenix was good but there were a couple of moments in the film where I just thought he dropped the ball a bit. I’ve seen surprisingly few of the supporting/best actress nominations, but of the ones I have seen I’d go with Catherine Keener for BSA as I thought her performance was exceptional yet received only a fraction of the buzz of Hoffman’s.
The actor I think most deserved a BSA nomination who didn’t get one (and yes, I really am serious): Deep Roy from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. His performance as hundreds of Oompah Loompah’s was the absolute highlight of the movie.
And the resulting scene would feature more exploding heads than Scanners.
No, she does not go every year.
At first I thought you were talking about the Academy historian, Patrick E. Stockstill, but then I realized you weren’t. The name is familiar and I know I’m going to slap my forehead when I find out, but who’s Herb Stempel?
Thank you. I cringe at all my typos and misplaces commas and other mistakes and kick myself for not Previewing. I just wanted people to know that I know how uneducated that post looked.
Sampiro, you think Brokeback Mountain is overrated?? Please see it again. It didn’t hit me, really hit me, until my 2nd viewing. No way is it overrated.
Have you seen Junebug? Has anyone seen Junebug? I love Catherine Keener, but she didn’t have that much to do in Capote. I like all the actresses, but I’ll be rooting for Amy Adams.
Damn, I even previewed that one. The only thing more embarrassing about a post with a lot of typos is a post apologising for the typos, with typos in it. “misplaced” commas…
lissener, has she ever said what the procedure is on getting tickets and when to arrive and where to go and what one does at an Oscars?
actually, due to various factors, he was not able to actually attend any of the “gala” screenings, but the Academy sent him a few copy protected DVDs to view
He’s the game show contestant (and real life dude) John Turturro portrayed in Quiz Show. The guy who kept winning on the show Twenty One because he was being fed answers.
I guess it must depend where you look.
Every review i’ve read has been full of praise, and this includes reviews by people who are often critical of Spielberg’s work.
Also, you seem to be assuming that an absence of nominations would have suggested some sort of conspiracy-like shut out. Considering that most Oscar categories have only five nominees, it is entirely possible for some very good movies to miss out. It doesn’t mean that those movies have been the victim of some smear campaign or organized shutout; it just means that those doling the nominating thought other movies were more deserving.