[NOTE: This post will stay "promoted" at the top for a few days. Scroll down for other posts. And check out (if it’s working) the Brokeback Mountain/Lost mashup movie trailer in the right column, which will also remain for a few days]
These are my Oscar picks. The nominee in red is who I think will win. The underlined nominees (if any) are my sentimental favorite or favorites.
| Performance by an actor in a leading role | |
| Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Capote” | |
| Terrence Howard in “Hustle & Flow” | |
| Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain” | |
| Joaquin Phoenix in “Walk the Line” | |
| David Strathairn in “Good Night, and Good Luck.” | |
| Performance by an actor in a supporting role | |
| George Clooney in “Syriana” | |
| Matt Dillon in “Crash” | |
| Paul Giamatti in “Cinderella Man” | |
| Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain” | |
| William Hurt in “A History of Violence” | |
| Performance by an actress in a leading role | |
| Judi Dench in “Mrs. Henderson Presents” | |
| Felicity Huffman in “Transamerica” | |
| Keira Knightley in “Pride & Prejudice” | |
| Charlize Theron in “North Country” | |
| Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the Line” | |
| Performance by an actress in a supporting role | |
| Amy Adams in “Junebug” | |
| Catherine Keener in “Capote” | |
| Frances McDormand in “North Country” | |
| Rachel Weisz in “The Constant Gardener” | |
| Michelle Williams in “Brokeback Mountain” | |
| Best animated feature film of the year | |
| “Howl’s Moving Castle” – Hayao Miyazaki | |
| “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” – Mike Johnson and Tim Burton | |
| “Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit” – Nick Park and Steve Box | |
| Achievement in art direction | |
| “Good Night, and Good Luck.”- Art Direction: Jim Bissell; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale | |
| “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” – Art Direction: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan | |
| “King Kong” – Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright | |
| “Memoirs of a Geisha” – Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau | |
| “Pride & Prejudice” – Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer | |
| Achievement in cinematography | |
| “Batman Begins” – Wally Pfister | |
| “Brokeback Mountain” – Rodrigo Prieto | |
| “Good Night, and Good Luck.” – Robert Elswit | |
| “Memoirs of a Geisha” – Dion Beebe | |
| “The New World” – Emmanuel Lubezki | |
| Achievement in costume design | |
| “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” – Gabriella Pescucci | |
| “Memoirs of a Geisha” – Colleen Atwood | |
| “Mrs. Henderson Presents” – Sandy Powell | |
| “Pride & Prejudice” – Jacqueline Durran | |
| “Walk the Line” – Arianne Phillips | |
| Achievement in directing | |
| “Brokeback Mountain” – Ang Lee | |
| “Capote” – Bennett Miller | |
| “Crash” – Paul Haggis | |
| “Good Night, and Good Luck.” – George Clooney | |
| “Munich” – Steven Spielberg | |
| Best documentary feature | |
| “Darwin’s Nightmare” — Hubert Sauper | |
| “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” — Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot | |
| “March of the Penguins” — Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau | |
| “Murderball” — Henry-Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro | |
| “Street Fight” — Marshall Curry | |
| Best documentary short subject | |
| “The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club” – Dan Krauss | |
| “God Sleeps in Rwanda” -Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman | |
| “The Mushroom Club” – Steven Okazaki | |
| “A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin” – Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson | |
| Achievement in film editing | |
| “Cinderella Man” – Mike Hill and Dan Hanley | |
| “The Constant Gardener” – Claire Simpson | |
| “Crash” – Hughes Winborne | |
| “Munich” – Michael Kahn | |
| “Walk the Line” – Michael McCusker | |
| Best foreign language film of the year | |
| “Don’t Tell” – Italy | |
| “Joyeux Noël” – France | |
| “Paradise Now” – Palestine | |
| “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days” – Germany | |
| “Tsotsi” – South Africa | |
| Achievement in makeup | |
| “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” – Howard Berger and Tami Lane | |
| “Cinderella Man” – David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson | |
| “Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith” – Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley | |
| Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) | |
| “Brokeback Mountain” – Gustavo Santaolalla | |
| “The Constant Gardener” – Alberto Iglesias | |
| “Memoirs of a Geisha” – John Williams | |
| “Munich” – John Williams | |
| “Pride & Prejudice” – Dario Marianelli | |
| Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) | |
| “In the Deep” from “Crash” – Music by Kathleen “Bird” York and Michael Becker; Lyric by Kathleen “Bird” York | |
| “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from“Hustle & Flow” – Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard | |
| “Travelin’ Thru” from “Transamerica”- Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton | |
| Best motion picture of the year | |
| “Brokeback Mountain” | |
| “Capote” | |
| “Crash” | |
| “Good Night, and Good Luck.” | |
| “Munich” | |
| Best animated short film | |
| “Badgered” – Sharon Colman | |
| “The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation” – John Canemaker and Peggy Stern | |
| “The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello” – Anthony Lucas | |
| “9” – Shane Acker | |
| “One Man Band” – Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews | |
| Best live action short film | |
| “Ausreisser (The Runaway)” – Ulrike Grote | |
| “Cashback”- Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager | |
| “The Last Farm” – Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson | |
| “Our Time Is Up” – Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente | |
| “Six Shooter” – Martin McDonagh | |
| Achievement in sound editing | |
| “King Kong” – Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn | |
| “Memoirs of a Geisha” – Wylie Stateman | |
| “War of the Worlds” – Richard King | |
| Achievement in sound mixing | |
| “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” – Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson | |
| “King Kong” – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek | |
| “Memoirs of a Geisha” – Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett | |
| “Walk the Line” – Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland | |
| “War of the Worlds” – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins | |
| Achievement in visual effects | |
| “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” – Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar | |
| “King Kong” – Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor | |
| “War of the Worlds” – Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randal M. Dutra and Daniel Sudick | |
| Adapted screenplay | |
| “Brokeback Mountain” – Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana | |
| “Capote” – Screenplay by Dan Futterman | |
| “The Constant Gardener” – Screenplay by Jeffrey Caine | |
| “A History of Violence” – Screenplay by Josh Olson | |
| “Munich” – Screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth | |
| Original screenplay | |
| “Crash” – Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco; Story by Paul Haggis | |
| “Good Night, and Good Luck.” – Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov | |
| “Match Point” – Written by Woody Allen | |
| “The Squid and the Whale” – Written by Noah Baumbach | |
| “Syriana” – Written by Stephen Gaghan | |
Other predictions:
Biggest applause getter in the "In Memoriam" montage – Shelley Winters [SIDEBAR: Jack Wild, who played the Artful Dodger in "Oliver" as well as Jimmy in H&R Puffenstuff died yesterday]
Last person to appear in the "In Memoriam" montage – Richard Pryor
Ending time: 6 minutes late
Worst fashion: Christina Ricci
Funniest presenter: Will Farrell