1. Pieces of April Peter Hedges
2. Uptown Girls Boaz Yakin
3. My Life Without Me Isobel Coixet
4. The School of Rock Richard Linklater
5. Dogville Lars Von Trier
6. Finding Nemo Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
7. Mystic River Clint Eastwood
8. Monster Patty Jenkins
9. Hulk Ang Lee
10. Sylvia Christine Jeffs
11. Elephant Gus Van Sant
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Peter Jackson
13. MTV’s Wuthering Heights Suri Krishnamma
14. Elf Jon Favreau
15. The Station Agent Thomas McCarthy
16. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 Quentin Tarantino
17. Oldboy Chan-wook Park
18. Thirteen Catherine Hardwicke
19. Red Riding Hood Giacomo Cimini
20. The Life of David Gale Alan Parker
21. The Actors Conor McPherson
22. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Gore Verbinski
23. 21 Grams Alejandro González Iñárritu
24. The Human Stain Robert Benton
25. Matchstick Men Ridley Scott
26. The Last Samurai Edward Zwick
27. Love Actually Richard Curtis
28. Eloise at the Plaza Kevin Lima
29. Eloise at Christmastime Kevin Lima
30. The Matrix Reloaded The Wachowski Brothers
31. The United States of Leland Matthew Ryan Hoge
32. Code 46 Michael Winterbottom
33. Cold Mountain Anthony Minghella
34. Identity James Mangold
35. Once Upon a Time in Mexico Robert Rodriguez
36. Shattered Glass Billy Ray
37. Bad Santa Terry Zwigoff
38. Peter Pan P.J. Hogan
39. Stander Bronwyn Hughes
40. The Corporation Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott
41. A Guy Thing Chris Koch
42. Anger Management Peter Segal
43. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Marcus Nispel
44. Wonderland James Cox
45. American Splendor Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
46. The Cooler Wayne Kramer
47. Intolerable Cruelty Joel Coen
48. Veronica Guerin Joel Schumacher
49. Freaky Friday Mark Waters
50. The Missing Ron Howard
51. Willard Glen Morgan
52. Final Destination 2 David Richard Ellis
53. The Matrix Revolutions The Wachowski Brothers
54. Big Fish Tim Burton
55. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Jonathan Mostow
56. Freddy Vs. Jason Ronny Yu
57. Daredevil
58. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Patrick Gilmore, Tim Johnson
59. Brother Bear Aaron Blaise, Bob Walker
60. The Italian Job F. Gary Grey
61. Just Married Shawn Levy
62. Spy Kids 3: Game Over Robert Rodriguez
63. Daddy Day Care
64. Toolbox Murders Tobe Hooper
65. The Hunted William Friedkin
66. The Triplets of Belleville Sylvain Chomet
67. Mona Lisa Smile Mike Newell
68. Bruce Almighty Tom Shadyac
69. Paycheck John Woo
70. Gothika Mathieu Kassovitz
71. Coffee and Cigarettes Jim Jarmusch
72. Stuck on You Farrelly Brothers
73. Stitch! The Movie Tony Craig, Bobs Gannaway
74. The Five Obstructions Jørgen Leth
75. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Peter Weir
76. Scary Movie 3 David Zucker
77. Touching the Void Kevin McDonald
78. Dreamcatcher Lawrence Kasdan
79. I’ll Be There Craig Ferguson
80. Undead The Spierig Brothers
81. Something’s Gotta Give Nancy Meyers
82. Capturing the Friedmans Andrew Jarecki
83. House of 1,000 Corpses Rob Zombie
84. Underworld Len Wiseman
85. How to Deal Clare Kilner
86. 101 Dalmations II: Patch’s London Adventure Jim Kammerud, Brian Smith
87. My Boss’ Daughter David Zucker
88. Old School Todd Phillips
89. Bringing Down the House Adam Shankman
90. Agent Cody Banks Harald Zwart
91. Le Divorce James Ivory
92. Lost in Translation Sofia Coppola
93. Anything Else Woody Allen
94. American Wedding aka American Pie: The Wedding Jesse Dylan
95. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Donald Petrie
96. X2 Bryan Singer
97. Darkness Falls Jonathan Liebesman
98. Open Water Chris Kentis
99. The Brown Bunny Vincent Gallo
100. The Cat in the Hat Bo Welch
101. A Wrinkle in Time John Kent Harrison
102. Powerpuff Girls: ‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas Lauren Faust, Craig McCracken
103. Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time Steve Loter
104. Johnny English Peter Howitt
105. Wrong Turn Rob Schmidt

1. The Challenge Craig Shapiro

Picture / Director / Actor / Actress / Supporting Actor / Supporting Actress / Screenplay / Adapted Screenplay / Editing / Cinematography / Art Direction / Costume Design / Make-Up / Score / Song / Visual FX / Sound / Sound Editing / Documentary / Foreign / Animated / Tally / Comments

It’s today! It’s today! Sorry about the lack of update here, frankly it’s been less a case of the usual laziness than the fact that this entry has become far too complicated because of my desire to keep all my comings and goings intact, lol. But I’ll do my best below to mark out my usual combination of hope, want, fear, dread and yes, downright divination regarding this year’s Oscars. To be honest, while there are certain absolute dead certs – I read the other day that Wiliam Hill have already paid out on bets for Helen Mirren because they’ve decided it’s cheaper for them to stop taking bets than to take any more or something – I think mostly it’s pretty much any one’s guess in the majority of categories this year. If I was to make one bet, I was thinking this week, it would have to be that I’m pretty certain when it all goes down I will have actually seen, outside of the short subjects, all of the winning movies. The big four that I haven’t seen this year are: The Pursuit of Happyness, Notes on a Scandal, Half Nelson, and Letters from Iwo Jima. Of those, Letters has the biggest shot at anything, but I really doubt it in my gut.

Anyway, here goes. On my way down I’ll point out the stuff I really, really want to see happen. And remember, very little of this is like the boring constructive type of Oscar predicting you’ll find elsewhere. There’s some of that, and as I’ve said before, the word “prediction” just gets me more hits, lol; but most of all it’s a mix of personal opinion and gut feeling and stuff my invisible friend told me. Let’s make this fun again, huh?

Yellow highlight denoted things I really want(ed) to be nominated.
WIN denotes the one I think/thought will/would ultimately win (so it follows that I strongly suspect it will be nominated, lol). On the left of a nominee’s name is my prediction pre-nominations; on the right, my final prediction based on the actual nominees.
NOT A CAT’S CHANCE IN HELL BUT I WANT IT is self explanatory.

And of course don’t forget to check out my 2008 predictions !

Best Picture – The Departed
– frankly, anything but Little Miss Sunshine here will be fine by me, though Letters from Iwo Jima would be annoying since I haven’t seen it Update last minute update: I just feel like saying, actually, I have a feeling it’ll be Little Miss, lol … not just because I’ve been upset in such a way for like the past half decade, but also because, anyway, I actually have a feeling that Scorsese will win but it’ll be a split Picture/Director situation anyway. But The Departed will put a smile on my face.

• Little Children Little Miss Sunshine
• The Departed WIN
• Babel
• WIN Dreamgirls Letters from Iwo Jima

• The Queen

  Best Director – Martin Scorsese (The Departed)

• WIN Martin Scorsese (The Departed) WIN
• Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel)
• Stephen Frears (The Queen)
• Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) Clint Eastwood (Letters from Iwo Jima)

• Todd Field (Little Children) Paul Greengrass (United 93)

  Best Actor – Peter O’Toole (Venus)
  – I know, it’s Whitaker’s. But, and I’m surprised to find myself saying this, I really want this guy to win for this.

• Peter O’Toole (Venus) WIN
• WIN Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
• Jamie Foxx (Dreamgirls) Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness)
• Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson)

• Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat: Cultural Learnings in America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan) Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond)

  NOT A CAT’S CHANCE IN HELL BUT I WANT IT : Paul Giamatti (Lady in the Water) / Alan Rickman (Snow Cake)

  Best Actress – Helen Mirren (The Queen)
  – boring, but in the absence of Maggie …

• Maggie Gyllenhaal (Sherrybaby) Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada)
• WIN Helen Mirren (The Queen) WIN
• Penelope Cruz (Volver)
• Kate Winslet (Little Children)

• Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal)

  NOT A CAT’S CHANCE IN HELL BUT I WANT IT : Bryce Dallas Howard (Lady in the Water) / Sigourney Weaver (Snow Cake)

  Best Supporting Actor – Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children) Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
  – Little Children deserves something, and frankly they really screwed up in this category this year – where are Michael Sheen and James McAvoy?????

• WIN Jack Nicholson (The Departed) Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
• Michael Sheen (The Queen) Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls)
• Brad Pitt (Babel) Mark Wahlberg (The Departed) (WTF?)
• Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond)

• Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children) WIN

  Best Supporting Actress – Adriana Baraza (Babel) Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”:http://ambival.net/movies/dreamgirls)
  – this was a last minute alteration I made to my nomination predictions that gave me a surprise extra point in the end, and of all these performances, this is the one that haunts me most. Really, though? Anyone but Ms. Breslin.

• WIN Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)
• Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal)
• Rinko Kikuchi (Babel)
• Adriana Barraza (Babel) WIN

• Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine)

  NOT A CAT’S CHANCE IN HELL BUT I WANT IT : Emily Hampshire (Snow Cake) / Geraldine Hughes (Rocky Balboa)

  Best Original Screenplay – Little Miss Sunshine
  – The only one I’ll allow it Bit of a Lost In Translation kinda deal.

• Babel (Guillermo Arriaga)
• WIN Little Miss Sunshine (Michael Arndt) WIN
• The Queen (Peter Morgan)
• Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro)

• United 93 (Paul Greengrass) Letters from Iwo Jima (Paul Haggis)

  Best Adapted Screenplay – Little Children The Departed
  – I forgot LC had been nominated for this – two wins for this movie would be so great_.

• WIN Little Children (Todd Field and Tom Perrotta) WIN
• The Departed (William Monahan)
• A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater) Borat
• The Painted Veil (Ron Nyswaner) Notes on a Scandal

• Thank You For Smoking (Jason Reitman) Children of Men

  Best Editing – Thelma Schoonmaker (The Departed)
  – travesty of the evening will be if this masterwork of editing goes unrecognised.

• WIN The Departed (Thelma Schoonmaker) WIN
• Babel (Douglas Crise)
• Little Children (Leo Trombetta) Blood Diamond
• Casino Royale (Stuart Baird) Children of Men

• Dreamgirls (Virginia Katz) United 93

  Best Cinematography – The Prestige Pan’s Labyrinth
  – The other actually great movie of last year that was lucky enough to be nominated. It deserves everything it’s up for.

• Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Navarro)
• Dreamgirls (Tobias A. Schliessler) The Prestige WIN
• Babel (Rodrigo Prieto) The Black Dahlia
• Children of Men (Emmanuel Lubezki)

• The Departed (Michael Ballhaus) The Illusionist

  Best Art Direction – The Prestige Pan’s Labyrinth

• Marie Antoinette (K.K. Barrett) The Prestige WIN
• The Queen (Alan MacDonald) The Good Shepherd
• Pan’s Labyrinth (Eugenio Caballero)
• Dreamgirls (John Myhre)

• Children of Men (Geoffrey Kirkland / Jim Clay) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

  NOT A CAT’S CHANCE IN HELL BUT I WANT IT : Silent Hill (Carol Spier)

  Best Costume Design – The Devil Wears Prada Marie Antoinette
  – weirdly enough, this is what I find myself writing in the blank here.

• The Queen (Consolata Boyle)
• Dreamgirls (Sharen Davis)
• Marie Antoinette (Milena Canonero)
• Hollywoodland The Curse of the Golden Flower

• The Painted Veil (Ruth Myers) The Devil Wears Prada WIN

  Best Make-Up – Pan’s Labyrinth
  – I wanna say Click, ‘cos I was so stoked to predict that right, lol – but it’s just gotta be Pan’s.

• Click (WOO!)
• WIN Pan’s Labyrinth (José Quetglás) WIN

• Apocalypto

  Best Score – Babel
  – really one of those “recognition for everything else you’ve done so far” things, lol.

• Pan’s Labyrinth (Javier Navarrete)
• Blood Diamond (James Newton Howard) The Good German
• WIN The Painted Veil (Alexandre Desplat) The Queen (Alexandre Desplat) (do I get a half point?)
• Babel (Gustavo Santaolalla) WIN

• Little Children (Thomas Newman) Notes on a Scandal

  Best Original Song – “Our Town”, Cars / “I Need to Wake Up”, An Inconvenient Truth
  – Dammit, I really can’t choose between “Our Town” and “I Need to Wake Up”, lol. But anyway, it’s between the two – if a Dreamgirls song wins here the Academy is insane. The Borat song so should’ve been nominated. Update: I put “Our Town” in for my OscarWatch guesses, but I’m still torn. I’ll probably decide on a Dreamgirls song after they’re performed in the show, ROFL.

• “O Kazakhstan”, Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Erran Baron Cohen) “Love You I Do”, Dreamgirls
• “Til The End of Time”, (Devotchka, Little Miss Sunshine) “Patience”, Dreamgirls
• “You Know My Name” (Chris Cornell, Casino Royale) “Our Town”, Cars
• WIN “I Need to Wake Up” (Melissa Etheridge, An Inconvenient Truth) WIN

• “Listen”, (Beyonce, Dreamgirls)

  Best Visual Effects – Superman Returns
  – the only good movie in the category, I mean, wtf, Poseidon??????

• WIN Superman Returns WIN
• X-Men: the Last Stand Poseidon

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

  Best Sound – Blood Diamond Dreamgirls
  – always a tough category, and this is the only one that stands out, for this and the sound editing.

• The Departed Apocalypto
• World Trade Center Blood Diamond WIN
• WIN Dreamgirls
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

• Superman Returns Flags of Our Fathers

  Best Sound Effects Editing – Blood Diamond Letters from Iwo Jima

• World Trade Center Flags of Our Fathers
• Casino Royale Blood Diamond WIN
• WIN Superman Returns Apocalypto
• Mission: Impossible III Letters from Iwo Jima

• Happy Feet Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

  ;Best Documentary Feature – An Inconvenient Truth
  – boring, and not a good movie at all, but it would be weird if it didn’t win I think.

• WIN An Inconvenient Truth WIN
• The War Tapes My Country, My Country
• Jesus Camp <;img src="http://ambival.net/images/greenlight.gif" alt="Correct!" />
• Deliver Us From Evil

• The Ground Truth Iraq in Fragments

  Best Foreign Language Feature – Pan’s Labyrinth The Lives of Others
  – I think everyone thought this category was gonna be a close call between this and Volver ... so, like, surely Pan’s has to take this one? I mean … surely?!?!?!?

• WIN Pan’s Labyrinth WIN
• Volver Days of Glory
• Water
• The Lives of Others

• Black Book After the Wedding

  Best Animated Feature – Happy Feet – I was surprised to find out the other day that this apparently is the favourite to win here. Anyway, I’m still rooting for it like an underdog, lol. One of the best animated features in years. And I’m annoyed it had to come out in the same year as the terrific Monster House ... but whatever …

• WIN Happy Feet WIN
• Monster House
• Over the Hedge
• Cars

• Flushed Away

  NOT A CAT’S CHANCE IN HELL BUT I WANT IT : A Scanner Darkly

  Final Score: 53/99

  Tally

  10 Dreamgirls
  9 Babel
  8 The Queen
  7 The Departed
  6 Pan’s Labyrinth
  5 Little Children
  4 Casino Royale
  3 Little Miss Sunshine / The Painted Veil / Superman Returns
  2 Borat: Cultural Learnings in America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan / Volver / Blood Diamond / Children of Men / Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest / World Trade Center / Happy Feet / Marie Antoinette
  1 Notes on a Scandal / United 93 / Venus / The Last King of Scotland / SherryBaby / The Devil Wears Prada / A Scanner Darkly / Thank You for Smoking / Hollywoodland / Click / Apocalypto / An Inconvenient Truth / X-Men: The Last Stand / Mission: Impossible III / The War Tapes / The Ground Truth / Deliver Us From Evil / Jesus Camp / Water / The Lives of Others / Black Book / Monster House / Over the Hedge / Cars / Flushed Away

Just the usual annual locking up of my top 100 movies of all-time, for posterity. Ignore.

1. The Fisher King Terry Gilliam
2. The Strawberry Statement Stuart Hagmann
3. Buffalo ‘66 Vincent Gallo
4. Pieces of April Peter Hedges
5. Tarzan Kevin Lima, Chris Buck
6. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Jacques Demy
7. Almost Famous: Untitled Cameron Crowe
8. The Ninth Configuration William Peter Blatty
9. The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen William Friedkin
10. The Rules of Attraction Roger Avary
11. Punch-Drunk Love Paul Thomas Anderson
12. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook
13. Once Upon a Time in America Sergio Leone
14. Schindler’s List Steven Spielberg
15. Whistle Down the Wind Bryan Forbes
16. Artificial Intelligence: AI Steven Spielberg
17. A Home at the End of the World Michael Mayer
18. Vol. 2 Quentin Tarantino
19. Man on Fire Tony Scott
20. Moulin Rouge! Baz Luhrmann
21. Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore
22. The End of the Affair [1999] Neil Jordan
23. Felicia’s Journey Atom Egoyan
24. Girl, Interrupted James Mangold
25. Marnie Alfred Hitchcock
26. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane Nicholas Gessner
27. Heavenly Creatures Peter Jackson
28. Mandy aka Crash of Silence Alexander Mackendrick
29. Two for the Road Stanley Donen
30. Robin and Marian Richard Lester
31. Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle Eric Rohmer
32. Niagara Niagara Bob Gosse
33. Show Me Love/ Fucking Åmål Lukas Moodysson
34. May Lucky McKee
35. Limelight Charlie Chaplin
36. The Big Sleep [1946] Howard Hawks
37. Citizen Kane Orson Welles
38. Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock
39. The Godfather Part II Francis Ford Coppola
40. Les Yeux Sans Visage Georges Franju
41. Pink Floyd The Wall Alan Parker
42. A Clockwork Orange Stanley Kubrick
43. Harold and Maude Hal Ashby
44. The Truman Show Peter Weir
45. Carrie Brian De Palma
46. Run Lola Run Tom Tykwer
47. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Peter Jackson
48. Edward Scissorhands Tim Burton
49. Ed Wood Tim Burton
50. The Iron Giant Brad Bird
51. The Girl on the Bridge Patrice Leconte
52. Vanilla Sky Cameron Crowe
53. Shame Ingmar Bergman
54. Yentl Barbra Streisand
55. Easy Rider Dennis Hopper
56. Once Upon a Time in the West Sergio Leone
57. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Stanley Kubrick
58. The Wizard of Oz Victor Fleming
59. Dawn of the Dead [1978] George Romero
60. Léon: The Professional Luc Besson
61. All That Jazz Bob Fosse
62. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Michel Gondry
63. Breaking the Waves Lars Von Trier
64. I Am Sam Jessie Nelson
65. In America Jim Sheridan
66. Spirited Away Hiyao Miyazaki
67. Donnie Darko [Theatrical Cut] Richard Kelly
68. Riding in Cars with Boys Penny Marshall
69. Strictly Ballroom Baz Luhrmann
70. City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime Charlie Chaplin
71. Torch Song Trilogy Paul Bogart
72. Clerks. Kevin Smith
73. Scarface [1983] Brian De Palma
74. Natural Born Killers Oliver Stone
75. Dancer in the Dark Lars Von Trier
76. The Misfits John Huston
77. Little Children Todd Field
78. Aliens James Cameron
79. Castle in the Sky Hayao Miyazaki
80. A Little Princess [1995] Alfonso Cuaron
81. The Fox and the Hound Ted Berman, Richard Rich, and Art Stevens
82. Casper Brad Silberling
83. His Girl Friday Howard Hawks
84. Network Sidney Lumet
85. Lilo & Stitch Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
86. Bubba Ho-Tep Don Coscarelli
87. Basquiat Julian Schnabel
88. Marathon Man John Schlesinger
89. The Karate Kid John G. Avildsen
90. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Colin Higgins
91. My Life Without Me Isabel Coixet
92. The School of Rock Richard Linklater
93. Dogville Lars Von Trier
94. Finding Nemo Andrew Stanton
95. Frantic Roman Polanski
96. Magnolia Paul Thomas Anderson
97. Fight Club David Fincher
98. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut Trey Parker
99. The Thomas Crown Affair [1999] John McTiernan

1. The Nightmare Before Christmas Henry Selick

1. Brokeback Mountain Ang Lee
2. War of the Worlds Steven Spielberg
3. V for Vendetta James McTeigue
4. Tideland Terry Gilliam
5. Proof John Madden
6. Rent Chris Columbus
7. Nanny McPhee Kirk Jones
8. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith George Lucas
9. Lord of War Andrew Niccol
10. Nine Lives Rodrigo Garcìa
11. Junebug Paul Morrison
12. Flightplan Robert Schwentke
13. Because of Winn-Dixie Wayne Wang
14. Everything is Illuminated Liev Schreiber
15. Batman Begins Christopher Nolan
16. Red Eye Wes Craven
17. Manderlay Lars Von Trier
18. No Direction Home Martin Scorsese
19. Dear Wendy Thomas Vinterberg
20. Pretty Persuasion Marcos Siega
21. A History of Violence David Cronenberg
22. Munich Steven Spielberg
23. Hard Candy David Slade
24. MirrorMask Dave McKean
25. Opal Dream Peter Cattaneo
26. Transamerica Duncan Tucker
27. The Island Michael Bay
28. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Andrew Adamson
29. The Producers Susan Stroman
30. The Weather Man Gore Verbinski
31. Shopgirl Anand Tucker
32. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Mike Newell
33. Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story John Gatin
34. Elizabethtown Cameron Crowe
35. The Ballad of Jack and Rose Rebecca Miller
36. Happy Endings Don Roos
37. Pavee Lackeen Perry Ogden
38. North Country Niki Caro
39. Mrs. Henderson Presents Stephen Frears
40. Good Night, And Good Luck. George Clooney
41. Thank You For Smoking Jason Reitman
42. The Skeleton Key Iain Softley
43. Lords of Dogtown Catherine Hardwicke
44. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Garth Jennings
45. Dark Water Walter Salles
46. Revolver Guy Ritchie
47. The 12 Dogs of Christmas
48. Casanova Lasse Hallström
49. Cinderella Man Ron Howard
50. Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch Michael Labash / Anthony Leondis
51. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Tim Burton
52. Derailed Mikael Håfström
53. The Exorcism of Emily Rose Scott Derrickson
54. Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist Paul Schrader
55. Fever Pitch Farrelly Brothers
56. The 40 Year Old Virgin Judd Apatow
57. The Constant Gardener Fernando Meirelles
58. The New World Terrence Malick
59. Capote Bennett Miller
60. The Ice Harvest Harold Ramis
61. Colour Me Kubrick: A True…ish Story Brian W. Cook
62. Bee Season Scott McGehee, David Siegel
63. House of Wax Jaume Collet-Serra
64. King Kong Peter Jackson
65. Walk the Line James Mangold
66. Chicken Little Mark Dindal
67. Corpse Bride Tim Burton
68. Monster-in-Law Robert Luketic
69. Sahara Breck Eisner
70. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story Michael Winterbottom
71. Memoirs of a Geisha Rob Marshall
72. Kronk’s New Groove Saul Andrew Blinkoff, Elliot M. Bour
73. Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story! Pete Michels, Peter Shin
74. Robots Chris Wedge
75. Herbie: Fully Loaded Angela Robinson
76. Gideon’s Daughter
77. The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse Steve Bendelack
78. An American Haunting
79. Hitch Andy Tennant
80. The Upside of Anger Mike Binder
81. Last Days Gus Van Sant
82. Thumbsucker
83. Zemanovaload Jayson Rothwell
84. Mad Hot Ballroom Marilyn Agrelo
85. The Girl in the Café
86. The Brothers Grimm Terry Gilliam
87. The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl Robert Rodriguez
88. Match Point Woody Allen
89. Rock School Don Argott
90. Wedding Crashers David Dobkin
91. Sin City Robert Rodriguez
92. Hide and Seek John Polson
93. Bad News Bears Richard Linklater
94. Constantine Francis Lawrence
95. Hostel Eli Roth
96. Waiting… Rob McKittrick
97. The Fog
98. Wolf Creek Greg McLean
99. The Cave Bruce Hunt
100. Land of the Dead George A. Romero
101. March of the Penguins Luc Jacquet
102. Valiant Gary Chapman
103. Hoodwinked! Cory Edwards
104. Kicking and Screaming
105. Bewitched Nora Ephron
106. Boogeyman Stephen T. Kay
107. The Pacifier Adam Shankman
108. The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz Kirk R. Thatcher
109. The Descent Neil Marshall
110. Silver Bells Dick Lowry
111. Saw II Darren Lynn Bousman
112. Felicity: An American Girl Adventure
113. Kingdom of Heaven Ridley Scott
114. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room Alex Gibney
115. Cursed Wes Craven
116. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price Robert Greenwald
117. The Legend of Zorro Martin Campbell
118. The Amityville Horror Andrew Douglas
119. The Ring Two Hideo Nakata
120. Yours, Mine and Ours Raja Gosnell
121. Day of the Dead 2: Contagium
122. Must Love Dogs
123. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Steve Box / Nick Park
124. Mr. And Mrs. Smith Doug Liman
125. The Aristocrats Paul Provenza
126. Bloodrayne Uwe Boll
127. Hellraiser: Deader
128. Havoc
129. The War of the Worlds Timothy Hines

1. Disney Princess: A Christmas of Enchantment

And the winners might be …

Final update Well, it’s today I just woke up realising that I’m looking forward to the Oscars more this year than I have in years. It’s gonna be a great show whatever happens.

Things that will surprise me if they don’t happen (despite my hopes/predictions below): George Clooney winning something; Reese Witherspoon getting hers (still really can’t stand her); Wallace and Gromit as Best Animated Feature (though it’s the worst I’ve seen). Things I want to happen – okay, they’re not happenings really, I just would really like Dakota to present something (guessing it would have to be early in the show) and Vanessa to look beautiful and it’d be cool if Anna Paquin wore something memorable again, the last time I remember seeing her at the Oscars was when they got all the past winners up on stage. If Mrs. Henderson Presents won something I’d be really happy too, it deserved more. The only major nominees I didn’t get a chance to see this year (outside the documentaries and foreign language films) were Pride and Prejudice and Hustle and Flow and I’d be surprised (not to mention a little annoyed, lol) if they figured much anywhere.

Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Best Director: George Clooney (Good Night, And Good Luck.)
Best Actor: Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)
Best Actress: Felicity Huffman (Transamerica)
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man)
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams (Junebug) or Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) ... I’m sorry, I’m making a new rule – you’re allowed to pick two nominees in one category, lol – I really can’t pick between these two, if either won I’d be over the moon.
Best Screenplay: Crash
Best Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain
Best Editing: The Constant Gardener
Best Cinematography: Brokeback Mountain
Best Art Direction: Good Night, And Good Luck.
Best Costume Design: Mrs. Henderson Presents
Best Make-Up: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Best Sound: Walk the Line
Best Sound Effects Editing: War of the Worlds
Best Score: John Williams, Munich
Best Original Song: “Travelin’ Thru”, Transamerica
Best Visual Effects: War of the Worlds
Best Animated Film: at this point in time, I can only say Corpse Bride, but in years to come I know Howl’s Moving Castle is the one I’ll be watching over and over.
Best Documentary Feature: March of the Penguins

Hey, and don’t forget to check out my 2007 predictions!!!!!!

Best Picture

• A History of Violence


• Brokeback Mountain


• Crash


• Good Night, And Good Luck.


• Mrs Henderson Presents

Best Director

• George Clooney (Good Night, And Good Luck.)


• Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)


• Steven Spielberg (Munich)


• David Cronenberg (A History of Violence)


• Woody Allen (Match Point)

Best Actor

• David Strathairn (Good Night, And Good Luck.)


• Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence)


• Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)


• Philip Seymour Hoffmann (Capote)


• Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line)

Best Actress

• Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents)


• Gwyneth Paltrow (Proof)


• Charlize Theron (North Country)


• Q’Orianka Kilcher (The New World)


• Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)

Best Supporting Actor

• Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain)


• Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man)


• Matt Dillon (Crash)


• Will Ferrell (The Producers)


• Richard Jenkins (North Country)

Best Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams (Junebug)


• Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain)


• Catherine Keener (Capote)


• Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds)


• Thandie Newton (Crash)

Best Original Screenplay

• Crash


• Good Night, And Good Luck.


• Match Point


• Nine Lives


• Junebug

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Shopgirl


• A History of Violence


• Brokeback Mountain


• Capote


• North Country

Best Editing

• Good Night, And Good Luck.


• Brokeback Mountain


• Capote


• Batman Begins


• Sin City

Best Cinematography

• Good Night, And Good Luck.


• A History of Violence


• Brokeback Mountain


• Capote


• North Country

Best Art Direction

• Good Night, And Good Luck.


• A History of Violence


• Mrs. Henderson Presents


• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory


• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Best Costume Design

• Mrs. Henderson Presents


• The New World


• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


• Memoirs of a Geisha


• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Best Make-Up

• Mrs. Henderson Presents


• The New World


• Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith

Best Sound

• The New World


• Walk the Line


• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith


• War of the Worlds


• Batman Begins

Best Sound Effects Editing

• Walk the Line


• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith


• War of the Worlds

Best Score

• Mychael Danna, Capote


• Gustavo Santaolalla, Brokeback Mountain


• John Williams, Memoirs of a Geisha


• James Horner, The New World


• Patrick Doyle, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Best Original Song

• “Dreamer”, Dreamer


• “Butterfly”, Because of Winn-Dixie


• “Travelin’ Thru”, Transamerica


• “Hustle and Flow”, Hustle and Flow


• “Can’t Take It In”, The Chronicles of Narnia

Best Visual Effects

• War of the Worlds


• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Best Animated Film

• Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit


• Howl’s Moving Castle


• Corpse Bride

Best Documentary Feature

• Mad Hot Ballroom


• March of the Penguins


• Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room


• Murderball


• Darwin’s Nightmare

46 / 90 !

Tally

9 – Brokeback Mountain
7 – Good Night, And Good Luck.
6 – A History of Violence, Capote
5 – Mrs Henderson Presents, The New World
4 – Crash, Walk the Line, War of the Worlds, North Country, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2 – Match Point, Junebug, Batman Begins, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
1 – Munich, Proof, Cinderella Man, The Producers, Nine Lives, Shopgirl, Sin City, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Transamerica, Hustle and Flow, Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Howl’s Moving Castle, Corpse Bride, Murderball, March of the Penguins, Darwin’s Nightmare, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Mad Hot Ballroom, Dreamer, Because of Winn-Dixie

1. Buffalo ‘66 Vincent Gallo
2. Pieces of April Peter Hedges
3. Tarzan Kevin Lima, Chris Buck
4. Almost Famous: Untitled Cameron Crowe
5. The Strawberry Statement Stuart Hagmann
6. The Ninth Configuration William Peter Blatty
7. The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen William Friedkin
8. The Rules of Attraction Roger Avary
9. Punch-Drunk Love Paul Thomas Anderson
10. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook
11. Once Upon a Time in America Sergio Leone
12. Schindler’s List Steven Spielberg
13. Whistle Down the Wind Bryan Forbes
14. Artificial Intelligence: AI Steven Spielberg
15. Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore
16. The End of the Affair [1999] Neil Jordan
17. Felicia’s Journey Atom Egoyan
18. Marnie Alfred Hitchcock
19. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane Nicholas Gessner
20. Heavenly Creatures Peter Jackson
21. Mandy aka Crash of Silence Alexander Mackendrick
22. Two for the Road Stanley Donen
23. Robin and Marian Richard Lester
24. Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle Eric Rohmer
25. Niagara Niagara Bob Gosse
26. Show Me Love/ Fucking Åmål Lukas Moodysson
27. May Lucky McKee
28. Limelight Charlie Chaplin
29. The Big Sleep [1946] Howard Hawks
30. Citizen Kane Orson Welles
31. Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock
32. The Godfather Part II Francis Ford Coppola
33. Les Yeux Sans Visage Georges Franju
34. Pink Floyd The Wall Alan Parker
35. A Clockwork Orange Stanley Kubrick
36. Carrie Brian De Palma
37. Run Lola Run Tom Tykwer
38. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Peter Jackson
39. Girl, Interrupted James Mangold
40. Edward Scissorhands Tim Burton
41. Ed Wood Tim Burton
42. The Iron Giant Brad Bird
43. Vanilla Sky Cameron Crowe
44. Shame Ingmar Bergman
45. Yentl Barbra Streisand
46. Easy Rider Dennis Hopper
47. Once Upon a Time in the West Sergio Leone
48. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Stanley Kubrick
49. Les Parapluies de Cherbourg Jacques Demy
50. The Wizard of Oz Victor Fleming
51. Dawn of the Dead [1978] George Romero
52. Léon: The Professional Luc Besson
53. All That Jazz Bob Fosse
54. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Michel Gondry
55. Breaking the Waves Lars Von Trier
56. I Am Sam Jessie Nelson
57. Donnie Darko [Theatrical Cut] Richard Kelly
58. Riding in Cars with Boys Penny Marshall
59. Strictly Ballroom Baz Luhrmann
60. City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime Charlie Chaplin
61. The Truman Show Peter Weir
62. Torch Song Trilogy Paul Bogart
63. Clerks. Kevin Smith
64. Scarface [1983] Brian De Palma
65. Natural Born Killers Oliver Stone
66. La Fille Sur Le Pont Patrice Leconte
67. Dancer in the Dark Lars Von Trier
68. Aliens James Cameron
69. Castle in the Sky Hayao Miyazaki
70. A Little Princess [1995] Alfonso Cuaron
71. The Fox and the Hound Ted Berman, Richard Rich, and Art Stevens
72. Casper Brad Silberling
73. His Girl Friday Howard Hawks
74. Network Sidney Lumet
75. Lilo & Stitch Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
76. Bubba Ho-Tep Don Coscarelli
77. Basquiat Julian Schnabel
78. Lolita [1962] Stanley Kubrick
79. The Karate Kid John G. Avildsen
80. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Colin Higgins
81. My Life Without Me Isabel Coixet
82. The School of Rock Richard Linklater
83. Dogville Lars Von Trier
84. Finding Nemo Andrew Stanton
85. Frantic Roman Polanski
86. Magnolia Paul Thomas Anderson
87. Fight Club David Fincher
88. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut Trey Parker
89. The Nightmare Before Christmas Henry Selick
90. The Thomas Crown Affair [1999]
91. Addams Family Values Barry Sonnenfeld
92. The Piano Jane Campion
93. Panic Room David Fincher
94. The Doors Oliver Stone
95. The Rocky Horror Picture Show Jim Sharman
96. The Innocents Jack Clayton
97. The Night of the Hunter Charles Laughton
98. A Star is Born [1937] William A. Wellmann
99. The Red Shoes Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell

1. The Silence of the Lambs Jonathan Demme

1. Pieces of April Peter Hedges
2. Almost Famous: Untitled Cameron Crowe
3. Tarzan Kevin Lima, Chris Buck
4. The Strawberry Statement Stuart Hagmann
5. The Ninth Configuration William Peter Blatty
6. The Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen William Friedkin
7. The Rules of Attraction Roger Avary
8. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook
9. Once Upon a Time in America Sergio Leone
10. Schindler’s List Steven Spielberg
11. Artificial Intelligence: AI Steven Spielberg
12. Whistle Down the Wind Bryan Forbes
13. Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore
14. The End of the Affair [1999] Neil Jordan
15. Felicia’s Journey Atom Egoyan
16. Marnie Alfred Hitchcock
17. Mandy aka Crash of Silence Alexander Mackendrick
18. Two for the Road Stanley Donen
19. Robin and Marian Richard Lester
20. Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle Eric Rohmer
21. Niagara Niagara Bob Gosse
22. Show Me Love/ Fucking Åmål Lukas Moodysson
23. May Lucky McKee
24. Casper Brad Silberling
25. Limelight Charlie Chaplin
26. The Big Sleep [1946] Howard Hawks
27. Citizen Kane Orson Welles
28. Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock
29. The Godfather Part II Francis Ford Coppola
30. Les Yeux Sans Visage Georges Franju
31. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane Nicholas Gessner
32. Pink Floyd The Wall Alan Parker
33. A Clockwork Orange Stanley Kubrick
34. Carrie Brian De Palma
35. Run Lola Run Tom Tykwer
36. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Peter Jackson
37. Girl, Interrupted James Mangold
38. Edward Scissorhands Tim Burton
39. Ed Wood Tim Burton
40. The Iron Giant Brad Bird
41. Heavenly Creatures Peter Jackson
42. Buffalo ‘66 Vincent Gallo
43. Vanilla Sky Cameron Crowe
44. Yentl Barbra Streisand
45. Easy Rider Dennis Hopper
46. Once Upon a Time in the West Sergio Leone
47. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Stanley Kubrick
48. Les Parapluies de Cherbourg Jacques Demy
49. The Wizard of Oz Victor Fleming
50. Dawn of the Dead [1978] George Romero
51. Léon: The Professional Luc Besson
52. All That Jazz Bob Fosse
53. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Michel Gondry
54. Donnie Darko [Theatrical Cut] Richard Kelly
55. Le Fabuleux Déstin d’Amélie Poulain Jean-Pierre Jeunet
56. Breaking the Waves Lars Von Trier
57. City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime Charlie Chaplin
58. Strictly Ballroom Baz Luhrmann
59. The Truman Show Peter Weir
60. Torch Song Trilogy Paul Bogart
61. Clerks. Kevin Smith
62. Scarface [1983] Brian De Palma
63. Natural Born Killers Oliver Stone
64. La Fille Sur Le Pont Patrice Leconte
65. Dancer in the Dark Lars Von Trier
66. Aliens James Cameron
67. Castle in the Sky Hayao Miyazaki
68. A Little Princess [1995] Alfonso Cuaron
69. Crash [1996] David Cronenberg
70. The Fox and the Hound Ted Berman, Richard Rich, and Art Stevens
71. His Girl Friday Howard Hawks
72. Network Sidney Lumet
73. Basquiat Julian Schnabel
74. The School of Rock Richard Linklater
75. Dogville Lars Von Trier
76. Finding Nemo Andrew Stanton
77. Frantic Roman Polanski
78. Magnolia Paul Thomas Anderson
79. Fight Club David Fincher
80. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut Trey Parker
81. Addams Family Values Barry Sonnenfeld
82. The Piano Jane Campion
83. Panic Room David Fincher
84. The Doors Oliver Stone
85. The Rocky Horror Picture Show Jim Sharman
86. The Innocents Jack Clayton
87. The Night of the Hunter Charles Laughton
88. A Star is Born [1937] William A. Wellmann
89. The Red Shoes Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell
90. The Silence of the Lambs Jonathan Demme
91. Fargo Joel Coen
92. Shaun of the Dead Edgar Wright
93. Napoleon Dynamite Jared Hess
94. Man on Fire Tony Scott
95. Spirited Away Hayao Miyazaki
96. Jersey Girl Kevin Smith
97. 28 Days Betty Thomas
98. The Last House on the Left Wes Craven
99. Casualties of War Brian De Palma

1. Harold and Maude Hal Ashby

1. A Home at the End of the World Michael Mayer
2. Vol. 2 Quentin Tarantino
3. Man on Fire Tony Scott
4. Palindromes Todd Solondz
5. Millions Danny Boyle
6. Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore
7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Michel Gondry
8. Finding Neverland Marc Forster
9. The Assassination of Richard Nixon Niels Mueller
10. The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Stephen Hopkins
11. The Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich Oliver Hirschbiegel
12. A Very Long Engagement Jean-Pierre Jeunet
13. Jersey Girl Kevin Smith
14. Napoleon Dynamite Jared Hess
15. Darwin’s Nightmare Hubert Sauper
16. Innocence Lucile Hadzihalilovic
17. My Date With Drew Jon Gunn, Brian Herzlinger, Brett Winn
18. Kung Fu Hustle Stephen Chow
19. Spider-Man 2 Sam Raimi
20. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Alfonso Cuaron
21. Night Watch Timur Bekmambetov
22. The Incredibles Brad Bird
23. Crash Paul Haggis
24. Shaun of the Dead Edgar Wright
25. Mean Creek Jacob Aaron Estes
26. Enduring Love Roger Michell
27. Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Brad Silberling
28. Saw James Wan
29. The Butterfly Effect [The Director’s Cut] Eric Bress/ J. Mackye Gruber
30. Closer Mike Nichols
31. Before Sunset Richard Linklater
32. House of D David Duchovny
33. Collateral Michael Mann
34. Seed of Chucky Don Mancini
35. In the Realms of the Unreal Jessica Yu
36. A Hole in My Heart Lukas Moodysson
37. Howl’s Moving Castle Hayao Miyazaki
38. What the Bleep do We Know!? William Arntz, Betsy Chasse, Mark Vicente
39. Vera Drake Vera Drake
40. Million Dollar Baby Clint Eastwood
41. We Don’t Live Here Anymore John Curran
42. Hotel Rwanda Terry George
43. The Terminal Steven Spielberg
44. Sideways Alexander Payne
45. The Notebook Nick Cassavetes
46. Two Brothers Jean-Jacques Annaud
47. The Aviator Martin Scorsese
48. The Polar Express Robert Zemeckis
49. Around the World in 80 Days Frank Coraci
50. Hidalgo Joe Johnston
51. A Different Loyalty Marek Kanievska
52. Wicker Park Paul McGuigan
53. Ray Taylor Hackford
54. My Summer of Love Pawel Pawlikowski
55. Cellular David R. Ellis
56. Little Black Book Nick Hurran
57. Mean Girls Mark Waters
58. Mysterious Skin Gregg Araki
59. Kinsey Bill Condon
60. The Forgotten Joseph Ruben
61. Super Size Me Morgan Spurlock
62. The Village M. Night Shyamalan
63. I, Robot Alex Proyas
64. National Treasure Jon Turteltaub
65. The Alamo John Lee Hancock
66. Shrek 2 Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon
67. The Passion of the Christ Mel Gibson
68. Secret Window David Koepp
69. Ginger Snaps: Unleashed Brett Sullivan
70. The Woodsman Nicole Kassel
71. Primer Shane Carruth
72. A Christmas Carol: The Musical Arthur Allan Seidelman
73. Spectres Phil Leirness
74. Atomik Circus Didier Poiraud, Thierry Poiraud
75. Birth Jonathan Glazer
76. The Machinist Brad Anderson
77. Trauma Marc Evans
78. The Door in the Floor Tod Williams
79. 13 Going On 30 Gary Winick
80. When Will I Be Loved James Toback
81. The Manchurian Candidate Jonathan Demme
82. Exorcist: The Beginning Renny Harlin
83. 11:11 Michael Bafaro
84. Blueberry Jan Kounen
85. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen Sara Sugarman
86. The Lion King 1 1/2: Hakuna Matata Bradley Raymond
87. The Girl Next Door Luke Greenfield
88. Saved! Brian Dannelly
89. The Ladykillers The Coen Brothers
90. Shark Tale Bibo Bergeron, Vicky Jenson, Rob Letterman