JEFFREY MIDDENTS Film studies professor in the College of Arts and Sciences
Best Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Should win: Heath Ledger, who makes everyone forget about the fact that he has acting in dreck for years.
Will win: Hoffman, because he's a fine character actor who has been consistently giving great performances for a long time, and because he disappears and becomes Truman Capote, who doesn't look a thing like him.
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"
Should/will win: Reese Witherspoon, because she gives a great, measured performance in "Walk the Line" and because (for better or for worse) she appears to be heir apparent to Julia Roberts.
Best Supporting Actor: Matt Dillon, "Crash"
Should win: William Hurt, because he may be in "A History of Violence" for only five minutes, but the performance is electrifying and adds dimension to Viggo Mortenson's character.
Will win: A tough call; anyone else might actually get it. I will guess Matt Dillon, because he is the sole acting rep for "Crash", which actors clearly loved and they are the largest voting block. He is also deserving.
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Should/will win: A really tough call. I would be very happy if Keener won, but I'm going to guess that Rachel Weisz will win, deservedly, for a strong performance.
Best Director: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Should/will win: I will be really surprised if Ang Lee does not win. For the amazing work he has produced over the years, he is also owed.
Best Picture: "Brokeback Mountain"
Should/will win: I do not care what anyone thinks: "Brokeback Mountain" deserves to win in this crop of nominees. I think much is being made for the SAG Award win for "Crash," but in the end people will come to their senses.
ROBYN ABZUG Eagle Staff Writer
Best Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Much love for "Brokeback Mountain," as well as the impressively silent and deep performance from Heath Ledger, who is having, like, the year of his life. But all the recent award shows put Phillip Seymour Hoffman on top. So, based on the Academy's typical nature to follow rather than lead, Hoffman will most likely get this award. The Academy also likes to reward actors who change themselves somehow (i.e. the beautiful Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron going ugly), as Hoffman does, adding a lisp while playing the gay Capote.
Best Actress: Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Along the same lines, Felicity Huffman, who plays a pre-op transsexual (going from a male to a female, an interesting role for a woman to play), is certainly a strong contender. She changes her appearance completely to become this character. She, too, has won numerous awards in the past couple of months. It also helps that no one saw "Mrs. Henderson Presents" or "North Country." It's not clear really why Keira Knightley was nominated, and Huffman's only real competitor is Reese Whitherspoon, who won the Golden Globe for actress in a musical or comedy for "Walk the Line" (in which she did all her own vocals).
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
George Clooney won the Golden Globe, Paul Giamatti won the SAG Award and Jake Gyllenaal won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTAS). There has been no clear-cut frontrunner. However, the Academy has a history of giving an award to someone they had previously snubbed (see Denzel Washington in "Training Day;" not quite an Academy-caliber film). Giamatti was passed over for last year's "Sideways," while he won numerous other awards and his three castmates received Oscar nods. So while "Cinderella Man" was huge disappointment at the box office, Giamatti has a fighting chance.
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
This one will go to Rachel Weisz, just because she's won many preceding awards. It could also be that she's pregnant; maybe Oscar voters like procreators. Who knows? Anyway, Michelle Williams is amazing and gave the performance of a lifetime in "Brokeback," but for some reason award show voters haven't liked her, even though she's cooler than Rachel Weisz. And "The Constant Gardener" was a really slow movie.
Best Director: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
After raising eyebrows and breaking hearts with "The Hulk," Ang Lee has redeemed himself 10 times over with "Brokeback Mountain." The scenery that Lee uses to supplement the brilliant performances of his actors became almost as much a part of the film as anything else, including the sheep. The sparse dialogue that defines the film allows for Lee to flex his directing, and the end product is Oscar-worthy. (Sorry, George.)
Best Picture: "Brokeback Mountain"
"Brokeback Mountain" all the way. This little indie-film-that-could has won nearly every award it's been up for (Golden Globes, British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards) and has defined the word "trampled" with its competition.
While "Capote" has garnered some major buzz, especially with leading man Phillip Seymour Hoffman, but "Brokeback" has gotten more unanimous acclaim from critics, moviegoers and, well, everyone else than any other movie in recent history.
JEFF LAMBERT Eagle Staff Writer
Best Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Phillip Seymour Hoffman deserves this award for his title role in "Capote." The boys of "Brokeback" were about as stoic and emotive as the sweeping landscapes that Ang Lee pinned them against, where as Hoffman captured the mixed feelings Capote had when writing "In Cold Blood." But biopics haven't had terrible luck at the Oscars in recent years. When Jamie Foxx took the coveted award in 2004 for "Ray," he became the third black performer ever to win Best Actor. Even so, Terrence Howard doesn't stand a chance, no matter how hard it is being a pimp.
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"
Reese Witherspoon has this one coming to her for her delicate portrayal of June Carter in "Walk The Line." While the film itself, and the rest of the cast, won't take home any more Oscars, Witherspoon deserves this one. Her big competition is desperate housewife-turned-transsexual Felicity Huffman for her standout performance in "Transamerica." But who can say no to Reese's sassy southern twang?
Best Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"
The decided underdog for this year's Academy Awards is Paul Haggis' "Crash," nominated for three awards, and putting Matt Dillon up for Best Supporting Actor against Hollywood mainstay George Clooney and "Brokeback"'s Jake Gyllenhaal. The award will no doubt go to Gyllenhaal, and rightfully so. The hype about "Crash" is just that, hype. Dillon's performance was flat as a rock, and the "serious issues" of racism that the film supposedly faces were lost in a transparent plot and empty characters.
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, "Capote"
Only two of the five women nominated have a history at the Oscars: Catherine Keener, of "Being John Malkovich," and Frances McDormand, who took Best Actress in 1996 for "Fargo." While Rachel Weisz may be a dark horse candidate for "The Constant Gardener," this may be the only category that "Brokeback Mountain" doesn't sweep, with Oscar rookie Michelle Williams up for the nomination. Keener deserves this award for her flawless and shrewd portrayal of Harper Lee, which blows the competition, veteran and virgin alike, out of the proverbial water.
Best Director: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
The press is screaming for Ang Lee to take Best Director for this year's crowd favorite, "Brokeback Mountain." His work has been largely hit-or-miss, from the revered portrait of American yuppiedom, "The Ice Storm," to the less-than-fulfilling adaptation of everyone's favorite comic book strongman in "The Hulk." He'll no doubt get the award, an honor stolen from him in 2001 when Steven Soderbergh got the win for "Traffic." But most deserving is Bennett Miller for "Capote," facing his first nomination and enough of a press storm around Lee and Haggis to ensure that he won't get the win.
Best Picture: "Brokeback Mountain"
Like so many of the awards this year, this coveted award will go to "Brokeback Mountain." The cheap politics posed by straight men playing gay cowboys is an easier swallow than Haggis' introspective look at racial tension, Spielberg's relevant discussion of morality in the Arab-Israeli conflict and Clooney's look into a not-so-distant past of political repression. What's been hailed as a progressive step forward for the American film industry is a shallow victory: "Brokeback" isn't a straight love story to most Americans, and probably not the Academy, either. It's a gay love story. A poor excuse for equality.
JEN TURNER Eagle Staff Writer
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"
This is probably the only "Brokeback"-inclusive category where I'm going to abandon my loyalties, because deep down I know that Heath Ledger is going to win. Truth be told, I was a chump and totally missed seeing "Hustle and Flow," but my parents swear it's awesome so my apologies to Terrence Howard. Better luck next time. Anyway, I'll just give Joaquin Phoenix the nod for good measure. "Walk the Line" was the first and only time I've seen a biopic where the main actor didn't irritate me in some regard right off the bat. And did anyone notice that he ACTUALLY SOUNDED LIKE JOHNNY CASH? COME ON!!
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"
Has anyone on the planet deemed Keira Knightley's stoic, turd-like performance in "Pride & Prejudice" Oscar-worthy? Knightley was wicked boring and does this weird thing with her mouth all the time. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, Reese Witherspoon fully deserves the award. Her performance as June Carter Cash was unbelievable. I can't even make a "Legally Blonde 2" joke, it was that good. While "Walk the Line" was a solid film, it was carried by its two lead actors and the chemistry they created and for that, they both deserve the recognition.
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
I watched "Cinderella Man" on the plane coming back from my semester in Germany this December and it was the best part of the trip. Somehow, Giamatti always plays some handsome dude's wingman with such grace that it actually steals the show. "Sideways" will always be Giamatti's definitive movie and he was positively robbed last year, so hopefully when he's accepting the award this year, he'll be thinking to himself that it's really for both. I am also really just a huge proponent of giving average-looking people awards.
Best Supporting Actress: Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Nominees"
I really just want to scrap this whole array of nominees and give it to sexy, sassy Mario Bello in "A History of Violence." According to my friend Tom when we watched that movie in Berlin, her penchant for kinky sex and making dinner typified the ideal wife. Still, Michelle Williams' take on wifedom in "Brokeback" was tough, and she pulled it off without making anyone think twice about "Dawson's Creek." Is there some way to give every single person who worked on "Brokeback Mountain" an Oscar and maybe a back rub?
Best Director: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Can I just reiterate how disappointed I was with "Munich?" No matter how apt the content of the film actually was, Spielberg schmaltz is only tolerable when there are robots involved. Stick to movies about aliens or maybe a natural disaster here or there and leave the politics to George Clooney. That said, of course I think Ang Lee should win this one. His treatment of the Wyoming landscape as this sparse, natural thing upon which something equally sparse and natural transpires was terrifyingly brilliant.
Best Picture: "Brokeback Mountain"
"Brokeback Mountain" is the greatest thing mine eyes have lain upon, basically ever. I love this movie with all of my heart. It boggles the mind to think that "Munich," which was mediocre Spielberg crap, is even nominated next to this masterpiece. In 20 years, "Brokeback Mountain" will be our generation's classic, and people will be able to marry whomever they want and there will be rainbows and puppies and milkshakes for everyone. The power of movies at work, right? I rest my painfully optimistic case.
