A Really Nice Prom Mess

A Really Nice Prom Mess
by Brian Sloan
YA fiction. 266 pp.
Simon & Schuster. 2005.

flap copy:

Well, in summary, your fake date's in the bathroom with a hangover and a crispy hairdo, while my fake date is out wandering the Willard, searching for his heterosexuality or something.

High school senior Cameron Hayes gets coerced into going to the prom with a girl, even though he's rather be with his boyfriend. The evening goes from bad to worse when his fake date gets sloshed, his boyfriend slugs him when he sees Cam kissing his fake date, and Cam flees the prom in disguise with a drug dealer. Then things really spin out of control. Over the course of one harrowing and hysterical night, Cameron's life comes undone, leading to accidental revelations, criminal adventures, and an unlikely romance.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for about a year. I had bought it while I was in San Fran on business, but then I didn't get to it while out of town, and it just didn't pull me in when I got back. Sometime during the last couple weeks, I came across a blog entry that actually made the book sound interesting, so I tried it again.

Initially, I wasn't digging the book. The action was rather blah and I wasn't overly fond of the protagonist's voice either. Fortunately, that all changed when Cameron left the prom with the bisexual Russian pot dealer. Suddenly there was something interesting happening. And suddenly Cameron's voice wasn't quite so irritating and whiny. Now he had something to whine about.

Still, in the end, the book isn't grand literature. It's probably on a par with most Sanchez novels, primarily due to the overly melodramatic nature of the writing. The supporting characters are more interesting than most. The events of the evening seem a bit implausible, but it is a prom night, so I'm willing to cut a little bit of slack there.

Interestingly, I think part of my lack of enthusiasm for this novel is that the author isn't a novelist. (Well, except that I guess he does have a second novel out now.) Last night, Dec and I watched WTC View, which is also written by Sloan. Again, this has been sitting on the shelf for quite some time. But we didn't have anything to watch on the DVR since we have to wait for Gladys to come over before we can watch the next episode of Brothers & Sisters. I pulled out this movie because it stars Michael Urie, whom I find absolutely adorable and whom I'm having significant withdrawals from while waiting for Ugly Betty to kick back in.


Anyway.

WTC View is about Eric, who is trying to rent out a room in his apartment. He puts the ad up on 10 September 2001 and then, well, life changes. So you get this mix of stories as other guys come to check out the apartment. They talk about their experiences with Eric, and you learn about the trauma he's going through. Originally, this was written as a play, which I think I would have enjoyed more. Though I thought the themes of connection and trauma and change were well done.

ordeal of the union

The Oscar nominees were announced last Tuesday. Normally, you would expect to find here a list of all the nominees plus indications of what I've already seen and what's already won something else and what not.

That is not the case this year.

As I've mentioned previously, I'm boycotting the Oscars this year. Two of you out there wonder why.

Well, the story begins back in November when the WGA (Writers Guild of America) decided to interrupt my life with their money grubbing. This ballooned into a situation where the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) decided to support said strike by ruining the Golden Globes. Because they must show solidarity. And they've said that they'll ruin the Oscars as well.

Here's the deal. The Oscars are an occasion where the pompous jackasses of Hollywood like to pat themselves on the back and tell the rest of us how grand they are. I really couldn't care less about how grand they are. However. I do enjoy watching the prettiness on the red carpet and the self-aggrandizing posturing. And I have a good party with my friends.

But if they're not going to give me my party of absurdity, then I'm not going to give them my money leading up to it. It's quite simple. And it's all because of the WGA.

Now. I know some people are sympathetic to the plight of those poor, ill-treated writers. I can't say that I am.

If a writer sells a script for a pilot,

under the WGA Agreement (which governs most television projects, as all of the major networks are guild signatories), union minimum (or 'scale') for such services is approximately $30,000 for a half hour script and $43,000 for a sixty-minute script. . . . Usually, the writer/creator will receive more than scale and pilot writing fees can range from $50,000 (for a relatively inexperienced writer) to $250,000 or higher for an A-level television writer (i.e., one who has already created at least one successful series).

Furthermore,

the WGA Agreement requires that the writer or writers accorded 'created by' credit on a series receive a royalty (or payment) for each episode of the series that is produced beyond the pilot. The current WGA required royalty for network prime-time programming is approximately $1,000 per episode. Subject to this minimum, the actual amount of the royalty payable to the series creator is negotiable and may be as high as $6,000 per episode for top guns. (information as per The Ins and Outs of TV Series Writer Deals)

And that's just for the pilot, regardless of whether or not it actually airs. A Salon article from 1997 throws out other figures.

The starting salary for a staff writer—an entry-level writing position—is generally $2,500 a week for 13 episodes. (Most episodes take two weeks to produce.) From staff writer, you move to story editor (still a junior position), then to assistant producer. . . .

Once writers make it to the level of producer, salaries tend to increase exponentially; they get paid a salary for each credit they earn on a show. Jerry Seinfeld, who is the executive producer (often the executive producer is the creator, or in this case, the co-creator, of the show), writer and star of "Seinfeld," gets paid essentially three salaries. Add to that the purchasing price of a single script (WGA minimum of $17,000) plus residuals for each repeat airing (usually 100 percent of purchasing price).

So excuse me if I don't shed too many tears over their plight.

And I have a hard time accepting some actor's solidarity for the plight of the writer considering that in 1997, most prime-time actors made between $7,500 and $25,000 per episode. I'm just not convinced that anyone deserves that much money for twenty minutes of work. (I know there's more time than that involved, but the end result . . .)

If the writers are so hard-pressed for cash and the actors feel their pain, perhaps they should consider throwing some of their wad the writers' way.

And that is why I am boycotting the Oscars this year.


(All that said, I'm not saying that the writers don't deserve appropriate compensation for their work, especially as far as new media are concerned. Just don't go on strike and expect me to feel sorry for you and your poverty.)

Across the Universe

Across the Universe
synopses from IMDB:

A dock worker Jude (Jim Sturgess) travels to America in the 1960s to find his estranged father. There he falls in love with sheltered American teenager Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). When her brother Max (Joe Anderson) is drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, they become involved in peace activism. The film title and main characters are named after various songs by The Beatles.

Musical based on The Beatles songbook and set in the 60s England and America. The love story of Lucy and Jude is intertwined with the anti-war movement and social protests of the 60s. The Beatles' songs are woven into the plot together with visual allusions to films Yellow Submarine (1968) and Let It Be (1970).

An original musical film, Across the Universe is a fictional love story set in the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, the struggle for free speech and civil rights, mind exploration and rock and roll. At once gritty, whimsical and highly theatrical, the story moves from high schools and universities in Massachusetts, Princeton and Ohio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Detroit riots, Vietnam and the dockyards of Liverpool. A combination of live action and animation, the film is paired with many songs by The Beatles that defined the time.

I really liked this movie. It's weird. Parts of it are a trip. It has a lot going on. And it seems to work, which I like. The story is rather sparse, but the music maintains the coherence and consistency. I really like how the Beatles' songs have been reworked and applied to this story; "Let It Be" as a gospel piece is phenomenal.

The political anti-war message is perhaps a bit strong, but that might be a good thing. I find it interesting that I left the movie actually wanting to know more about Vietnam; I'm left with the impression that we can't understand what's going on in Iraq now if we don't know or understand what happened in Vietnam.

I'm sure there's more to say, but I think I'm still processing the movie and my feelings about it.

Superbad

Let's just say that the title of this movie is an understatement.

A gross understatement.



In unrelated (yet oddly related) news, the drag show at the club last night is best represented by the following Happy Bunny:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
directed by David Yates

This weekend, after much prodding and cajoling by Absent and others who were aghast that I did not race to see this movie at the witching hour (if not sooner, because I could have seen it as early as 7:30 if I wanted to pay $25 for my ticket), I finally saw the film adaptation of Order of the Phoenix. Let's cut the suspense and just say that, as per usual, I was unimpressed with the movie, though I will not deny that it is better than the adaptation of Goblet (of course it's better than Stone or Chamber because, well, like that would require any work to be better than those monstrosities) but not quite as good as Azkaban. I had higher hopes for this film, considering that I'm not overly fond of this particular book because they decided to pretend that editors don't exist, making it far too large a tome, and I had hoped that this would mean they could actually whittle the story down to its appropriate size. But, alas, they followed suit and pretended that there was no such thing as an editor for the movie either, as clearly evidenced by the utter lack of transitions.

The high points:

• The casting for Tonks and Luna Lovegood was brilliant and spot on.
  
• The movie was only two and a half hours long.
  
• They cut out a good portion of Harry's foul temper and obnoxious whininess.
  
• Sirius had very little screentime. (The like-to-look-at-pretty-boys part of me was clearly sad, but seeing as how my dislike of the character is stronger than my love of the face playing the character, this weighs in as a high point.)

The low points:

• Need I actually say anything about the Escape from Privet Drive Via the Thames scene? I mean, really, people. I understand that this is clearly a more scenic route than the stay-above-the-clouds version of the book, but Harry has a hearing for performing magic in front of a muggle. I would think that a squadron of low-flying brooms would be worse.
  
• The color palette was really dull and boring. Granted, this enabled Umbridge's pink to stand out all the more, but still . . .
  
• The Ministry of Magic was grossly disappointing.
  
• I would like to say that the child actors' acting is improving, which I guess technically it is, but it was still rather painful at times. Especially Watson's.
  
• I've already commented on the horrendous thing they've called editing, but it must be mentioned again. Holy choppiness, Batman.

So, in the end, the movie turned out about as I expected, though a little on the disappointing side.

Fortunately, the seventh book comes out in 3 days, 3 hours, and 9 minutes. This will be a joyous way to atone for the wrongs Hollywood unleashed upon us last week.

Speaking of the happiness that is 3 days, 3 hours, and 8 minutes, Absent and I will be having a Harry Potter Sleepover. She has been feverishly slaving away at perfecting her butterbeer recipe and has been making chocolate frogs and other tasties. (Personally, I'm hoping for pumpkin pasties, but I will not press, seeing as how I have not volunteered to help with any of the food preparations, unless you take into consideration the sacrifices I'm going to make to make sure I'm at the bookstore when it opens Friday morning so I can pay for our books and get a bracelet with a sickeningly low number so that we can begin reading immediately at the stroke of midnight.) Anyway, if anyone would like to join us in sequestering ourselves from the world so as to not discover too early the fate of the world, please let me know. There are plenty of beds and reading lights.

Edgy scores 2007

50%

Not too shabby.

I got Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Makeup, Art Direction, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, and Animated Short Film.

By and large, I'm okay with most of the ones I didn't get. Well, except for Supporting Actress. And Costume Design. Oh, and Animated Feature. Enough with the penguins already; they're not that cute.

Edgy picks 2007

So here we are on the eve of the Oscars. As I think about it, I wonder why I obsess over the Oscars. I mean, I don't really care all that much about movies. But something with the Oscars compels me to spend February cramming in as many movies as I possibly can.

I think it goes back to the first Oscar party I went to a number of years ago. That was where I was introduced to the two-ballot system: one ballot for who will win and one ballot for who should win. As I recall, it was the year Moulin Rouge was up for awards. I say that because I remember some of the girls at the party getting indignant that it wasn't nominated for best original score, and we had a dilly of a time convincing them that none of the music was actually original, no matter how creatively it was used to help move the story. But since then, I've just wanted to be prepared for whatever party I attend, and that requires seeing lots of movies.

This is the first year that I'm not actually going to an Oscar party. Instead, we'll probably lounge on the couch and munch snacks. Absent's coming up. It'll be fun, especially because the three of us have seen a bucketload of the 58 nominated films. Personally, I'm at 27 (and if I really wanted, I could watch United 93 tonight to up that to 28, but I don't think I will). That's a personal best for me. Granted, it helps to discover a theater that plays all the shorts.

Anyway, here is my ballot and rationale for tomorrow. This year, I've chosen to rank the films within each category. If I haven't seen a film, it won't be ranked.

Picture

1. Little Miss Sunshine
   
2. The Departed
   
3. Letters from Iwo Jima
   
4. The Queen
   
5. Babel

After seeing all the films, I can't say there's a film that truly strikes me as the Best of the year. So I'm just going with my favorite. I will say that Letters and Departed and Queen were also quite good. Babel was boring as hell. You do not want to be watching the counter on the DVD player, yearning for the end of the 143 minutes you've subjected yourself to.

Director

1. Martin Scorsese for The Departed
   
2. Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima
   
3. Stephen Frears for The Queen
   
4. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Babel

• Paul Greengrass for United 93

I think what made Departed good was how all the elements were pulled together, and I attribute that to the director.

Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond
  
• Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson
  
• Peter O'Toole for Venus
  
• Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness
  
• Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland

I haven't seen any of these, but all the money is on Forest Whitaker.

Actress

1. Helen Mirren for The Queen
   
2. Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal
   
3. Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada
   
4. Penelope Cruz for Volver

• Kate Winslet for Little Children

I've had to go through mental gymnastics on this one. Mirren has won every other award this season; personally, I enjoyed Dench's and Streep's performances more. Dench was able to go wherever the emotion led, and she was brilliant (which is, of course, expected of her), and Streep was phenomenal with her facial acting (she doesn't need dialogue to be brilliant). But as I've considered it, you have to give Mirren props for injecting emotion and sympathy into a character who doesn't believe in any public display of emotion.

Supporting Actor

1. Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine
   
2. Mark Wahlberg for The Departed
   
3. Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls

• Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children
  
• Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond

I must confess that although I loved Arkin's performance, my primary love for him and desire for him to win stems from his behavior at the SAGs. When Sunshine won Best Ensemble (their equivalent of Best Picture), Breslin got to the mic and was preparing to ramble and said, "I don't know what to say." Arkin leaned down to her and told her, "Just say thank you." Then he heeded his own advice and just said, "Thank you." To me, that is a touch of class and elegance that has been sorely lacking from awards ceremonies for quite some time. Despite my feelings, most other sources give Murphy the win, which I guess I would be okay with, because it was a good performance, and you don't usually get those out of him.

Supporting Actress

1. Adriana Barraza for Babel
   
2. Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
   
3. Cate Blanchett for Notes on a Scandal
   
4. Rinko Kikuchi for Babel
   
5. Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine

Most money is on Hudson for this category; in reading news stories and internet gossip and what not, I don't think she was acting for this movie--she was just herself. My vote is for Barraza. Of all the characters in the boredom that was Babel, she was truly the only character you developed any form of sympathy for.

Foreign Language Film

1. Pan's Labyrinth

• After the Wedding
  
• Days of Glory
  
• The Lives of Others
  
• Water

Labyrinth really is an exquisite film. Loved it. Though I will say that I'm disappointed that Volver didn't get a nod in this category.

Cinematography

1. Pan's Labyrinth
   
2. The Prestige

• The Black Dahlia
  
• Children of Men
  
• The Illusionist

EW is putting its money in this category on Children. Having not seen that one, I'm still going to go with Labyrinth because it's just quite beautifully done. I think I've mentioned that already though.

Original Screenplay

1. Babel
   
2. Little Miss Sunshine
   
3. The Queen
   
4. Letters from Iwo Jima
   
5. Pan's Labyrinth

The one thing I will give Babel despite its boredom is the intriguing weaving of the story and the interconnectedness of everything.

Adapted Screenplay

1. The Departed
   
2. Notes on a Scandal

• Borat
  
• Children of Men
  
• Little Children

I don't get how a mostly improvised movie can be up for Adapted Screenplay. (Bear in mind that I didn't see Borat because I found myself rather turned of by the marketing and the concept.) Departed is so well put together in terms of movement and dialogue, even if the language has a tendency to be profane.

Documentary Feature

1. Jesus Camp
   
2. An Inconvenient Truth

• Deliver Us from Evil
  
• Iraq in Fragments
  
• My Country, My Country

I'm not sure if Camp was supposed to be humorous or chillingly scary; for me, it was both. To think that people like this exist . . .

Documentary Short Subject

• The Blood of Yingzhou District
  
• Recycled Life
  
• Rehearsing a Dream
  
• Two Hands

EW says that Hands will win this one.

Live Action Short Film

1. Helmer & Son
   
2. West bank Story
   
3. Binta y la Gran Idea
   
4. Eramos Pocos
   
5. Th Saviour

My gut reaction after seeing the shorts was to favor West Bank Story, a parody of Westside Story focusing on competing falafel stands in the West Bank. It's absolutely hilarious. But in letting the films settle in my psyche, I think I now favor Helmer & Son, even if you do have to see a naked old Norwegian man and a naked old Norwegian woman.

Film Editing

1. The Departed
   
2. Babel

• Blood Diamond
  
• Children of Men
  
• United 93

I think the end experience with Departed was cleaner. And I guess that my take on editing is that if the final project is BORING, you didn't edit enough out of it.

Makeup

1. Pan's Labyrinth

• Apocalypto
  
• Click

According to EW: "Did any Academy member see Click? Would any vote for Apocalypto? Chalk this one up for Pan's Labyrinth."

Art Direction

1. Pan's Labyrinth
   
2. Dreamgirls
   
3. The Prestige
   
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

• The Good Shepherd

EW considers this to be one of the tougher races because the top two contenders are equally beautiful but rather different. They went with Dreamgirls, whereas I'm going with Labyrinth.

Sound Mixing

1. Dreamgirls
   
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
   
3. Letters from Iwo Jima

• Apocalypto
  
• Blood Diamond

Tradition has it that this award goes to music-oriented films.

Sound Editing

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
   
2. Letters from Iwo Jima

• Apocalypto
  
• Blood Diamond
  
• Flags of Our Fathers

EW says that Letters and Flags will split votes, throwing the booty to Pirates.

Visual Effects

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
   
2. Superman Returns

• Poseidon

Is there even a contest with this one?

Costume Design

1. The Devil Wears Prada
   
2. Dreamgirls
   
3. The Queen

• Curse of the Golden Flower
  
• Marie Antoinette

The money for this one seems to be for Marie, considering that costumes is really the only thing that most people, including Absent, think is of any worth in this film. Personally, just the sequences in Prada where you see all the obsession with fashions--the introductory bit as the girls get dressed for work, the montage where Streep dumps her purse and coat on Hathaway's desk, and the post-fashion transformation of Hathaway--really should earn this one.

Original Score

1. Pan's Labyrinth
   
2. The Queen
   
3. Notes on a Scandal
   
4. Babel

• The Good German

I like my score to enhance the movie without drawing attention to itself; I think Labyrinth did the best with this.

Original Song

1. "Listen" from Dreamgirls
   
2. "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth
   
3. "Our Town" from Cars
   
4. "Patience" from Dreamgirls
   
5. "Love You I Do" from Dreamgirls

Personally, the only song deserving to be in this category is "Listen." I'm just hoping that having two other nominations from the same show doesn't split the vote.

Animated Feature

1. Cars
   
2. Happy Feet
   
3. Monster House

Cars is truly a gem, and its animation and storyboard are truly worthwhile. Feet is a message (after message after message after message) movie if ever there was one, even if the animation was delightful. Personally, House was okay, but I still think there were better animated films this past year.

Animated Short Film

1. The Danish Poet
   
2. Maestro
   
3. The Little Matchgirl
   
4. No Time for Nuts

• Lifted

Dec disagrees with me on this one. Personally, I loved the animation style of Poet. Dec thought it was amateurish; I thought it was reminiscent of picture book illustration. I also enjoyed it because it had the best story to accompany it. Maestro was cute, and I think it could actually take the award. EW is actually putting their money on Matchgirl, which I truly didn't like because I don't like them casting the story in turn-of-the-century Russia, especially if they're not going to take advantage of the rich Russian architecture to highlight the povery of the matchgirl.

shorts

We discovered that there's a lovely little movie theater in Salt Lake--the Tower--that is playing the shorts (both animated and live action). So we harassed Absent into coming up this evening and had a most enjoyable time.

Better yet, our Oscar Movie Melee count is now up to 25. (I'll update the list after I finish posting this.) That so rocks! And we can feasibly get in three more this week. Woo hoo!

Oh, and anyone who wants to watch the Oscars with us, just let me know.

Oscar wisdom frothing

We are doing rather well on our Oscar Movie Melee this year. We have done significantly better than Theric and are thus far tied with what we hit last year. Of course, Dec is looking forward to the Oscars if for no other reason than we'll finally get to go see something light-hearted and fluffy.

Anyway, here is my list of what we've seen so far, what we intend to see before the Oscars next weekend, what we might get around to seeing sometime, and everything else. (The parentheses indicate how many nominations that film has.)

[list updated 19 February 2007]

1. After the Wedding (1)
   
2. Apocalypto (3)
   
3. Babel (7)
   
4. Binta y La Gran Idea (1)
   
5. The Black Dahlia (1)
   
6. Blood Diamond (5)
   
7. The Blood of Yingzhou District (1)
   
8. Borat (1)
   
9. Cars (2)
   
10. Children of Men (3)
    
11. Click (1)
    
12. Curse of the Golden Flower (1)
    
13. The Danish Poet (1)
    
14. Days of Glory (1)
    
15. Deliver Us from Evil (1)
    
16. The Departed (5)
    
17. The Devil Wears Prada (2)
    
18. Dreamgirls (8)
    
19. Eramos Pocos (1)
    
20. Flags of Our Fathers (2)
    
21. The Good German (1)
    
22. The Good Shepherd (1)
    
23. Half Nelson (1)
    
24. Happy Feet (1)
    
25. Helmer & Son (1)
    
26. The Illusionist (1)
    
27. An Inconvenient Truth (2)
    
28. Iraq in Fragments (1)
    
29. Jesus Camp (1)
    
30. The Last King of Scotland (1)
    
31. Letters from Iwo Jima (4)
    
32. Lifted (1)
    
33. Little Children (3)
    
34. Little Miss Sunshine (4)
    
35. The Little Matchgirl (1)
    
36. The Lives of Others (1)
    
37. Maestro (1)
    
38. Marie Antoinette (1)
    
39. My Country, My Country (1)
    
40. Monster House (1)
    
41. No Time for Nuts (1)
    
42. Notes on a Scandal (4)
    
43. Pan's Labrynth (6)
    
44. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (4)
    
45. Poseidon (1)
    
46. The Prestige (2)
    
47. The Pursuit of Happyness (1)
    
48. The Queen (6)
    
49. Recycled Life (1)
    
50. Rehearsing a Dream (1)
    
51. The Saviour (1)
    
52. Superman Returns (1)
    
53. Two Hands (1)
    
54. United 93 (2)
    
55. Venus (1)
    
56. Volver (1)
    
57. Water (1)
    
58. West Bank Story (1)

priorities

Now that the Oscar nominees have been announced (see below), I can prioritize my movie watching for the next month. (Again, those I've already seen--all 8 of them--are indicated in red.)

1. Babel (7)
   
2. The Departed (5)
   
3. Letters from Iwo Jima (4)
   
4. Little Miss Sunshine (4)
   
5. The Queen (6)
   
6. United 93 (2)
   
7. Volver (1)
   
8. Notes on a Scandal (4)
   
9. The Devil Wears Prada (2)
   
10. Little Children (3)
    
11. Blood Diamond (5)
    
12. Half Nelson (1)
    
13. Venus (1)
    
14. The Pursuit of Happyness (1)
    
15. The Last King of Scotland (1)
    
16. Pan's Labrynth (6)
    
17. Borat (1)
    
18. Children of Men (3)
    
19. Cars (2)
    
20. Happy Feet (1)
    
21. Monster House (1)
    
22. Dreamgirls (8)
    
23. The Good Shepherd (1)
    
24. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (4)
    
25. The Prestige (2)
    
26. Deliver Us from Evil (1)
    
27. An Inconvenient Truth (2)
    
28. Iraq in Fragments (1)
    
29. Jesus Camp (1)
    
30. The Black Dahlia (1)
    
31. The Illusionist (1)
    
32. Curse of the Golden Flower (1)
    
33. Marie Antoinette (1)
    
34. My Country, My Country (1)
    
35. After the Wedding (1)
    
36. Days of Glory (1)
    
37. The Lives of Others (1)
    
38. Water (1)
    
39. The Blood of Yingzhou District (1)
    
40. Recycled Life (1)
    
41. Rehearsing a Dream (1)
    
42. Two Hands (1)
    
43. The Good German (1)
    
44. The Danish Poet (1)
    
45. Lifted (1)
    
46. The Little Matchgirl (1)
    
47. Maestro (1)
    
48. No Time for Nuts (1)
    
49. Binta y La Gran Idea (1)
    
50. Eramos Pocos (1)
    
51. Helmer & Son (1)
    
52. The Saviour (1)
    
53. West Bank Story (1)
    
54. Poseidon (1)
    
55. Superman Returns (1)
    
56. Apocalypto (3)
    
57. Flags of Our Fathers (2)
    
58. Click (1)

Category Nominations (listed in order of personal viewing priority)
Best Motion Picture of the Year

• Babel
  
• The Departed
  
• Letters from Iwo Jima
  
• Little Miss Sunshine
  
• The Queen

Achievement in Directing

• Babel
  
• The Departed
  
• Letters from Iwo Jima
  
• The Queen
  
• United 93

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

• Penelope Cruz in Volver
  
• Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal
  
• Helen Mirren in The Queen
  
• Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada
  
• Kate Winslet in Little Children

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

• Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond
  
• Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
  
• Peter O'Toole in Venus
  
• Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness
  
• Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland

Original Screenplay

• Babel
  
• Letters from Iwo Jima
  
• Little Miss Sunshine
  
• Pan's Labrynth
  
• The Queen

Adapted Screenplay

• Borat
  
• Children of Men
  
• The Departed
  
• Little Children
  
• Notes on a Scandal

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

• Cars
  
• Happy Feet
  
• Monster House

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

• Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine
  
• Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children
  
• Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond
  
• Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls
  
• Mark Wahlberg in The Departed

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

• Adriana Barraza in Babel
  
• Cate Blanchett in Notes on a Scandal
  
• Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine
  
• Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls
  
• Rinko Kikuchi in Babel

Best Documentary Feature

• Deliver Us from Evil
  
• An Inconvenient Truth
  
• Iraq in Fragments
  
• Jesus Camp
  
• My Country, My Country

Achievement in Art Direction

• Dreamgirls
  
• The Good Shepherd
  
• Pan's Labryinth
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  
• The Prestige

Achievement in Cinematography

• The Black Dahlia
  
• Children of Men
  
• The Illusionist
  
• Pan's Labrynth
  
• The Prestige

Achievement in Costume Design

• Curse of the Golden Flower
  
• The Devil Wears Prada
  
• Dreamgirls
  
• Marie Antoinette
  
• The Queen

Achievement in Film Editing

• Babel
  
• Blood Diamond
  
• Children of Men
  
• The Departed
  
• United 93

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

• After the Wedding
  
• Days of Glory
  
• The Lives of Others
  
• Pan's Labrynth
  
• Water

Best Documentary Short Subject

• The Blood of Yingzhou District
  
• Recycled Life
  
• Rehearsing a Dream
  
• Two Hands

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

• Babel
  
• The Good German
  
• Notes on a Scandal
  
• Pan's Labrynth
  
• The Queen

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

• "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth
  
• "Listen" from Dreamgirls
  
• "Love You I Do" from Dreamgirls
  
• "Our Town" from Cars
  
• "Patience" from Dreamgirls

Best Animated Short Film

• The Danish Poet
  
• Lifted
  
• The Little Matchgirl
  
• Maestro
  
• No Time for Nuts

Best Live Action Short Film

• Binta y La Gran Idea
  
• Eramos Pocos
  
• Helmer & Son
  
• The Saviour
  
• West Bank Story

Achievement in Visual Effects

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  
• Poseidon
  
• Superman Returns

Achievement in Sound Editing

• Apocalypto
  
• Blood Diamond
  
• Flags of Our Fathers
  
• Letters from Iwo Jima
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Achievement in Makeup

• Apocalypto
  
• Click
  
• Pan's Labrynth

Achievement in Sound Mixing

• Apocalypto
  
• Blood Diamond
  
• Dreamgirls
  
• Flags of Our Fathers
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

best. movie. ever.

I'm starting to have doubts concerning Dec's kids' discernment of movies. During each of their last three visits, we've gone to see a movie. And invariably, as we've left the theater, Princess (though it could be Tomboy, considering I can't tell the twins apart unless I'm looking at them) has announced that we have just seen the Best. Movie. Ever.

This weekend's movie was Arthur and the Invisibles. It was an enjoyable movie, with a pleasant meshing of live action and animation. Of course, what will be most memorable about this movie was that at 9 at night, Dec and I decided it would be fun to take the kids to a movie. So we bundled them up, threw them in the car, and headed off to Hollywood Connection to catch the 9:40 showing. Then, after the movie, we dragged the kids to Denny's instead of letting them go home to bed, like they wanted. Heaps o' fun.

Arthur replaced Night at the Museum as the Best. Movie. Ever. Museum was also an enjoyable movie, though I felt it was a bit long for having minimal plot and slow development.

Museum replaced Eragon as the Best. Movie. Ever. Now, I will say that it's a good thing Eragon was replaced as the Best. Movie. Ever. because it was most certainly not the Best. Movie. Ever.

Perhaps my feelings on this are directly related to some bias on my part. Eragon has been sitting on my nighstand for. ev. er. because Dragonboy really, really, really wants me to read it. I have been resisting. I try to do things for the kids, because they don't ask for a lot; however, this is one of those requests I doubt I'll ever be able to fulfill. I read a good number of books, but I just can't bring myself to read a book whose soul marketing campaign is Look! A Fifteen Year Old Wrote a Book. Especially when nearly all the reviews I've come across have indicated that this is merely a fifth-rate knockoff of The Lord of the Rings. I find this especially irksome when I know a number of writers who truly deserve to be published yet aren't, all because some stupid marketing department knows they can pitch a fifteen-year-old hack job.

All of this is compounded when said fifth-rate piece of work is optioned to film. And not just any film. Nooooo. It becomes a tenth-rate knockoff of Jackson's trilogy. Even Columbus's butchering of the first two Harry Potters was better than this.

So maybe the kids' discernment isn't so bad after all. At least they're recognizing improving quality in the movies we take them to see.

a prelude

Seeing as how we are now merely days away from discovering how well I did on Theric's reindeer games, I thought it would be good to post one final Oscar guessing. You know, because the Oscars matter.

Primarily I wish to post EW's predictions. Films I've already seen are listed in red.

Best Picture

• Babel
  
• The Departed
  
• Dreamgirls
  
• Little Miss Sunshine
  
• The Queen

Best Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed
  
• Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
  
• Peter O'Toole in Venus
  
• Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness
  
• Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland

Best Actress

• Penelope Cruz in Volver
  
• Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal
  
• Helen Mirren in The Queen
  
• Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada
  
• Kate Winslet in Little Children

Best Supporting Actor

• Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine
  
• Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children
  
• Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamon
  
• Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls
  
• Jack Nicholson in The Departed

Best Supporting Actress

• Adriana Barraza in Babel
  
• Cate Blanchett in Notes on a Scandal
  
• Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine
  
• Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls
  
• Rinko Kikuchi in Babel

Best Director

• Bill Condon for Dreamgirls
  
• Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima
  
• Stephen Frears for The Queen
  
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Babel
  
• Martin Scorsese for The Departed

Best Original Screenplay

• Babel
  
• Letters from Iwo Jima
  
• Little Miss Sunshine
  
• Pan's Labrynth
  
• The Queen

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Children of Men
  
• The Departed
  
• Little Children
  
• Notes on a Scandal
  
• Thank You for Smoking

In addition to their predictions, they also list the 25 must-see movies before Oscar night.

1. The Departed
   
2. Dreamgirls
   
3. Babel
   
4. The Queen
   
5. Letters from Iwo Jima
   
6. Little Miss Sunshine
   
7. United 93
   
8. Little Children
   
9. Notes on a Scandal
   
10. Flags of Our Fathers
    
11. The Last King of Scotland
    
12. The Devil Wears Prada
    
13. Borat
    
14. Blood Diamond
    
15. Volver
    
16. The Pursuit of Happyness
    
17. Venus
    
18. Children of Men
    
19. Pan's Labrynth
    
20. Half Nelson
    
21. Thank You for Smoking
    
22. The Painted Veil
    
23. Stranger Than Fiction
    
24. Hollywoodland
    
25. For Your Consideration

As you can tell from the lack of red in this post, I have some serious movie viewing to get in.

and so it begins

Apparently, due to my success last year, the gauntlet has been thrown down.

Have at it. I'm always up for playing others' reindeer games.

Labor Day weekend labors

Higher-level thinking
The problem with working for family is that family kinda sorta expects you to work whenever. Which makes me happy that the gym is closed today. Of course, that didn't stop me from having to go up to the gym on Saturday. One of our front desk staff hasn't quite caught the grasp of higher-level--well, even mid-level, for that matter--thinking. So, on a weekend, she let somebody buy $4 worth of stuff with a $100 bill. And then she wondered why there was no change left in the till. I guess it's a good thing the Momma likes her or she might be a bit unemployed at the moment.

"Because Mad Cow was already taken . . ."
It's a rather quirky, relatively plot-free movie, but I enjoyed A Prairie Home Companion. The cast is pretty phenomenal. Kevin Kline has been better, but I love Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep together. And Virginia Madsen was really quite good also. I do like her (as far as I'm concerned, she and Sandra Oh were the only redeemable features of Sideways).

Little LA
After Dec and his crew finished tearing down their last reception for the weekend. We all went out to Denny's wear they sat us in a booth that was a row so we couldn't even talk to each other. When we left, we learned that apparently the Denny's on Fifth becomes Little LA at two in the morning on Saturday nights. At least now we know where to find Utah's diversity. Oh, and we also know where to go if we want to do some drive-by pot. If we got high standing outside, ten feet away from the truck as it drove by at 10 mph, I wonder what was happening to the guys inside.

Book reviews on backorder
It occurs to me that I have read quite a number of books over the last few months that I haven't gotten around to reviewing. *sigh* So much work, but you, my four loyal readers, deserve my thoughts and opinions on these books (listed in reverse order):

• Fablehaven
  
• The Da Vinci Code
  
• The Sledding Hill
  
• The Opal Deception
  
• The Sea of Monsters
  
• The Lightning Thief
  
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
  
• Fly on the Wall
  
• Born to Rock
  
• Between Mom and Jo

I hope to get going on those reviews today.

Computer cleanup
I've had my new computer for nearly two years now. So this weekend, I finally cleaned off all my old files from my laptop. Which means I can now give it to Dec. Oh, and I can check that little task off my To Do list.

Blog party
Everyone's doing it. You should too.

on Pirates

• I finally saw it a couple night's ago. It was enjoyable, even if it was fluff. But, oh, the eye candy.
  
• I wish I were a pirate. Well, mostly I wish I could get away with wearing Will's wardrobe. Maybe I know what Hallowe'en is going to be this year . . .
  
• Elizabeth is a hussy.
  
• What was up with the witch's here, there, and everywhere (or not) accent?
  
• Charles Gibson must be important. During the huge mass of names during the credits, his was inserted there in the middle with tons of white space (or should I say black space?) surrounding it.
  
• Speaking of names, holy CGI team, Batman. But they were good. Loved Davy Jones's crew.
  
• Sword fights on a wheel . . . cool.
  
• Soundtracks rock.

character misidentification

Last week, Dec and I went to see The Devil Wears Prada. Dec loved it. Our friends loved it. I did not love it. I actually found that I really didn't like it. This was disappointing to me considering that Meryl Streep was brilliant (as always) and that Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt were great supporting players. Anne Hathaway was, well, Anne Hathaway, neither good nor bad. Much of the dialogue was really quite good. The cinematography wasn't all that bad either.

So if nothing was bad, why should I really, really dislike this movie? As I thought about it, I realized that I didn't like this movie because of character misidentification. As an audience, we were supposed to identify with and cheer for Hathaway's character. She's the naive, young girl who has to change who she is to fit in, only to realize that she shouldn't change because everyone else is just evil. When she walks off at the end of the movie and abandons her job responsibilities, we're supposed to be happy. After all, good has supposedly conquered evil.

You see, this movie is the story of an outsider who kinda sorta just falls into the magazine publishing world. She doesn't like it, so she decides to change it. And we're supposed to praise her for her efforts to buck the system. It makes me wonder who she thinks she is.

Publishing, in booth books and magazines, is very much an apprenticeship world. There are norms that are followed, regardless of how obnoxious they appear to be. You enter the publishing world as an assistant. Your job is to get coffee and answer phones and do whatever it takes to make your boss happy. Masochistic? Yes, of course. And, as I understand it, magazines are far worse than books. (When I was at NYU, one of our speakers in the book section told us that if you want to work in magazines, particularly at the fashion magazine center of the world that is Conde Nast--which he referred to as Conde Nasty--you have to be skinny as a rail, wear all black, smoke a pack a day, and say f*** a lot.) I made more in college working on campus than what an editorial assistant at a magazine could expect to earn. But your reward in book and magazine publishing in the end is your knowledge of how the business works and your list of contacts. Publishing is a small world, and everyone knows everyone.

So when I watched this movie, I found myself rather upset that Sachs had no issue making and exploiting contacts (such as her one at the New Yorker). She had no problem using Priestley's skills. And you can't deny that Priestley wasn't good at what she did--she knew how to get a fat magazine out every month, on time; she knew how to get the best out of her people; and, yes, she knew how to preserve herself and her job. Had it not been for Priestley, Sachs wouldn't have been able to pull off some of the feats she did.

In the end, I think Sachs was the real devil who wears Prada.

X-3

If When you go see this movie, make sure you stay for the final scene at the end of the credits.

Then return here and discuss: So what are the ethics?

love film

So, remember the fun we had when we tried to Exercise Our Music Muscle? Well, now the fun is back, but with films. Same rules apply this time as last (meaning that any you point out in the comments, I'll credit you with on the post update), though there are a lot more for you to find since I've only given this a cursory glance as a temporary break in the middle of a long weekend.

1. Beetlejuice
   
2. A Clockwork Orange
   
3. Crash
   
4. Dances with Wolves
   
5. Four Weddings and a Funeral
   
6. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
   
7. Mona Lisa Smiles
   
8. The Money Pit
   
9. Napoleon Dynamite
   
10. Phone Booth
    
11. The Pink Panther
    
12. The Ring
    
13. The Scorpion King
    
14. Shark Tale
    
15. Stealth (or is it B-52?)
    
16. Toy Soldiers

from Weed:

17. Anaconda
    
18. Puff the Magic Dragon
    
19. The Thirteenth Floor
    
20. Toy Story

from Absent:

21. Big Fish
    
22. Broken Arrow
    
23. The Fly
    
24. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
    
25. Saw II
    
26. The Seventh Sign

another from Absent:

27. Bad Santa

and still more from Absent (because she's addicted to my reindeer games):

28. 12 Monkeys
    
29. Airplane
    
30. American Graffiti
    
31. Anchor Man
    
32. Barb Wire
    
33. The Birds
    
34. Blazing Saddles
    
35. Casino
    
36. Cocktail
    
37. The Crow
    
38. Domino
    
39. Dragonfly
    
40. Dragonslayer
    
41. Flipper
    
42. Footloose
    
43. Ghost
    
44. Goldeneye
    
45. Green Card
    
46. Holes
    
47. Jackass
    
48. Man on the Moon
    
49. Mannequin
    
50. The Mask of Zorro
    
51. One Hour Photo
    
52. The Pacifier
    
53. Red Eye
    
54. Snake Eyes
    
55. Taxi
    
56. Twister
    
57. Two Smoking Barrells Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

from Rachel:

58. Castle in the Sky
    
59. Pete's Dragon

from Mandi:

60. Boomerang
    
61. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
    
62. Darkroom
    
63. Green Eggs and Ham
    
64. The Hills Have Eyes
    
65. The Red Balloon
    
66. Swordfish
    
67. Titanic
    
68. XXX

69. Bend It Like Beckham
    
70. Hook

from Th.:

71. Casino Royale
    
72. Jungle Book
    
73. Red Dragon
    
74. Zulu

from Lady Steed:

75. Bird on a Wire
    
76. Black Hole
    
77. Chocolat
    
78. Dog Day Afternoon
    
79. Easy Rider
    
80. The Rock
    
81. Se7en
    
82. Tears of the Sun

more from Th.:

83. 21 Grams
    
84. Bullitt
    
85. Chicken Run
    
86. Chopper
    
87. The Eagle Has Landed
    
88. Layer Cake
    
89. The Matador
    
90. The Raven
    
91. Revolver
    
92. The Thin Red Line
    
93. Volcano
    
94. Thirteen

nominations and commentary

Now that the Academy Awards are within spitting distance, I think it's time to reconcile with the fact that I will only see fourteen of the fifty-four nominated films. But that's okay. I think I'm ready for Sunday's party. And it will be fun. Heaps o' food. Heaps o' good people. Heaps o' ballots and prizes. (Speaking of, I realize I'm the fat kid on the playground and all, but surely others want to play my reindeer games.)

Anyway, I'm now going to reveal to you my choices for the awards. I'm also indicating which nominees have one previous awards this season. Enjoy the party.

key:
GG -- Golden Globes (Generally considered the strongest predictor in the major categories. The acting awards are divided into Drama recipients and Comedy and Musical recipients)
BAFTA -- British Academy of Film & Television Arts (Basically the British Oscars.)
SAG -- Screen Actors Guild, Drama
EW -- Entertainment Weekly pick
movies I've seen
my pick

BEST PICTURE

• Brokeback Mountain -- GG, BAFTA, EW
  
• Capote
  
• Crash
  
• Good Night, and Good Luck
  
• Munich

Most everyone is predicting Brokeback for a win with this one. For starters, there are the traditions: the film that wins the Golden Globe wins the Oscar (18 of the last 22 years); the film with the most nominations typically walks home with the Best Picture (19 of the last 22 years). Also, according to EW, "no film that has won the Producers, Directors, and Writers Guild awards has ever lost the night's biggest race." And it really is very well done. Good Night was perhaps my favorite film of the lot, and Crash was the one that will remain with me the longest and challenge me, but Brokeback is the one that seemed to give me the whole package--acting, screenplay, cinematography, soundtrack. It feels most like a Best Picture.

DIRECTOR

• Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain -- GG, BAFTA, EW
  
• Bennett Miller, Capote
  
• Paul Haggis, Crash
  
• George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
  
• Steven Spielberg, Munich

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote -- GG-D, BAFTA, SAG, EW
  
• Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
  
• Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
  
• Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line -- GG-C&M
  
• David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
  
• Felicity Huffman, Transamerica -- GG-D
  
• Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
  
• Charlize Theron, North Country
  
• Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line -- GG-C&M, BAFTA, SAG, EW

This is the first major category where I expect I will likely be disappointed in the outcome. Huffman is phenomenal. She creates a character who you truly feel for. I won't be upset when Witherspoon walks home with the prize--she did manage to steal the movie right out from under Phoenix's feet. Still . . .

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• George Clooney, Syriana -- GG, EW
  
• Matt Dillon, Crash
  
• Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man -- SAG
  
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain -- BAFTA
  
• William Hurt, A History of Violence

Okay, I know I'm not going to get this one, but I'm voting for Dillon anyway. The entire cast of Crash was good, but he gave me more of the facial acting that I like. The critics seem to be torn between Giamatti, who they seem to think deserves the award, and Clooney, who they think will get to take it home as a consolation prize for not winning any of the other awards he's up for.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Amy Adams, Junebug
  
• Catherine Keener, Capote
  
• Frances McDormand, North Country
  
• Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener -- GG, SAG, EW
  
• Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain

I want more than anything for Williams to get this one. I've wanted it since I saw her facial expression in the movie when she sees her husband kissing another man. Facial acting. Oh. My. But she's not going to get it. Everyone says it's going to Weisz, who managed to make her character important even after she died.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash -- BAFTA, EW
  
• George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck
  
• Woody Allen, Match Point
  
• Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale
  
• Stephen Gaghan, Syriana

Once you see Crash, you wonder how it can't walk away with Original Screenplay. The story is just too tight and compelling.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain -- GG, BAFTA, EW
  
• Dan Futterman, Capote
  
• Jeffrey Caine, The Constant Gardener
  
• Josh Olsen, A History of Violence
  
• Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, Munich

After seeing this movie, I was impressed with what they could do with a short story originally published in a magazine.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Don't Tell (Italy)
  
• Joyeux Noel (France)
  
• Paradise Now (Palestine) -- GG
  
• Sophie Scholl (Germany)
  
• Tsotsi (South Africa) -- EW

ANIMATED FEATURE

• Howl's Moving Castle
  
• Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
  
• Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit -- BAFTA, EW

ORIGINAL SCORE

• Gustavo Santaolalla, Brokeback Mountain
  
• Alberto Iglesias, The Constant Gardener
  
• John Williams, Memoirs of a Geisha -- EW
  
• John Williams, Munich
  
• Dario Marianelli, Pride & Prejudice

The general consensus is that Williams is going to walk away with this one for Memoirs. Personally, I think he should take it for Munich. When I look at a score, I want it to convey emotion and feeling without the picture. But it has to be able to do this without detracting from the film and drawing attention to itself. I have all these soundtracks on my iPod (except Gardener, which isn't available through iTunes), and Munich is the only one that feels something. Of course, I wonder about this category. I think it could also go to Santaolalla just because Williams is up for two awards, and that is traditionally the best way to make sure you don't walk home with an award because your votes get split.

ORIGINAL SONG

• "In the Deep" from Crash -- EW
  
• "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow
  
• "Travelin' Thru" from Transamerica

True, I love my Dolly, and so I'm terribly biased in this category. "In the Deep" is a haunting song, but "Travelin' Through" is more moving, especially if you listen to the lyrics.

ART DIRECTION

• Jim Bissell and Jan Pascale, Good Night, and Good Luck
  
• Stuart Craig and Stephenie McMillan, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  
• Grant Major, Dan Hennah and Simon Bright, King Kong
  
• John Myhre and Gretchen Rau, Memoirs of a Geisha -- EW
  
• Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, Pride & Prejudice

Good Night is a fine-crafted film, but it's black and white, which is why EW says Memoirs will have no trouble trumping it.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Wally Pfister, Batman Begins
  
• Rodrigo Prieto, Brokeback Mountain -- EW
  
• Robert Elswit, Good Night, and Good Luck
  
• Dion Beebe, Memoirs of a Geisha -- BAFTA
  
• Emmanuel Lubezki, The New World

If you want to see just a beautiful film, see Memoirs. I don't remember much about it now except the exquisite beauty of it.

COSTUME DESIGN

• Gabriella Pescucci, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  
• Colleen Atwood, Memoirs of a Geisha -- BAFTA, EW
  
• Sandy Powell, Mrs. Henderson Presents
  
• Jacqueline Durran, Pride & Prejudice
  
• Arianne Phillips, Walk the Line

MAKEUP

• Howard Berger and Tami Lane, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -- BAFTA, EW
  
• David Leroy and Lance Anderson, Cinderella Man
  
• Dave Elsey and Annette Miles, Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Darwin's Nightmare
  
• Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
  
• March of the Penguins -- EW
  
• Murderball
  
• Street Fight

I think this could be an interesting result. Penguins grossed big bucks, but Murderball is supposedly a superior documentary.

SOUND MIXING

• Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  
• Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek, King Kong
  
• Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett, Memoirs of a Geisha
  
• Paul Massey, D. M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland, Walk the Line -- BAFTA, EW
  
• Andy Nelson, Anne Behlmer and Ronald Judkins, War of the Worlds

EW chose Walk the Line because Ray, which was also heavy on the songs, walked away with this award last year.

SOUND EDITING

• Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn, King Kong -- EW
  
• Wylie Stateman, Memoirs of a Geisha
  
• Richard King, War of the Worlds

VISUAL EFFECTS

• Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  
• Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor, King Kong -- BAFTA, EW
  
• Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick, War of the Worlds

FILM EDITING

• Mike Hill and Dan Hanley, Cinderella Man
  
• Claire Simpson, The Constant Gardener -- BAFTA
  
• Hughes Winborne, Crash -- EW
  
• Michael Kahn, Munich
  
• Michael McCusker, Walk the Line

A tight screenplay requires tight editing. So cool how everything fit together.

SHORT FILM --– ANIMATED

• Badgered
  
• The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
  
• The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
  
• 9 -- EW
  
• One Man Band

SHORT FILM --– LIVE ACTION

• Ausreisser (The Runaway)
  
• Cashback
  
• The Last Farm
  
• Our Time Is Up -- EW
  
• Six Shooter

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

• The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club -- EW
  
• God Sleeps in Rwanda
  
• The Mushroom Club
  
• A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin

Oscar wisdom frothing

Because Th. threw down the gauntlet . . .

1-Seen it
2-Desperate to
3-Want to
4-Not interested enough to bother
5-Truly uninterested
6-This is a film?

6-AUSREISSER (THE RUNAWAY)

6-BADGERED

1-BATMAN BEGINS

1-BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

1-CAPOTE

6-CASHBACK

1-CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

1-THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

4-CINDERELLA MAN

4-THE CONSTANT GARDENER

1-CRASH

6-DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE

6-THE DEATH OF KEVIN CARTER: CASUALTY OF THE BANG BANG CLUB

6-DON'T TELL

5-ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM

6-GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA

1-GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

1-HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE

5-A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

4-HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

5-HUSTLE & FLOW

3-JOYEUX NOEL

6-JUNEBUG

5-KING KONG

6-THE LAST FARM

3-MARCH OF THE PENGUINS

4-MATCH POINT

1-MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

4-THE MOON AND THE SON: AN IMAGINED CONVERSATION

2-MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS

1-MUNICH

2-MURDERBALL

6-THE MUSHROOM CLUB

6-THE MYSTERIOUS GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORATIONS OF JASPER MORELLO

5-THE NEW WORLD

6-9

6-NORTH COUNTRY

6-A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN

4-ONE MAN BAND

6-OUR TIME IS UP

6-PARADISE NOW

3-PRIDE & PREJUDICE

6-SIX SHOOTER

6-SOPHIE SCHOLL - THE FINAL DAYS

5-THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

1-STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

6-STREET FIGHT

4-SYRIANA

1-TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE

1-TRANSAMERICA

6-TSOTSI

1-WALK THE LINE

2-WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

5-WAR OF THE WORLDS

Brief reviews of the 1s:

Batman Begins: Nice redemption of the franchise (even if I really did like the other ones).

Brokeback Mountain: Good film, excellent adaptation of the short story, not necessarily worth all the hype.

Capote: Compelling, but a bit slow at times.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Depp's druggie Willie Wonka is far superior to Wilder's childmolesterr Willie Wonka.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Hate the books, love the movie.

Crash: Powerful movie about racism, very well edited.

Good Night, and Good Luck: Probably my favorite movie of the year.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Good synthesis of the elements I liked from the Columbos (who I generally didn't like) and Cuaron (who I loved) iterations of the franchise.

Memoirs of a Geisha: Aesthetically beautiful.

Munich: Graphically violent. To the extreme. Color me curled into the fetal position through the entire movie.

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith: Thank goodness that's finally over.

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride: Not his best work.

Transamerica: Felicity Huffman is brilliant.

Walk the Line: As Lisa Schwarzbaum states in this week's Entertainment Weekly, "Witherspoon . . . creates a June Carter so vivacious that she convinced me that Walk the Line is about the woman behind the man behind the legend--not the legend himself." Aside from that, if this film weren't a biopic, then it would be amazingly boring with no real plot.

Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Not bad. And I'll knock off Crash Walk the Line tonight and (hopefully) Walk the Line tomorrow night.