Oscars!

OK, so, the Oscars were last night. I was happy with the majority of the awards, but then there were some that just didn't make sense to me.

Anyway, here are my opinions on most of them:

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Winner: Crash (2004) - Paul Haggis; Cathy Schulman
OK, Good movie, I loved how beautifully it was shot and the performances were great. But the way scenes were constructed, character motivation and dialogue was pretty over the top. True, the overkill was to prove a point, but it was too forced for me to appreciate it enough to make it my pick for best film. "Capote" should have won.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: Capote (2005) - Philip Seymour Hoffman
NO COMPLAINTS HERE! He did a nearly flawless Capote impersonation and was very strong and moving in this role.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Winner: Walk the Line (2005) - Reese Witherspoon
Eh, she was OK, not Oscar worthy in my opinion. Her performance wasn't especially memorable, but I haven't seen any of the other nominees films, so I can't be a great judge of who the winner should have been.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner: Syriana (2005) - George Clooney
He gave the most intense and memorable performance of the year. And in a film with so many characters, he stood out the most and brought a lot of weight to that role. Much deserved.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner: Constant Gardener, The (2005) - Rachel Weisz
I knew she'd win a lot of awards this year right after I'd seen the film. She was wonderful.

Best Achievement in Directing
Winner: Brokeback Mountain (2005) - Ang Lee
Haven't seen it, but I respect Ang Lee and know most of his films are beautifully directed, so there's no doubt in my mind that he was deserving.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Winner: Crash (2004) - Paul Haggis; Robert Moresco
SEE ABOVE regarding dialogue and overkill, "Good Night and Good Luck" should have won.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Winner: Brokeback Mountain (2005) - Larry McMurtry; Diana Ossana
Again, haven't seen it, but the hype this movie has received and the reviews for how strong the material is are definitely a result of great writing.

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) - Dion Beebe
If anything, I hear the cinematography is the ONLY impressive feature of this film. "The New World" was my pick, "Good Night & Good Luck" made a close second.

Best Achievement in Sound
Winner: King Kong (2005) - Christopher Boyes (I); Michael Semanick; Michael Hedges (I); Hammond Peek
I was glad to see King Kong get most of the tech awards, nuff said.

Best Achievement in Editing
Winner: Crash (2004) - Hughes Winborne
What?! Why? There wasn't anything special in its editing. "Munich" or "Constant Gardener" should have been the biggest candidates for this award.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Winner: King Kong (2005) - Mike Hopkins (I); Ethan Van der Ryn
SEE ABOVE

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Winner: King Kong (2005) - Joe Letteri; Brian Van't Hul; Christian Rivers; Richard Taylor (III)
Star Wars Episode III should have been the winner here...but of the nominees, King Kong was my favorite as far as actually creating believeable characters in special effects and also creating a nearly seamless reality. "Narnia" should NOT have been nominated.

Best Achievement in Makeup
Winner: Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The (2005) - Howard Berger; Tami Lane
Again, Star Wars should have won simply for the burnt Anakin makeup.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Winner: Hustle & Flow (2005) - Jordan Houston; Cedric Coleman; Paul Beauregard
- For the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp".
What!? It's not even a good hip hop song at that! It must have been a joke. This song won for the same reason Schwarzeneggar won the election, everyone just thought it would be funny to vote for it.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Winner: Brokeback Mountain (2005) - Gustavo Santaolalla
Seriously, after hearing that riff from the trailer, who COULDN'T get that theme music out their head?

Best Short Film, Animated
Winner: Moon and the Son, The (2005) - John Canemaker; Peggy Stern
Haven't seen it...and who has? I saw one of the nominees at least, "9", it was really cool. Expect a feature length version in a year or two.

Best Short Film, Live Action
Winner: Six Shooter (2005) - Martin McDonagh
I want to go see the shorts, wanna come with?

Best Documentary, Features
Winner: March of the Penguins (2005) - Luc Jacquet; Yves Darondeau
OF COURSE IT WAS GONNA WIN! It's the only one that there were actually TV commercials for!

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Winner: Tsotsi (2005) - South Africa.
OK, so I'm pissed that France's "Cache (Hidden)" wasn't nominated...but ah well. I really wanna see Tsotsi though.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Winner: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) - Steve Box; Nick Park
I'm really happy that it won. Corpse Bride was good, but it had some story flaws.

That's it! If you agree, disagree or just wanna discuss, feel free to comment :)