Oscar Picks

78th Annual Academy Awards - Our Picks

I've received feedback from people asking what our Oscar ballot looks like. I don't profess to be an expert - I leave the prognosticating to the Tom O'Neil's of the world - but to satisfy those requests, here are my picks. Some are based on previous wins, some from newly felt momentum, a few are simply wishful thinking, the rest are based on nothing but gut instinct. We'll print the actual winners after they are revealed tonight.

Update 8:30 p.m. - "my winners" are noted in red. And I'm proud to have correctly predicted 16 of 24 categories : > )

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
"Crash" Paul Haggis, Cathy Schulman, producers

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Dillon, "Crash"
(award went to George Clooney for "Syriana")

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" Nick Park, Steve Box

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
"Memoirs of a Geisha" John Myhre (art direction); Gretchen Rau (set decoration)

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Good Night, and Good Luck" Robert Elswit
(award went to Dion Beebe for "Memoirs of a Geisha")

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
"Memoirs of a Geisha" Colleen Atwood

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"March of the Penguins" Luc Jacquet, Yves Darondeau

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club" Dan Krauss
(winners Corinne Marrinan, Eric Simonson for "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin")

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
"Crash" Hughes Winborne

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Joyeux Noël" (France)
(award went to Gavin Wood for "Tsotsi" (South Africa))

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" Howard Berger, Tami Lane

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (Original Score)
"Brokeback Mountain" Gustavo Santaolalla

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (Original Song)
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," music and lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, Paul Beauregard

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"One Man Band" Andrew Jimenez, Mark Andrews
(winners John Canemaker, Peggy Stern for "The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation")

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Ausreisser (The Runaway)" Ulrike Grote
(award went to Martin McDonagh for "Six Shooter")

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
"War of the Worlds" Richard King
(winners Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn for "King Kong")

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
"King Kong" Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
"King Kong" Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, Richard Taylor

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"Capote" - screenplay by Dan Futterman
(winners Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana for "Brokeback Mountain")

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Crash" - screenplay by Paul Haggis, Bobby Moresco; story by Paul Haggis 

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