Craig's MovieBlog

The Oscars Already?

Movie City News has posted a Pre-Season, Pre-Toronto, Pre-Oscar Preview, and only Clint Eastwood's Flags of our Fathers received a vote from every analyst.  Dreamgirls missed on just one ballot.

Here's the top 10... in August, for what it's worth:

1. Flags of our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Paul Haggis and William Broyles Jr.
2. Dreamgirls, directed by Bill Condon, based on the Broadway show, starring Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, and Beyonce Knowles
3. The Good German, directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Paul Attanasio, starring George Clooney (of course) and Cate Blanchett
4. Babel, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett (again)
5. World Trade Center, directed by Oliver Stone, starring Nicolas Cage
6. The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese, remake of Infernal Affairs, starring everyone: Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, etc...
7. All the King's Men, directed by Steven Zaillan, starring everyone else: Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo, James Gandolfini, Patricia Clarkson, etc...
8. A Good Year, directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe and Albert Finney
9. United 93, directed by Paul Greengrass - the only film on the list already released
10. The Queen, directed by Stephen Frears, starring Helen Mirren

Oscars 2006

It's November 7th, 2005, and it's very possible that we have not seen a single film that will be nominated for Best Picture.  Sure, there's been Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, A History of Violence, Crash, Jarhead, and Cinderella Man, but there's a good chance that none of those will hit their mark, and all five nominees will come from the remaining pool of movies that haven't yet been released (and there are only 8 weekends left in 2005) to qualify.

Frankly, I think this sucks.  We end up with crappy movies all year long, then the studios cram everything into November and December, but if those films don't get the boost of a nomination, they're gone... dead on the vine.  Good luck seeing them in a theater versus Blockbuster.

Anyway, here's a piece in the New York Daily News from Jack Mathews about the movies to come this year.  Also, I'm including Jack's top 10 hopefuls:

1. Munich, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Eric Bana
2. Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal
3. Memoirs of a Geisha, directed by Rob Marshall, starring Ziyi Zhang and Ken Watanabe
4. The New World, directed by Terrence Malick, starring Colin Farrell
5. The Producers, directed by Susan Stroman, starring Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, and Will Ferrell
6. Mrs. Henderson Presents, directed by Stephen Frears, starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins
7. Walk the Line, directed by James Mangold, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon
8. King Kong, directed by Peter Jackson, starring Adrien Brody, Jack Black, and Naomi Watts
9. Syriana, directed by Stephen Gaghan, starring George Clooney and Matt Damon
10. Match Point, directed by Woody Allen, starring Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers