Well the Oscars didn't turn out the way I had thought/hoped...

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
WINNER
Philip Seymour Hoffman - "Capote"

OTHER NOMINEES
Terrence Howard - "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger - "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix - "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn - "Good Night, and Good Luck"

MY PICK: PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN .... Okay, so this one turned out alright...

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
WINNER
George Clooney - "Syriana"

OTHER NOMINEES
Matt Dillon - "Crash"
Paul Giamatti - "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal - "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt - "A History of Violence"

MY PICK: PAUL GIAMATI - "CINDERELLA MAN"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

WINNER
Reese Witherspoon - "Walk the Line"

OTHER NOMINEES
Dame Judi Dench - "Mrs Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman - "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley - "Pride and Prejudice"
Charlize Theron - "North Country"

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

WINNER:
Rachel Weisz - "The Constant Gardener"

OTHER NOMINEES
Amy Adams - "Junebug"
Catherine Keener - "Capote"
Frances McDormand - "North Country"
Michelle Williams - "Brokeback Mountain"

MY PICK: CATHERINE KEENER - "CAPOTE" ... For the record Rachel Weisz REALLY bugs me...

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
WINNER
"Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"

OTHER NOMINEES
"Howl's Moving Castle"
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"

MY PICK: "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"

ART DIRECTION:

WINNER
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau

OTHER NOMINEES
"Good Night, and Good Luck" - Art Direction: Jim Bissell, Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" - Art Direction: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"King Kong" - Art Direction: Grant Major, Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
"Pride and Prejudice" - Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

MY PICK: "Memoirs of a Geisha" - Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
WINNER
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Dion Beebe

OTHER NOMINEES
"Batman Begins" - Wally Pfister
"Brokeback Mountain" - Rodrigo Prieto
"Good Night, and Good Luck" - Robert Elswit
"The New World" - Emmanuel Lubezki

MY PICK: ANYTHING BUT 'GEISHA' AND 'NEW WORLD'

COSTUME DESIGN:

WINNER
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Colleen Atwood

OTHER NOMINEES
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Gabriella Pescucci
"Mrs Henderson Presents" - Sandy Powell
"Pride and Prejudice" - Jacqueline Durran
"Walk the Line" - Arianne Phillips

MY PICK: Memoirs of a Geisha

DIRECTING:

WINNER:
"Brokeback Mountain" - Ang Lee

OTHER NOMINEES
"Capote" - Bennett Miller
"Crash" - Paul Haggis
"Good Night, and Good Luck" - George Clooney
"Munich" - Steven Spielberg

MY PICK: Not Ang Lee... I don't know why, but I really didn't think he should win it...

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

WINNER
"March of the Penquins"

OTHER NOMINATIONS
"Darwin's Nightmare"
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"
"Murderball"
"Street Fight"

MY PICK: 'Penguins" deserved every ounce of that award.

FILM EDITING:

WINNER
"Crash" - Hughes Winborne

OTHER NOMINEES
"Cinderella Man" - Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"The Constant Gardener" - Claire Simpson
"Munich" - Michael Kahn
"Walk the Line" - Michael McCusker

MY PICK: "Cinderella Man" - Mike Hill and Dan Hanley

MAKEUP:

WINNER
"The Chronicles of Narnia" - Howard Berger and Tami Lane

OTHER NOMINEES
"Cinderella Man" - David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
"Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" - Dave Elsey and Annette Miles

MY PICK: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"

MUSIC (SCORE):

WINNER
"Brokeback Mountain" - Gustavo Santaolalla

OTHER NOMINEES
"The Constant Gardener" - Alberto Iglesias
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - John Williams
"Munich" - John Williams
"Pride and Prejudice" - Dario Marianelli

MY PICK: Brokeback deserved it, but I wouldn't have been disappointed with either of the John Williams nominations.

MUSIC (SONG):

WINNER
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - "Hustle & Flow"

OTHER (more deserving) NOMINEES
"In the Deep" - "Crash"
"Travelin Thru" - "Transamerica"

MY PICK: To me this was the biggest upset. "In the Deep" totally deserved that oscar, and I would have settled for a Dolly Parton Oscar, but my heart sank when Queen Latifa shouted out that the winner was a song about how life is hard for a pimp.

BEST PICTURE:

WINNER
"Crash"

OTHER NOMINEES
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Munich"

MY PICK: Capote

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED):

WINNER
"The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation"

OTHER NOMINEES
"Badgered"
"The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello"
"9"
"One Man Band"

MY PICK: "9"

SOUND EDITING:

WINNER
"King Kong" - Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn

OTHER NOMINEES
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Wylie Stateman
"War of the Worlds" - Richard King

MY PICK: War of the Worlds

SOUND MIXING:

WINNER
"King Kong" - Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek

OTHER NOMINEES
"The Chronicles of Narnia" - Terry Porter, Dean A Zupancic and Tony Johnson
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Kevin O'Connell, Greg P Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
"Walk the Line" - Paul Massey, DM Hemphill and Peter F Kurland
"War of the Worlds" - Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

MY PICK: "Walk the Line"

VISUAL EFFECTS:

WINNER
"King Kong" - Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor

OTHER NOMINEES
"The Chronicles of Narnia" - Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney, and Scott Farrar
"War of the Worlds"- Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick

MY PICK: King Kong

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY):

WINNER
"Brokeback Mountain"

OTHER NOMINEES
"Capote"
"The Constant Gardener"
"A History of Violence"
"Munich"

MY PICK: Brokeback Mountain / Capote

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY):

WINNER
"Crash"

OTHER NOMINEES
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Match Point"
"The Squid and the Whale"
"Syriana"

MY PICK: Crash...

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