The Oscars

Once thing that surprises some people who know me is that despite my interest in and knowledge of movies I'm really bad at predicting Oscar winners.

So I'm not going to predict winners but I thought I'd mention some nominations I thought were surprising and who I think should win.

Nominations list here.
Best Picture-I haven't seen Letters From Iwo Jima so I can't say for sure but my choice of the others would be The Departed. I thought Little Miss Sunshine was a surprise nomination.

Best Actor - I was quite surprised to see Ryan Gosling get nominated. Half Nelson didn't make a big splash and it was out ages ago. I'm surprised voters remembered it. I haven't seen all the films so I can't say for sure but I would vote for Ryan.

Best Actress - one unusual thing is Penelope Cruz was nominated for a role in a non-english movie. I think Helen Mirren has a lock on it. She did a great job of making the viewer believe she was the Queen.

Best Supporting Actor. The big surprise here was Mark Wahlberg. His part in the movie wasn't even that big. I'd vote for Alan Arkin.

Best Supporting Actress- this is a tough one, I would vote for either Adriana Barraza or Abigail Breslin.

Best Director- Even without seeing it I think I'd vote for Clint Eastwood. Normally I'd vote for Scorsese but I really didn't think Departed was his best work. He should have got it for Goodfellas.

Best Screenplay, written for the screen- Pan's labyrinth is unusual here again since it's not in english. I would think it would be hard to evaluate a screenplay when it's translated. Of the ones I've seen I would go for Babel, it had a intricate and interesting story.

Best Screenplay adapted from another source- The big surprise here is Borat. Not only is it a comedy but it's hard to tell which parts were scripted and which were ambush bits. I'd vote for Children of Men.

Best Makeup - How the heck did Click get nominated???! There was some standard old age makeup and that's about it. From the stills I've seen Pan's labyrinth should win.

Best Special Effects- Poseidon sucked as a movie but did have amazing special effects so it's a bit of a surprise nomination. I'm a big fan of Superman Returns which I thought did a great job of creating a world and then destroying parts of it.

Best Animated feature. - I though Monster House was the most original but I think Cars will get it.

Best Foreign film.- Water is a nice choice since it's Canadian and a really good movie.

Best documentary- An Inconvenient Truth is the only one I've seen but it will probably win since it is the most widely known and has had a real effect on people.

Anyone who disagrees with me feel free to post.