Damn. I can't believe Paul Giamatti was left out of the Best Actor category when Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen got nominated. Not that those two weren't good, but Giamatti's performance was even better. I guess they had a lot of strong contenders for the Best Actor statue this year. Of the flicks with noms for Best Actor, I've only seen Finding Neverland and Hotel Rwanda.

I've got some movies to see in the next six weeks--I haven't seen ANY of these!

Is it time for the "which award will Jamie Foxx win?" game?

Damn. I can't believe Paul Giamatti was left out of the Best Actor category

I know, me neither. As much as I love Johnny Depp, he doesn't belong on that list this year.

If he wins one, it'll be Best Actor.

Thomas Haden Church - SIDEWAYS

I'm so glad to see this, because he was my big surprise of the film. I had never liked him in anything before, not even Wings, and I was shocked by how good he was in Sideways, and how much I liked him.

And I sought out the spoiler for MDB, and having read it, I'm disinclined to see the movie.

I think they're going to give Jamie Foxx best actor. I can't compare his performance to the others, because I haven't seen them, but the award so often goes to the actor playing the character with the greatest handicap. (Aviator ends before Hughes gets really crazy, right?)

My other predictions would be Clive Owen for supporting actor, Bening for actress (because Swank's career is too new for her to win a second Oscar, Winslet's movie came out in April, and nobody's heard of the other two) , Portman for supporting actress (the ingenue award), The Incredibles for best animated, Scorcese of direction, and the Aviator for best picture. But I wouldn't put money on any of these except Foxx, at least not yet.

I didn't think Foxx was a sure thing for Actor, since he doesn't so much have a body of work behind him. My thought was Foxx would win supporting and Depp would win Actor for Pirates of the Carribbean Finding Neverland.

I haven't seen any of the movies, really.

I could see Depp getting a "Here's a safe, well-done Depp role to vote for, even though what we really liked him in was PotC but all the other critics will laugh and laugh if we give him an Oscar for that" best actor award.

Or I could just be channelling, well, me.

From what I've read of the various Oscar odds, I think Lyra Jane is right on the money. Best picture might go to Million Dollar Baby, though, due to both its own strengths, as well as the "well, Eastwood didn't get it last year for Mystic River, so since he produced an equally good movie this year, it's definitely his turn" factor. I think that Bening also has the same factor for going up against Swank again--the voters will give it to her this year, especially since another young actress got the Best Actress award last year.