Blog

To be frank, I felt much more confident about last year’s picks. But I think that’ll make this year more fun. Once again, we start with some categories that, no matter what the year, I’m pretty much making it up as I go.

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

The Danish Poet
Lifted
The Little Matchgirl
Maestro
No Time for Nuts

Will Win: The Little Matchgirl
Should Win: Lifted

Though this category is completely random, I’ve noticed a slightly moody trend of late, and the closest one to that is The Little Matchgirl, with its subdued hues and quiet, pretty, sad (and kind of dull) story.

I’ve only seen 22 seconds of Lifted, but it’s already funnier (and better) than what I’ve seen of the other (admittedly strong) contenders here. That’s Pixar for ya.

Check out the Oscar animation showcase here.

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

Binta and the Great Idea
Eramos Pocos
Helmer & Son
The Saviour
West Bank Story

Will Win: West Bank Story
Should Win: West Bank Story

As usual, I have no freakin’ clue how the Academy makes their decisions here. I just think that if I got a ballot and hadn’t seen any of these films, I’d vote for the one with the coolest title.

Having seen at least the trailer for this flick (and bits and pieces of the others - thank you YouTube/iFilm) I can tell you that the premise is just as enticing as the title. From the synopsis, “A musical comedy set in the fast-paced, fast-food world of competing falafel stands on the West Bank.” I’m sold.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

The Blood of Yingzhou District
Recycled Life
Rehearsing a Dream
Two Hands

Will Win: Two Hands
Should Win: The Blood of Yingzhou District

Normally, I’d say go for the most heartwrenching, serious flick on the list, but the Academy confounded me last year by picking what appeared to be the least disturbing of the bunch. So, this year, I’m going with the personal triumph story, propped up by the fact that it’s co-directed by Nathaniel Kahn, a feature doc nominee in 2003 for My Architect.

If you’ve seen my top ten, you know I was all about the heartwrenching tragedy in ‘06, plus I don’t think at this point you can really have too many films about AIDS as a global crisis, so a doc about kids in China being shunned for having the disease pretty much fits the bill.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Deliver Us From Evil
An Inconvenient Truth
Iraq in Fragments
Jesus Camp
My Country, My Country

Will Win: An Inconvenient Truth
Should Win: Jesus Camp

The box office and critics circles agree, An Inconvenient Truth is the doc of the year. Being the third higest grossing doc of all time and winning 19 critics circle awards separates this from the pack by about a mile. The Nobel Peace Prize nod for Gore doesn’t hurt.

The only film I’ve seen here is An Inconvenient Truth. It’s a good doc, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not a great doc. Given the passionate response I’ve heard from viewers of Jesus Camp, I’m guessing it’s even more compelling. For my money, Why We Fight was the best doc of the year.

SOUND EDITING

Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
Flags of Our Fathers
Letters From Iwo Jima
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Will Win: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Should Win: Letters From Iwo Jima

Once again, I’ll go through my horrendously oversimplified explanation of the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. This year, I’ll try to do it with one word each. Sound Editing: Post-production. Sound Mixing: Production. Sound plausible?

This award often goes to your Pearl Harbors or your Matrixes so I feel comfortable calling it for the sixth highest-grossing film of all time.

For me, the best post sound had to come from Pan’s Labrynth or Children of Men, but since those aren’t available, I’ll give it to Letters, which has the most memorable use of sound of any of these. It’s one scene in particular, and I won’t go into specifics in case you’re eating or something, but suffice it to say it’s the only scene in any of these where I remember the sound as well as the image. (For those of you who have seen it, think of things that go boom in a cave.)

SOUND MIXING

Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
Dreamgirls
Flags of Our Fathers
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Will Win: Dreamgirls
Should Win: Dreamgirls

This usually goes to a Best Picture winner, or at least nominee. Since none of those are available, we’ll go with what everyone thought would be a Best Picture winner or nominee. Also, in the last four years, musicals have won twice (if you count Ray as a musical, which you probably shouldn’t).

Out of all the movies here, Dreamgirls is the only one in which I remember sound playing a prominent role (and that’s probably the logic most Academy members will use, hence my prediction).

In our next installment: It’s about time somebody got an award for making Gong Li’s boobs “pop.”