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Patrick's Take On the 2007 Oscar Race!

If you don't wish to know my thoughts on every nomination, look away now. By the way, these are my official predictions. So Kristyn, you have a record if you want to kick my ass later if I get all of these wrong ;)

All nominees are in italics, with my predicted winner in bold.

Best Actor:

Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland.

I chose Leo for a few reasons. Really, it's going to come down between him, Peter O'Toole and Will Smith. I don't think Smith will get it, purely because I think he needs a few more films under his belt before the Academy awards an award over to him. Mind you, he was nominated for Ali a few years back, so they've already noticed him. And what with Leo's performance in both The Departed and the Blood Diamond, I think the academy are going to be FORCED to provide him with an award.

Supporting Actor:

Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children
Djimon Hounsou - Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg - The Departed


Sort of the same logic going on here. I really do think the Oscars will be about Scorsese this year, and they're going to honour his work in any way possible. I fully expect to see Wahlberg accept the award

Best Actress:

Penelope Cruz - Volver
Judi Dench - Notes On A Scandal
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet - Little Children

Pft, who wouldn't call this one.

Supporting Actress:

Adriana Barraza - Babel OR
Cate Blanchett - Notes On A Scandel
Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel


It won't get best picture, but I think they'll scoop up a few of the awards on the way.

Animated Feature:

Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House



As much as I want Happy Feet to win, I think Cars will get it because Happy Feet came too late, and...I really don't think the Academy will go for it. The last musical I think they awarded was Chicago, and even that was a stretch.

Art Direction:

Dreamgirls
The Good Shepherd
Pan's Labyrinth
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The Prestige



I was QUITE surprised The Prestige got a nod for this and not best adapted screenplay. But hey, that's how things role. I don't think Dreamgirls will get the award here, nor Pirates, purely because we've seen it been done before. Perhaps not as well, but we've seen it. Pan however, broke new ground into fairy tales and all that, and as such, requires a LOT of imagination. I think the Academy will award it

Cinematography:

The Black Dahlia
Children of Men
The Illusionist
Pan's Labyrinth
The Prestige

I just want to say that I am very, VERY hesitant about making this prediction, as I feel the strength of the Prestige lay in its editing and not its cinematography. While it was stunning, I can't help but wonder if the Academy will go for it...but it's strong enough to deserve a mention, so I think it might JUST scrape in.

Costume Design:

Curse of the Golden Flower
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Marie Antionette
The Queen

This wasn't such an easy pick, because I actually think Dreamgirls might get this if The Queen doesn't, but re-creating a period of ten years ago isn't as easy as it looks/sounds, and I always think the Academy appreciates a challenge.

Directing:

Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
The Queen
Flight 93

It's a shame they didn't give him one for The Age of Innocence or Casino, or even Gangs of New York, but I think Scorsese will finally walk away with the statue. HOWEVER, Flight 93 might take it away as well. This is America, after all.

I'm skipping the documentary, short documentary, short film-animated and short film-live action sections because of my lack of knowledge.

Film Editing:

Babel
Blood Diamond
Children of Men
The Departed
Flight 93



EXTREMELY TICKED OFF The Prestige didn't get a nod. However, Flight 93's shaky documentary style I think will capture the voters.

Foreign Language Film:

After The Wedding
Days of Glory
The Lives of Others
Pan's Labyrinth
Water

Easy pick.

Makeup:

Apocalypto
Click
Pan's Labyrinth

After Mel's outburst? I think not.

Skipping original score and original song.

Best Picture:

Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Honestly? It's between The Queen and the Departed, really. They won't go for an independent film, or another one from Clint so soon after Million Dollar Baby. I'm going to have to go with The Departed here.

Sound Editing:

Apocolypto
Blood Diamond
Flags of Our Fathers
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Hard to pick, but I think Blood Diamond will walk away with it. Same for Sound Mixing

Visual Effects:

Dead Man's Chest
Poseidon
Superman Returns

Easy pick. Won last time, I think...if not, will definitely win here.

Screenplay - Adapted

Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes On a Scandal


Scooping up as many as it can

Screenplay - Original

Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen


I was ALMOST going for The Queen, but I know the Academy likes its fairy tales, and they like them well done. So I'm going for Pan again here.

And we'll see if I'm right come Feb. 25th.

I like Billy Joel.

I made a very large post a couple of days ago, but things happened and the short of it is I have to spend time saying what I did then, plus the news I have now.

I quit my job. I found out they weren't paying me legally, that is, not enough, and I brought it to them and they said they couldn't afford to pay me minimum wage. Well, fair enough, but I quit, I said. It's okay, I already have a new job and I start Monday :)

I went to a Magic: The Gathering card tournament. And I LOST each of my 4 rounds. I was really ticked off. Not in the sense of I hate losing, because I honestly couldn't care. But when you've lost every game in every tournament you've been to, surely I've got to scrape a win in there somewhere.

I'm going to a LAN tomorrow.

And I'm sick at the moment, so I'm going to leave it there. Peace out.

There's a scene in the "The Holiday", (a charming film, by the way), in which Kate Winslet and her friend are talking about box-office records. Her friend, a retired screenwriter from Hollywood's golden age, comments that in his day, there were 9 movies in a month rather than nine in a day, and the box-office records were not released like baseball scores.

Now, don't get me wrong, I accept that now, film-making has become a business and has become riddled with corporations. Whatever. I don't like it, nor agree with it, but that's the way it is. But I reject the idea that films nowadays have to take a certain amount of money before they are labeled a success.

Films, now, cost a ridiculous amount of money. I mean, it's just stupid. And what a lot of people don't realise is that a film has to take back more than double its production cost to actually turn a profit. There are salaries to consider, marketing costs to produce, etc. But I mean, come on. Millions and millions of dollars are going into producing these films. It's becoming impossible for a blockbuster to become a hit, because in order to, it has to take a ridiculous amount of money in return!

Look at the top three grossing films of all time: (Forgive me if these aren't correct. They are by my knowledge).

1. Titanic (Cameron, 1997) [U.S.A.]
2. The Return of the King (Jackson, 2003) [N.Z.]
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Verbinski, 2006) [U.S.A.]

These films cost MILLIONS of dollars, so I don't even know HOW they got their money back. Save Titanic...that just went on for months and months. I was...10 or 11 when that came out. I remember seeing at the cinema. Twice, I think. And THAT'S just it. Titanic was one of those films were it was like "Man, Titanic was great, let's go see it again." It was the ultimate date movie, not that I participated in any during the time of its release.

Sorry, I'm rambling, but here's my point: Box-office scores are hugely over exaggerated in terms of importance. A film's merit should be judged on the final product, not the amount of money put into it.

And with that, I'm going to watch Chicago.

This makes me chuckle.

It's a shame when you earn a few hundred dollars in a week, only to see that same money be paid back to get you out of debt. I earned 270-something dollars last week, and yet I have 30 dollars to my name. Being a poor uni student is FUN!

In other news, I watched "Good Night and Good Luck" last night. I don't want to write a full review here, but I liked it. A little too short for me, though, but hey, Clooney's boss.

And I sit here, wondering how on earth I'm going to finance three days off of 30 dollars.

I wish school would start sooner.

I am horrible at updating.

One shall come this afternoon, after The Long Day At Work That Shall Kill Me.

2006

I'd like to refrain from the overly sentimental junk that occurs at the start or closing of the year, but I'll try and keep it as honest as possible.

2006 both sucked and was great. I just want to go over a few things that I think are the most important lessons I've learned.

Don't believe things because you're told to...

Seriously. If there's one thing I've learned at university, it's that you need to think for yourself, or you will never get anywhere in life. If you want to be an independent man/woman you need to grow up and think for yourself. Make decisions because YOU want to make them, not because someone else tells you to. Make sure what you are doing is what you really, truly, want to do.

Friends are often the most important things you'll have in your life...

Don't underestimate the importance of friendship. For the maybe, 3 of you reading this, if you're still in high school, make sure the friends you have are the friends you really want, because when you leave high school it changes everything. I speak to only a handful of the people from school because, frankly, they are my real friends. And most importantly, choose your friends wisely. If you have no one you can call after a messy break-up to just hang out and talk...get out more and find someone. Because you never know when you'll need them.

Find a cure for depression...

If you're depressed, don't make it worse by sitting at home for weeks and doing nothing. Get up and find something to do to keep your mind busy. Don't let depression consume you.

God does exist, and He is in control of absolutely everything...

It's my blog, I can say what I want :) God exists, and cares, whether you believe in Him or not. My 2006 was a testimony to the very existence of God. He provides. Always.

RMIT University administration facilities are lacking in both coherency and common sense...

...really nothing else to say.

Don't be worried about whatever the next few months brings...

Seriously. Just take each day as it comes. Prepare for tomorrow, but don't worry about it. Don't stress out about the things that are entirely out of your control.

And finally, the one lesson that has impacted me most out of 2006:

The world, despite hurt, pain, sin and grief, is a beautiful place. Enjoy every breath, because your next isn't guaranteed. Hopefully, after you embrace this, you'll be able to do everything you've ever wanted to do but haven't had the courage, time, patience or commitment for.

Happy 2007.