2005 Anonymous Awards

As the Academy Awards are sure to disappoint me, I figured I’d use my non-existent power here at the Sobering Conclusion to say what I think. So here are my picks for the best performances of the year. I’ve only included categories that I thought really made an impression on me and listed first the winner and then the runners up. There is no particular order for the non-winners. If you felt I left something out or if you see the light and agree, feel free to post your thoughts.

BEST PICTURE: A History of Violence
Capote
Junebug
Mysterious Skin
Tsotsi

DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg (A History of Violence)
Peter Jackson (King Kong)
Bennett Miller (Capote)
Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
Neil Jordan (Breakfast on Pluto)

ACTOR: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Mysterious Skin)
Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence)
Ralph Fiennes (The Constant Gardener)
Hugo Weaving (Little Fish)

ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)
Cate Blanchett (Little Fish)
Naomi Watts (King Kong)
Maria Bello (A History of Violence)
Embeth Davitz (Junebug)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Ken Watanabe (Memoirs of a Geisha)
Jeffrey Wright (Syriana)
Steve Coogan (Happy Endings)
Matt Dillon (Crash)
Liam Neeson (Breakfast on Pluto)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams (Junebug)
Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha)
Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia …)
Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)
Melissa Leo (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Angus MacLachlan (Junebug)
Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers)
Guillermo Arriaga (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada)
George Clooney & Grant Heslov (Good Night and Good Luck)
Mark Spragg & Virginia Korus Spragg (An Unfinished Life)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Dan Futterman (screenplay), Gerald Clark (novel) – (Capote)
Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana (screenplay), Annie Proulx (short story) – (Brokeback Mountain)
Gregg Araki (screenplay), Scott Heim (novel) – (Mysterious Skin)
Josh Olson (screenplay), John Wagner & Vince Locke (graphic novel) – (A History of Violence)
Robin Swicord (screenplay), Arthur Golden (novel) – (Memoirs of a Geisha)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: This is a copout category. If the film is good, the film is good. Hence "Tsotsi" made my top 5 of the year. No need to separate them because of sub-titles.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Rodrigo Prieto (Brokeback Mountain)
Roger Deakins (Jarhead)
Oliver Stapleton (An Unfinished Life)
Janusz Kaminski (Munich)
Chris Menges (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada)

SCORE: John Williams (Munich)
Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain)
Harry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia …)
John Williams (Memoirs of a Geisha)
Alexandre Desplat (Casanova)

FILM EDITING: Claire Simpson (The Constant Gardener)
Jamie Selkirk (King Kong)
Ronald Sanders (A History of Violence)
Walter Murch (Jarhead)
Christopher Tellefsen (Capote)

ART DIRECTION: Patrick M. Sullivan Jr. & Tomas Voth (Memoirs of a Geisha)
Jules Cook, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy & Jeffrey Thorp (The Chronicles of Narnia …)
Susanna Codognato, Robert Guerra & Luca Tranchino (Casanova)
Jeanette Scott (Sin City)

COSTUME DESIGN: Colleen Atwood (Memoirs of a Geisha)
Jenny Beavan (Casanova)
Jacqueline Durran (Pride & Prejudice)

SOUND: King Kong
Jarhead
Star Wars: Episode III
The War of the Worlds

MAKEUP: Memoirs of a Geisha
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

VISUAL EFFECTS: King Kong
Star Wars: Episode III
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Chronicles of Narnia …
The War of the Worlds

DOCUMENTARY: Murderball
Grizzly Man
The Aristocrats

ANIMATED FILM: Hoodwinked
No others worth mentioning.

SONG: “Can’t Take It In” by Imogen Heap – (The Chronicles of Narnia …)

BEST USE OF AN OSCAR WINNER:
Stealth

WORST USE OF MULTIPLE OSCAR WINNERS:
Aeon Flux

WORST USE OF A COUNTRY LEGEND:
The Dukes of Hazzard

MOST DESERVING OF MY PHONE NUMBER:
Anne Hathaway

MOST BRAINWASHED ACTRESS:
Katie Holmes

MOST DESERVING OF A PUNCH TO THE MOUTH:
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Match Point)

FILMMAKER MOST DESERVING DEPORTATION:
George Lucas

ACTRESS MOST IN NEED OF A CUPCAKE:
Lindsay Lohan