Posted on 03/05/2006 3:24:29 AM PST by albyjimc2
HOLLYWOOD (AFP) - Tension reached fever pitch as Hollywood began the final countdown to Sunday's Oscars, with a posse of "serious" films, led by "Brokeback Mountain," set to overrun the big night.
As workers frantically put the finishing touches on preparations for the 78th annual Academy Awards, which start with the legendary red carpet celebrity fashion show, the anxious nominees are crossing their fingers.
In a year laden with small-budget movies packing weighty political or social messages, Taiwan director Ang Lee's film about gay cowboys is the frontrunner for the top awards, including best picture and best director.
"We're almost there and I think 'Brokeback' is still leading the race," said veteran Hollywood Reporter online columnist Marty Grove.
But the aching story of two macho farmhands who fall in love despite themselves and pursue an unfulfilled 20-year romance faces a last-minute challenge from a dark horse, Paul Haggis's racial drama "Crash."
"The buzz is that the threat to 'Brokeback' from 'Crash' is now very real," awards expert Tom O'Neil of the website theEnvelope.com said of the tiny independent movie that may crash Ang Lee's party.
"'Brokeback' has a passionate following, but you also have 'Capote' and 'Transamerica' this year and they may have created a gay fatigue," he told AFP.
But like other pundits, O'Neil is still betting that the offbeat Western which has swept Hollywood's awards season and led the Oscars race from the start will still rope in five statuettes Sunday.
It rides into the Oscars armed with a leading eight nominations, including best picture, director, best actor for Australia's Heath Ledger and best supporting role nods for Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Williams.
The movie faces off against the six-times nominated "Crash," about a group of ethnically diverse people whose lives collide in a Los Angeles car accident, and George Clooney's political drama Good Night, and Good Luck," which is also up for six awards.
Also competing for best picture are "Munich" -- Steven Spielberg's epic about the aftermath of the Palestinian massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics -- and "Capote," about US author Truman Capote, both of which are up for five Oscars.
"Capote" star Philip Seymour Hoffman is widely favoured to win the best actor Oscar for his staggering title role in Bennett Miller's biopic, facing off against the Australian star of "Brokeback," Heath Ledger, 26.
Also vying for the award is Joaquin Phoenix, who played country star Johnny Cash in the biopic "Walk the Line," nominated for five Oscars, David Strathairn, for his role as newsman Ed Murrow in "Good Night," and Terrence Howard for "Hustle and Flow."
"The Oscars upsets almost always happen in the supporting actor categories, so we may see the jaw-dropper of the evening be Jake or Michelle winning for 'Brokeback,'" O'Neil said.
Most pundits predict that Briton Rachel Weisz will win the women's award for her role as an activist fighting the pharmaceutical industry in Kenya in "The Constant Gardner," with Williams -- Heath Ledger's real-life fiancee -- trailing for her portrayal of his cuckolded wife in "Brokeback."
Also competing for best supporting actress are Frances McDormand for "North Country," Amy Adams for "Junebug" and Catherine Keener, who played writer Harper Lee in "Capote."
Heartthrob Clooney is tipped to beat out Gyllenhaal and win best supporting actor for his role as a CIA spy in the oil industry thriller "Syriana."
Clooney, who is up for three Oscars, also faces competition from Paul Giammati for "Cinderella Man," Matt Dillon for "Crash," and William Hurt for "A History of Violence."
Facing off against frontrunner Ang Lee for best director are "Capote's" Miller, Haggis for "Crash," Clooney as director of "Good Night," and Spielberg for "Munich," the only big-budget film in the major categories.
The politically outspoken Clooney is also nominated for his best original screenplay for "Good Night," the story of newsman Ed Murrow's crusade against the repression of the US and-Communist witch hunt of the 1950s.
The political current running through this year's Oscars is further stoked by the Palestinian best foreign language film contender "Paradise Now," about two friends who become suicide bombers, a nomination that infuriated many Israelis.
It competes against France's World War I story "Joyeux Noel," Italy's story of sex abuse, "Don't Tell," Germany's "Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days" and South Africa's crime drama "Tsotsi," by Gavin Hood.
"Oscar has gone very serious this year," Grove said of the nominees. "In the past, the Oscars were only about great filmmaking and entertainment, but now its about passing on an important message."
And that message is, "We now deliberately make movies that only 5% of America, tops, would pay to see." Nice strategery, Einstein.
I'm not sure the sheep were left unmolested...
I know some human parents who could learn a lot from those penguins.
The moldy msm has really been pushing this perverted Oscar ceremony. And to make it seem as though there is a horse race when the votes were all cast weeks ago tells us they think the public is really stupid.
REVENGE OF THE SITH. No STAR WARS movie EVER won a major Oscar, and SITH made MORE money than all the nominees combined.
Will this year's stautes be pink, lavender, or if Looney wins one, red?
This stupid movie is about gay "shepherds", not about gay cowboys.
If we'd all start talking about the shepherds being gay, it would make it funny...... and leave the legend of the cowboy with honor.
It's GAY Shepherds. Got it?
And the stupid movie was filmed in Canada, and the movie makers have been accused of mistreatment of the sheep.
That's the story here, folks. Run with it.
I meant on film.
Are they trying to say our Mountains as backgrounds aren't gay enough?
Well, we don't know what ended up on the cutting room floor, do we?
I was, quite happily, ignorant of that connection until now. October Sky is one of my favorite movies.
I'll try to forget that I read this.
Gyllenhaal is a boring actor. He has a limited..very limited--range of expressions and is a one dimensional character.
"Buttcrack Mountain: Where two grown men can kiss and fondle each other while stealing 2 hours of your lifetime."
Hopefully Buttcrack will win a lot of Oscars.
That will turn off more moderates and those who are a little less politically conservative.
More and more Americans are reaching the fatigue level of the constant glorification of the Gay Life Style.
Buttcrack Battering adds to the fatigue level, and if it wins an oscar, that will increase the fatigue level in a lot of Americans.
Be prepared to see many wearing cowboy hats in the red carpet fashion show. :-(
I wanted to see Serenity, but didn't until I had bought Firefly and watched all the episodes. And I meant to see Narnia, but just haven't found the time. I'm just going to wait for the DVD release.
But that was about it.
Mark
Yet another Oscar broadcast I won't watch... Yawn....
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