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Here are the actual Oscar Nominations and I marked the ones I got wrong. I didn’t think Munich would get a best picture nom, even though it was my favorite film. I’ve also chosen the winners for future reference.

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Brokeback Mountain (2005) – Diana Ossana, James Schamus [Winner]
Capote (2005) – Caroline Baron, William Vince, Michael Ohoven
Crash (2004) – Paul Haggis, Cathy Schulman
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) – Grant Heslov
Munich (2005) – Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Barry Mendel

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote (2005) [Winner]
Terrence Howard for Hustle & Flow (2005)
Heath Ledger for Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Joaquin Phoenix for Walk the Line (2005)
David Strathairn for Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Judi Dench for Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)
Felicity Huffman for Transamerica (2005)
Keira Knightley for Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Charlize Theron for North Country (2005)
Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line (2005) [Winner]

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
George Clooney for Syriana (2005) [Winner]
Matt Dillon for Crash (2004)
Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man (2005)
Jake Gyllenhaal for Brokeback Mountain (2005)
William Hurt for A History of Violence (2005)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams for Junebug (2005)
Catherine Keener for Capote (2005)
Frances McDormand for North Country (2005)
Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener (2005) [Winner]
Michelle Williams for Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Best Achievement in Directing
George Clooney for Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
Paul Haggis for Crash (2004)
Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain (2005) [Winner]
Bennett Miller for Capote (2005)
Steven Spielberg for Munich (2005)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Crash (2004) – Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco [Winner]
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) – George Clooney, Grant Heslov
Match Point (2005) – Woody Allen
The Squid and the Whale (2005) – Noah Baumbach
Syriana (2005) – Stephen Gaghan

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Brokeback Mountain (2005) – Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana [Winner]
Capote (2005) – Dan Futterman
The Constant Gardener (2005) – Jeffrey Caine
A History of Violence (2005) – Josh Olson
Munich (2005) – Tony Kushner, Eric Roth

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Batman Begins (2005) – Wally Pfister
Brokeback Mountain (2005) – Rodrigo Prieto [Winner]
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) – Robert Elswit
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) – Dion Beebe
The New World (2005) – Emmanuel Lubezki

Best Achievement in Editing
Cinderella Man (2005) – Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
The Constant Gardener (2005) – Claire Simpson
Crash (2004) – Hughes Winborne [Winner]
Munich (2005) – Michael Kahn
Walk the Line (2005) – Michael McCusker

Best Achievement in Art Direction
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) – James D. Bissell, Jan Pascale
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) – Stuart Craig, Stephanie McMillan
King Kong (2005) – Grant Major, Dan Hennah, Simon Bright
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) – John Myhre, Gretchen Rau [Winner]
Pride & Prejudice (2005) – Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) – Gabriella Pescucci
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) – Colleen Atwood [Winner]
Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) – Sandy Powell
Pride & Prejudice (2005) – Jacqueline Durran
Walk the Line (2005) – Arianne Phillips

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Brokeback Mountain (2005) – Gustavo Santaolalla
The Constant Gardener (2005) – Alberto Iglesias
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) – John Williams [Winner]
Munich (2005) – John Williams
Pride & Prejudice (2005) – Dario Marianelli

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Hustle & Flow (2005) – Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, Paul Beauregard (“It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp”) [Winner]
Crash (2004) – Michael Becker, Kathleen York (“In the Deep”)
Transamerica (2005) – Dolly Parton (“Travelin’ Thru”)

Best Achievement in Makeup
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) – Howard Berger, Tami Lane [Winner]
Cinderella Man (2005) – David LeRoy Anderson, Lance Anderson
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) – Dave Elsey, Annette Miles

Best Achievement in Sound
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) – Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic, Tony Johnson
King Kong (2005) – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, Hammond Peek [Winner]
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) – Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline, John Pritchett
Walk the Line (2005) – Paul Massey, Doug Hemphill, Peter F. Kurland
War of the Worlds (2005) – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Ron Judkins

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
King Kong (2005) – Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) – Wylie Stateman
War of the Worlds (2005) – Richard King [Winner]

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) – Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney, Scott Farrar
King Kong (2005) – Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers, Richard Taylor [Winner]
War of the Worlds (2005) – Pablo Helman, Dennis Muren, Randy Dutra, Daniel Sudick

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Corpse Bride (2005) – Tim Burton, Mike Johnson
Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004) – Hayao Miyazaki
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) – Steve Box, Nick Park [Winner]

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Bestia nel cuore, La (2005) – Cristina Comencini (Italy)
Joyeux Noël (2005) – Christian Carion (France)
Paradise Now (2005) – Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine) [Winner]
Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage (2005) – Marc Rothemund (Germany)
Tsotsi (2005) – Gavin Hood (South Africa)

Best Documentary, Features
Darwin’s Nightmare (2004) – Hubert Sauper
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) – Alex Gibney, Jason Kliot
Marche de l’empereur, La (2005) – Luc Jacquet, Yves Darondeau [Winner]
Murderball (2005) – Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro
Street Fight (2005) – Marshall Curry

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
God Sleeps in Rwanda (2005) – Kimberlee Acquaro, Stacy Sherman [Winner]
A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (2005) – Corinne Marrinan, Eric Simonson
The Life of Kevin Carter (2004) – Dan Krauss
Mushroom Club, The (2005) – Steven Okazaki

Best Short Film, Animated
Badgered (2005) – Sharon Colman [Winner]
The Moon and the Son (2005) – John Canemaker, Peggy Stern
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello (2005) – Anthony Lucas
9 (2005) – Shane Acker
One Man Band (2005) – Mark Andrews, Andrew Jimenez

Best Short Film, Live Action
Ausreißer (2004) – Ulrike Grote
Cashback (2004) – Sean Ellis, Lene Bausager
Síðasti bærinn í dalnum (2004) – Rúnar Rúnarsson, Þórir Snær Sigurjónsson
Our Time Is Up (2004) – Rob Pearlstein, Pia Clemente [Winner]
Six Shooter (2005) – Martin McDonagh

I did pretty well I think. Not counting song and documentaries and stuff, I got 62/86. I’m surprised that “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” got a nomination. Also surprised that Star Wars didn’t get a Visual Effects nom. I can understand people not liking the film, but just the sheer scope of the CG outweighs that of War of the Worlds.

Nominations for the Academy Awards for film are to be announced on Tuesday Jan. 31. I have mostly hunches on these since I haven’t seen all the films. It’s easy from prior award shows and word of mouth. Here’s how I think they are gonna go:

Best Picture
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck
Walk the Line

Best Director
Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain
Benett Miller – Capote
George Clooney – Good Night, and Good Luck
Paul Haggis – Crash
Steven Spielberg – Munich

Best Actor
David Strathaim – Good Night, and Good Luck
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote
Joaquinn Phoenix – Walk the Line
Terrence Howard – Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain

Best Actress
Charlize Theron – North Country
Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line
Felecity Huffman – Transamerica
Keira Knightley – Pride and Prejudice
Judi Dench – Mrs. Henderson Presents

Best Supporting Actor
George Clooney – Syrianna
Paul Giamatti – Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal – Brokeback Mountain
Matt Dillon – Crash
Don Cheadle – Crash

Best Supporting Actress
Scarlette Johansson – Match Point
Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams – Brokeback Mountain
Amy Adams – Junebug
Catherine Keener – Capote

Best Original Screenplay
Crash
The Squid and the Whale
Good Night and Good Luck
Match Point
Cinderella Man

Best Adapted Screenplay
Capote
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Munich

Best Foreign Language Picture
Tsotsi
Joyeux Noel
Paradise Now
Merry Christmas
Mother of Mine

Best Animated Picture
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Howl’s Moving Castle

Best Cinematography
King Kong
Munich
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Good Night and Good Luck

Best Art Direction
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Munich
Batman Begins

Best Costume Design
Memoirs of a Geisha
Chronicles of Narnia
Good Night and Good Luck
Pride and Prejudice
Star Wars Episode III

Best Film Editing
Crash
Munich
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Good Night and Good Luck

Best Sound
King Kong
War of the Worlds
Batman Begins
Munich
The Chronicles of Narnia

Best Sound Editing
King Kong
War of the Worlds
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Best Visual Effects
King Kong
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Best Makeup
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
A History of Violence

Best Musical Score
Memoirs of a Geisha
King Kong
Brokeback Mountain
Munich
Chronicles of Narnia

I have no idea for best song, documentaries or short films so I’ll leave that out. We’ll see how off I am in a few days.

Some time ago, Rockstar games was sued for their release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. They were sued because there was hidden content that contained a sex game that ESRB (the videogame ratings board) did not know about. They said if the ESRB had known of it, the game would be rated AO for Adults Only, instead of the Mature rating it originally had. Rockstar gave in and took down all their titles, and rereleased it with the code removed. This I’m sure cost them a bit.

The reason I bring this back up is because the city of Los Angeles is now suing them. I don’t know how a city can sue a game that doesn’t even use their real name in the game. But there it is.

I think this whole thing is absurd. First of all, the secret code it normally not accessible in the game. There is no way a normal person can make it enabled and accessed in the game. You have to go into the source code in the game and change it so that it enabled. There is no way a normal PS2 or Xbox owner can do this since they would have to modify their console and burn a modified copy to play it. PC users however can easily do this with a patch. This patch basically hacks the code. I don’t know how this went in court, but I would think breaking into copyrighted source code calls for some legalities. Do people break into film studios to take a look at their deleted scenes and change the rating of the movie?

The other issue is the content. The press keeps saying pornographic material, and it should be rated AO. I’ve seen the screenshots, and while it clearly shows a sex act, it’s nothing explicit like porn. In fact, the characters are fully clothed, and the patch had to remove the textures or add some in to make it look like they’re having sex. If they had based removing the clothes from the characters as nudity, then there are hundreds more games where you can remove their attire if you can hack the code. The material is nothing worse than an R rated movie. Only difference is the interactivity. What is worse however, is the level of violence in the game, which no movie can match. But that never seems to be the issue. Beheadings, stabbings, beatings, shootings, running over people, and such are acceptable, but sex is a big no no.

P.S. Flightplan sucks.

For some time Pixar has been under contract with Disney to produce feature films for them. During that time it seems, the Pixar films were the only ones that were any good coming out of Disney, as far as animation. In my opinion, Lion King was the last great Disney animation film. Disney’s downfall (at least in quality) has been blamed on Michael Eisner, former CEO. Dozens of hand draw artists were laid off in favor of computer artists. By Eisner’s logic, CG is what made success from Pixar’s example so they put full steam into CG development. However, it’s not Pixar’s animation that wins them accolades, it’s their story. Many know this, but Disney seems clueless. They’ve been chucking out tons of direct to video garbage sequels that simply milk their franchises and ruins their reputation. Who knows what else Eisner has mishandled while he was there. Two years ago Roy Disney (Walt’s nephew I think) led a revolt to remove Eisner. Nothing came of that, but just recently Eisner resigned with a compensation of 10 million.

Forward to the now. Pixar’s contract with Disney will be over after Cars is released this summer. Pixar had been planning to find a new distributor, but Disney doesn’t want to lose a good thing. They are attempting to acquire Pixar in a deal worth 7 billion dollars. I for one, want Pixar to part. I want quality to come from the Pixar name and not the Disney name. But it seems the deal is almost final. However, it is possible Steve Jobs, CEO of Pixar and Apple Computers, may become the new CEO of Disney after this deal. This may be the turning for Disney. I’ve always been a classic Disney fan. I’ve just become disappointed with their recent stuff. But I’m a huge Pixar fan, so wherever they go I will support them.

Although I don’t get to play all the games I want to play, especially those fantastic RPGs I have no time for, I did get to play some great ones. In no particular order:

Resident Evil 4 – I think the first game I was able to play and complete for the year. I bought it for the Gamecube and didn’t know what to expect. I liked the old Resident Evil games at the time, but I got bored of the style and gameplay that I didn’t really play them anymore. I didn’t finish RE3 or Code Veronica, didn’t really want to. Apparently the developers knew we were bored and reinvented the game. It was a total overhaul, making it more action oriented. It gave you full control of where to aim your gun. Ammo and space management became less a problem and positioning and reflexes became more important. They added many Shenmue-esque reaction action sequences. It was an overall more enjoyable experience, but was less scary than you would expect from a RE game. This one is available on PS2 as well, which adds extra weapons and bonus play modes.

God of War – I love this game so much. The graphics were nothing I’ve seen coming from a PS2, the music rivaled that of Hollywood films, the story was very well done, the voice acting was great, and it had lots of violence. On top of all that, the game had the perfect balance of fun and challenge. It’s no wonder they want to turn this into a movie, but I don’t see how they can make it as good as the game was.

Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy – The main reason I liked this game was the story. It was the main point of the game. It was like “choose your own adventure” where you choose the dialogue and who you control and what you do. Although many bad choices will lead you to a game over screen, you can start again and choose another one that will advance the story. It’s very reminiscant of old adventure games like Monkey Island and Full Throttle, but with a more serious tone involving murder. Action sequences are done with simple “Simon” copy cat button sequences. Though it’s not very engaging, the visuals are amazing. At many times it’s like a Hollywood movie. I played it on PC, but I believe it’s on Xbox and PS2 as well.

Shadow of the Collosus – A truly magical experience. Created by the guys behind ICO, they have a real knack for setting up the atmosphere of the game. ICO didn’t have any real fancy graphics, but the mood and atmosphere it sets make you really feel small in a large place and very alone. Collosus takes this further by making the world huge, and your enemies huger. The world is so huge that they had to give you a horse to travel the long distances. The game is basically nothing but boss battles with long travels in between. But the boss battles are huge. They are really massive and take some time to climb. On some, it may take you a while to figure out how to climb them. That’s the puzzle aspect of this game, while they aren’t that difficult, it may take some time depending on how intuitive you are at figuring it out. I really felt like the hero and on this grand adventure.

F.E.A.R. – The best FPS game of the year. Not only are the graphics a benchmark for today’s technology (it’s amazing, but limited to urban type settings), it has an amazing story, and the best A.I. I have seen. Most of the game is indoors in office buildings, warehouses, etc. And most of the time it is dark. But not as dark as Doom 3 where you can’t really see your environment. The graphic quality is nice, but what really sets it apart is the way debris flies all over the place during a gun fight. Your bullets hitting the walls will not just leave bullet holes, but dust from the walls will come out and with enough of it can cloud your view. Papers on desks will fly through the air. Shooting lamps and light fixtures will move them around and also affect the lighting and shadows of everything around. The artificial intelligence of your enemies is amazing. They patrol and when they spot you they will communicate with each other and set up an attack. They will even see your flashlight in the distance even around corners. It’s brilliant how they will have a couple supress fire on you and another couple will go around and flank you. You don’t even see online players this smart. They will take cover or make cover for themselves by tossing down filing cabinets or shelves. It’s quite a thing to experience. On top of all that you get a scary ghost story to keep you on your toes and engaged, with some of the trippiest paranormal events being tossed at you. An example would be a moment you jump into some water, at that very second the screen flashes and you’re standing in a pool of blood, things happen to scare you and flash you back to where you were. Then you get all edgy and have to deal with firefights, it’s truly an adrenaline rush.

Call of Duty 2 – I really had no desire to play this until I saw it on my friend’s Xbox 360. I got it for PC and played it and finished it in a few days. Graphics are good, sound is top notch, the atmosphere really pulls you in and makes you feel like you’re there. It’s a little easy on the normal setting, but fun to play through. A lot of good assorted experiences, and great visual moments. I love WWII films and games and this one is probably the best game I’ve played of that genre.

Guitar Hero – This one is probably my favorite game of all. I’ve always been a fan of music/rhythm games, but I usually get bored with them after awhile. This one has kept my interest for awhile now and feels like something I will pull out every now and then. I bought the guitar controller and it’s very well constructed although a bit small. The game has great music licenses with groups like Pantera, Helmet, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cream, Megadeth, Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Franz Ferdinand, Audioslave, Sum41, and more. The gameplay is typical, but it’s designed well. It always feels like you’re playing a real guitar. Another reason I keep going back, it’s very challenging. It took lots of practice for me to complete Expert mode, and many of them I can’t get the highest score ratings. Cant wait for a sequel.

I just finished playing Call of Duty 2 on PC. The game was pretty fun. The visual direction is awesome. A lot of ‘wow’ moments like bullets penetrating a pipe you are sneaking through leaving beams of light shining in. There were a few tank levels, and a few parts where you are riding on a vehicle while shooting surrounding targets. It was a pretty enjoyable game, maybe not as memorable as the first one.

I watched Syrianna last night. It was good, but really complex and confusing. The movie makes you just as confused as the characters are trying to figure out what is really going on. If you really pay attention you can understand, I had to think about it for awhile. The moral is pretty much bad people corrupt and win, and good people are vicitims and lose.

I found a movie trailer for something I never heard about. Ultraviolet is a movie coming out at the end of February starring Milla Jovovich where she’s some experimental genetic super human, but her creators changed their minds and want her eliminated. Lots of chop sockey, gun fu, and sword lunacy are included. Kurt Wimmer is the writer/director. He’s the same guy that did Equilibrium which I enjoyed thoroughly, but it kind of went under the radar at the box office. This movie seems like another one that people will miss at the theaters, but the action sequences look quite enjoyable. Check out the trailer.

I plan to write up my top films of the year. I actually have it almost done except I have a bunch I want to see before I finalize it. Just saw Crash recently. I liked it, but I’m not too crazy about it. It’s Ebert’s #1 movie, but I can’t agree. I had problems with how the racial issue was portrayed in the movie. Nevertheless it’s recommended because it’s done pretty well overall. Other movies I’m about to watch soon thanks to bootlegged screeners: Hustle & Flow, The Constant Gardener, Four Brothers, Syrianna, Broken Flowers, Cinderella Man, Memoirs of a Geisha, Flightplan, and a few others. I may not get to all of them, so I’m giving myself the end of this month to catch up. I almost feel like an Academy voter.

I’ve also been playing some Final Fantasy I on GBA. I’m almost done with it. I am also playing some Call of Duty 2. It’s an amazing game. After I finish my top movies list, I will probably do a game one, but I won’t be playing anything to catch up. Just a list of what I did play. I have this compulsive nature of gathering and making lists. Keeps me busy I guess.

Started school again last week. I have 4 classes right now. One is an online psychology class (making up for a poor grade), 2 are standard computer science classes, and one general ed. class involving Native American issues. After this quarter one more left and I’m done for good.

Caught some really good flicks recently. Munich at the theaters. I think it’s the best movie of the year, it has an important theme and is done well. Also caught two Chan-wook Park films, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and J.S.A. Both are excellent. I still find it amazing that such work is coming out of Korea. Many of these films rival those of Holllywood features, and in many aspects do more than they ever have. Korea is the new Hong Kong for cool Asian cinema.