Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced that “Brokeback Mountain“, starring Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway, will be available on DVD April 4. The film was directed by Ang Lee (”Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon“), who earned an Academy Award.

“As one of the most talked-about movies of the year, ‘Brokeback Mountain’ has not only established a new benchmark in filmmaking but it has also permeated the public consciousness to an unprecedented level,” commented Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. “We are confident that this DVD will profoundly resonate among consumers and that it will quickly become an integral part of every DVD collection.”

Winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Director (Lee), Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana) and Best Original Score (Gustavo Santaolalla), “Brokeback Mountain” tells the story of Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal), two young men dispatched to work as sheepherders up on the majestic “Brokeback Mountain” in the summer of 1963. During their experience, Ennis and Jack are drawn into an unexpected life-long relationship, filled with love and loss.

The DVD is priced at $29.98 SRP.

By Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune

When “Crash” took the best picture Oscar March 5, beating the heavy favorite “Brokeback Mountain” at the last minute, it was the one surprise in an evening woefully short of them.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Reese Witherspoon, Ang Lee, Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Wallace and Gromit, even “Crash” original screenplay writers Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco – one by one the night’s long-predicted favorites kept rolling over their opponents as if the whole thing had been scripted.

That’s why that final “Whoa! Crash” from presenter Jack Nicholson was such a shock. In one wild moment, the whole evening turned around, ripping through the show’s complacency and probably spoiling a lot of instant think-pieces already half-composed about “Brokeback’s” gutsy reversal of America’s sexual-cultural mythos.

It surprised me, too. Up to that moment, I had a good string running on my own predictions — and “Brokeback” for best picture seemed a safe pick. So I wasn’t happy. It wasn’t because I, along with some other writers, regard “Crash” as unworthy or because I think Ang Lee’s melancholy movie about two gay cowboys was the victim of a sinister “Break Brokeback” conspiracy, revealing academy voters as hypocritical homophobes.

Great PR move

“Crash” probably won because more of the academy voters liked and admired it as a movie. They didn’t shun “Brokeback”; they gave it three key Oscars (best director, adapted screenplay and original score) and a strong place in academy history. But I would argue that the majority — and maybe it was a slim majority — honestly preferred “Crash.” In the end, it’s more likely that the voting majority thought “Brokeback” was a good, honorable film, but slower, less engrossing and less moving compared with the jazzy, multistranded, Altmanesque L.A.-contempo “Crash,” a movie about racism and crime in today’s Los Angeles with a big-name ensemble cast playing for peanuts, a tricky structure of interweaving stories and an overall L.A. atmosphere and feeling that struck many Angelenos as right-on. It’s a movie that, according to New York Daily News critic, Oscar expert and L.A. native Jack Mathews “played like gangbusters to people who lived in L.A.”

“Brokeback,” with a more realistic and impeccably literary screenplay, shot in a languorous style reminiscent of European art films, simply didn’t connect with the voters in the same way, but not because they are homophobic. A few may well be, just as some may have been offended by “Munich’s” take on terrorism, “Capote’s” gay protagonist or even the anti-McCarthyism of “Good Night, and Good Luck.” But not enough to matter. Certainly, this is not an industry you could reasonably accuse of widespread anti-liberalism and homophobia.

There are other good reasons “Crash” may have won. For one thing, “Crash’s” feisty little studio, Lionsgate, sent out a ton of DVDs, making sure it was seen. For another, there was a powerful third film in the race: “Capote.”

“Capote” was a movie with strong and stubborn support among critics and, I’ll bet, also among academy members. Like “Brokeback,” it was a picture with a gay protagonist, Hoffman as Truman Capote, whom we see during the writer’s Kansas adventure researching and writing “In Cold Blood.” Like “Brokeback,” it was highly literary in composition and, unlike “Crash,” not afflicted with some of those movie devices you call either cliches or mythic archetypes.

If “Capote” had not been in the race, the vast majority of its voters probably would have gone to “Brokeback,” rather than the other three films. So if you’re looking for a spoiler to “Brokeback’s” seemingly sure win, it makes more sense to pick “Capote” than “Crash.” (That doesn’t make for sexy instant analysis though.) And you could also lay some blame on the fact that all five of the nominees were serious film dramas tackling weighty or significant subjects, which meant that issues-minded voters could comfortably vote for any of them.

A fable

More of them were comfortable with “Crash.” But though that result offended critics who had attacked Paul Haggis’ movie for precisely those pesky “cliches,” we should remember, as Mathews points out, that “Crash” really isn’t meant to be taken literally. It’s a fable, a thriller, a polemic. (In his acceptance speech, Canadian immigrant Haggis made just that point, arguing that art isn’t necessarily a Shakespearean mirror held up to nature but also a Brechtian hammer to reshape society.)

The critics who trashed “Crash” were probably more partial to the literary-psychological modes of both “Brokeback” and “Capote.” They wanted the mirror and not the hammer. They couldn’t accept scenes such as the one where previously racist-seeming cop Matt Dillon tries to pull from a flipped-over soon-to-burn vehicle the same African-American woman (Thandie Newton) whom he molested during a roust the night before. I can see the critics’ point; compared with real life, it’s a thoroughly implausible scene. But it does play like gangbusters.

In any case, it makes little sense for liberal film critics to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by trashing “Crash” and obsessing about “Brokeback’s” non-win. “Crash” is a fine, strong, very well-made movie about urgent contemporary issues, a film that genuinely entertains and moves people, especially Angeleno Oscar-voters. That’s a large part of why it won and why the result is actually a hopeful sign inside the industry — as a “Brokeback” win would also have been.

So, for that matter, would a win for “Capote,” “Munich” or “Good Night, and Good Luck.” It was that kind of year.

All last week, the jokes were flying endlessly about the title of Paramount Pictures’ new romantic comedy Failure to Launch, starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Many critics and analysts claimed that the title may as well be a self-fulfilling prophecy for the film’s success. Whomever came up with that title is indeed getting the last laugh today, as the movie took an easy victory at the box office, claiming the #1 spot from Madea’s Family Reunion with an estimated opening gross of $24.6 million, an impressive per-theatre average of over $8 thousand in upwards of 3,000 theatres.

Proving that there was an audience eagerly awaiting a strong romantic comedy, the movie make almost a million more its opening weekend than McConaughey’s previous rom-com hit How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days made three years ago. That movie went onto make over $100 million.

The original comedy was joined this weekend by two very different remakes fighting it out for second place. According to estimates, Disney’s The Shaggy Dog, starring Tim Allen as a man who changes into a dog, eeked out the victory with an opening weekend take of roughly $16 million in over 3,500 theatres.

The Wes Craven produced remake of his own 1977 horror film, The Hills Have Eyes, this time directed by Alexandre Aja, was off to a good start on Friday, but dropped back over the weekend to a respectable opening of $15.5 million in 900 fewer theatres than The Shaggy Dog.

Dropping down to fourth place, the Warner Bros. thriller 16 Blocks, starring Bruce Willis and Mos Def, had the smallest second weekend decline of the movies opening last week, and it stayed perched above the other returning movies with $7.3 million, bringing its gross to $22.7 million.

Having passed the total gross of Tyler Perry’s previous film over the weekend, Madea’s Family Reunion took another 54% drop and ended up at #5 with $5.8 million and a cumulative gross of $55.7 million.

Disney’s other dog movie, Eight Below, lost some of its family business to The Shaggy Dog, but still earned another $5.4 million over the weekend. So far, it has grossed $66.4 million in four weeks, and is currently the third highest grossing film to open in 2006.

Last week’s other new films took sharp drops with 20th Century Fox’s teen comedy Aquamarine pulling slightly ahead of Kurt Wimmer sci-fi-action film Ultraviolet, starring Milla Jovovich, in their second weeks. The former made $3.65 million in its second weekend, while the latter took in $3.6 million, putting it neck and neck with Sony’s hit comedy remake The Pink Panther for eighth place. Starring Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau, the latter has grossed more money than any other movie opening in 2006 after just five weeks.

20th Century Fox’s romantic comedy spoof Date Movie held onto the Top 10 with $2.5 million, bringing its box office gross to $44.2 million. Having doubled its production budget, one can probably expect the inevitable Date Movie 2 to spoof Failure to Launch.

After a brief Oscar run in 2005, the long delayed period drama The Libertine, starring Johnny Depp, finally received a national roll-out into just 815 theatres where it made an unimpressive $2.2 million.

Surprisingly, the sharpest decline from last weekend was suffered by the concert film, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, which took a 68% drop in its second weekend, despite strong reviews before opening. Apparently, Chappelle’s many fans were expecting something different from his comeback. It made less than $2 million this weekend, to bring its total to $9.6 million, but it dropped down to the bottom of the Top 12.

After losing the Best Picture Oscar to Crash last Sunday, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain took a 49% tumble after losing 395 theatres. Still, it has grossed over $81 million, significantly more than the controversial Oscar victor.

Opening in limited release, the erotic drama Ask the Dust, starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek, made roughly $72 thousand in 7 theatres, while the Alfonso Cuaron sheperded Mexican comedy Duck Season made roughly a third that amount in 6 theatres.

The cowboy love story “Brokeback Mountain” won best picture and its creator Ang Lee was named best director Saturday at the Independent Spirit Awards, which played out as a potential prelude to the Academy Awards.

Honoring the best in lower-budgeted, edgy filmmaking, the Spirit Awards honored many key contenders for Sunday’s Oscars, where “Brokeback Mountain” is the best-picture favorite.

“In a year when the Oscars have such an independent spirit, I really treasure this encouragement,” Lee said.

Top Oscar nominees “Capote,” “Crash” and “Transamerica” also earned two honors at the Spirit Awards, and virtually every winner in the ceremony’s top 12 categories also is competing at the Oscars.

“Capote” took the best-actor award for Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is the favorite to win the same prize at the Oscars for his role as author Truman Capote. The film also earned writer Dan Futterman the best-screenplay award.

Hoffman, who has won most other key best-actor honors this award season, cheered his fellow nominees: Jeff Daniels for “The Squid and the Whale,” Terrence Howard for “Hustle & Flow,” Heath Ledger for “Brokeback Mountain,” and David Strathairn for “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

“It’s ludicrous and I’ve been given enough,” Hoffman said. “And I want to share this so badly with all the nominees. I can’t tell you how fantastic these gentlemen are.”

Felicity Huffman, also an Oscar nominee, was named best actress for “Transamerica,” in which she delivers a gender-bending role as a man preparing for sex-change surgery. The film’s director, Duncan Tucker, received the award for best first screenplay.

The ensemble drama “Crash” won for best first feature by a director (Paul Haggis) and best supporting actor for Matt Dillon, who also has an Oscar nomination for his performance as a racist cop.

The supporting-actress prize went to Amy Adams for “Junebug,” who is nominated for an Oscar for her role as a sparkling Southern waif.

There usually is some overlap between the Oscars and Spirit Awards, such as last year’s “Sideways,” which dominated the independent prizes and was a contender in top Oscar categories.

But this year, the Oscar nominations mainly singled out the same dark, daring low-budgeted films that ruled the Spirit Awards.

“Brokeback Mountain” is the story of two sheepherders who carry on a torrid gay love affair that they conceal from their families for years.

It would be the first explicit gay theme film to win the best-picture Oscar.

“Mostly ‘Brokeback Mountain’ is about sheep,” said one of the film’s producers, Diana Ossana.

“So we want to thank our shepherd, Ang Lee,” said the film’s other producer, James Schamus.

Along with “Brokeback Mountain,” “Crash” and “Capote” are nominated for best picture at the Oscars. A fourth best-picture Oscar nominee, the Edward R. Murrow tale “Good Night, and Good Luck,” earned the cinematography honor at the Spirit Awards for Robert Elswit, who also is nominated at the Oscars.

The Spirit Awards’ other top two prizes also went to Oscar nominees: The Palestinian terrorist tale “Paradise Now” was picked as best foreign film, while “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” was honored as best documentary.

Presented by the nonprofit group Film Independent, the Spirit Awards honor movies showcasing original, provocative subject matter shot on relatively modest budgets, with financing at least partly from outside the Hollywood studio system. Winners were chosen by the group’s 6,000 members, who include actors, directors, writers and other film professionals.

For more than 100 years, mainstream Hollywood movies largely shunned gay subjects, which were either disregarded, closeted or dealt with by independent filmmakers.

But in 2005, “Brokeback Mountain,” the story of two cowboys in love, broke big at box offices and earned eight Oscar nominations, including best film. It was a hit and Hollywood loves a hit.

“Gay people are now living more honest and open lives and that leads to others wanting to know more about our lives,” said Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “People want this product and we can provide it in a compelling and powerful way that can be profitable.”

Historians and experts divide Hollywood’s portrayal of gay life into three periods: years before the early 1930s “production code;” self-censorship under the code until the late 1960s; and the years since then as gays and lesbians have been slowly accepted into mainstream culture.

The production code, also known as the Hays Code, was devised by a forerunner of today’s Motion Picture Association of America and was strictly enforced by Hollywood’s major studios starting around 1934.

It set out general guidelines specifying that no film would lower moral standards of an audience member and included warnings against nudity and positive portrayals of crime and illicit sex.

Before the code, historians said movies showed no depictions of gays or lesbians because they largely kept to themselves and were ignored by mainstream society. As a result, the movies also set them aside, reflecting the culture of the day.

“It was not so much keeping a secret. It was more like, ‘How could you write about something that wasn’t being written about?”‘ said William Mann, author of “Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood 1910-1969.”

TO GAY, OR NOT TO GAY

Although the production code did not allow portrayals of gay life, some male roles were often built around effeminate personality traits. By association, the characters were deemed homosexual, although such a distinction was never talked about, said Jonathan Kuntz of the film and television school at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Some actors such as Franklin Pangborn enjoyed careers playing effeminate men and closeted homosexuals like Rock Hudson could live in privacy and still take heterosexual roles.

“Sexuality is overtly talked about now but wasn’t really in those days,” said Robert Osborne, author of “75 Years of Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards.”

The sexual revolution of late 1960s brought an end to the production code, and in 1969 “Midnight Cowboy” the relationship between Joe Buck (Jon Voight) and Enrico “Ratso” Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) was widely considered a love affair, although the two never had sex on screen, as do the cowhands of “Brokeback.”

“Midnight Cowboy” became a box-office hit and won the best film Oscar, but what followed were film flops such as 1982’s “Making Love,” which made “gay film” sound like “money loser” to mainstream Hollywood. As a result, homosexual stories were fodder for independent filmmakers and art-house cinemas.

In 1993, “Philadelphia” starred Tom Hanks as a gay man, won Oscars and earned $206 million worldwide, but it was largely seen as an AIDS movie, not a gay film.

In the late 1990s, gay television shows such as “Will & Grace” and TV stars like Ellen DeGeneres helped mainstream Hollywood get to a point where it could promote a film such as “Brokeback,” the experts said. Now, they expect the major studios to be more accepting of gay stories and screenplays.

“I don’t know if we’re going to see any $200 million movies built around a gay character but certainly this will spark other films,” Kuntz said.

Playwright Tyler Perry, who turned his crazy-granny “Madea” character into a lucrative cottage industry, returned to the top of the box office on Sunday, exactly one year after stunning the industry with a No. 1 bow for his first film.

“Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion,” which Perry wrote, directed and starred in, sold an estimated $30.3 million worth of tickets in its first three days since opening on Friday, distributor Lionsgate said.

The comedy-drama revolves around a pistol-toting matriarch, played by Perry, who beats and lectures her chaotic clan into submission. It was not screened in advance for critics, a tactic usually employed when a studio knows a movie will get harsh reviews but fans will turn out anyway.

While Perry, 35, is one of the best-known black playwrights in the United States, with sold-out shows in virtually every city for his “Madea” plays, he was barely a blip on the radar of mainstream movie audiences until last February when “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” opened at No. 1. The revenge comedy, budgeted at $5.5 million, ended its theatrical run with $50 million and was huge seller on home video. It was also released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.

Last week’s champion, Walt Disney Co.’s fact-based survival saga “Eight Below,” slipped to No. 2 with $15.7 million, taking its 10-day total to $45.1 million.

NEW DUDS

Two other films opened in theaters, not that many people noticed. The canine cartoon “Doogal” played dead at No. 8 with $3.6 million, while the mob drama “Running Scared” was whacked at No. 9 with $3.1 million.

“Doogal” was released by the Weinstein Co., the privately held firm established by former Miramax Films co-chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein. “Running Scared” was released by New Line Cinema, a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Rounding out the top-five, Steve Martin’s comedy remake “The Pink Panther,” another former champ, was steady at No. 3 with $11.3 million in its third weekend. The film has earned $61 million to date.

The teen comedy “Date Movie” fell two places to No. 4 with $9.2 million, for a 10-day haul of $33.9 million. The computer-animated children’s book adaptation “Curious George” dipped one spot to No. 5 with $7 million and a three-week tally of $43.1 million.

“The Pink Panther” was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp. while “Date Movie” was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp. “Curious George” was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal, which is controlled by General Electric Co.

In a sign that Oscar buzz has largely been a bust for movie theater owners, three of the five best picture nominees earned a combined $3.4 million during the weekend, with leading contender “Brokeback Mountain” accounting for $2.3 million of that. To date, the gay-cowboy film has earned $75.4 million.

George Clooney’s newsroom drama “Good Night, and Good Luck” earned $600,000, while Steven Spielberg’s revenge thriller “Munich” pulled in $488,000. Their respective totals stand at $30.3 million and $46.1 million.

Of the two other nominees, the ensemble drama “Crash” is already out on home video, while official estimates for the Truman Capote saga “Capote” were not available. However, a rival studio estimated it made about $1 million, taking its total to about $23 million.

The Academy Awards will be handed out in Hollywood next Sunday.

“Brokeback Mountain,” already a hot favorite for next month’s Hollywood Oscars, was the big star of the night at the British Film Academy awards on Sunday, scooping four BAFTAs.

The gay cowboy love story won the coveted Best Film Award, Ang Lee was picked as Best Director, Jake Gyllenhaal was chosen as Best Supporting Actor and it also won the Best Adapted Screenplay statuette.

“I didn’t have a specific message. I wasn’t trying to push any political issues. We are dealing here with love,” Lee told Reuters Television before accepting his award.

Gyllenhaal, flabbergasted by his triumph, shook his head in astonishment and said: “Who would have thought this would happen.”

“It moved me like no other love story I have ever seen,” he said of the film for which he is also Oscar-nominated.

The film, which had taken Lee seven years to bring to the screen, faced tough competition in a strong year from “Capote,” “The Constant Gardener,” “Crash” and “Good Night, and Good Luck” to be picked as Best Film.

Philip Seymour Hoffman took home the Best Actor BAFTA for his mesmerising portrayal of writer Truman Capote in “Capote” and Reese Witherspoon was selected as Best Actress for her role in the Johnny Cash biopic “Walk The Line.”

Accepting his award, Hoffman thanked his girlfriend Mimi O’Donnell, saying “I want to say I love her and she looks really hot tonight.”

The Best Supporting Actress award went to British star Thandie Newton for her role in the low-budget racial drama “Crash.”

“This is the highest high ever,” she said afterwards. “I don’t expect it to get any higher.”

The British film industry had great hopes for the stylish political thriller “The Constant Gardener” which garnered 10 nominations but its stars Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz went home empty-handed.

Another disappointed star was George Clooney who had been nominated four times in recognition of his directing, acting and writing skills in the McCarthy era drama “Good Night, and Good Luck” and the Middle East thriller “Syriana.”

“Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” another in line for Oscar glory in Hollywood next month, was chosen as The Best British Film of the Year, much to the delight of Nick Park, creator of the two plasticine pals.

The BAFTAs were shifted in 2001 from April to February to fall between the Golden Globes and the Oscars with organizers hoping to capture some Hollywood glitter in the packed awards calendar.

But winning a top UK film industry award is certainly no guarantee of Oscar success.

Last year, Clint Eastwood’s boxing drama “Million Dollar Baby” swept the board at the Oscars but failed to score at the BAFTAs after distributors refused to send out copies of the film to voters amid fears of piracy.

I cannot even express the excitement that brews within me over next month’s Academy Awards. In 20 days, the Academy will hand out those golden statues that get those actors crying and screaming.

The fact that Jon Stewart, one of the funniest and may I add sexiest men in the world is hosting is the best icing on the cake anyone could ever ask for (though I’m hoping Whoopi returns someday).

I have a few people I’m rooting for, and I hope that doesn’t get in the way of my predictions too much, but if it does, oh well.

George Clooney’s got 3 nominations this year, but as he’s said himself, it’s very unlikely he’ll win in any of the categories he’s nominated in. It’s just a Brokeback year this year. George’s gift is in the nominations. The good news though, is that with the success of Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck, George Clooney has finally torn down the barrier on his career that had him pegged as a “hunk”, a competent actor with a pretty face. As with Mel Gibson recently, Clooney has gained industry credibility, that leaves him open to future Oscar chances. But sorry George, it just ain’t your year.

This is a great year for the Best Actor category. Every actor in the category deserves a win, and that’s the kind of thing that makes the Academy Awards relevant–unlike other embarassing categories (See Best Actress).

With all of the said…without further ado, here are my predictions for who will win as well as my choices for who (as objectively as can be) should win.

Best Actor

Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Terrence Howard - Hustle & Flow
David Strathairn - Good Night, and Good Luck
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk The Line

Will Win: Philip Seymour Hoffman. The only possible alternate choice is Heath Ledger who could squeeze out a win because of the Brokeback Mountain momentum. But more than likely, the Academy will award Hoffman’s subtle, quietly powerful performance in Capote. Not to mention the fact that the Academy, which is full of older men, tends to not like to award young, beautiful actors. Case in point: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jude Law. Joaquin was great in Walk The Line but he’s too overshadowed by the power of Brokeback and the caricature of Capote. Not to mention last year’s win for Jamie Foxx for playing a similar role in a similar movie.

Should Win: This is a VERY hard one, because each and every performance in this category is worthy. But if I factor in EVERYTHING, including each actor’s body of work and the difficulty of the characters, I’d have to say Philip Seymour Hoffman. He absolutely NAILED Truman Capote, and turned what could have been a mediocre film into something spectacular. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him the entire movie.

Best Actress

Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
Reese Witherspoon - Walk The Line
Judi Dench - Mrs. Henderson Presents
Keira Knightley - Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron - North Country

Will Win: This is a VERY tough one. The only two who have ANY chance of winning are Huffman and Witherspoon, but it’s honestly a huge toss up between those two. Given the Academy’s trend towards beautiful women and Oscars (the trend is the opposite in the Best Actress category), I would be inclined to say Reese Witherspoon. But I wouldn’t completely rule out Felicity Huffman. Reese has the advantage that her film did more than 10 times better at the box office than Felicity’s but Felicity’s performance was more challenging, and the Academy loves gender bending roles (See Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry).

Should Win: Felicity Huffman I’m sorry Reese, you’re great and all in Walk The Line–particularly the scene where Joaquin’s on the bed all coked out and you’re giving him one of those friendly motiviational speeches and you get all teary eyed–(I got a little misty), and I loved you in Legally Blonde, but something tells me the work you put into Mrs. Carter Cash pales in comparison to Felicity Huffman’s brilliant take on a pre-op transexual connecting with her estranged son. You just don’t get better acting than this people. Reese has many years and a great career ahead of her. Something tells me Felicity’s chances of being nominated again aren’t too great. Maybe the fact that she’s married to Bill Macy’ll help her get some votes?

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Dillon - Crash
George Clooney - Syriana
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
Paul Giamatti - Cinderella Man
William Hurt - A History of Violence

Will Win: It’s honestly a toss up between Matt Dillon and Paul Giamatti. In an ideal world, Matt Dillon would win hands down. His performance in Crash was fresh, real, honest, and it was a standout performance in a film with an excellent ensemble. But there’s a problem. Paul Giamatti should have nominated for Sideways last year, and was for whatever reason snubbed. The Academy likes to give Oscars to people after the fact even if the performance isn’t as good as the one they should have won for (See Denzel Washington in Training Day/Malcolm X). Though effective, Giamatti’s performance in Cinderella Man is not an Oscar winning one, in fact if there was a nomination in this movie it should have been for the excellent Russell Crowe, who played vulnerability like no one can in Cinderella Man–he had me balling. I know what you’re wondering. Why am I not considering Jake Gyllenhaal for the monster of a movie Brokeback Mountain. I refer back to my commentary for the Best Actor category. Too young, too pretty. We’ll see how it goes down next month, but I’m hoping the Academy does the right thing.

Should Win: Duh. Matt Dillon. Great script, great movie, great performance. My other choice would be Jake Gyllenhaal (who I think, as an actor is ridiculously underrated. Like other actors before him, his beauty is unfortunately overshadowing his immense talent). The scene where Jack finally stands up to his father-in-law on Thanksgiving is one of my favorites in the film–Gyllenhaal is a winner in ths movie. But I think Jake has many more brilliant performances ahead of him. Dillon should take this one.

Best Supporting Actress

Frances McDormand - North Country
Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain
Catherine Keener - Capote
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
Amy Adams - Junebug

Will Win: Rachel Weisz. She’s had the momentum building up to the awards for quite a while now, (See Golden Globes and SAG Awards) and she makes such a bold impact even for being killed in the first two minutes that I think she’ll take it home. I’d love to see Frances McDormand win for her touching performance in North Country, but the problem simply is that no one saw that damn movie. Why, I’m not sure. It was a great movie with some great performances. Catherine Keener could pop out a win for her role in Capote, though unlikely, and Michelle Williams could sneak up with her misery-stricken Alma in Brokeback Mountain, but I think the voters too keenly remember her days at the Creek.

Should Win: Michelle Williams. As the great Annie Proulx said, Michelle nailed Alma’s “misery voice” and already had me tearing up halfway through the movie at her reaction to seeing Jack and Ennis embrace. She won’t win because there are some more experienced and respected actors in her category, but she should.

Best Director

Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
George Clooney - Good Night, and Good Luck
Paul Haggis - Crash
Steven Spielberg - Munich
Bennett Miller - Capote

Will Win: Ang Lee. Without a doubt. Sorry, George, this one is in the bag. All I can say is that I’m glad Spielberg came out with Munich, because the Academy nominates him for anything, and if War of the Worlds had been nominated for an Oscar I would have cut off my penis and stabbed in a vagina with a plastic spoon.

Should Win: Ang Lee. Brokeback is a beautiful film and Ang has conjured some magical performances out of these promising young actors. Bravo, Ang. Bravo. The rest of the nominees all made great movies, but the power of Brokeback overtakes all.

Best Picture

Brokeback Mountain
Crash
Capote
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

Will Win: Need I even? B-R-O-K-E-B-A-C-K. No doubt in my mind.

Should Win: As I said before, all great films. But Brokeback is a hell of a film with a weeper of an ending. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Granted, the first time I saw it, it was in Chelsea so the audience was nothing but gay men and their fag hags, but nonetheless. Crash is one of my favorite films of all time, and Good Night, and Good Luck was one of the best made movies I’ve seen in a REALLY long time, but you gotta give it to Ang Lee. You just gotta.

Snubs?

Toni Collete - In Her Shoes. This was such a great movie with 3 great performances. Shirley Maclaine was nominated for a Golden Globe (and should have won, by the way) but the real standout performance of the movie was from the brilliantly underrated Toni Collette.

Anne Hathaway - Brokeback Mountain. I’m sorry, but her performance was my favorite. I know, a lot of people can’t get past the hair, but that little smirk she gives when Jack stands up to her father, and that scene with her and Heath at the end–don’t even get me crying up in here. I’m not saying she would or should have won, but she should have at least been nominated.

Russell Crowe - Cinderella Man. Sorry Russell, this was just a really tough year for leading actors. So many great performances to choose from–only five slots. But you were great.

Terrence Howard - Crash. He probably didn’t get nominated because his performance here was overshadowed by his performance in Hustle & Flow, but a snub nonetheless.

Sandra Bullock - Crash. I think Sandra Bullock’s talents are ridiculously underrated. Yes, she’s pretty. Yes, she’s funny. Yes, she’s shtick. Yes, she usually does big budget romantic comedies. But I’ve never disliked a performance of hers (except maybe Speed 2 which I’ll try to forgive her for), and in Crash, she really pulls out all the stops. That scene in the house where she unloads on Brendan Fraser after they’re robbed at gunpoint is one of the best of the film. The best part of it though, is the classy walk off afterwards.

Cinderella Man - I still don’t quite get why no one went to see this. It’s an all-American film, it stars Russell Crowe and Renee Zelweger, two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and it’s a Ron Howard flick. Hmm…maybe too close to Million Dollar Baby.

The Constant Gardener - Great movie that should probably be in Munich’s place. Damn that Spielberg.

George Clooney’s Oscar nomination success could be overshadowed by a stolen naked picture of the star, taken before he found global fame.

The actor was 28 when he posed for the snap, which was taken during his stint as Booker Brooks on hit US sitcom Roseanne.

The saucy snapshot was promptly stolen from the set and now star Roseanne Barr fears it will come back and haunt the Good Night, and Good Luck actor/director.

Barr tells Britain’s Attitude magazine, “One night when we were all drunk, John Goodman took a picture of George naked with Groucho Marx glasses over his private area and we used to have that on the fridge on the Roseanne show, with a magnet on top of it. But someone stole it.

“I always check to see if it’s on eBay - all of us do - but somebody must have just thrown it away because it’s never shown up.”

The actress adds of Clooney - who has been nominated in the Best Supporting Actor, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay categories - “He’s a great person, he was so fun and funny. I thought he was handsome but I didn’t know he was going to be this huge, he’s always just George to me.”

Honestly, Roseanne…I don’t think some naked pictures no one’s ever heard of are going to hurt George’s chances. Especially since I doubt he’ll win anything anyway. The Academy’s gonna make up for not nominating Paul Giamatti last year and they’re gonna give him the win for Cinderella Man. And Ang Lee has the Best Director Oscar wrapped so far around his dick he’s about to cum. G’day.