Likely Best Picture nominees

[Paragon]

Nominess will be read on TV and posted on www.oscar.com this morning at 8:30 am EST/5:30 PST. My best guess:

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Cold Mountain
Lost in Translation
Mystic River
Seabiscuit

Might surprise:

Whale Rider
Finding Nemo
The Last Samurai
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

[lazarus]

1. doesn't matter

If Andy Serkis isn't nominated for Best Supporting Actor, the Academy should immediately be disbanded as a worthless organisation of Neanderthals.

[Paragon]

2. That's a toughie

I agree - but does Weta Digital get their name on that nomination, too?

And there are a lot of actors filling out those nominations that are probably not hot on the idea of being replaced by animated characters. A ridiculous fear, but it's there.

[lazarus]

3. Only if

The makeup people for Tootsie got a share of Dustin Hoffman's Oscar.

The difference here is that Serkis created Gollum. Have you seen the footage in the Extended Edition extras of Two Towers? They scrapped years of work when Serkis arrived, he was so good.

There's one bit where you get to watch the "duelling Gollum" sequence in split screen, one side is just Serkis, one side is what Weta did with him. Every facial tic, every nuance he gave the character was carried over. He wasn't just voicing Gollum.

This is the time for the Academy to realise that some performances transcend traditional acting, and Serkis' was one of them. He made me cry at least 6 times in those two films, and I'm not one to cry, ever. Simply an extraordinary feat.

[Paragon]

4. I have seen that footage

I love the back-to-back Gollum/Serkis "gob of spit" comparison.

The Gollum-arguing-with-himself scene is great not only because of Serkis & Weta, but also Fran Walsh, who encapsulated addiction in just a few sentences. I agree, it was very moving.

[jsw_81]

5. Mystic River was amazing

[SheilaT]

6. In America

gets my vote for Best Picture.

[Corgigal]

7. I still love Seabiscuit

and I loved the book. However I am seeing Mystic River this weekend.

[gator_in_Ontario]

8. Monster

I haven't seen it yet, but it could slip in there.

[bigwillq]

9. Mystic River was the best movie I saw this year but

I haven't seen too many of the ones that were nominated