Looking at Film from Every Angle

79th Academy Awards (2006): Winner Predictions

AWARDS
5 4 2 1 – – – – – – –	Dreamgirls Pan’s Labyrinth The Departed Babel The Queen Cars Children of Men The Last King of Scotland Letters from Iwo Jima Pirates of the Caribbean 2 United 93

Predictions are in the order I think they have a chance of winning the award (except the short film categories, which are unranked and each listed as “Toss Up”). I have added notations to each indicating how strong I think they are a contender.

LEGEND:
Winner Prediction (c-Win Pred Date Set) — Chance at Win —
Other Nominees — Chance at Win —

Best Picture

Babel – Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu, Jon Kilik, Steve Golin (c-Jan 23) — Average —

The Departed – Graham King — Average —
Little Miss Sunshine – David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub — Average —
The Queen – Andy Harries, Christine Langan, Tracey Seaward — Average —
Letters from Iwo Jima – Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Steven Spielberg — Fair —

Best Animated Feature

Cars – John Lasseter (c-Jan 22) — Average —

Happy Feet – George Miller — Average —
Monster House – Gil Kenan — Fair —

Best Director

The Departed – Martin Scorsese (c-Dec 15) — Good —

Letters from Iwo Jima – Clint Eastwood — Average —
United 93 – Paul Greengrass — Average —
Babel – Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu — Average —
The Queen – Stephen Frears — Fair —

Best Actor

The Last King of Scotland – Forest Whitaker (c-Jan 23) — Good —

Venus – Peter O’Toole — Average —
The Pursuit of Happyness – Will Smith — Average —
Half Nelson – Ryan Gosling — Fair —
Blood Diamond – Leonardo DiCaprio — Weak —

Best Actress

The Queen – Helen Mirren (c-Jun 16) — Strong —

Notes on a Scandal – Judi Dench — Average —
Little Children – Kate Winslet — Fair —
The Devil Wears Prada – Meryl Streep — Fair —
Volver – Penelope Cruz — Weak —

Best Supporting Actor

Dreamgirls – Eddie Murphy (c-Jun 16) — Average —

Little Miss Sunshine – Alan Arkin — Average —
Little Children – Jackie Earle Haley — Average —
The Departed – Mark Wahlberg — Average —
Blood Diamond – Djimon Hounsou — Average —

Best Supporting Actress

Dreamgirls – Jennifer Hudson (c-Jun 16) — Good —

Little Miss Sunshine – Abigail Breslin — Average —
Babel – Rinko Kikuchi — Average —
Notes on a Scandal – Cate Blanchett — Average —
Babel – Adriana Barraza — Average —

Best Original Screenplay

Little Miss Sunshine – Michael Arndt (c-Feb 21) — Good —

The Queen – Peter Morgan — Good —
Babel – Guillermo Arriaga — Good —
Letters from Iwo Jima – Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis — Average —
Pan’s Labyrinth – Guillermo del Toro — Average —

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Departed – William Monahan (c-Jan 11) — Good —

Children of Men – Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby — Good —
Little Children – Todd Field, Tom Perrotta — Average —
Notes on a Scandal – Patrick Marber — Average —
Borat – Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer, Todd Phillips — Weak —

Best Original Song

Dreamgirls – “Listen”, Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler, Anne Preven (c-Nov 20) — Good —

An Inconvenient Truth – “I Need to Wake Up”, Melissa Etheridge — Average —
Dreamgirls – “Love You I Do”, Henry Krieger, Siedah Garrett — Average —
Dreamgirls – “Patience”, Henry Krieger, Willie Reale — Average —
Cars – “Our Town”, Randy Newman — Average —

Best Original Score

Pan’s Labyrinth – Javier Navarrete (c-Feb 21) — Good —

Babel – Gustavo Santaolalla — Good —
The Queen – Alexandre Desplat — Good —
Notes on a Scandal – Philip Glass — Average —
The Good German – Thomas Newman — Fair —

Best Editing

United 93 – Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse, Richard Pearson (c-Jan 23) — Average —

Babel – Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione — Average —
The Departed – Thelma Schoonmaker — Average —
Children of Men – Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Cuaron — Average —
Blood Diamond – Steven Rosenblum — Fair —

Best Cinematography

Children of Men – Emmanuel Lubezki (c-Jan 11) — Average —

The Black Dahlia – Vilmos Zsigmond — Average —
Pan’s Labyrinth – Guillermo Navarro — Average —
The Prestige – Wally Pfister — Average —
The Illusionist – Dick Pope — Fair —

Best Art Direction

Pan’s Labyrinth – Eugenio Caballero, Pilar Revuelta (c-Feb 20) — Average —

Dreamgirls – John Myhre, Nancy Haigh — Average —
The Prestige – Nathan Crowley, Julie Ochipinti — Average —
The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Rick Heinrichs, Cheryl A. Carasik — Fair —
The Good Shepherd – Jeannine Oppewall, Gretchen Rau, Leslie E. Rollins — Fair —

Best Costume Design

Dreamgirls – Sharen Davis (c-Jun 16) — Average —

Curse of the Golden Flower – Yee Chung Man — Average —
Marie Antoinette – Milena Canonero — Fair —
The Devil Wears Prada – Patricia Field — Fair —
The Queen – Consolata Boyle — Weak —

Best Makeup

Pan’s Labyrinth – David Marti, Montse Ribe (c-Jan 9) — Good —

Apocalypto – Aldo Signoretti, Vittorio Sodano — Average —
Click – Kazuhiro Tsuji, Bill Corso — Fair —

Best Sound Mixing

Dreamgirls – Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer, Willie Burton (c-Nov 28) — Good —

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Paul Massey, Christopher Boyes, Lee Orloff — Good —
Flags of Our Fathers – John Reitz, Dave Campbell, Gregg Rudloff, Walt Martin — Average —
Apocalypto – Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Fernando Camara — Fair —
Blood Diamond – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Ivan Sharrock — Fair —

Best Sound Editing

Letters from Iwo Jima – Alan Robert Murray (c-Jan 23) — Good —

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Christopher Boyes, George Watters II — Good —
Flags of Our Fathers – Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman — Average —
Apocalypto – Sean McCormack, Kami Asgar — Fair —
Blood Diamond – Lon Bender — Weak —

Best Visual Effects

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, Allen Hall (c-Dec 19) — Strong —

Superman Returns – Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover, John Thum — Fair —
Poseidon – Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chaz Jarrett, John Frazier — Weak —