Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Best Picture - of 2006?



Ok, '05 is in the books. What about 2006? Scott The Reader made a nice list of upcoming films for this year, which ones will we be looking at for Oscar/Globes next year?

Perhaps The Departed, with DiCaprio, Nicholson (a shoo-in for best supporting actor I'll bet) and Matt Damon. Maybe they'll throw Scorcese Best Director. Or Flags Of Our Fathers, the Clint-Eastwood-directed WWII epic, produced by Spielberg.

There's always Zodiac, directed by David Fincher, which chronicles the hunt for a serial killer in the 70s. Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo star. Best Actor for Downey Jr? Hollywood loves a comeback.

Maybe Lady In The Water will get Paul Giamatti a Best Actor Oscar.

Flight 93 is touchy, but it intrigues me more that the Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. Flight 93 comes in April (too early to be remembered by next year's Oscars). Directed by Paul Greengrass.

All The King's Men, certainly a Best Picture candidate with Sean Penn as Best Actor.

How's Smokin' Aces sound, with Ben Affleck, Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Andy Garcia and Alicia Keys? Directed by Joe Carnahan (he did the excellent Narc).

The Good German sounds like a Best Picture, with Clooney as Best Actor. Speaking of "good" there's also the DeNiro-directed The Good Shepard, another Matt Damon film.

A dark horse candidate might be Running With Scissors, a dysfunctional family drama (think Family Stone, but good) with Annette Bening (Best Actress). From the creator of Nip/Tuck.

The Brad Pitt Jesse James movie? Probably not a Best Pic candidate. but maybe a supporting actor nod for Sam Rockwell. I love that guy.

Perhaps Johnny Depp will get another nod for Pirates 2.

As for funny, I'll be there for The Break-Up (Vince Vaughn & Jennifer Aniston). Caughn's always reliable for a laugh. Then there's You, Me, And Dupree, with Matt Dillon and Owen Wilson. And the NASCAR comedy with Will Ferrell and Sasha "Borat/Ali G" Cohen.

What about Apocalypto? Mel Gibson's latest? And The Da Vinci Code? Best Picture candidate? Or candidate for 3rd movie to hit $250 million in 06 (after X-Men 3 and Superman).

Southland Tales (with The Rock and Sarah Michelle Gellar) will certainly be cool, but probably not what Oscar is used to.

Marie Antoinette directed by Sofia Coppola? Could go either way. The trailer is intriguing, especially with the New Order music. Nice touch.

I'll be there for The Fountain, also for Thank You For Smoking.

And what about animation Best Picture? There's a boatful of releases coming, narrowing it down to 3 might be hard. We have Ice Age 2 & Cars, likely candidates. Then we have Open Season, Happy Feet, Over The Hedge, Ant Bully, Meet The Robinson's (Disney), and Barnyard. Plus Monster House, which could possibly kick a lot of ass. That's a lot of animation.

Tons of movies. And right now, they all look good. Until they start opening, then the disappointment hits. Happens every year. But it looks like a good year (whoops, that's also the name of a possible Russell Crowe contender). Anyway, it looks promising.

4 comments:

writergurl said...

I saw the trailer for the new Gibson thing this past Sunday afternoon, all around us, people were shaking their heads after the trailer, the girls in front of us were shaking their heads and I heard one of them say "Ugh, so not seeing THAT." Ne and my friends won't e going either, it just seemed to be another gory mess and frankly, Mel hasn't got enough juice to do something in an obscure language. I bet it tanks.

writergurl said...

That should be "in another obscure language."

Anonymous said...

Yes, A LOT of animation -- it's the future...and all 3-d...saw Hoodwinked yesterday, 5 previews, ALL 3-d anime.

The stories are better and the only limits are imaginations.

Alicia said...

I agree that 2006 will be a great year. Anthony Minghella has a new one set for August release. And Dreamgirls has the potential to be another Chicago.

Robert Downey's in 7 releases in 2006 (if Poe makes is completed and released in 2006). One of his films is already a Sundance-nominated film and several others have awards potential.

Jude Law is also in King's Men but he'll probably get notice for Breaking and Entering - the Minghella film.

Mos Def has 4 releases - Dreamgirls, 16 Blocks, Journey to the End of the Night (which he also composes), and Bobby. He's going to be one to watch this year.

And look for Will Smith to surprise in a dramatic turn in a December release with Thandie Newton (Crash).

Not sure if it has been long enough for 9/11 material. Oliver Stone has the best release slot, right before the 5 year mark. Since it's a story about the last heroes pulled from Ground Zero, I think it will strike a lot of chords. I am fascinated by the real-time approach of Flight 93. The trailer is haunting.

Lots of fun this year. We'll be seeing a lot of the animated ones - trust me! And don't forget those Indies!

See my 2006 Release Radar for more thoughts...