Johnny Simmons

And here's my rundown of the major categories.

BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Corpse Bride
A History of Violence
Pride & Prejudice
That’s my top 5 – in alphabetical order. As much as I liked Brokeback Mountain, I didn’t like it near as much as most the world – blogging and otherwise. But I did believe that it was the best of the Oscar nominated best pictures. My favourite film of the year was Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride barely edging out Joe Wright’s debut Pride & Prejudice, of which I am an unabashed fan of. The Constant Gardener was in third with A History of Violence the fourth. Other than this five, I was impressed with King Kong and Matchpoint, both of which were great if not underrated films of that year. Walk the Line was in the running, too, close but no cigar…

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, Matchpoint
David Cronerberg, A History of Violence
Peter Jackson, King Kong
Fernando Mereilles, The Constant Gardener
Joe Wright, Pride & Prejudice
I’m never too certain of the relation between direction and animated, so Tim Burton came in sixth for me. My winner was Cronerberg for A History of Violence, which just barely superseded Mereilles for The Constant Gardener. Woody Allen’s work in Matchpoint [third] was unjustly ignored by all except the Globes as far as I can remember. Ang Lee and James Mangold were runner ups.

BEST CAST ENSEMBLE
Corpse Bride
The Constant Gardener
Matchpoint
Pride & Pride
Walk the Line
Pride & Prejudice won this hands down. Corpse Bride was second. Although this was an animated flick, the work of the cast was really important. Matchpoint collects third, although it’s not the typical Woody cast. Walk the Line really had some superb performance by the cast members especially Waylon  Payne who was superb as Jerry Lee. I’m tempted to say he was the best in show with his five minutes of screen time.

BEST ACTOR
Ralph Fiennes, The Constant Gardener
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line

If 2005 was noted for anything in terms of film, it was the large number of oversights on behalf of the AMPAS and their nominees. Viggo Mortensen gave the best performance of his career in A History of Violence and after a somewhat a spotty precursor showing he failed to gain an Oscar nomination. Still, he was my pick for best actor followed by eventual Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman who finally got that plum role to make everybody stand up and take notice. I was also quite impressed with Phoenix’s take on Johnny Cash. It was a good year for the actors though. In addition to my top Jeff Bridges, Russel Crow, Jonathan Rhys Myers and Terrence Howard were all outstanding somewhat in their respective leading roles that year.

BEST ACTRESS
Joan Allen, The Upside of Anger
Judi Dench, Mrs Henderson Presents
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Renee Zellweger, Cinderella Man

No one could outdo Joan Allen for me. Her performance in The Upside of Anger was one of my favourite leading performance of this century and she was unjustly ignored at almost every major award. This is probably the best thing she’s ever done and even manages to sell the iffy ending. Keira Knightley is someone else who gave her best that year with her take on Elizabeth Bennett. She was a delight to look at. Reese Witherspoon has not aged nicely in terms of esteem, but I still was a fan of this performance. It worked so well with her, because in many ways it was a romantic quasi comedy performance, which she has always excelled. Judi Dench rarely goes wrong as far as I’m concerned and although Zellweger got no notice I was impressed by her work in Cinderella Man, although she could get hammy at times. Laura Linney and Naomi Watts did good work in The Squid & the Whale and King Kong respectively. But Felicity Huffman and Charlize Theron who played the deglam card in Transamerica and North Country were not terribly moving as far as I was concerned.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyellenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Ed Harris, A History of Violence
William Hurt, A History of Violence
Donald Sutherland, Pride & Prejudice

Oh why couldn’t AMPAS give Paul Giamatti the Oscar he so deserved for Cinderella Man? I honestly thought he was the best of the year, but alas he was shut out. At least the SAG awarded him. They couldn’t even pass the baton to Gyellenhaal who was just as impressive. It’s strange how he never became a contender, though. Hurt and Harris were both impressive in A History of Violence and Sutherland was the perfect paternal figure in Pride & Prejudice. Kevin Costner in The Upside of Anger and Terrence Howard in Crash were both impressive too.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Junebug
Maria Bello, A History of Violence
Scarlett Johansson, Matchpoint
Catherine Keener, Capote
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener

I didn’t have any problem with Rachel Weisz winning for The Constant Gardener. I was rooting for her all the way. Johansson and Bello were both wonderful in their, in some ways upstaging their male counterparts. Yet, both failed to gain notable awards traction and did not receive Oscar nominations. Catherine Keener did give a cameo on Capote, but it was still well done and Amy Adams was a delight in Junebug. No one else really did it for me in this category. Brenda Blethyn was fine in Pride & Prejudice, but she was overshadowed by her [many costars].

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Pride & Prejudice

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Cinderella Man
Crash
Matchpoint
The Squid & the Whale
Walk the Line

What was rocking your boat back in 2005? Any of these? None? Can you even remember? If you can, head over to Awards Circuit and place your vote. There’s not time like the present.