Doesn't Sandra Bullock look mean here? I mean, she looks great, but menacing, like her movie, so I chose this still from Crash as a starter for my Academy Award show blog.

It snagged Best Picture, of course, but Brokeback Mountain should have won. However, I did really enjoy Crash, and one of the reasons why was this character, played by a dark and brooding Sandra Bullock--it's probably the best thing she's ever done, IMHO. She, Matt Dillon, Terance Howard, and the rest of the cast really saved this story. On the whole, this film was just a little too overstated for my taste. It has an important message, tolerance; but the films premise, that everyone is so disconnected that crashing into each other is the only way to make contact just didn't ring true for me--and I live and work in Southern California, where the film is set.

I believe Brokeback Mountain should have won over Crash, Munich, Good Night and Good Luck, and Capote because it has the most universal message, Love Reigns Supreme; and because the top-quality writing and acting made the subject matter both understandable and compelling to even the most homophobic moviegoer. Plus, Ang Lee proved his greatness as a Director by not getting in the way of the script. He could easily have chosen to dumb the story down to make it more TV-ish , and therefore less controversial, but he didn't, and the movie is the better for it. Brokeback Mountain will endure far beyond it's four fellow Best Picture nominees, great as they all were, and long after its controversy has subsided.

Capote was a sentimental favorite for me because Truman is my all-time favorite writer. I really appreciated the way the film didn't try to tell his entire story, like so many bio pics do. Focusing on just six years of the author's life, the viewer gets a crystal clear picture of what writing this best seller was like for Truman. Philip Seymour Hoffman pretty much nailed the part. But I like everything he does, especially his take on Lester Bangs in Almost Famous, and his standout supporting roles in Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Red Dragon. Even that crazy guy in Along Came Polly who has to leave the swanky art gallery party because he "sh-arted" is fun to watch. Other favorite films he's in are Happiness, Love Liza, and Flawless.

Munich blew my mind because it managed to balance fiction and reality so well. Some critics and viewers thought (think) the two simply don't mix, but I disagree. As films, I think Munich, JFK, and even Capote, all tell important and compelling stories--without ever demanding that the viewer except them as absolute fact.

Good Night and Good Luck has perhaps the most immediate impact, because, as Edward R. Murrow himself says in the film, how can we excpect to find truth abroad when we can't even find it at home.

See ya. -SSS