I know. Spielberg's already won twice. And it's Spielberg. Real film buffs are supposed to despise him on principle. Well, it 's true. I am an unabashed Spielberg fan. Even an apologist. But the fact of the matter remains that Munich is his Godfather, and that doesn't happen very often. Click here for more of my Munich musings. Oh, and he shot it in, like, two weeks. There's gotta be some award for that.
BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain - Diana Ossana and James Schamus
Capote - Caroline Baron, William Vince, and Michael Ohoven
Crash - Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman
Good Night, and Good Luck - Grant Heslov
Munich - Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, and Barry Mendel
WILL WIN: Brokeback Mountain
SHOULD WIN: Munich
If you're wondering why everyone's so sure Brokeback is gonna win, look at the Golden Globes, BAFTA, BFCA, and the Producer's Guild (not to mention 15 or so critics circles). It 's just a question of critical (excuse the pun) mass. For a while there was a story that Brokeback broke too early and that Crash would sweep in but the sources on most of those stories tended to work for Lionsgate, Crash's distributor.
Brokeback Mountain is one of the best films of last year. But not the best. My favorite was Munich. A more complex story, more emotionally profound with deeper characterizations. As complex as Ennis Del Mar may be, he doesn't hold a candle to the torture of Avner Kaufman. Now, comparing emotional carnage is probably unfair, but in terms of impact, Munich moved me more (and it's not like Brokeback didn't pack a punch).
All that having been said, I found Good Night, and Good Luck to be more intellectually satisfying than either, but what are you gonna do?
And now, the What Does It All Mean? portion of the preview...
A lot has been made, and justly so, of the indie, wild, small, cheap, and political nature of this year's nomineees. A good point also gets made in these articles of the fact that only one of these "indpendent" films really comes from an independent studio, i.e., one not owned by a larger conglomerate. That would be Crash, distributed by Lionsgate. Still, most of these films are eligible for the $20 million budget cap placed on the Indie Spirit Awards nominees this year. In fact, three films (Brokeback, Capote, Good Night) are nominated for both awards' Best Picture honor. Ultimately, though, I think this says less about either awards show than you might think. Let's go ahead and crunch the numbers...
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