As the Academy Awards are sure to disappoint me, I figured I’d use my non-existent power here at the Sobering Conclusion to say what I think. So here are my picks for the best performances of the year. I’ve only included categories that I thought really made an impression on me and listed first the winner and then the runners up. There is no particular order for the non-winners. If you felt I left something out or if you see the light and agree, feel free to post your thoughts.

· BEST PICTURE:
A History of Violence

Capote
Junebug
Mysterious Skin
Tsotsi

 

· BEST DIRECTOR:
David Cronenberg (A History of Violence)

Peter Jackson (King Kong)
Bennett Miller (Capote)
Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
Neil Jordan (Breakfast on Pluto)

 

· BEST ACTOR:
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Mysterious Skin)
Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence)
Ralph Fiennes (The Constant Gardener)
Hugo Weaving (Little Fish)

 

· BEST ACTRESS:
Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line)

Cate Blanchett (Little Fish)
Naomi Watts (King Kong)
Maria Bello (A History of Violence)
Embeth Davitz (Junebug)

 

· BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Ken Watanabe (Memoirs of a Geisha)

Jeffrey Wright (Syriana)
Steve Coogan (Happy Endings)
Matt Dillon (Crash (2005))
Liam Neeson (Breakfast on Pluto)

 

· BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Amy Adams (Junebug)

Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha)
Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)
Melissa Leo (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada)

 

· BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Angus MacLachlan (Junebug)

Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers)
Guillermo Arriaga (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada)
George Clooney & Grant Heslov (Good Night and Good Luck)
Mark Spragg & Virginia Korus Spragg (An Unfinished Life)

 

· BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Dan Futterman (screenplay), Gerald Clark (novel) – (Capote)

Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana (screenplay), Annie Proulx (short story) – (Brokeback Mountain)
Gregg Araki (screenplay), Scott Heim (novel) – (Mysterious Skin)
Josh Olson (screenplay), John Wagner & Vince Locke (graphic novel) – (A History of Violence)
Robin Swicord (screenplay), Arthur Golden (novel) – (Memoirs of a Geisha)

 

· BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Rodrigo Prieto (Brokeback Mountain)

Roger Deakins (Jarhead)
Oliver Stapleton (An Unfinished Life)
Janusz Kaminski (Munich)
Chris Menges (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada)

 

· BEST SCORE:
John Williams (Munich)

Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain)
Harry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
John Williams (Memoirs of a Geisha)
Alexandre Desplat (Casanova)

 

· BEST EDITING:
Claire Simpson (The Constant Gardener)

Jamie Selkirk (King Kong)
Ronald Sanders (A History of Violence)
Walter Murch (Jarhead)
Christopher Tellefsen (Capote)

 

· BEST ART DIRECTION:
Patrick M. Sullivan Jr. & Tomas Voth (Memoirs of a Geisha)

Jules Cook, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy & Jeffrey Thorp (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
Susanna Codognato, Robert Guerra & Luca Tranchino (Casanova)
Jeanette Scott (Sin City)

 

· BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Colleen Atwood (Memoirs of a Geisha)

Jenny Beavan (Casanova)
Jacqueline Durran (Pride & Prejudice (2005)

 

· BEST SOUND:
King Kong

Jarhead
Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith
War of the Worlds (2005)

 

· BEST MAKEUP:
Memoirs of a Geisha

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 

· BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
King Kong

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The War of the Worlds

 

· BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Murderball

Grizzly Man
The Aristocrats

 

· BEST ANIMATED FILM:
Hoodwinked

No others worth mentioning.

 

· BEST SONG:
“Can’t Take It In” by Imogen Heap – (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

 

· BEST USE OF AN OSCAR WINNER:
Stealth

 

· WORST USE OF MULTIPLE OSCAR WINNERS:
Aeon Flux

 

· WORST USE OF A COUNTRY LEGEND:
The Dukes Of Hazzard

 

· MOST DESERVING OF MY PHONE NUMBER:
Anne Hathaway

 

· MOST BRAINWASHED ACTRESS:
Katie Holmes

 

· MOST DESERVING OF A PUNCH TO THE MOUTH:
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Match Point)

 

· FILMMAKER MOST DESERVING DEPORTATION:
George Lucas

 

· ACTRESS MOST IN NEED OF A CUPCAKE:
Lindsay Lohan