But I STILL want to see Dreamgirls ...

So now we know the 5 movies that we'll be trying to see before the evening of Feb 25th ...

Babel
The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Sigh. No Dreamgirls, although the expected supporting noms came through for J-Hud and Eddie Murphy.

My observations:

I know that Molly, Kath and I have seen Little Miss Sunshine. Reenie - I think you mentioned that you and Mitch watched it on vacation? How 'bout you Francine. Seen it? I just saw it last weekend, and I’m racking my brain trying to figure out why Alan Arkin got singled out while the other supporting males were not (Greg Kinnear, the kid who plays the silent kid, or my personal favorite, Steve Carrell). Of COURSE the little girl got nominated. What is the Oscars without some little girl getting to play dress-up in the Supporting Actress category?

It's always interesting to me to see the screenplay nominations. Maybe it’s because I fancy myself a professional writer (oh wait – I am a professional writer – I get paid for my efforts, however lame they may be!), or maybe it’s just because I admire creativity in cinema, but doesn’t it seem like the BEST films are always those that get screenplay noms? So I’m counting on being most impressed with movies like Children of Men, Borat, and Little Children.

It’s going to be a struggle to get me to sit down for Letters From Iwo Jima. I am sure it’s deserving, but I am tired of the violence of war. And I’m still not frothing at the mouth to see Babel. And I still don’t know why.

Some of the nominations seem very manly-man to me ... Is this Brokeback-lash? Heh heh heh.

Three of Dreamgirls nominations are in the Best Original Song category … Just pointing that out. Babel received 7 nominations, in 7 different categories. I’m thinking that’s pretty telling. (But I STILL want to see Dreamgirls … )

Click got nominated for Best Makeup!? Must be harder to age Adam Sandler than I would have thought …

Am I the only one excited about the prospect of seeing Al Gore at the Oscars? His documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, is nominated (and I would think, is a front-runner). I wonder if they could get him to be a presenter …

I kind of feel bad for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The buzz is/was that they each turned in winning performances in Hollywoodland and The Departed/The Good Shepherd, respectively. Maybe the academy feels like they’ve already won one and are harder on them than other actors??? I think Damon is a danged fine actor, so it bums me out that he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.

Even though everyone says Hudson is a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actress, I have this twinge in my gut that Blanchette could slide in there, particularly since there might be an anti-Dreamgirls sentiment.

I am most excited about seeing The Queen. I’d like to see it this weekend, if possible. Who’s in????

So, ladies? What do you think? Is this the year when we don’t actually follow-through with the pledge to see all Best Picture noms? Is this the year when we forego the picture noms to see nominated performances (in addition to Hudson and Murphy in Dreamgirls, think: Forrest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland, or Kate Winslet and Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children, or Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson, or Penelope Cruz in Volver, or Sascha Baron Cohen in Borat)? Is this the year we see the movies that get the buzz of screenplay noms instead of the big picture (Pan’s Labryinth, Children of Men, Notes on a Scandal)? And do we dare watch movies that got snubbed (Sherrybaby, and for the most part, United 93 and The Good Shepherd)?

What do you say???