The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tthe b-sidel Thursday, February 22 2007 - 5B Less is more, right? He will no doubt be entertaining, but don't expect a win for Jack Nicholson tonight. BEST SCREENPLAY - ORIGINAL After getting stiffed for "In the Bedroom" in 2002, Todd Field may have paid his dues to the Academy and be poised to take his first Oscar with the adapted screenplay for "Little Children." Then again, Alfonso Cuaron ("Children of Men") has also paid his dues with "Y tu mama tambifn"in2003. Thisyear,Cuaron makes an even stronger bid than he did then. Rule out "Notes on a Scan- dal," penned by closer playwright Patrick Marber, because as witty as itmightbe,no oneliked (orsaw) the movie. Don't completely discount "Borat," but Sacha Baron Cohen is an extremely very dark horse for this award, and, let's admit it, more of a sentimental favorite than a worthy candidate. It's a tough cat- egory, but most signs point to this being all about "The Departed." ELIE ZWIBEL VERDICT NOMINEES Adriana Barraza, "Babel" Cate Blanchett, "Notes ona Scandal" Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine" Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls" Binko Kikuchi, "Babel" Will win: Monahan for "The Departed Should win: Monahan They're the awards only the show's most avid watches seem to care about, but that happens to be us. Some other awards in contention on Sunday: The best cinematography race is one of the more interesting of the non-major categories, a duel between "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Children of Men." Inexplicable nomination for "The Black Dahl- ia" notwithstanding, the category is unusually strong this year, but we're betting on "Children of Men" to edge forward with its flawless single-shot chase sequence and climax. "Pan's," though, will take the bigger honor, the film a sure thing to take home foreign-lan- guage film. If you've seen no other movie that wins anything, rest assured you will hear the scrappy score to "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" as the visual effects artists walk away with that award. The other best-picture awards will likely go to "Cars" and "An Inconvenient Truth," not really because they are the best but Daily Arts. We won't drink a drop until the show is finished. Well, at least some of us. "Pan's Labyrinth" is the front runner in the best foreign film race. because they have the industry heavyweights behind them. Meanwhile, look for perennial Martin Scorsese editor Thelma Schoonmaker to take best edit- ing for "The Departed" and for "Dreamgirls" to score on one of its three (!) nominations in the best-song category (we couldn't care less which one that turns out to be). Best score is a toss-up between "The Queen" and "Pan's Labyrinth," but we'll give the lat- ter the edge, possibly because we liked it better. And all that hyper- bolic praise can't be for nothing: "Marie Antoinette" looks good to take home best costume design. BEST SCREENPLAY - ADAPTED uillermo Arriaga's "Babel" is too similar to last year's "Crash" to win for best original screenplay, and the Academy rarely grants foreign films this award, so adult fairy tale "Pan's Labyrinth" is unfortu- nately out. You may really want "Little Miss Sunshine" to win, but don't get your hopes up (some are grumbling about an upset, though). "Letters From Iwo Jima" and "The Queen" are both stronger candidates. In the end, "The Queen" will win because of its masterful restraint in dramatizing a more recent event and its ability to * influence perception of British monarchy still very much alive today. ELIE ZWIBEL VERDICT NOMINEES Adriana Barraza, "Babel" Cate Blanchett, Notes ona Scandal" Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine" Jennifer Hudson,"Dreamgirls" Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel" Will win: Peter Morgan for "The Queen" Should win: Iris Yamashita for "Letters From Iwo Jima MIDNIGHT MOVIES EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT BRA D PITT & EDWARD NORTON IN SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24'@. MIDNIGHT FOR MORE INFO VISIT MYSPACE.CoM/STATETHEATREA2 I lu Sample Roundtrip Airfares From Detroit to: -7 New York $131 London Miami $193 Frankfurt $302 $320 $371 Get 300 free text messages a month for one year. Sign up for new service and showa valid college ID at the Sprint store. After 12 months, pay the regular monthly fee. San Diego $252 Amsterdam * StudentUniverse corn Great. Location Close to classes, the libraries, the computing center, the rec building and everything else that really matters on campus. Explore your options. 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