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Over at Goatdog's Blog, Mike, Nathaniel of The Film Experience and Nick of Nick's Flick Picks are on hand to discuss their latest in the Best Pictures from the Outside In series. This time, they discuss the 1928-29 winner The Broadway Melody (which, I'm urging you, avoid at all costs) and the 2006 winner The Departed (Best film of the year, in my opinion).

StinkyLulu discusses Olivia de Havilland in Gone With the Wind for the upcoming Smackdown on Sunday, of which I will be taking part in.

My New Plaid Pants has screengrabs of the best scene of the year so far.

Stale Popcorn ponders why so many actors and actresses have given the greatest performances of their career in gay (or homoerotic) roles.

Valley Dreamin' thinks Nicole Kidman is totally overrated.

A Blog Next Door announces his dream ballot for the Comedy Emmy's.

2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Picture

And the nominees are...

The Departed (Martin Scorsese)

With all the guns, murder, violence and mob talk, there's no way I should have loved this movie as much as I did. But Scorsese has crafted a mob thriller that is both intelligently made and ass-kickingly cool- not an easy combination.

Dreamgirls (Bill Condon)

A cinematic experience to say the least. Condon's adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical receives the epic treatment and not a minute goes by where you don't feel his heart and soul in every ounce of the film.

Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris)

Little Miss Sunshine probably had the most to overcome (a quirky, independent road film with an overly familiar plot) but, somehow, it rises against all of these hindrances and became one of the most beloved films of the year. It's quirky but not annoyingly so, familiar but still hilarious and the cast has some of the best chemistry of the decade.

The Painted Veil (John Curran)

The only non-ensemble film on my list, and it's all the better for it. Too many actors would have gotten in the way of the visual splendor. Sure, the landscape is romanticized a bit, but when it looks this gorgeous, who really gives a shit? Plus, Edward Norton and Naomi Watts deliver heartbreaking performances that very carefully avoid cheap and easy cliches of the romance genre.

Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell)

Once you accept the graphic frankness about sex and sexuality, what you realize is that Mitchell has crafted a truly powerful and strangely moving reflection on human sexual relationships. This is the kind of maturity we don't get from the movies every day and is definitely something to be cherished.

If Only There Were Six: Notes on a Scandal (Richard Eyre): I have never been both this amused and scared shitless at the same time.

Rest of the Top 10: Borat (Larry Charles): I haven't laughed this hard at a movie in a long time...Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron): Visually stunning and a truly thought provoking piece of art...The Prestige (Christopher Nolan): Another mindfuck, but still hypnotic....The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry): Original in every sense of the word

BRONZE
Little Miss Sunshine
SILVER
Dreamgirls
GOLD
The Departed

There you go, my 2006 Diva Cup Awards are finally complete. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I did creating them. Tune back sometime next year for 2007!

2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Director

And the nominees are...

Bill Condon, Dreamgirls

Not only does Condon guide Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson into giving, in my opinion, the Best Supporting Actor and Actress performances of the year, he also performs miracles behind the scenes with his nearly flawless direction that proves that after Chicago and Moulin Rouge! musicals are back and as good as ever.

Key Scene: "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is flawless, but the "Steppin' to the Bad Side" number is the way Bob Fosse would have done it had he been alive to direct.

Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men

Holy long take, Batman! With his risky use of the long take and other directorial choices, Cuaron elevated this pretty average science fiction story into the realm of high art. A wonderous feast for the eyes even after repeated viewings.

Key Scene: The Procession of the Child

Michel Gondry, The Science of Sleep

Gondry has enough imagination for three directors and The Science of Sleep is further proof that he is one of the freshest directors of our generation. If you thought Eternal Sunshine was off the wall, wait until you see some of Gael Garcia Bernal's dreams...whoa.

Key Scene: That final moment with Bernal and Gainsbourg on the horse...the closest I've ever seen anyone match the poetic beauty of the ending to Chaplin's City Lights

Christopher Nolan, The Prestige

Maybe not as perplexing as Memento, but I still left the theater trying to fit it all together. Definitely deserves a couple of viewings to see just exactly what went on.

Key Scene: The Explanation of Why We Saw 100 Top Hats in the Beginning

Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Scorsese is back and better than ever. The film is 2 1/2 hours, but thanks to the quick pace and ass-kicking action, it never feels that long.

Key Scene: Billy and Colin's Showdown on the Roof

If Only There Were Six: John Cameron Mitchell, Shortbus:

Rest of the Top 10: John Curran, The Painted Veil...Pedro Almodovar, Volver...Paul Greengrass, United 93...Sofia Coppola, Marie Antoinette

BRONZE
Michel Gondry, The Science of Sleep
SILVER
Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men
GOLD
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Actor

And the nominees are...

Matt Damon, The Departed

A brilliant performance that, for some reason or another, was never given any respect. Damon is transfixing as this dirty cop posing as a good cop and finally proved to me that he is a fantastic actor.

Key Scene: Raiding Costello

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed

With The Aviator, DiCaprio proved (to me anyways) that he could act. With The Departed, DiCaprio proves why he is one of the most respected actors in his age group. This is one hell of a knockout performance.

Key Scene: The final showdown on the roof

Aaron Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking

Being the lead of an impressive cast is never easy, but Eckhart does it flawlessly and easily shows us why everyone falls for this tobacco lobbyist's line.

Key Scene: Speaking at his son's career day

Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson

I wrote about this performance before, but let me just remind you how awed I was by this stunning, haunting and altogether brilliant performance...from the star of The Notebook no less.

Key Scene: Being found in the bathroom by Dre

Edward Norton, The Painted Veil

Norton keeps on surprising us with unusual projects and interesting characters. His performance here as the quiet and shy doctor who turns cold and bitter once he finds out about his wife's affair is startling and another brilliant performance for him.

Key Scene: Telling his wife he knows about her affair

If Only There Were Six: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat: hilarious, but also insightful- a rarity nowadays

Rest of the Top 10: Gael Garcia Bernal, The Science of Sleep: effectively keeps the surrealism grounded in reality...Patrick Wilson, Little Children: another fine performance ignored by critics- when will they learn...James McAvoy, The Last King of Scotland: there really is no way he should have been campaigning for supporting because he is the whole show...Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland: an effective scene stealer and scarily mad

BRONZE
Aaron Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking
SILVER
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
GOLD
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed

2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Supporting Actor

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2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay

And the nominees are...

Bill Condon, Dreamgirls

It always fascinating to see an adaptation of a Broadway work and wonder what it must have looked like on the stage because the film doesn't look like it would fit on a stage. Condon does just that...and makes it look easy.

Todd Field, Tom Perrotta, Little Children

The film is highly literate, but not so stuffy and filled with superlative dialogue that it's hard to get involved in.

Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal

The most intelligent camp script I have ever seen in my life. Marber deserves more credit than he receives for making this film so over the top and, yet, grounded in reality.

William Monahan, The Departed

Every word of dialogue is true and beliveable and, even at 2 1/2 hours, I don't think any of the scenes could have been cut.

Ron Nyswaner, The Painted Veil

Nyswaner's updating of the Maugham novella manages to keep both the relationship issues on the same footing with the exotic location.

Runners Up: Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski, V For Vendetta...Jason Reitman, Thank You For Smoking...Christoper Nolan and Jonathon Nolan, The Prestige

BRONZE
Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
SILVER
Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal
GOLD
William Monahan, The Departed

2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Diva

And the nominees are...

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette in Marie Antoinette

In this environment of scrumptous food, fabulous gowns and to-die-for shoes, there's no doubt that Marie Antoinette would have been a major diva bitch and Kiki Dunst fits that mold perfectly.

Jennifer Hudson as Effie White in Dreamgirls

My girl Effie is a diva after my own heart (before she's even famous, she turns down a paying gig becuase she "don't do 'oohs' and 'aahs'.") and that MLK line will never get old.

Frances McDormand as Jane in Friends With Money

McDormand's Jane feels like a lot of the divas I personally know (my mother, my friend Christi's mother and grammy) when she grumbles about the awful service in that restaurant.

Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada

She scares to shit out of everyone and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. I wanted to sign up for the "Miranda Priestly School of Bitchiness" the minute she first evily glared at Anne Hathaway's Andy.

Mark Wahlberg as Sgt. Dignam in The Departed

He steals scenes better than anyone I've ever seen and the way he is such an asshole to everyone (love that "Don't you know any fucking Shakespeare?" line to DiCaprio in the beginning) is a lesson for every diva in training.

Runners Up: Annette Bening brought her whole diva aura to Running With Scissors and made it a much better film than it should have...Fiona Shaw was so over-the-top in The Black Dahlia and, consequently, so hilarious, that she almost made Faye Dunaway's Joan Crawford seem subtle...Julianne Moore made a real diva entrance like the true pro that she is in Children of Men.

BRONZE
Mark Wahlberg
SILVER
Jennifer Hudson
GOLD
Meryl Streep

2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Ensemble

And the nominees are...

The Departed

{Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Vera Farmiga, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin}

Little Miss Sunshine
{Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Abigail Breslin, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin}

Shortbus
{Sook-Yin Lee, PJ DeBoy, Lindsay Beamish, Paul Dawson, Peter Stickles, Jay Brannan, Alan Mandell}

Thank You For Smoking
{Aaron Eckhart, David Koechner, Maria Bello, Rob Lowe, Cameron Bright, William H. Macy, Robert Duvall, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott}

Volver
{Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave}

Runners-Up: Friends With Money...Over the Hedge...Dreamgirls

BRONZE
Volver
SILVER
The Departed
GOLD
Little Miss Sunshine

2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Quote/Line Reading

And the nominees are...

"Here I am!" ~Cate Blanchett in Notes on a Scandal

Blanchett's battle cry to the vicious vultures surrounding her during a major personal crisis is one of the most hilarious camp moments since Faye Dunaway uttered "Tina, bring me the axe!" in Mommie Dearest and is the perfect way to end such a high-strung scene.

"Is she a sphinx, or simply stupid?" ~Dame Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal

I'm not sure why I love this quote so much, but Dame Judi's early size-up of Blanchett's Sheba is one of the quotes I immediately think about when I think about this movie.

"It's about fairness, Curtis. It's about people paying their dues. Isn't that what you keep telling me? ‘Get in line, Effie. Wait your turn.’ So why am I sitting here without so much as a B side on a 45 when an amateur like Martin Luther King Jr. gets his own album? I mean, can he even sing?" ~Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls

Diva-riffic to the extreme and the precise moment when I fell in love with J. Hud's Effie White. It takes a real diva to complain about MLK like that.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe fuck yourself." ~Mark Wahlberg in The Departed

Wahlberg's effective scene-stealing in The Departed doesn't get any better than this foul-mouthed quip.

"That is it! I've had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!" ~Samuel L. Jackson in Snakes on a Plane

I was shaking in anticipation of this line and, when it finally came, I laughed and applauded like I had never done before. Samuel L. Jackson’s delivery lived up to the hype and makes it an instant classic.

Runners Up: I loved Matt Damon's assholian response of "Qui gives a shit" to Alec Baldwin's "Qui bono" in The Departed so much that I wish I could say it more often...Annette Bening's "I need high ceilings" in Running With Scissors is one of this beautiful disaster's shining moments...Just the way Frances McDormand coughed out "Asshole" to that douchebag driver in the farmer's market in Friends With Money had me laughing for like two minutes straight. Brilliant.

BRONZE

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe fuck yourself."

SILVER

"Here I am!"

GOLD

"That is it! I've had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!"

Oscar Wrap-Up

What an exciting night last night was! I've only been watching the Oscar telecast for a couple of years (I think 2003 was the first), but this was by far the best. It was entertaining to the extreme and many deserving winners (and some undeserving...more about that later). I only got 12 out of the 24 categories correct, but I couldn't be happier. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of the night:

Highlights:

1. Martin Scorsese FINALLY winning his long deserved Best Director Oscar. What a triumphant and emotional moment. I couldn't be happier for the man.

2. Ellen DeGeneres. I love Ellen and she was absolutely hilarious. My favorite moment is when she asked Steven Spielberg to take a picture of her and Clint Eastwood for her MySpace...and then telling him to retake it when it didn't turn out the way Ellen wanted! Priceless.

3. Jennifer Hudson winning her Oscar. I was scared for a second that Abigail might steal it away from her but Miss Hudson prevailed. Yay for her!

4. The songs from Dreamgirls were beautifully staged and made me totally happy. Plus, seeing Beyonce and J. Hud duet on both "Listen" and "Love You I Do" was golden.

5. The Departed winning Best Picture over Babel. Finally, after the catastrophe that was last year, Oscar picks the right film for their top award.

6. I'm hearing a lot of bad buzz about the acrobats, but I thought they were impressive. Those Happy Feet penguins was a definite "Whoa" moment.

7. Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt presenting Best Costumes and that reaction shot of Meryl Streep in the audience....Let's just say there's a reason Meryl Streep is American royalty.

Lowlights:

1. Alan Arkin winning Best Supporting Actor over Eddie Murphy. Arkin was good and everything in Little Miss Sunshine, but he wasn't even the best supporting actor in the film (Steve Carell was tons better). All I have to say is that Eddie Murphy got robbed of his deserved trophy.

2. Babel winning Best Score. Since when does random guitar plucking count as an Oscar-winning score? Gustavo Santaolalla had already won last year for the treacly Brokeback score (I think what won it for him was that beautiful couple of lines of music that plays throughout and right at the end...you would know it if you heard it) and didn't need another for the non-existent Babel score.

3. "Listen" losing Best Song. What the fuck? Does Oscar not know an amazing song when it hears it anymore? "I Need to Wake Up" is a decent message song about global warming and all, but "Listen" is the most beautiful showstopping ballad I've heard in a long time.

A fantastic ceremony that I hope can be replicated in future years (in other words, bring Ellen back again!) Now it's time to start obsessing about next year's Oscars!

Rants on "The Departed"

I quickly rented The Departed the day it was released on DVD and watched it on February 14th (the perfect Valentine’s Day movie, I know). It’s taken me a couple of days to sort everything out and come up with a way to explain how much I loved it.

The whole movie is just so fucking badass and normally that’s not something that gets me this pumped (Samuel L. Jackson in Snakes on a Plane excluded). Maybe I need some more of that in my life right now, who knows? All I know is that most everyone in The Departed can kill without hesitation and/or breaking a sweat and that makes my day.

And talk about those performances…whoa. Everyone in the cast is in top-notch form. Leonardo DiCaprio proves once again how well he works with Scorsese (FYI, the first time I realized DiCaprio could act was in Scorsese’s The Aviator back in 2004) as volcanic emotions roll under his anxious and paranoid exterior. His nervous twitches and violent outbursts give the film part of its suspense (I especially love the scene where he out of nowhere smashes the guy in the bar on the head with a glass after making fun of him for ordering cranberry juice…all I could think was Damn that came out of nowhere). Matt Damon is also amazing as the weasely cop walking the fine line between good cop and bad cop (mostly teetering on bad cop, though). I also never thought much of him as an actor, but now I am totally convinced.

Don’t even get me started about all of the fantastic supporting performances in The Departed. Jack Nicholson is so over-the-top as the ultra-violent, semi-crazed Mob leader that his performance almost descends in to Baby Jane camp heaven and definitely deserved an Oscar nomination. But Mark Wahlberg also deserves his for his scene-stealing performance in which he turns ever line into a memorable one. Few small performances like his leave this much of an impression on me. Plus, we have Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin fantastic in smaller roles (even smaller than Wahlberg’s) and the fabulous Vera Farmiga as the precinct psychiatrist who fucks both Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. She is so amazing in this underwritten role that I wished that we could have seen more of her (maybe kicking some ass as well?).

I know this might be strange coming from me but I think that The Departed was even better than Dreamgirls (I know!). I guess I am just in love with huge ensembles with actors all at the top of their games and stories about conflicts between men (The Departed) and women (Dreamgirls) and their struggles to one up each other. C’est la vie.

My Rating: *****