[Soledad O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] This year's Academy Award nominations are out. Actress Sigourney Weaver was on hand to make the announcements. "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" led the pack with 11 nominations. But there were plenty of Oscar nods to go around. So who are the early favorites? Here with some predictions and some just out and out guesses our 90-second pop panel. BJ Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly," Jessica Shaw of "Entertainment Weekly" and Christopher John Farley of "TIME" magazine. Good morning to each and every one of you.
[Unidentified Male:] Morning.
[Jessica Shaw, "entertainment Weekly":] Good morning.
[O'brien:] I thought that was a very interesting announcement. I mean, one, because they do it so fast, which is nice. But also I thought some really interesting categories. Let's begin with best actress. The list overall is for is Keisha Castle-Hughes for "Whalerider," Diane Keaton "Something's Gotta Give," Samantha Morton "In America," Charlize Theron "Monster," Naomi Watts "21 Grams." Boy, Keisha Castle-Hughes.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes.
[O'brien:] I thought that was...
[Shaw:] Yes, she got Nicole Kidman's slot.
[Unidentified Male:] Right.
[Shaw:] Where was she. That was the biggest snub of the day, I think.
[O'brien:] Good for her. She's, what, 11 years old.
[Unidentified Male:] Absolutely.
[Shaw:] Yes.
[Bj Sigesmund, Staff Editor, "us Weekly":] Yes, and this movie also came out last summer. It was a critical favorite and it had a lot of people talking, but it sort of has been off the map for many, many months. And for it to come back and score a best actress nomination for this little girl, it's pretty amazing.
[O'brien:] Who never acted before, right.
[Christopher John Farley, Senior Editor, "time" Magazine:] Yes, but very deserving, because I think a lot of critics loved her performance. I thought she gave a better performance than Nicole Kidman. And I think it's good to have a newcomer, you know, get that spot.
[Sigesmund:] She's a fresh face.
[Tv. O'brien:] Yes, she's 11.
[Sigesmund:] She's even she's even a fresher face than Charlize Theron.
[O'brien:] Who do you pick as the actual winner in that category, who would you say?
[Sigesmund:] All about Charlize.
[Shaw:] Charlize.
[Farley:] Yes, I think Charlize is going to win.
[Shaw:] Definitely.
[Sigesmund:] For sure.
[Shaw:] And she is psyched Nicole Kidman didn't get the nomination because now she has no competition really.
[Sigesmund:] Right, exactly.
[O'brien:] All right, well let's move to the best actor category. Here is who was nominated, Johnny Depp for "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," Ben Kingsley for the "House of Sand and Fog," Jude Law for "Cold Mountain," Bill Murray for "Lost in Translation," Sean Penn "Mystic River." Johnny Depp, any chance whatsoever that "Lost in" that "Lost in" the...
[Farley:] It's tough...
[O'brien:] ... "Pirates of the Caribbean?"
[Farley:] It's tough for a comic performance to win. But I really the big surprise there is the fact that Russell Crowe was not nominated, because a lot of people thought he did a great job as master and commander. But he has been nominated in the past. He's won in the past, until this time.
[Shaw:] Yes, the Academy loves, also Tom Cruise didn't get a nomination.
[Sigesmund:] Yes, that for me is a big surprise Tom Cruise. When is that guy ever going to get an Oscar? You know this was this was a big deal for him. He really wanted an Oscar for this movie.
[O'brien:] Sad movie, though.
[Sigesmund:] Yes,...
[O'brien:] Sad movie.
[Sigesmund:] ... the movie was disappointing, although, as you'll get to in a minute, there was another acting nomination for the movie, a supporting actor.
[O'brien:] All right. Well let's...
[Shaw:] And as predicted, it's all Bill Murray versus Sean Penn. That's going to be the race of the night.
[O'brien:] At the end. But do you think it matters that Sean Penn doesn't show up to these awards ceremonies?
[Sigesmund:] Yes.
[Shaw:] I do.
[O'brien:] It does?
[Farley:] I think it does. It was a mistake for him not to show up to the Global Globes. And maybe he had real family difficulties, you know you never know, but I think it didn't send the right signal.
[Sigesmund:] Well he also has a history of skipping Oscar ceremonies and other ceremonies of this type and...
[Shaw:] But luckily for him, Bill Murray isn't exactly warm and fuzzy either, so it's not like, you know.
[Sigesmund:] It's the...
[O'brien:] You couldn't pick a better person to...
[Sigesmund:] The war...
[Shaw:] Right, exactly.
[Sigesmund:] The war of the harassable men, that's what the best actor category is this year.
[O'brien:] Let's go to best supporting actress. Here is who was nominated, Shohreh Aghdashloo for "House of Sand and Fog," Patricia Clarkson for "Pieces of April," Marcia Gay Harden for "Mystic River," Holly Hunter in "Thirteen," Renee Zellweger "Cold Mountain." We saw Renee Zellweger win the Golden Globe for "Cold Mountain." And you had said earlier, Jessica, that she was pretty much a given.
[Shaw:] Yes, that's a absolutely.
[O'brien:] Do you think again a given?
[Shaw:] A hundred percent, definitely.
[O'brien:] Really?
[Shaw:] It is her award.
[Sigesmund:] Yes, this is she has been nominated in the best actress category a couple of times before, I think. But this she is the standout performance in that movie. You know Nicole Kidman and Jude Law are there to do their jobs, and they do them fine, but Renee just steals the show. And I think...
[Shaw:] Also, she might have gotten some competition from Scarlett Johansson from "Lost in Translation," but she didn't get nominated either.
[O'brien:] But not on the list.
[Sigesmund:] That was a huge snub. She didn't get nominated for that film or for a "Girl With a Pearl Earning." A lot of people thought she could be nominated for either.
[O'brien:] Well she's only 19, she has many, many more years...
[Shaw:] Right.
[O'brien:] ... in order to get nominated. Best supporting actor. Here is who was nominated, Alec Baldwin for "The Cooler," Benicio Del Toro for "21 Grams," Djimon Hounsou for "In America," Tim Robbins for "Mystic River," Ken Watanabe for "The Last Samurai." Djimon Hounsou, and I apologize if I'm, Mr. Hounsou, if I'm messing up the name. I've for all the years that he's been acting,...
[Sigesmund:] You won't be the only one today.
[O'brien:] ... that I have mangled his name every single year.
[Shaw:] It's nice that that movie got some acting nominations...
[O'brien:] Didn't get a lot of nods.
[Shaw:] ... to be of support and also, you know, that most definitely people loved that movie. It's...
[Farley:] Although it's "In America" I thought the nod it should have gotten but it didn't is best song. Bono co-wrote the theme song for that movie. Didn't get a nomination. I think it really should have.
[O'brien:] All right.
[Sigesmund:] This is an example, though, of a film that's really going to benefit from the Oscar nominations. It's made less than $10 million. Now this morning people are like, "In America," wow, I guess I got to see that.
[O'brien:] I need to go see that.
[Shaw:] Yes.
[Sigesmund:] Got to add that up that on my priority list.
[O'brien:] And it's supposed to be a beautiful movie, so.
[Shaw:] Also nice that Benicio Del Toro got nominated since he and Naomi Watts were both snubbed from the Golden Globes and they both got nominated for Oscars.
[O'brien:] Who do you pick for best film? I pick "Lost in Translation," even though I haven't seen it.
[Shaw:] Honey, no way. It's all "Lord of the Rings." No acting nominations, but...
[Sigesmund:] You can give it a personal...
[O'brien:] It was nine hours of my life.
[Farley:] I think it's too bad that "Whalerider," that "City of God" and that "Finding Nemo" didn't get best picture nominations. I thought they were all deserving. I think "Finding Nemo," I think it's sort of a snub because they have this animated category. It takes away from people wanting to put it in the major categories like best picture. It's too bad.
[Shaw:] I thought it was a great movie.
[O'brien:] So you think.
[Sigesmund:] Yes, but I think the major snub of the morning for sure is "Cold Mountain," and I'm sure Miramax is very disappointed.
[O'brien:] Again, snubbed again.
[Sigesmund:] They put a lot of money into that movie...
[O'brien:] Yes, big stars.
[Sigesmund:] ... and a lot of money into marketing it and it's a real disappointment.
[Shaw:] Harvey is not happy today.
[O'brien:] I bet Harvey is very unhappy today.
[Sigesmund:] Yes.
[O'brien:] Sorry, Harvey, it's going to be a bad rest of the day. BJ and Jessica and Christopher John, thank you all for being with us. Appreciate it.
[Shaw:] Thank you.
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