Your pick: favorite, best, rooting for.

Tough call.

Seabuiscut and Master and Commander are long shots. I don't think they generated enough Oscar Buzz when they were released.
Lord Of The Rings? Whie the LOTR trilogy is a tremendous achievement in movie making, I think there might be some backlash come Oscar night, but it might be a sentimental favorite.
Lost In Translation? Possible upset.
Mystic River? Oscar voters really love emotionally powerful flicks.

I think LOTR might have enough juice to go all the way.

If I was asked if LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring or LOTR The Two Towers were Oscar worthy, I would say no. However, in my opinion, I think Return of the King is different in that respect. The first two were awesome but they were not good enough (at least to me) to win the Best Picture award. Considering the other choices for Best Picture, I would say that this film stands a better chance of winning that Oscar than the previous two. However, that doesn't mean I believe it will win. I think the film that has the best chance of winning is Mystic River.

I'd say the opposite, FOTR was far more worthy than ROTK. Just because ROTK had some emotion in it didn't make it a better picture than FOTR. FOTR was the best movie. It missed its chance and I don't think ROTK is worthy to win it. The academy should honor ROTK as itself and not as a whole trilogy. as itself, its not worthy. Lost in Tranlatsion or Mystic River is.

I was suprised not to see cold mountain in there.

LOTR:Return of the King

LOTR because they are long overdue after two tries to the Oscars!!

Lord of the Rings! It's time a fantasy finally won...and LOTR too after 3 years of nominations.

Mystic River was the best movie of the year. I would also put Seabiscuit and the snubbed Cold Mountain over Lord of the Rings: ROTK.

lotr

Crossing my fingers for either Mystic River or Cold Mountain.

Mystic River.

Seabiscuit

Either Mystic River or The Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King.

(In order of preference)

1. Mystic River
2. Lost In Translation
3. Seabiscuit

Mystic River, definitely.

Mystic River also!!

I had to say LOTR--I think that the fantasy genre needs to be recognized and this trilogy has been incredibly well done. Surprisingly, the only movie I'm really hoping doesn't get the best picture Oscar is Mystic River. I feel really alone in my opinion here, but I think that the film rode on the reputation of its actors and its director. Eastwood paid so much attention to each scene as a self-contained unit (his admitted approach to directing), that the narrative lacked continuity, both emotional and in the pacing of the story. The relationships, complex in the book, were not well-explored in the film. For example, the audience is left to wonder why Celeste would take the action she does at the climax of the film and why she would direct it toward the person she did. (I realize that's a little vague on my part, but I didn't want to include spoilers.) Also the motivation for Annabeth's final monologue remains a mystery. Sean Penn (whom I respect as a performer) proves yet again in this movie that he can break down on cue, but the acting loses some of its power because it's so histrionic. This movie failed to provide the psychological complexity of its characters and relationships present in the novel. Such a great cast, such a good director, such a disappointment.

I voted for Lost in Translation

Mystic River.


Some of you said "Lost in Translation"...did I miss something? I didn't think that was memorable at all. I'm not saying it was the worst film I've ever seen, but oscar worthy? Maybe I, just, didn't get it.

First time ever that I have not seen one nominated movie.

I will rent whatever is available, I know Lost in Translation just came out (that won't win) but Mystic River is not due for a while so I'm screwed there.

I think it is mainly between Mystic River and ROTK.

I really can't imagine Academy voters picking a fantasy movie though I'm sure it is more deserving than say something like Titanic.

I think Mystic River will win, but I can't have a preference because I never get to the freaking movies anymore.