January
6
Oscar Watch: Open Questions
Oddly, at this stage of the Oscar race, while the five Best Picture candidates--Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Milk and Slumdog Millionaire--seem obvious, other races are harder to call.
While EW fearlessly forecasts the top five in the two actor races, these picks are far from clear.
While I agree that actresses Meryl Streep, Sally Hawkins and Kate Winslet are locks, an upset is possible in this category: Frozen River's Melissa Leo or I've Loved You so Long's Kristin Scott Thomas could steal slots from Changeling's Angelina Jolie or Rachel Getting Married's Anne Hathaway.
Among the men, while The Curious Life of Benjamin Button is a strong overall candidate, I'm not sure Brad Pitt is a lock--some find the digital aspects of his performance strange, even creepy. Who could get in there instead? While Revolutionary Road may seem to lack support, it is in fact just the sort of challenging actors' vehicle that the Academy tends to go for. Leonardo DiCaprio could be a surprise entry here. And The Visitor's Richard Jenkins, an actors' actor, is not beyond the realm of possibility.
Here's Gold Derby on the DGA, Vulture's Oscar Watch and Dave Kehr in the NYT on Oscar's obsession with Important Movies.
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Brad Pitt will never win an Oscar as long as he's alive. Sure, he may be a great actor and A-List, has done amazing films, but they won't give him an Oscar because he's too famous.
Just saying.
and when is Kate Winslet going to win a freakin' Oscar already? She's becoming the Susan Lucci of the Oscars... tsk tsk
Posted by: Ugly Deaf Muslim Punk Gurl! | January 07, 2009 at 07:41 AM
Anne Hathaway is a sure-fire lock. Not only is she a big fat A-list Movie Star, but she also has a great break through with Rachel Getting Married. She was just nominated for The Globes , Sag Award, & Critics Award which is a precursor the Oscars. The only actress of 2008 that has won more critics awards than Hathaway , is Sally Hawkins. The recently, great write-ups on Anne in the New York Times will help her chances even more- it helped Halle Berry.
Posted by: sally p. | January 07, 2009 at 09:20 PM
I know, I know. but you'll notice the writers didn't give Jenny Lumet a nod today. The movie was overhyped out of NY. You may be right. But not all Academy voters like this movie. Do the actors? Probably.
Posted by: anne Thompson | January 07, 2009 at 10:20 PM