Now that the Oscar nominations have been announced (a full list of nominees can be found here) Cinema Romantico's inbox has been flooded with queries from faithful readers. There is no time to lose!
Q: Is it possible this could be the most boring race in Oscar history?
A: Yes. Unequivocally. Next question.
Q: Is there any chance Jeff Bridges won't win Best Actor?
A: As much chance as I have splitting a bottle of Bushmills with Sienna Miller.
Q: Have you even seen "The Blind Side"?
A: No. I haven't. And I really, really don't want to. I even like football and I don't want to! Except now that Sandra Bullock has offically been nominated for Best Actress I feel obligated. Ugh. Maybe I'll get drunk and then go see it.
Q: Was Sandra Bullock's acceptance speech at the SAG Awards the best you have ever seen?
A: Quite possibly. Brief, to the point, funny, self deprecating, genuine. Let's hope she doesn't go all Hollywood when she wins the Oscar.
Q: Do Academy voters even know Kelly Macdonald starred last year in a movie called "The Merry Gentleman"?
A: Nine of out ten Academy voters polled were unaware of "The Merry Gentleman's" existence. The one voter who was had not seen it and did not know it starred Kelly Macdonald.
Q: So was the decision to expand the Best Picture nominations from 5 to 10 a success or failure?
A: Success!!! Dear God, a success!!!!!!!! If "Invictus" hadn't been nominated for Best Picture the earth probably would have ceased rotating!
Q: How long will it take Monique to ascend the stage when she wins for Supporting Actress?
A: For those not in the know, upon taking home the Supporting Actress award at the Golden Globes it took Monique seven-and-a-half minutes (slight exaggeration) to ascend the stage. Even though she will likely have a seat at the foot of the stage at the Academy Award ceremony Cinema Romantico is guessing it will take her twelve minutes to reach the podium. Odds in Vegas have also gone off as seven-to-one she pretends to faint.
Q: Is James Cameron ("Avatar") a lock for Best Director?
A: It seemed that way but the tide is turning. Kathryn Bigelow just won the Director's Guild Award for "The Hurt Locker" which might make her the front runner. I liked both movies. I liked "The Hurt Locker" better. Except, of course, "Avatar", as we discussed last week, is probably considered a more impressive "accomplishment". Therefore, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to stab myself in the eye with this letter opener I have here.
Q: Cristoph Waltz's acceptance speech at the Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor was very emotional and personal. If he gives the same sort of speech at the Oscars will he mocked?
A: Count on it. This is America, Cristoph. Take your god damn earsnestness and put it down the garbage disposal.
Q: Best Picture prediction? "Avatar" or "The Hurt Locker"?
A: This one could get tricky. "Avatar" seemed like the favorite after its Golden Globe victories. But James Cameron's extreme "humbleness" coupled with its stunning box office success appear to have ignited some backlash. Now, as we know, backlash can often be the most potent ally in Hollywood. This favors "The Hurt Locker." However, there will still be time for the backlash to reverse itself. In fact, there is still time for the backlash to reverse itself at least four times. And, again, the ten nominations have opened the door for "Precious"...whoops! I meant, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"...which means, in all likelihood, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" and "A Serious Man" will split votes, partially because many voters will think they are voting for "A Single Man" (which wasn't nominated) when they are voting for "A Serious Man" and this will, in turn, take key votes away from "An Education". (Also, the inevitable Ron Rosenbaum article decrying "Inglourious Basterds" will probably eliminate Tarantino's film from consideration when considering Rosenbaum's vast reach stopped Kate Winslet from winning Best Actress last year...wait, what? It didn't? Oh. Right. I forgot.)
So Cinema Romantico is predicting "Avatar". Because I want "The Hurt Locker" to win. And I don't want to jinx it.
Q: Can Ryan Bingham (and T Bone Burnett) win Best Original Song for "The Weary Kind" from "Crazy Heart"?
A: I sure hope so. That's the one for which I will be rooting the hardest. (This one and Anna Kendrick for Supporting Actress who, of course, doesn't have a prayer.) And when considering this is supposed to be a movie awards ceremony, well, what does that tell you?
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
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4 comments:
Great post. Funny and goes to the essence of why I won't be tuning in next month.
I'll still tune in. I always tune in. I'm just a sucker for the Oscars. But it's not as much fun when there is no suspense and you don't really have anyone for whom to root.
But that was to be expected this year. I'd never rooted harder for anyone than I did for Kate The Great last year.
I think Bigelow has a really good chance for Best Director. As noted, the Oscar nods are pretty lackluster this year, and the Academy is likely well aware of this. So they'll need to do something unique to generate interest. For example: awarding the first ever Best Director award to a woman. And since Bigelow is Cameron's ex and they remain close friends, her victory would have Cameron's full support (if you remember from his Golden Globe speech, he said he thought Bigelow should have won). So my prediction is that they'll give Best Picture to Avatar and Best Director to Bigelow.
Oscars and elections, the best time to check out prediction markets. Just fascinating to see new processed by a market
http://www.intrade.com/jsp/intrade/contractSearch/#
Right now Hurt Locker has a slight edge on Avatar for picture
Bridges is blowing everyone away as are Bullock, Waltz and MoNique
Bigelow is healthily dominating the director race
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