This Oscar-related post is written by guest blogger Jen.
Read away! Check out Francis’s blog post immediately following.
Best Supporting Actress
You can rule out the freaky little Saoirse Ronan (now won’t it be fun to see how Alan Arkin does announcing that name when he reads the nominations?) for Atonement. Good performance, but in a movie that was frustrating and not really all that good, other than Keira Knightly’s green dress. Ruby Dee? Really? I brush my teeth longer than she’s on screen in American Gangster. Cate Blanchett has already won and I doubt many of the voters even bothered to put their free screener in the DVD player for this obscure film. That leaves two. I LOVE that Tilda Swinton says her ambitious, morally corrupt corporate climber was based on Condoleeza Rice. And she deserves it if only for the scene where she’s rehearsing into the mirror. I was waiting for a cape, poison apple and seven dwarves to appear. But the truly knock-out performance in this category, by far, is Amy Ryan’s. She is so real as the white trash mom of a kidnapped kid in Gone Baby Gone that you feel she simply must have wandered onto the set one day and won the part. Let’s see the Academy, for once, give the Award to a truly brilliant supporting performance.
My personal favorite: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
My prediction: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Best Supporting Actor
If there is one lock on Oscar night, even more so than Daniel Day-Lewis, it’s Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men. Without this performance, you have no movie. And it doesn’t hurt that people are saying he’s the Sexiest Man in Hollywood right now. It will be fun to see if he has his gal pal, Penelope Cruz, on his arm. His main competition is probably Hal Holbrook for a career-capping performance in Into the Wild but he’s truly a supporting character, and the Academy trend here is to reward performances with tons o’ screen time. Philip Seymour Hoffman was brilliant and hilarious in Charlie Wilson’s War but that whole icky scene with Julia Roberts poking at her eyelashes with a safety pin probably had them running for the aisles. The same people who grooved on 2-1/2 hours of Marfa, Texas in There Will Be Blood probably sat through the 3-hour long Jesse James movie and loved Casey Affleck. I was not one of them. Maybe Tom Wilkinson for his inspired lawyer gone cuckoo in Michael Clayton if this movie really takes hold.
My personal favorite: Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
My prediction: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Director
Hands down, bet your 401(k) on the Coen brothers. They won the DGA award and would be first-time winners here for directing. And, how cool would it be for two people to win? The one other with a chance could be Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which I haven’t mustered up the courage to see yet, but this film looks like one of the most original visions to come along in a long, long time. Still, it will be an easy choice to vote the Coen brothers for director, and No Country for Old Men as best picture. I’m sticking with it (plus, I can’t wait to see the close-up of Mrs. Joel Coel, Frances McDormand-what will she do with that hair this year?)
My personal favorite: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
My prediction: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
Recent Comments