Oscar predictions off the top of my (empty) head
Tomorrow I’ll catch a sneak preview of “Gran Torino” a racially charged drama directed by and starring Clint Eastwod, the perennial Oscar nominee. And I still haven’t seen the time-warped “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which is alleged to be amazing. But based on what I have seen so far, here are my guesses for the five best-picture finalists:
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Revolutonary Road”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
I’d say the latter film is on the bubble. The Indian game-show melodrama may be too small and foreign to fend off “Gran Torino” or “Button” if they turn out to be as good as rumored. “The Wrestler” might also be in the mix, and for sure Mickey Rourke will nab a nomination. (I hope he brings his beloved chihuahua to the ceremony.)
Sean Penn is a lock as the gay-rights martyr in “Milk.” Ditto for Frank Langella as the ex-president in “Frost/Nixon.”
Best actress contenders should include Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married,” Meryl Streep in “Doubt” and Sally Hawkins in the plucky “Happy-Go-Lucky.”
Another potential Oscar nominee, as best supporting actor, is Michael Shannon (the actor, not the broadcaster) as a brain-damaged math genius in Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road” (a suburban potboiler that will be labelled a rip-off of “Mad Men,” even though the source novel is about fifty years old). Shannon’s been on my radar since “Cecil B. Demented,” and he was a strong supporting player in “Pearl Harbor,” “World Trade Center,” “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” and the little-seen “Shotgun Stories.”
(Shannon’s competition would surely include Micheal sheen as interviewer David Frost in “Frost/Nixon” and sentimental favorite/deserving winner Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight.”)
By the way, both “Revolutionary Road” and the churchy smackdown “Doubt” were photographed by the Coen brother’s longtime cinematographer Roger Deakins, who is probably the best in the biz. I’d simply hand him an Oscar and let him decide which movie it’s for.
The Academy Awards are Sunday, Feb. 22, in Hollywood. I’ll be there, on your behalf.
Once again, “films” nobody outside the “artsy-fartsy” inside Hollywood crowd wants to see move to the top of the (dung) heap.
Why do critics believe that when pictures started talking they should have quit moving?