Okay, here are my picks for the Academy Awards -- the choices I'm making (and the choices YOU should make) if you want to win the office pool. By the way, do you wanna have some fun and win a side bet? Everyone knows Helen Mirren is going to win Best Actress. In fact, a British bookie has ALREADY started making payouts to people who bet for her, even though the Oscars is four days away. But of course there are always surprises and upsets and of course other people aren't as savvy as you. So here's what you do: make an outrageously unbalanced bet, such as saying if anyone other than Helen Mirren wins you'll run naked through Times Square. And if she does win? The other person has to give you a kiss (or whatever it is you might want to see them do). Now naturally Mirren is going to win, but with a bet that unbalanced and with their obligation relatively small, you're sure to get someone to take that wager. And then, trust me, you'll get to collect. And now, here are my predictions. I reserve the right to change my mind by Sunday, but these are the choices for my Oscar Pool and they should be your choices as well. The nominations are here.
BEST PICTURE -- Babel -- NO (It was The Departed)
BEST DIRECTOR -- Martin Scorsese -- YES
BEST ACTOR -- Forest Whitaker -- YES
BEST ACTRESS -- Helen Mirren -- YES
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR -- Eddie Murphy -- NO (It was Alan Arkin)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS -- Jennifer Hudson -- YES
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY -- Babel -- NO (It was Little Miss Sunshine)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY -- The Departed -- YES
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY -- Children Of Men -- NO (It was Pan's Labyrinth)
BEST ART DIRECTION -- Pan's Labyrinth -- YES
BEST COSTUME DESIGN -- Dreamgirls -- NO (It was Marie Antoinette)
BEST EDITING -- Babel -- NO -- (It was Thelma Schoonmaker)
BEST MAKEUP -- Pan's Labyrinth -- YES
BEST SCORE -- The Queen -- NO (It was Babel)
BEST SONG -- "Listen" from Dreamgirls -- NO -- (It was An Inconvenient Truth)
BEST SOUND EDITING -- Letters From Iwo Jima -- YES
BEST SOUND MIXING -- Dreamgirls -- YES
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS -- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest -- YES
BEST DOCUMENTARY -- An Inconvenient Truth -- YES
BEST FOREIGN FILM -- Pan's Labyrinth -- NO (It was The Lives Of Others)
BEST ANIMATED FILM -- Cars -- NO (It was Happy Feet)
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT -- The Blood Of Yingzhou9 District -- YES
BEST ANIMATED SHORT -- The Danish Poet -- YES
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT -- West Bank Story -- YES
14 FOR 24
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6 comments:
Excellent predix. Thank you! (But I'm predicting "Lives of Others" will upset "Pan's Labyrinth" for foreign film.)
Good predictions!
This year's Oscars will be especially interesting. There are several movies that I think deserve to win and quite a few ground-breaking documentaries too. One of them is the film “Jesus Camp” by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, which features what an organization called “Kids In Ministry International” does. Basically they recruit children and make them “talk to God.” The provocative nature of the film's contents have prompted outrage from non-evangelical Christians and secular people, who suggest that Kids In Ministry International founder and director Becky Fischer employs brainwashing and child abuse to achieve her ministry's goals. We recently got an exclusive interview with Pastor Becky Fischer if you and you readers are as intrigued as I was, please check this link: “Oscar-Nominated Jesus Camp's Leading Lady Speaks Out” http://www.orato.com/node/1820
You could be right, Alex. The foreign film race is always a crapshoot and hard to predict. It would be even harder if Volver had been nominated. But since it wasn't and Pan's Labyrinth got so much support in other categories, I just have to believe it will win. But of course foreign films are only voted on by people who have seen all five, so one never knows.
Orato, I thought Jesus Camp was pretty straightforward and just presented the camp as it was, without editorializing too much or imposing its own point of view. The people in it seemed to approve until they saw how outsiders were reacting to how they behaved and then they complained.
Good predictions Michael: I've got a feeling that Little Miss Sunshine migtht just be the spoiler. Or is that feeling too much coffee?
It might be coffee, anon, but no one would be wrong to predict ANY of these movies will win and I don't think any of them could be called upsets because there is absolutely no clear frontrunner. I'm going with Babel because it feels more like an Oscar-worthy movie (to the Academy) and they have decades long bias against comedies.
Okay, Ed. Then bet me that you think Helen Mirren will lose. And what will you do if she wins?
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