Predictions for the Academy Award nominations
Oscar frontrunner Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds.
This is the year when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is trying to appeal to a wider audience by opening up the Best Picture nominations to a field of 10, rather than five. Freefall ratings for the Oscar telecast dictated the change and perhaps the chance that Avatar will win will indeed pump up the ratings. Here is my annual Oscar predictions in the form of a racetrack tout sheet, a nod to my late father, who loved to play the ponies. While there are favorites in every category, only the supporting nods are bet-the-house prohibitive favorites for Mo’Nique and Christoph Waltz. With those 10 Best Picture nominees, the Best Picture race really is wide open and I’ll be rooting for Margate’s own Scott Neustadter to earn an original screenplay nomination for 500 Days of Summer. The nominations will be announced Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 8:30am on the morning news programs, and the Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 8pm on ABC, hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.
Race 1: Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, Precious 1 : 5
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air 6 : 1
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air 6 : 1
Penelope Cruz, Nine 8 : 1
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart 18 : 1
Julianne Moore, A Single Man 20 : 1
Mo’Nique should have her Oscar speech ready. For Farmiga and Kendrick the nominations will be a nice boost to their careers. Cruz won last year. Crazy Heart is picking up steam which is why I think Gyllehaal will slip by Moore for the fifth nomination.
Race 2: Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds 1 : 5
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger 5 : 1
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones 5 : 1
Before we get to the good stuff next week, when I announce my best films of the year list, here are the 10 films that either disappointed me, were flat out awful or that frustrated me because they could have been better.
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Family Matters
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Toothless ‘Twilight’
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Sympathy for the Devil
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A Few Good Laughs
