Sunday, February 25, 2007
2007 OSCAR picks
I am looking forward to watching the OSCARS tonight. Our home will be a little calmer than last year, when Kristen was having contractions leading up to delivering John.
Like the last two years, I will weigh in with my predictions for the major awards. With two very young children, I have only seen a few of the nominated performances.
I have gone at least five for six each year in the last decade, so I am hoping for a perfect night. Note: past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Supporting Actress: Through the years, this has been the one category that has consistently been hard to call. I only saw one of the five nominees this year, the adorable Abigail Breslin as the title character in Little Miss Sunshine. However, Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls has had this award locked for months.
Supporting Actor: Both nominees I saw were fantastic - Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine and Mark Wahlberg in The Departed. Both dominated the screen at will in their performances. However, Eddie Murphy has won every award in this category at the other award ceremonies and is still a favorite. Many voters have been turned off by his boorish acceptance speeches, but I think he holds on to take the statue.
Lead Actress: This year's biggest lock is Helen Mirren.
Lead Actor: This is a two man race between Forest Whitaker and Peter O'Toole. O'Toole is the sentimental favorite as a seven-time nominee with no previous wins (he was presented an honorary OSCAR a few years ago). Like Sean Penn, who won an OSCAR four years ago, Whitaker is a towering talent who prefers directing to acting. If he were a full-time actor, he might already have two statues. Tonight, Whitaker gets his first.
Director: Martin Scorsese finally wins for The Departed. It's about damn time.
Picture: The Departed was the only film I saw, and I thought it was outstanding. I am shocked it only had one acting nomination from at least a half dozen worthy performances. (Interesting tidbit - no best picture nominee had a best acting nominee).
This is a tricky call with four legitimate candidates. Only The Queen is truly a long shot. Little Miss Sunshine will be considered to cutesy. Letters from Iwo Jima had emaciated box office numbers, so it is out. That leaves Babel and The Departed. OSCAR likes to split director and picture, so I am picking Babel in an upset.
Like the last two years, I will weigh in with my predictions for the major awards. With two very young children, I have only seen a few of the nominated performances.
I have gone at least five for six each year in the last decade, so I am hoping for a perfect night. Note: past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Supporting Actress: Through the years, this has been the one category that has consistently been hard to call. I only saw one of the five nominees this year, the adorable Abigail Breslin as the title character in Little Miss Sunshine. However, Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls has had this award locked for months.
Supporting Actor: Both nominees I saw were fantastic - Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine and Mark Wahlberg in The Departed. Both dominated the screen at will in their performances. However, Eddie Murphy has won every award in this category at the other award ceremonies and is still a favorite. Many voters have been turned off by his boorish acceptance speeches, but I think he holds on to take the statue.
Lead Actress: This year's biggest lock is Helen Mirren.
Lead Actor: This is a two man race between Forest Whitaker and Peter O'Toole. O'Toole is the sentimental favorite as a seven-time nominee with no previous wins (he was presented an honorary OSCAR a few years ago). Like Sean Penn, who won an OSCAR four years ago, Whitaker is a towering talent who prefers directing to acting. If he were a full-time actor, he might already have two statues. Tonight, Whitaker gets his first.
Director: Martin Scorsese finally wins for The Departed. It's about damn time.
Picture: The Departed was the only film I saw, and I thought it was outstanding. I am shocked it only had one acting nomination from at least a half dozen worthy performances. (Interesting tidbit - no best picture nominee had a best acting nominee).
This is a tricky call with four legitimate candidates. Only The Queen is truly a long shot. Little Miss Sunshine will be considered to cutesy. Letters from Iwo Jima had emaciated box office numbers, so it is out. That leaves Babel and The Departed. OSCAR likes to split director and picture, so I am picking Babel in an upset.
