Let’s guess who will win these stupid Oscars!
The Friday & Saturday Night Critic and His Beautiful & Talented Wife go head-to-head to see who can most accurately predict the Academy Awards, silly as they are.
Of the 32 feature length films currently nominated for Oscars—I’m excluding documentaries and those 2 foreign films that aren’t “The Sea Inside,” “Downfall,” and “The Chorus” because I don’t know what they’re about—21 of them are based on books, plays, musicals, or real people. Clint Eastwood is the only nominee for best actor not based on a real person. The real people include Howard Hughes, J.M. Barrie, Ray Charles, Paul Rubesagsaingannga, that paralyzed Spaniard, Kinsey, Che Guevara, and “Wings of Desire” angel Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in “Downfall.” And don’t forget Jesus.
There’s always been something apologetic about the Oscars, as if they are the way the movies explain or justify themselves not by being movies but by trying to compare themselves to other, more prestigious art forms. There is nothing wrong with movies being based on books, plays, or musicals, but one begins to think that the Oscars are saying that images, spectacle, and dreamy free association are not enough. This approach has, for the most part, the full support of the public and many film critics who treat movies in the same way they’d treat a novel: what do the words say, what causes what to happen, etc. They ask “what’s the story?” and then complain “there’s no plot.” It’s a simple trick that by basing something on a book or real life, the movie becomes more important. And, of course, part of the “seriousness” of this year’s Oscars, focusing on “real” people doing “real” grown-up things is to counteract the intense adolescence of “Lord of the Rings” winning so big last year.
Winners will be highlighted in GOLD on February 28th.
The Aviator
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Hotel Rwanda
The Incredibles
Vera Drake
PREDICTIONS
F&SN: Vera Drake
2nd: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
HB&TW: Aviator
2nd: Hotel Rwanda
IF WE COULD VOTE
F&SN: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2nd: The Aviator
HB&TW: Hotel Rwanda
2nd: Eternal Sunshine
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Before Sunset
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby
The Motorcycle Diaries
Sideways
PREDICTIONS
F&SN: Sideways
HB&TW: Finding Neverland
F&SN and HB&TW 2nd: Million Dollar Baby
IF WE COULD VOTE
F&SN: Before Sunset
2nd: Again, another tough call between Million Dollar Baby and Sideways…um, Sideways!
HB&TW: Sideways
2nd: Before Sunset
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Born Into Brothels
The Story of the Weeping Camel
Super Size Me
Tupac: Resurrection
Twist of Faith
PREDICTIONS
F&SN and HB&TW: Born Into Brothels
2nd: Super Size Me
IF WE COULD VOTE
Uh…
More Oscar predictions...
PICTURE
The Aviator
Finding Neverland
Million Dollar Baby
Ray
Sideways
PREDICTIONS
The F&SN Critic and His Beautiful & Talented Wife: The Aviator
2nd pick: Million Dollar Baby
IF WE COULD VOTE
F&SN and HB&TW: The Aviator
F&SN 2nd: Tough call between Sideways & Million Dollar Baby…um, Sideways
HB&TW 2nd: Sideways
DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, The Aviator
Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Taylor Hackford, Ray
Alexander Payne, Sideways
Mike Leigh, Vera Drake
PREDICTIONS
F&SN and HB&TW: Scorsese, The Aviator
2nd: Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
IF WE COULD VOTE
F&SN and HB&TW: Scorsese, Avaitor
F&SN 2nd: Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
HB&TW 2nd: Alexander Payne, Sideways
FOREIGN FILM
As It Is In Heaven
The Chorus
Downfall
The Sea Inside
Yesterday
PREDICTIONS
F&SN and HB&TW: The Sea Inside
2nd: Chorus
IF WE COULD VOTE
F&SN: Uh…
HB&TW: Hell if I know.
ANIMATED FEATURE
The Incredibles
Shark Tale
Shrek 2
PREDICTIONS
F&SN and HB&TW: The Incredibles
2nd: Oh, come on, this is such a lock…I guess we’ll say Shrek 2
IF WE COULD VOTE
The Incredibles