There are always a lot of predictions floating around at Oscar time. Everyone always thinks they have some super insight that will allow they to clearly see which films will be honored and which will be ignored.
Those kind of predictions are too common. The following are predictions that you won’t see anywhere else when the awards are handed out Sunday night.
I predict ….
… Quvenzhané Wallis will have her named pronounced at least three different ways including Quiznos.
… Seth MacFarlane will say — or do — something so outlandish it will overshadow the rest of his hosting work. It will probably have something to do with a pound of butter, three roses and a young German woman named Helga.
… the tribute to Bond will overlook the suggestive names given to Bond women. Rumors are the name of the main female Bond character in the next 007 movie will be Ima Estelle Zera. Ima E.Z. will be played by Kim Kardashian.
… there will be more Oscar winners who thank their agents than thank God.
It wasn’t all about the Oscars this weekend, though, if you watched the telecast, it sure felt like it lasted all weekend.
Friday night I spent quality time at the Brig, getting used to some new darts. You know you’ve graduated to “regular” status when you show up sporting your own gear (if only I had the talent to back up the hardware).
Saturday was a low-key day. I stayed in and watched “The Karate Kid” remake, which is currently streaming on Netflix. I’ll be honest: I didn’t hate it. Had it been a half hour shorter, I might have even enjoyed it (don’t tell Mike Oz.)
Sunday morning was spent at the latest edition of Soulful Sundays; it was a musical and brunch-y tribute to music producer J Dilla. The event was held, as usual, on the back patio of Veni Vidi Vici, which was kind of cold, but delightful nevertheless (Pics from the event are on my personal blog, which you can read here).
And Sunday evening, of course, was spent watching the worst Oscars ever enjoying James Franco’s backstage Tweets, which were far more entertaining than the ceremony.
How about you? Did you attend the Gumbo Throwdown Saturday morning? Or the Food Not Bombs benefit Friday evening? Let us know what we missed in the comments.
Nominees for the “82nd Annual Academy Awards” were announced earlier today and for the first time in several years there were no major surprises.
It was no surprise “Avatar” got a best picture nomination, although the film really didn’t deserve it. “Avatar” is visually stunning. It just lacks the quality writing and performances that should be the key reason for earning consideration among the best of the year. That being said, “Avatar” is the leading contender to win the best picture Oscar.
“Star Trek” and “Where the Wild Things Are” got overlooked in the top category. Both were visually stunning and also featured better writing and performances than “Avatar.”
As for my predictions, I picked 24 of the 30 nominations in the top five categories including going five for five in the best actor category.
The biggest mistake was the nomination of Penelope Cruz for “Nine.” Not only was it one of the least interesting performance in the film, her selection kept Julianne Moore from being nominated for a superb performance in “A Single Man.” Moore’s snub is the biggest miscue of this year’s Oscar nominees.
For those of you who have not seen this year’s list of nominees, the entire list is on the jump, with links to past reviews and interviews:
There will be a major change in the nominations for “The 82nd Academy Awards.” The number of movies in the running for Best Picture will increase from five to 10. The announcement of the change was made this morning by Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis.
The Academy has had five nominees since 1944. Before that, there were various numbers of nominees. For nine years, until the 16th awards, there were 10 nominees in the category. In 1931 and 1932 there were eight nominees. In 1934 and 1935 there were 12 nominees.
The plus of this change is that movies like “The Dark Knight,” a film that deserved a Best Picture nomination last year, won’t be left on the sidelines.
The negative is that five nominations created a very select group. The change looks like an effort by the Academy to generate some more interest in the show. In the end, there will still be only one winner. If this work maybe they will keep expanding until junk like “Pink Panther 2″ gets consideration.
How this change plays out will be seen when “The 82nd Academy Awards”
are handed out March 7. Nominations will be announced Feb. 2.
There are always a lot of predictions floating around at Oscar time. Everyone always thinks they have some super insight that will allow they to clearly see which films will be honored and which will be ignored.
