My closest friends know that I am an Oscar geek. I could tell you when was the last time there was a tie in an acting category was in 1968 with Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn. Streisand won for "Funny Girl," while Hepburn took home the third of her four Oscars for "The Lion in Winter."
Today, I am giving myself a pat on the back. The newspaper critics kept predicting the usual suspects for best actor: George Clooney for "The Descendants," Brad Pitt for "Moneyball," Jean Dujardin for"The Artist," Leonardo DiCaprio for "J. Edgar," Ryan Gosling for "The Ides of March." Well, I kept saying, "Don't rule out Gary Oldman for 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.'"
Hah! I was right!
Oldman, who is in the newest series of Batman movies as Chief Gordon, was nominated for his first Oscar for his role as George Smiley, along with an unknown Mexican actor named Demian Bichir for "A Better Life," which I hadn't heard of. Oldman has also been a character actor in the Harry Potter series. I heard of him when he was in "Sid and Nancy" about doomed rock star Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungeon. He was so overdue for an Oscar nod.
Unfortunately, making room for Oldman and Bichir meant that Leo got skipped (again!), along with Gosling. Michael Fassbender, who played a sex addict in "Shame," also got overlooked. Oh, well.
I wish that there could be a tie between Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady" and Viola Davis in "The Help." Both received kudos for their performances. But if Oscar is true to form, Davis may get it because "The Help" was nominated for best picture and "The Iron Lady" wasn't. However, I would love to see Streep get one more Oscar to tie with Jack Nicholson and the late Walter Brennan. Come on, let's have a tie! The two acted together in "Doubt," and Streep was up for best actress and Davis for best supporting actress. As Streep said to Davis during the Golden Globes, "You're my girl." Yeah, a tie!
Surprise snubs from best actress: Tilda Swinton, she of the tornado hair and garbage bag dress, for "We Need to Talk About Kevin," and Charlize Theron for "Young Adult." Maybe Tilda could stay home on Oscar night.
As for best supporting actor, the Motion Picture Academy may as well wrap up a statuette for Christopher Plummer for "Beginners." His closest competition is Max Von Sydow for "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." Both have their second nomination and, yes, both are old (82). I would have liked to have seen Albert Brooks nominated for "Drive."
Both Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain are nominated for best supporting actress in "The Help." But I think the wild card in this category isn't Berenice Bejo for "The Artist," but Melissa McCarthy for "Bridesmaids." What could happen is that Spencer and Chastain cancel each other out, making room for McCarthy to take it.
The best song category was harsh. No Madonna for her song from "W.E." No Mary J. Blige for her song from "The Help." Only two songs nominated, one from "The Muppets." (I forgot the other one.) Harsh!
As for the movies, the only one of the nine I saw was "The Help." I have some catching up to do. I think "The Descendants" will take it, based on current awards. I was very surprised that part two of the last Harry Potter wasn't nominated for best picture, just some technical awards. The Screen Actors Guild awards on Sunday night may make the Oscar predictions clearer.
The lead story from the Los Angeles Times has more information.
Writing Diva (and Oscar Geek)
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