Academy Award nominees reach for the gold
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Written by Alejandro Montalvo
The Academy Awards ceremony is March 7. Many of the nominations between the Golden Globes and the Oscars are similar, so there might not be many surprises. But upsets do happen.
After last year’s musical fiasco, hosted by Hugh Jackman, the Academy has cleverly decided to return to traditional ways and appointed comedians Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin as hosts. Both actors worked together on the film It’s Complicated, showing their comedic abilities.
The Academy has taken both flack and praise for upping the total number of Best Picture nominees to 10. The Academy reacted to the audience’s complaints about the exclusion of The Dark Knight from last year’s Best Picture category. But what does this say about the nature of the award? Do the financially successful movies carry more weight than the critically praised films just because they were popular? Since when do general audiences get a vote in the Academy? The Best Picture Oscar has often been awarded to critically praised art films which weren’t widely seen, such as The Last Emperor and Chariots of Fire, which does not garner high ratings for the telecast. By upping the number of nominees to 10, the Academy has sadly surrendered to the will of the idiot masses.
That being said, the odds for the critically praised, but limited released, film The Hurt Locker, are strong. Avatar may have made billions but The Hurt Locker has been honored at many esteemed award shows. The other eight nominees are great films, but the real contest is between David (The Hurt Locker) and Goliath (Avatar).
The acting awards are fairly secured, especially for the Supporting Actor category. Christoph Waltz has won every best supporting actor award at previous shows this season for Inglourious Basterds.
Like Waltz, Best Supporting Actress nominee, Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire is a lock.
Jeff Bridges is the strongest contender for the Best Actor award for his performance in Crazy Heart. Bridges has been ignored by the Academy, even when he has repeatedly given Oscar-worthy performances. This is his year.
For Best Actress, Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia and Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side are in a deadlock. If the Academy has brains, they’ll go for Bullock because like Bridges, she has been ignored for too long; Streep already has two Oscars.
For Best Director, the showdown is between Bigelow and her ex-husband James Cameron, who has previously won for Titanic. If Bigelow wins, she would be the first female Best Director winner.
The list of nomination snubs could go on, but it’s better not to dwell on that. Whether it be for the hosts or the awards, make sure not to miss the most glorious night in Hollywood.
Illustration by Brian Jeon
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