79th annual Academy Awards Sunday

by Joshua Maloni
Niagara Frontier Publications, February 22, 2007

Still, the Academy Awards ceremony will be amusing. Alongside apple pie and “Rocky,” what’s more of an American tradition than watching Joan and Melissa forget nominees’ names while critiquing their attire on the Red Carpet? Plus, it’s always fun to win the office Oscar pool and dazzle coworkers with your film knowledge (for instance, with a win, Peter O’Toole would join Henry Fonda and Paul Newman as actors who won their first competitive Oscars after having received Honorary Awards from the Academy).

Even if the movies aren’t impressive, at least you’ll be.

“Letters from Iwo Jima.” © 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Dreamworks LLC.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role:

•Adriana Barraza in “Babel” (Paramount/Paramount Vantage)
•Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)
•Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
•Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)
•Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel” (Paramount/Paramount Vantage)

And the Oscar goes to: Jennifer Hudson. “Dreamgirls” was supposed to be a lock for “Best Picture.” Now, devoid of that opportunity, Hudson will get the sympathy vote (notice a trend).

It’s not that she doesn’t deserve it, but she’s not as deserving as Blanchett or Breslin. Plus, she was an “American Idol” contestant, for Pete’s sake!

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:

•Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
•Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children” (New Line)
•Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)
•Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)
•Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed” (Warner Bros.)

“Little Miss Sunshine.” © Twentieth Century Fox. Photo by Eric Lee.

And the Oscar goes to: Alan Arkin. Probably. He’s the safe bet in a race with once-rowdy Murphy and once-rapper Wahlberg. Ironically, Arkin’s performance as a raucous grandfather was an out-of-the-box surprise.

Performance by an actress in a leading role:

•Penélope Cruz in “Volver” (Sony Pictures Classics)
•Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)
•Helen Mirren in “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
•Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox)
•Kate Winslet in “Little Children” (New Line)

“The Queen.” Photo by Laurie Sparham/Courtesy of Miramax Films.
Credit: Laurie Sparham/Courtesy of Miramax Films.

And the Oscar goes to: Helen Mirren. Crowds loved Streep, and Winslet – so says this author – is the best actress in Hollywood. Of course, none of us have a vote, and those who do have overwhelmingly selected Mirren at pre-Oscar award ceremonies.

Performance by an actor in a leading role:

•Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)
•Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson” (THINKFilm)
•Peter O’Toole in “Venus” (Miramax, Filmfour and UK Council)
•Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
•Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” (Fox Searchlight)

And the Oscar goes to: Forest Whitaker. With three actors under the age of 40, and one with an honorary award, Whitaker is the default choice. Plus, he portrayed a real person, which is Academy money (think Halle Berry, Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts, etc.). And, yes, he did a splendid job.

Achievement in directing:

•“Babel” (Paramount/Paramount Vantage), Alejandro González Iñárritu
•“The Departed” (Warner Bros.), Martin Scorsese
•“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.), Clint Eastwood
•“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada), Stephen Frears
•“United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal), Paul Greengrass

“The Departed.” © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Photo by Andrew Cooper.

And the Oscar goes to: Martin Scorsese. Perhaps no one is as tired of hearing Scorsese’s “always a bridesmaid” tale than the director himself. In fact, he said he didn’t make “The Departed” to win the Golden Boy.

Oblivious to that notion, and bored with watching him lose time after time, the Academy’s sympathy far outweighs any of the other directors’ merits and swings the vote to Scorsese.

“Babel.” © Paramount Pictures and Paramount Vantage Photo by Murray Close.

And the Oscar goes to: “Babel.” This category could go one of three ways. “The Departed” was the top grosser, which speaks to its popularity with audiences. Of course, with Scorsese a lock, Academy voters won’t feel obligated to mark their ballot in his film’s favor. “Little Miss Sunshine” won the Screen Actor’s Guild award, meaning actors favored the ensemble in this film. That’s usually a good indicator of the Oscar favorite.

Still, “Babel” boasts two things those films don’t have: war-torn countries and Brad Pitt. That combo meal should be enough to earn best picture bragging rights.

Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 25. The show will be televised live on ABC (Ch. 7) at 8 p.m., starting with a half-hour arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars.”

Oscar recap

Best Director Martin Scorsese at the 79th Annual
Academy Awards. (photo by Michael Yada ©A.M.P.A.S).

In the end, Scorsese did win the Oscar, “The Departed” came out on top and the show went out with a snore at 12:30 a.m. – four hours after the ceremony began.

For a complete list of winners, click here: http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/nomswins.html

The 79th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on Sunday.
(photo by Darren Decker ©A.M.P.A.S.)