- Share This Post
- submit
- 16
-
Sparkle (0)
Who will win? Who will lose? Who will bore us to tears with the worst acceptance speech of the night? All those questions and more will be answered this Sunday on Hollywood's biggest night. That's right, it's the 81st annual Academy Awards.
So in keeping with every other media pontificator out there, I'm here to give you my Oscar predictions for the major categories.
Best Supporting Actor
Should Win: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Will Win: Heath Ledger
I know I'm going to buck the trend on this, but Hoffman's performance as the accused priest in "Doubt" is arguably a Best Actor role and that's partly why I'd vote for him to win this one. That we can sympathize with Hoffman's Father Flynn and still be suspicious of him are due to Hoffman's unfailing commitment to the character.
That being said, I won't be disappointed when Heath Ledger wins only the second posthumous acting Oscar ever given. He was a marvelous actor and in addition to "Brokeback Mountain," "The Dark Knight" is a fitting tribute to his talent.
Put money on it and take it to the bank. One that hasn't failed yet.
Best Supporting Actress
Should Win: Viola Davis
Will Win: Viola Davis
I'm going to give the Academy members some credit here for actually giving the award to the right person on this one. This is an extremely strong category, but Davis' devastating performance in her only scene in the movie "Doubt" is a wonderful piece of acting. As the mother of a child who may or may not have been molested by a priest, she not only brings this character to life, but brings her to life in that period of time, 1964.
The limited choices the mother of a black child had in those days is explored and played out in that one scene between Meryl Streep and Davis, and it's a scene I won't forget for a very long time.
Best Actor
Should Win: Sean Penn
Will Win: Mickey Rourke
Richard Jenkins was lovely in "The Visitor" but isn't going to have the star power to carry him to this win. As much as I liked Frank Langella as Richard Nixon, I think Sean Penn's portrayal of the late Harvey Milk was less of a caricature and more real.
Unfortunately Hollywood's love of sentiment is probably going to throw this Oscar Mickey Rourke's way. His whole "Great Redemption" storyline, the dogs who saved his life, blah, blah...they're going to be too hard for the Academy to resist.
If however, for some reason, they give Brad Pitt this one, it'll just go to prove that none of the members who voted for him actually saw "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button."
Best Actress
Should Win: Kate Winslet
Will Win: Kate Winslet
When an actress comes up with two magnificent performances in one year like Kate Winslet did last year, the Academy almost never leaves her unrewarded. The only possible spoiler is Meryl Streep as the accusing nun in "Doubt." This is Streep's fifteenth Oscar nomination and I wouldn't totally be surprised if she walked off with it. It's not like she wouldn't deserve it, because she would.
As far as Winslet, her two roles were as different as they could possibly be: one as a former SS prison guard in 1960's Germany and the other as a stifled American housewife in 1960's suburbia. In comparison to Streep, this is only Kate Winslet's sixth Oscar nomination but in this case six will definitely be the charm.
Best Picture
Should Win: "Slumdog Millionaire"
Will Win: "Slumdog Millionaire"
This one's easy. "Slumdog Millionaire" is a crafty piece of filmmaking with a feel good story, a window onto a culture that few of us have seen, and spectacular performances by it's child actors. The adult actors aren't bad either.
Director Danny Boyle's visually stunning storytelling of childhood hope in the midst of heartbreaking poverty is what takes this simple story of finding a lost love, from being ordinary to extraordinary. None of the other nominees does that nearly as well.
You can see the full list of Oscar nominees on the Oscar
