Since my live blog of the Golden Globes this year was surprisingly popular (really, I didn’t think anyone would care what I have to say), I am again live-blogging and tweeting up a storm for the Academy Awards this evening.
Should you need them, here are my predicted winners.
And the Oscar winners have been announced! Congratulations, everyone! Thanks for playing and see you next year.
Okay, actually, these are the Independent Spirit Awards winners, but there’s a lot of overlap with tomorrow’s predicted champions. Traditionally, the Spirit Awards are meant to be a way to counterbalance the Academy’s ardor for more mainstream, bombastic fare. But not this year!
Though so many of us take the Oscars very seriously (guilty as charged), really, it’s just a game. It’s no different than the Super Bowl, except there are about five teams playing in every “quarter” and it’s actually quite embarrassing to be wearing the same outfit as anyone else. No jerseys on the red carpet.
Naturally, I was on Team Shame until it was not-too-shockingly nominated for nothing. That happens a lot in sports — your team doesn’t make it to the playoffs. Whatever. You pick another horse and bet on that one instead. (I’m almost done mixing sports metaphors, I swear.)
(Yes, yes. The “if” in that title should almost certainly be “when.”)
From the moment the Oscar nominations were announced last month, it was already a foregone conclusion: The Artist is the year’s Best Picture winner. It has been since mid-December, before it was even released in most major American cities.
Some seasons, the Academy Awards have a bit of suspense leading up to the Best Picture winner. These days, though, there’s so much up-to-the-minute coverage that it’s hard to pack much of a surprise when it comes down to it. It can lead us to a feeling that the telecast itself is underwhelming — as it sometimes is. Last year’s biggest Oscar “surprise” was just how wretched Anne Hathaway and James Franco were as hosts.
Does the “D” in “DGA” stand for “duh”? When it comes to the Director’s Guild’s pick for this year’s best filmmaker, it sure does.
(Here were the nominees.)
At this point, what else is there left to say, but:
Oscars…
Extremely Lame & Incredibly Disappointing.
Predicting the Oscars is useless. Sure, it can be fun guessing the winners when the big night is nigh, but what’s the use of predicting nominees? I’m telling you, there is none.
And yet, people do it. I use the term “people” to refer to that small handful of folks like myself for whom the Oscars are like Christmas; meaning the Golden Globes are like Thanksgiving — basically the same thing, but ultimately meaningless and less rewarding. So predicting the Oscars is like warming up for the holiday season — getting a jump on shopping, putting the lights and tree up, and already exhausting the holiday playlist on iTunes before most people have started caring yet.
It’s the Golden Globes! And because I currently have nothing better to do, I am watching and blogging about them. (Nominees here, FYI.)
I’ll be doing some sort of live-blogging/recap as we go on, so… enjoy!
The Artist has emerged in the Oscar race as the feel-good frontrunner for Best Picture. It’s a silent romantic comedy featuring a delightful international cast and a cute puppy, and even though its protagonist contemplates suicide in a melodramatic, over-the-top silent movie way, overall it’s a happy-go-lucky film.
Who could hate The Artist?
Well, Kim Novak, for one.
The Director’s Guild is the last of the big unions (SAG, PGA, and WGA) to announce their nominees for outstanding direction in 2011.
If you’re a fan of predictability and hate surprises, you’ll love these!
