[Deet]

"The other movie." God, you could not create a more perfect Hollywood villain.

[Smithie]

Oh, yeah. Harvey has just pulled his stool up next to the cow, and he'll be there for the next month.
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[Mahogany Soul]

Harvey does not play when it comes to these awards.
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[Deet]

I think we may be on to something with this whole "The Olds Weren't Down with the Dark Knight" meme. Tangentially related to the Oscars, an interesting little interview with James Earl Jones. (Who... is an Academy member, right?) His comments about the current Oscar contenders are at the bottom... along with a little dig at Paul Giamatti?

Interestingly, he gives a specific shout out to The Reader, too.

The unmistakable voice on the phone sounds congenial enough. Even more so after James Earl Jones is congratulated on being this year's recipient of the Screen Actors Guild's highest honor. He'll be presented with a lifetime achievement award on the broadcast Sunday night at 8 ET/PT on TNT and TBS. Jones, 78, reflects on over a half-century in showbiz with USA TODAY.

Q: Have you written a speech yet?

Jones: Just a thank-you to tell them how I like their work. When I surf the cable shows and see a certain movie, I often think, "I'm glad I had a chance to catch that." The work moves me.

Q: You have said in the past that you feel most at home on a stage, rather than in movies or on TV. Is that still true?

Jones: Absolutely. I consider myself a novice film actor. I still have a lot to learn. On stage, that is how my training started. That is where I felt most fulfilled so far. I still want to do more film. I didn't know how to take it, frankly, when Alan (Rosenberg, the president of SAG) called me and told me about the award. I just laughed. After my wife said something, I called him back and I told him I wasn't dismissing it. I just didn't know why, except that I am 78 years old. And that is no reason to receive it.

Q: Your only Oscar nomination was for repeating your stage role of the boxer based on real-life fighter Jack Johnson in the film version of The Great White Hope. What did that mean to you?

Jones: I knew George C. Scott would win that year for Patton. His film was more fulfilled. Our file was truncated from what we achieved onstage. They did away with a lot of the poetic elements. It was too large a life form to work on. Martin Ritt was a wonderful director, but he was better with smaller-scope social stories, like Norma Rae. But I am glad we got what we did on tape.

Q: As the voice of Mufasa, Simba's caring father in the 1994 animated feature The Lion King, your death had almost as much impact as the shooting of Bambi's mother some 50 years earlier.

Jones: I saw the screening with children in the audience. When Mufasa died and Simba said, "Wake up, Dad," you could see children looking around and saying, "Where's Poppa?" They were looking for their own dads.

Q: The role you are most famous for, however, is the sinister voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy. Initially, you didn't even ask for screen credit because you felt you contributed only a sound effect. Why?

Jones: I still feel that way. I didn't take credit until the episode where they showed his demise. Not only did I refuse credit, I told everyone it wasn't me. I would say it sounds like the Un-cola guy, Geoffrey Holder. It was more fun to do it that way.

Q: And you were just as surprised as the rest of us when you read the line, "Luke, I am your father"?

Jones: I thought he was such a bad guy that he was lying and manipulating the boy.

Q: Have you ever attended a Star Wars convention?

Jones: I am happy to be a part of the whole cult movement. But they are scary. People are fanatics. I went to a comic-book convention once. George Lucas wrote me a statement to make as nasty as Dark Vader. It was a salutation. But at least I had something to do. I don't sign autographs.

Q: Like every actor, you have done some less-than-stellar films, such as being the villain Thulsa Doom in 1982's Conan the Barbarian with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Jones: I thought that might be the last large film I would ever have the chance to be a part of. It was wholesome mythology and fun to do. In fact, my only purpose in the film was to set up the revenge theme by chopping off Conan's mother's head. There were no point to the speeches. Just a lot of words.

Q: Whose voice do you admire?

Jones: John Gielgud and Richard Burton. They are pleasant to listen to. Very clear. They also have the best connection between thought and sound.

Q: You were one of the first black actors to play a president on film, in 1972's The Man. What do you think about our new president?

Jones: There's nothing to it. It is as it should be. I don't even want to say how exciting it is. It is as it should be, given who he is, his mind and sensibilities. Not given that he is a black man. One of his big jobs is dealing with racial issues, especially poverty.

Q: Have you caught up with the movies in contention for awards this season?

Jones: I've seen them all. Benjamin Button, I really liked that. The director put together a wonderful jigsaw puzzle. I like both of Kate Winslet's movies, especially The Reader. But I had a problem with The Dark Knight. It was a jumble until the issues of morality showed up at the end. I'm not criticizing it. You just have to get past that style.

Q: What is the biggest change you have seen in your profession since you began?

Jones: One thing I noticed is the use of the voice. There is a lot of whisper acting these days. Paul Giamatti in John Adams whispered most of his dialogue. Not to criticize him, but, one, I'm hard of hearing. And, two, voice is voice. Not aspiration. A whisper is a raspy sound. A voice is a full sound. Speech is a very important aspect of being human. A whisper doesn't cut it.

[Mahogany Soul]

Viola Davis was just on Oprah. I swear that woman is like, the giddiest, most smiling actress I've seen. Even she said, directors are always wanting her for the roles where she's being torn down. She said she's going to be so cute for the Oscars because she never gets to wear make up and look pretty in her movies. I can't wait to see what she looks like. She's really a very attractive woman with the biggest smile.

Oprah also said, when filling out her ballot, she listed Viola at number one.

[galgirl]

She really is very pretty. We never get to see that side of her (except in Nights in Rodatandzey-something).

[dws1982]

[jonny]

i would say the two recent examples - wiest and zeta - still apply. neither was really the frontrunner. streep was in zeta's space. even moore and bates a little bit. it wasn't a sure thing. wiest had competition for thurman especially. and there was clearly a frontrunner between the two - no way was latifah winning over zeta.

gosford park is the exception mainly because connelly was such a force that year.

but that's just my way of saying adams has no shot, but that's why davis is definitely in this.

[Smithie]

I think you're all overthinking it. Basically, in the last 50 years, co-stars have competed in a supporting category 28 times. In ten of those contests, the Oscar has gone to one of the competing co-stars. That's better than one in three.

Competing against a co-star doesn't seem to be a handicap of any kind. In fact, the numbers would suggest it gives a slight boost to one of the two. Vote splitting, as a mathematical consideration, is basically a myth.
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[abfranks]

wiest had real competition from uma? she and landau swept everything except NBR which went to rosemarie harris and gary sinise. EW had her at even money in their oscar issue. like samuel l. jackson, i'd think thurman was a comfortably distant second.
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[Boomer]

Well, that clampdown on Oscar info didn't last long. Thanks to Steve Martin for accidentally spicing things up for us.


Steve Martin To Present At Oscars With Tina Fey
Fri, Jan 23, 2009

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – the people behind the Oscars – were hoping to keep this year’s award presenters under wraps.

But during an interview with Steve Martin to promote his new film, “The Pink Panther 2,” the legendary comedian let it slip that he will be presenting an award at this year’s Oscars on February 22.

“I’m appearing with Tina Fey, evidently presenting Best Screenplay,” Martin told Access Hollywood.

A former Oscars host himself (2000, 2002), Martin also said he has confidence in Hugh Jackman, who is manning the Academy Awards helm this year.

“I don’t think he needs advice,” Martin added. “He’s hosted the Tonys, he knows what he’s doing. He’s really good.”

[Mista Q]

I hadn't heard Hugh Jackman was hosting. I guess this means I'll have to hear him talk.
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[Big Ted]

[Above the Title]

I guess maybe Thurman was considered the only possible upset to Wiest since she was in a Best Picture nominee/potential Best Picture winner. But looking at the stats, it does seem that Wiest was a very strong favorite.

Now, 1995 Best Supporting Actress (not that this is related to co-star nominees) looked like a horse race. Sorvino won the majority of the critics awards and the Globe but Winslet beat her for the SAG despite being a 19-year-old unknown then and Joan Allen had enough traction to make it into Best Actress at the SAGs. Crazy. Ted and I were discussing this whole year and how we would have gone crazy if we were following along and predicting and how the boards probably would have crashed if we all used message boards then. It seemed like there were two surprise Best Supporting Actor nominees, a surprise Best Actor nominee, Kathleen Quinlan (groan) managing to ride a wave for "Apollo 13" and then that wave not including a Best Director nomination and at least two surprises in Best Picture. And Ang Lee getting snubbed. All in one year. I would be curious to know if any of the pundits had both "Il Postino" and "Babe" getting in Best Picture.

[malcolm1980]

Babe won the Best Musical/Comedy Picture Golden Globe and National Society of Film Critics so my guess is that it was definitely in the running for Best Picture but it getting Best Director and Best Supporting Actor were suprises.

I also believe there was much publicity surrounding Il Postino due to it's ineligibility for the Best Foreign Language Film award (it was disqualified because the director was a Brit) and the death of it's star, Massimo Troisi.
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[Culturegeek]

What malcolm said. That stated, Leaving Las Vegas was seen as the critically acclaimed "edgy" film of the year (over Dead Man Walking) that we'd seen sneak into nominations for three years running (The Crying Game, The Piano, Pulp Fiction) and people were floored it was left off the list (the number of films that get writing, directing and multiple acting nods without best picture is surprisingly small), and it was a reminder that it wasn't so much the edgy slot as the Miramax slot, and when Miramax turned away from edginess to make piffle, the academy followed.

And yeah, I'm wondering how deeply Scott Rudin is stewing at the Weinstein comment.
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[dws1982]

[tonygoldenemmy]

IIRC, the media wanted to portray Thurman as being a front-runner, but in reality, Wiest had that thing in the bag from the get-go. Actually, I take that back - I seem to recall Jessica Tandy for Nobody's Fool having lotsa buzz which never really wound up materializing.

[eurocheese_is_class]

As of now, the likelihood of winning as I see it:

Best Picture
1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Reader
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Milk
5. Frost/Nixon

Best Director:
1. Danny Boyle
2. David Fincher
3. Stephen Daldry
4. Gus Van Sant
5. Ron Howard

Actor:
1. Mickey Rourke
2. Sean Penn
3. Frank Langella
4. Brad Pitt
5. Richard Jenkins

Actress:
1. Kate Winslet
2. Meryl Streep
3. Anne Hathaway
4. Melissa Leo
5. Angelina Jolie

Supporting Actor:
1. Heath Ledger
2. Josh Brolin
3. Robert Downey, Jr.
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman
5. Michael Shannon

Supporting Actress:
1. Penelope Cruz
2. Viola Davis
3. Marisa Tomei
4. Taraji P. Henson
5. Amy Adams

Original Screenplay:
1. Milk
2. WALL-E
3. In Bruges
4. Happy-Go-Lucky
5. Frozen River

Adapted Screenplay:
1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. The Reader
4. Doubt
5. Frost/Nixon
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[Above the Title]

Granted, we all took this info from books but it seemed that "Babe" and "Il Postino" may have both been in the running but I can't imagine it being widely predicted for them both to make it. The Academy usually has one off-kilter pick, not two. And I would think that "Apollo 13," "Sense and Sensibility" and "Leaving Las Vegas" all seemed in a better position than "Braveheart," which ended up not only getting in but winning when, as you said, the other frontrunners missed Best Picture or Best Director. It just floored me looking back on it that:

1 - "Apollo 13" had enough goodwill to get a bandwagon nomination for Kathleen Quinlan but still missed out for Howard (who won the DGA after being snubbed by the Academy) and also didn't bandwagon Hanks in, although I guess Hanks burn out could have been a favor there.

2 - "Babe" not only managed an acting nomination but did so when the actor was being campaigned in the other category.

3 - Best Supporting Actor had not only Cromwell but also Tim Roth, who seems like he could have been a surprise as well.

I feel like a lot of pundits may have gone with "Apollo 13," "Sense and Sensibility," "Leaving Las Vegas," "Braveheart" and either "Babe" or "Il Postino" but not both.

[malcolm1980]

Tim Roth got a Golden Globe nom so he isn't THAT big of a surprise, I don't think. Since I didn't have the internet at the time, I wasn't aware of the buzz but I did know that James Cromwell was a surprise nomination. I think the other actors who were considered as possible contenders were Kevin Bacon for Murder in the First, Don Cheadle for Devil in a Blue Dress and John Leguizamo for To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar.
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[tonygoldenemmy]

At the moment, I'm thinking...

1. Slumdog Millionaire
----------------------------
2. Milk
3. The Reader
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Frost/Nixon

1. Danny Boyle
-----------------------------
2. David Fincher
3. Gus Van Sant
4. Stephen Daldry
5. Ron Howard

1. Mickey Rourke
2. Sean Penn
-----------------------------
3. Frank Langella
4. Brad Pitt
5. Richard Jenkins

1. Kate Winslet
2. Meryl Streep
3. Anne Hathaway
------------------------------
4. Melissa Leo
5. Angelina Jolie

1. Heath Ledger
------------------------------
2. Josh Brolin
3. Michael Shannon
4. Robert Downey, Jr.
------------------------------
5. Philip Seymour Hoffman

1. Marisa Tomei
2. Penelope Cruz
3. Viola Davis
4. Taraji P. Henson
------------------------------
5. Amy Adams

1. Milk
------------------------------
2. WALL-E
3. In Bruges
4. Frozen River
5. Happy-Go-Lucky

1. Slumdog Millionaire
------------------------------
2. The Reader
3. Doubt
4. Frost/Nixon
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

[Above the Title]

OK statisticians. When was the last time a movie won two acting awards and wasn't nominated for Best Picture, let alone anything else? And I just realized that for our month-long bitchfest over which would be embraced more, "Rachel Getting Married" or "The Wrestler," they both got the hose everywhere except acting. So we all lose.

[TitsMcGee]

[eurocheese_is_class]

I don't think the Academy will be too eager to make Tomei a double winner. Her role will certainly pull a lot of heartstrings, but I don't see her winning over Cruz and Davis.
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