It's that time of the year again when there seems to be an Awards show every other week starting in late December and culminating this Sunday evening with the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood.
For someone who grew up anticipating with glee and excitement the telecast of the Oscars
I am this year barely making note of the event, although I will watch the show and hope I don't fall asleep midway thru the awards.
Living in LA for 26 years (and working for one of the major studios (Paramount), I felt a sense of obligation to watch the awards each year. I had the chance to actually attend the ceremony one year but the invite came so late in the day there was little time for me to get it together, rent a tux and find transportation to the Shrine auditorium where the Oscars were being held that year. Instead I chose to watch the show with friends on tv and shout expletives at the tv when winners made extra lame or waaay too long acceptance speeches.
My favorite Oscars story took place the year BRAVEHEART won for best picture.
I had become friendly with the film's producer, Alan Ladd, Jr. ('Laddie') who had offices on the Paramount lot and had brought the film script with him when he left 20th Century Fox.
Paramount - more specifically, Sherry Lansing, who decided what films would get green lights and go into production - kept saying NO until Laddie submitted a greatly reduced budget for the film and got a very unenthusiastic green light to make the film. When accepting the Oscar
for best film, Laddie said "thank you" and walked off with his Oscar. Normally best
film Oscar winners thank the heads of production and gush about the support they got from
their studio. Not Laddie.
Anyhow, early the next morning, I got a call from Laddie's secretary inviting me over
for coffee and danish, something that I did often while Laddie was at Paramount. I walked over and congratulated him for winning the best pic Oscar and we started talking about the
telecast and other winners. Then Laddie said he had something for me that he remembered
my saying once how much I would like to have one. With that, he opened his desk drawer
and whipped out the Oscar he had just won the night before and handed it to me. His
secretary came out with a Polaroid camera and proceeded to take about a dozen pics of me holding the Oscar in various positions. I sent copies out to friends across the U.S. with no message. I kept once copy for myself and I have posted it with this piece or separately.
And now for this year's awards, here are my predictions and personal choices. Please feel free to keep a tally of how many you get right come Oscar night and post it the day after and we will see who chose the most winners. Here goes mine (only major awards here):
Winner My Choice
BEST PICTURE Silver Lining Playbook Beast of Southern Wild
(In my opinion, Playbook is the most overrated film of 2012 while Beast of the Southern
Wild is the most original film distributed last year and easily the best film of the year)
Also nominated for best film is DJANGO UNCHAINED, how I don't know since I grew intolerant of the violence and silliness of the story in the second half of the film.
BEST ACTOR Daniel Day Lewis Daniel Day Lewis
(Overlooked in this category was Dwight Henry, the non-actor who portrayed Hushpuppy's
father in BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD)
BEST ACTRESS Jennifer Lawrence Quvenzhane Wallis
(I simply could not buy into Lawrence's character in PLAYBOOK although she gives
a good performance. Little Quvenzhane Wallis, the 6 year old (at the time the film was made)
non actor who portrays Hushpuppy gives an astonishing performance worthy of an Oscar)
BEST
SUPPORTING ACTOR Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones
BEST
SUPPORTING ACTRESS Anne Hathaway Sally Fields
(I like Hathaway but her performance pales in comparisonn to Sally Fields 3-dimensional
portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln in LINCOLN. It is a brilliant performance and I would be
thrilled to see Fields upset Hathaway and take home the Oscar but it ain't gonna happen)
CINEMATOGRAPHY Life of Pi Life of Pi
(Finally a film that makes great use of 3D and gives viewers something really beautiful and
extraordinary to behold)
COSTUME DESIGN Anna Karenina Anna Karenina
FILM EDITING Argo Lincoln
(The Academy has to give Argo something and I believe it will be the Oscar for film
editing although I think the work in LINCOLN is superior. I have a bet with a friend at
Paramount for the best pic Oscar and she has chosen Argo. My choice is coming up)
DOCUMENTARY How to Survive a Plague No choice
(I haven't seen any of the doc nominations yet although I hope to see both How to
Survive a Plague and 5 Broken Cameras when they become available on demand. If
How to...doesn't take home the Oscar here 5 Broken Cameras will.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE Amour Amour
(No contest here. I saw Amour and it is the kind of film one feels obligated to see but
knows that it will be emotionally draining to sit thru. 2 spectacular performances here by the leads, both icons in French cinema)
ORIGINAL SCORE Life of Pi Life of Pi
(The score for Anna Karenina was beautiful but Life of Pi was nominated for 11 Oscars and the Academy will fee beholden to give the film at least a couple awards. This is one of them)
PRODUCTION DESIGN Les Miserables Les Miserables
(Another instance where the Academy will feel beholden to give something to Les Miz
and this is a category in which the film excells -- as do all the other nominees)
SOUND EDITING Dark Zero Thirty Dark Zero Thirty
(Again, the Academy will want to bestow at least one award to Dark Zero Thirty)
SOUND MIXING Les Miserables Les Miserables
(There was a lot I didn't like about the film but God knows the sound was tacka terrific and
the mixing of the vocals and music was excellent)
VISUAL EFFECTS Life of Pi Life of Pi
(Easily hands down the winner in this category. Director Ang Lee and his visual
effects people have created some amazing visuals not to mention the tiger who plays such a large part in the story. I wanted to embrace this film when I saw it but for some reason
(possibly waiting in line in the lobby for over an hour for a pre-opening screening) it didn't grab me emotionally. Maybe I'll see it again and see how I react during a second viewing.
DIRECTION David Russell Steven Spielberg
(I was underwhelmed by Silver Linings Playbook and didn't buy any of the
characters for a minute, especially Bradley Cooper, who annoyed the hell out of me.
But Russell is an Academy favorite and I think will take home the Oscar despite
Spielberg's best effort in years with LINCOLN)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Kushner/Lincoln Kushner/Lincoln
(No contest here. Kushner wrote a brilliant screenplay and even though he took some
\liberties with the facts, his words here are mesmerizing)
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Boal/Dark Zero Thirty Boal/Dark Zero Thirty
BEST SONG Skyfall Skyfall
BEST PICTURE Silver Linings Playbook Beasts of the Southern Wild
(I stand to win 5 cents if my pick is the winner here. My friend in LA insists that ARGO is
going to win but I'm going with the most overrated film of the year, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. I liked the first half of the film but by the end I was ready to throw something at the screen I was so annoyed with the characters and the way the film ended. I found nothing special about the big dance sequence at the end and for the life of me couldn't understand what the Lawrence character saw in Cooper's (a jerk of the first order). On the other hand,
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD is original, emotionally rewarding and worthy of all the honors thrown its way (Sundance Film Festival and Cannes) early in its release. First time
director Benh Zeitlin has written a beautiful script and managed to produce some astonishing performances for a group of mostly non-actors.
So there you have it - my selections for Oscar night. I will brace myself for those acceptance speeches in which the winner look upward and claim that their mother and/or father is watching from Heaven. Mercifully, few will thank God for their awards. That gesture is usually relegated to the Tony Awards when winners always thank Jesus and God, not necessarily in that order.
