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| Trent's Fearless 2010 Oscar Predictions: Best Actor/Best Actress |
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| Written by Trent Daniel | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 04 March 2010 12:09 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Best Actor Choices:
Best Actress Choices:
This is a very tough call. Perhaps surprisingly, I feel Freeman is the least likely to win. The Academy might feel it has awarded Clint Eastwood (the director of ëInvictusí) enough lately, Freeman won only a few years ago for ëMillion Dollar Babyí and ëInvictusí was a box office disappointment. Firth was somewhat of a surprise winner at the BAFTA awards earlier this month, but the Academy might be more inclined to honor smaller American films this year instead of a little seen British film. The Oscar I feel is a three way contest between Clooney, Renner and Bridges. ëUp in the Airí was a leading Oscar contender a few months ago, but perceptions of the film have cooled a bit, which hurts Clooneyís chances (and being a recent winner hurts his chances a bit as well). Bridges is a well respected veteran who has never won and he has received critical praise for his performance as a down and out country singer. However, few have seen his film and his upset loss at the BAFTA awards to Firth might mean he can no longer ride the momentum of critical waves all the way to the Oscar. Renner is an up and comer, but received rave reviews as well for his arresting and believable performance as a soldier addicted to the danger of war. In a slight upset, the Academy will decide to further honor the co-best picture of the year by giving the award to Renner (deserved, IMHO). My pick for best actor: Jeremy Renner. View my pick for Best Actress after the fold. This is also a very tough call, with a potential surprise possible (donít forget that Marion Cotillard pulled off such a surprise just two years ago). Like ëUp in the Air,í perceptions of ëPreciousí have cooled a bit recently, which hurts the chances of Sidibe. The two British nominees, one a well respected veteran and previous winner (Mirren), the other a promising newcomer (Mulligan), definitely have a shot, but, again, I feel Hollywood will decide to honor homegrown talent this year. That leaves two well known actresses to fight it out. Streep is a legend and was praised for her performance as Julia Child-and the Academy has a history of awarding memorable and accurate performances of famous figures, from Mirren as Queen Elizabeth to Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles and Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos, just to name a few). However, it also seems Oscar voters sometimes use their award as a vote of confidence for an established star-and might use who they feel the award might mean more to as the determining factor. Streep has already won a few of the things and certainly doesnít need any more. On the other hand, a win might be more meaningful to Bullock (whose memorable turn as the adoptive mom was the backbone of the surprise feel good hit ëThe Blind Sideí). My senses tell me that enough voters will decide to award Bullock to enable her to narrowly edge out Streep. My pick for best actress: Sandra Bullock. |
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 04 March 2010 12:50 |
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