Critics dismiss Cate’s Oscar chances
The winter rain storms that have struck Los Angeles may not be
the only thing that soaks Cate Blanchett’s party at the 80th Annual
Academy Awards.
Blanchett’s hopes of an historic double Oscar win have been
dashed with bookmakers and film critics giving her next to no
chance of claiming both gold trophies.
No actor or actress in the event’s 80-year history has scooped
both the acting and supporting Oscars at the one ceremony.
Bookmakers believe Blanchett will win one Oscar at the ceremony,
which is scheduled to begin at noon (AEDT).
However, many influential critics from leading US news
organisations predict the 38-year-old expectant mum will go home
empty-handed.
“I’d like to say Blanchett, since her work is
time-capsule-worthy,” Rolling Stone magazine film critic
Peter Travers wrote in his analysis of the best supporting
category.
“But watch out for Ruby Dee.”
Bookmakers in Australia, Britain and the US have rejected the
critics, and have kept Blanchett as the short-priced favourite to
win supporting actress for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in I’m
Not There.
A survey of 32 critics and leading Oscar pundits by the Los
Angeles Times newspaper have many picking 83-year-old
American Gangster actress, Ruby Dee, or Amy Ryan, for
Gone Baby Gone, to upset Blanchett.
Blanchett has odds of 5-4, while Ryan is at 2-1 and Dee, who has
received plenty of support in recent days, is at 9-4.
The oddsmakers, critics and pundits all agree Blanchett has
little chance of winning the best actress Oscar for her performance
in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Blanchett’s odds have blown out to around 40-1, while the
short-priced favourite is British actress Julie Christie for
Away from Her at 1-2.
The LA Times today described Blanchett’s nomination for
Elizabeth: The Golden Age as “filler” in the best actress
category.
“Blanchett plays dress-up and hams it up with the rest of the
movie,” LA Times critic Carina Chocano wrote.
“It looks like fun, and Blanchett is as always a lovely and
commanding presence, but there’s nothing here that draws us into it
or illuminates the character in a new way.”
Australia also is represented at the Oscars in the documentary
feature category, with Eva Orner, the 38-year-old producer of
Taxi to the Dark Side, a film critical of the US war on
terrorism.
Outspoken American documentary maker Michael Moore is nominated
for his expose on the American health system, Sicko.
Rain has been falling steadily across Los Angeles the past 24
hours and the Academy has erected a large canopy to protect the
nominees and award presenters, including Nicole Kidman, along the
400m long red carpet entrance into Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre.
The favourite for the best actor Oscar is Daniel Day-Lewis for
There Will Be Blood, which is nominated for eight
awards.
No Country for Old Men, also with eight nominations, is
expected to dominate in the best picture, best supporting actor
(Javier Bardem) and best director (Joel and Ethan Coen)
categories.
AAP
