Oscar countdown begins in Hollywood
It is Oscar week in Hollywood, and after three months in the
dark winter of a bitter labour strike, the movie industry finally
has something to celebrate — itself.
On Sunday, the world’s top film awards get under way with a full
array of stars such as George Clooney and Cate Blanchett parading
up the red carpet outside the Kodak Theatre where Academy Award
nominees hope to be named best actor or actress.
About 5,800 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences will anoint one film as their favourite among nominees
that include crime drama No Country for Old Men and teen pregnancy
comedy Juno.
With a fresh crew of writers, Oscar host Jon Stewart hopes to
keep audiences laughing through the three-hour live telecast.
“Here we are. After a long winter, comes the spring and now the
summer,” said Oscar producer Gil Cates. “It’s been a terrible three
months.”
About 10,500 members of the Writers Guild of America walked off
the job on November 5, throwing into disarray the awards season
that runs from December through the February 24 Oscars.
Gala dinners and ceremonies honouring films and their makers
were cancelled or changed drastically. January’s glitzy Golden
Globe Awards turned into a news conference watched by about a
quarter of the typical audience of 20 million viewers.
But the strike ended one week ago, and Oscar organisers are
promising a traditional ceremony for a global TV audience with big
stars, dazzling fashion and, hopefully, memorable winners.
Oscar watchers expect some drama in key races, despite the fact
many categories have clear front-runners. Academy Award voters, the
experts said, enjoy defying the oddsmakers.
“Sometimes the Hollywood honchos vote with their heart just to
remind us they have one,” said Tom O’Neil, veteran Oscar watcher
with awards website, TheEnvelope.com.
No Country heads into Sunday leading the race for best film
because it earned top honours from the guilds of producers,
directors, actors and writers — four key indicators of Academy
Award success.
But the pundits sense taut legal thriller Michael Clayton is
surging due to the popularity of its star, Clooney, and note the
emergence of Juno, which is the only nominated film to surpass the
pivotal $US100-million ($A110 million) mark at US box offices.
The other two nominees are oil drama There Will Be Blood, a
meditation on the corrupting power of money, and romance Atonement,
another drama with a dark ending.
Briton Daniel Day-Lewis playing a hard-charging oil man in Blood
has earned front-runner status in the best actor race by virtue of
several critics’ and other awards this season, but the experts said
Clooney is giving him a run for his money.
Among best actress nominees, another Briton, Julie Christie, has
been the darling of award season as an Alzheimer’s sufferer in Away
From Her. But don’t count out French actress Marion Cotillard as
singer Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose, or Ellen Page as the defiantly
pregnant teen in Juno.
In other races, Spain’s Javier Bardem is tipped to win
supporting actor playing a killer in No Country. Tilda Swinton
leads supporting actresses in her role as a manipulative corporate
lawyer in Clayton.
Finally, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen look to be the team to
beat in the race for best director with No Country. And regardless
of who wins or loses, Academy Award organisers are happy about one
thing: this year, the Oscar goes on.
Reuters
