Malibu resident Gina Burrell and Pacific Palisades resident George Carr have both won the title of The Malibu Times Oscar Guru for correctly choosing 16 out of 18 categories in the Times’ 2008 Academy Awards Ballot contest. The two will receive 10 free passes to the Malibu Cinema Hollywood Theater.
Burrell, a homemaker and cook, and Carr, a longtime surf legend and member of the Malibu Surfing Association, correctly chose 16 Academy Award winners out of the 18 choices listed on the ballot, including Best Picture “Slumdog Millionaire,” Best Director Danny Boyle for “Slumdog,” Best Actor Sean Penn (“Milk”), Best Actress Kate Winslet (“The Reader”), Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger (“Dark Knight”) and Best Supporting Actress Penelope Cruz (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”). Both Burrell and Carr missed with the Animated Short Film, choosing “Presto” instead of the Oscar winner “La Maison En Petits Cubes.” They also incorrectly chose “Waltz With Bashir” (Israel) for Best Foreign Film. The winner of that category went to “Departures” from Japan.
Runners up were Robert Fraser and Michael Levine, both Malibu residents, who picked 15 correct Oscar winners.
The lowest scoring ballot contestant chose only four correct Oscar winners.
Burrell, who was a former commercial producer and, “years ago,” a production coordinator and assistant for films, said the Academy Awards show this year was the best she had seen in a long time. She particularly liked the format of former Oscar winners presenting to this year’s winners.
“It became personal,” she said about how the presenters would speak of their peers’ work. “In a sense, they all were sort of winners.”
Burrell, who said she “loves” the movies, saw every film nominated, except for some of the foreign films and the documentaries.
This was her first year participating in the contest.
Carr participates in the contest every year and has won at least two times in the past. He said he didn’t see all the films, but bases many of his selections on what the movie critics say about the films and on the winners of other awards shows.
He did see “Slumdog Millionaire” and said he liked it because of the “rags to riches” theme. “It was uplifting, especially during this economy.”
Carr did not see “Milk” but said the choice of Penn was “obvious when I read about it [his performance].”
As for the choice of Winslet, Carr said, “She looks pretty good.”
Out of the 39 entries for the contest, 34 picked “Slumdog Millionaire” to win the Oscar for Best Picture, 24 chose Penn Best Actor, 30 went for Winslet for Best Actress and 22 voted for Cruz for Best Supporting Actress. The late Heath Ledger garnered 36 votes, the most out of all the categories, for Best Supporting Actor.
Two people thought “Milk” deserved the award for Best Picture and, likewise, two others chose “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” while one person went for “The Reader.”
Two people chose Josh Brolin (“Milk”) and one chose Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Doubt”) for Best Supporting Actor instead of Ledger. Twelve contestants went for Mickey Rourke for his work in “The Wrestler” instead of Penn for Best Actor; two voted for Frank Langella (“Frost/Nixon”) and one for Brad Pitt (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”).
Viola Davis (“Doubt”) and Marisa Tomei (“The Wrestler”) received seven votes each for Best Supporting Actress, and two contestants picked Taraji P. Henson (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) and one Amy Adams (“Doubt”).
The category of Foreign Film received the most incorrect votes-37. Most people seemed to think that “Waltz With Bashir” deserved to win.
Burrell chose “Slumdog Millionaire” for Best Picture because it was “such a feel good movie.” Also, “it was such a complicated story to bring to life on screen, and it was seamlessly brought to life.” The “beautiful love story” also enthralled Burrell.
Of Oscar winner Winslet, Burrell said, “She is such an amazing actress. In ‘The Reader’ she was flawless; it [her performance] touched me on so many different levels.”
Burrell said she chose actor Penn for the Best Actor award for his performance in “Milk” because she said she felt she was “watching Harvey Milk” on screen. “It was a beautiful transformation … I never once saw acting. That is a sign of a wonderful actor.”