OK, folks, who is it going to be? With loads of locals receiving high acclaim, make way for a nail-biter on Oscar Sunday. For the first time in a long time, it is a year of torn sentiments.
“I loved Bruce Dern in ‘Nebraska,’” says DGA member Elaine Perkins, “but then there is Matthew McConaughey in ‘Dallas Buyers Club.’”
I do agree both gave performances of a lifetime, but what about longtime Malibu resident Leonardo DiCaprio who played “The Wolf of Wall Street,” with Marty Scorsese behind the collaboration? What about Leo screaming, “I have been a rich man, and I have been a poor man, and I like rich better.”? Or painfully stumbling into a million dollar sports car while checked out on Ludes?
Oh, the list goes on and on.
Then there is “Gravity.” Previous Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock says the out-of-this-world space thriller was unlike anything she has ever done.
Her director, Alfonso Cuarón, called her “fearless,” and that is what attracted him. “Yes, there was technology,” he noted. “But it was her performance that made the film.”
“Gravity” is up for 10 Academy Award nominations, including best picture, best director and best actress.
Still, a lot of Academy hearts seem to go out to Cate Blanchett who was hailed by The Wall Street Journal as giving “the raw, rare material for a performance of dazzling variety.” Critics go on to rave “There are worlds within worlds in this performance.” Others say, “Sooner or later, a major filmmaker has to give us someone we will never forget. Jasmine is that someone.”
Then what about the “American Hustle” crew: Amy Adams, Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper? What about best supporting actor, Barkhad Abdi, from “Captain Phillips,” Joshua Hill from “The Wolf of Wall Street” or Jared Leto from “Dallas Buyers Club”?
U2 is up for best original song, “Ordinary Love,” from the Mandela story, “Long Walk to Freedom.”
As for best pic, the big mo seems to be going to “12 Years a Slave,” but I would say this year, it is anyone’s guess!