Oscar Index: OK, Everyone, Just Freaking Calm Down About The King's Speech

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The Nominees:

1. Natalie Portman, Black Swan

2. Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

3. Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

4. Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

5. Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Notes: Is it me or is Portman's run just seeming too... perfect? I don't know if it's all the tumult in the other categories, or just an urge to start trouble, or some specific, empirical factor like Bening's career-emphasizing campaign ads, but I just feel like Portman's lead is slipping. Could this category ultimately come down to who has the more impactful, elegant Awards-Season Trading Card? OK, never mind. Just throwing it out there.

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The Nominees:

1. Colin Firth, The King's Speech

2. Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

3. Jeff Bridges, True Grit

4. Javier Bardem, Biutiful

5. James Franco, 127 Hours

Notes: My favorite bit of Oscar-related arcana this week came from the mouth of Paul Bettany, who actually admitted he had first crack at the role of King George VI in Speech. News flash: He regrets turning it down! But he says had a good reason: "I had been working for five months steadily and my son missed me and I missed my son. Both of my sons and my wife [...] I regret not working with such amazing, amazing actors and directors and writers. But no, I have to do the right thing by my family every time." Aww! Anyway, now Firth has to thank Bettany's family (including wife Jennifer Connelly) when he wins. That is all.

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Comments

  • Keith says:

    I don't know what everyone's getting so worked up about. Didn't Slumdog Millionaire come late to the party and rip through the awards too? It doesn't seem that rare to this amateur Oscar watcher that a film with loads of early hype loses steam when it counts- Dreamgirls and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button come to mind. The King's Speech is a much better film in my opinion anyway (gasp!)