If any element of the annual Academy Awards telecast represents an equalizer between your party's Oscar geeks and the more casual fans who just dropped in for the booze, it's got to be the chance to win big money on one of the night's most hotly debated segments: the In Memoriam montage.
As noted last year by Academy executive director Bruce Davis, the montage of late Hollywood luminaries is historically one of the most difficult to produce: "[M]ore people die each year than can possibly be included in that segment. It gets close to agonizing by the end. You are dropping people who the public knows. It's just not comfortable."
OK, so it's not comfortable for him. Nevertheless, the Academy's indecision could be your big gain on Oscar night if you can prognosticate whom among the cinema's recent deceased will be singled out for inclusion. Clip, save and share -- and good luck!
· Will They Make It? (Choose One)
Corey Haim (+5)
Robert Culp (+10)
Gary Coleman (+15)
Barbara Billingsley (+25)
None of the above (+20)
· Will Open the Montage
George Hickenlooper (+5)
Ronni Chasen (+10)
Sally Menke (+20)
Dede Allen (+25)
None of the above (+15)
· Will End the Montage
Tony Curtis (+5)
Lena Horne (+10)
Dennis Hopper (+20)
Patricia Neal (+25)
None of the above (+15)
· Will Get Montage's First Video Clip
Meinhardt Raabe (+5)
Sally Menke (+10)
Bud Greenspan (+20)
William A. Fraker (+25)
None of the above (+15)
· Will Get Montage's First Sound Clip
John Barry (+10)
Leslie Nielsen (+15)
Tony Curtis (+20)
Lena Horne (+25)
None of the above (+5)
· First Actor Named
Fess Parker (+5)
Maury Chaykin (+10)
Peter Graves (+15)
Dennis Hopper (+25)
None of the above (+20)
· First Actress Named
Lynn Redgrave (+5)
Jill Clayburgh (+10)
Patricia Neal (+15)
Tura Satana (+25)
None of the above (+20)
· First Director Named
Irvin Kershner (+5)
Roy Ward Baker (+10)
Blake Edwards (+20)
Arthur Penn (+25)
None of the above (+15)
· First International Auteur Named
Mahama Johnson Traoré (+5)
Claude Chabrol (+20)
Satoshi Kon (+25)
None of the above (+10)
· Oldest Selection
Gloria Stuart, 100 (+5)
Dorothy Janis, 98 (+10)
Kevin McCarthy, 96 (+15)
Meinhardt Raabe, 94 (+25)
None of the above (+20)
· Will Get His/Her Own Montage Elsewhere in Oscarcast
Tony Curtis (+5)
Dino De Laurentiis (+10)
Blake Edwards (+25)
None of the above (+15)