Oscar Index: Killing 'Lincoln' Is All The Rage As Academy Voting Begins
Best Supporting Actor
“Those of you still looking for some true suspense on Oscar night, never fear,” wrote Peter Knegt on Indiewire this week. Here is a category in which all five contenders—former Oscar-winners all—have a legitimate shot at the Academy Award. Tommy Lee Jones, with his SAG Award, is still the frontrunner, but except for his appearance at the star-studded Academy Award luncheon this week, he has been missing in action on the awards circuit, as has Philip Seymour Hoffman and Alan Arkin. Christoph Waltz will host Saturday Night Live on Feb. 16 (here’s hoping he gets better material than Jennifer Lawrence). That leaves Robert De Niro, who this week put himself out there in uncharacteristic ways. He became emotional during an appearance on Katie when reflecting on Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell’s personal connection to the film’s subject matter, bipolar disorder. Answering the Proust Questionnaire in the new Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair, he channeled Rupert Pupkin:
Q: On what occasion do you lie?
A: When I’m being polite. Like when Vanity Fair asked if I wanted to do the Proust Questionnaire and I said ‘Sure.’
Q: Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
A” The only fiction I read is the newspapers.
And then there was the For Your Consideration ad on his behalf that trumpeted the fact that he had not won an Oscar since Raging Bull. The Oscar season is no time for subtlety.
1. Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
2. Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook)
3. Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
4. Alan Arkin (Argo)
5. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
Best Supporting Actress
With the tumult surrounding the Best Picture, Director and Supporting Actor races, who can blame Oscar pundits for latching on to a seemingly sure thing like Day-Lewis and Anne Hathaway? Sally Field has a compelling backstory on how she fought to portray Mary Lincoln and gained 25 pounds for the role. But, as HuffPo's Christopher Rosen, who co-writes “For Your Consideration” with Hogan, asserted: “Hathaway has been the front-runner since August. That she lived up to all that advance hype is a minor miracle. She deserves this award more than every other actress in this category combined.”
1. Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
2. Sally Field (Lincoln)
3. Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
4. Amy Adams (The Master)
5. Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)
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Comments
All the same, a film with 12 nominations that wins Director, Adapted Screenplay, Lead Actor and Supporting Actor without winning picture is also "patently absurd." They may genuinely like Argo, and they probably do, but there's no mistaking how many different ways Argo has to make history to win. It will be the first film to win the DGA, have no director nom and win Best Pic. The first film with the fifth most nominations to win. The record breaker before that was Chariots of Fire with fourth most nominations. Argo will have to beat that, dubiously, to win. The third way is the only one people know about and that's having no director nominations. The Academy opted out of nominating Affleck. They might decide that they would like to decide what wins, and not the guilds. But it's a cliffhanger, no doubt.
If Chariots of Fire could do it, Argo certainly can... as it is more rousing entertainment, Hollywood-centric and star-laden than Chariots. Not to mention the preferential ballot. If people want to vote Argo, don't talk them out of it. My guess is that many people with Argo as their number one (a surprise hit with the actors at SAG) would list Silver Linings Playbook as their number 2. And I sure as hell don't want SLP winning Best Picture. Just reading that "all SLP" Oscar ballot in Glenn Whipp's LA Times article made me want to puke.
At least "ARGO" isn't boring as f*&k like "CHARIOTS OF FIRE".
Hmmm.....I think there's going to be a surprise upset Oscar night. Everbody's gaze is on Argo and Lincoln, but I think PI and BOTSW could step up and win in some important categories.
That Silver Linings Playbook is in the running at all is sort of depressing... probably the most overrated film of Oscar season... an interesting film that devolved into the worst sort of tripe in the third act. There were a lot of movies I enjoyed this year, but very few of them had anything to do with these noms.
I'm pretty tired of it being taken for granted that Lincoln will win (and it just might) for all the wrong reasons... historical drama, tasteful production, and Spielberg. I found it to be not particularly interesting, and while I normally like Daniel Day-Lewis, I thought his Lincoln was a combination of historical re-enactors from the History Channel and a wax museum.
Argo was a fine film. Nothing more than an incredibly well-constructed thriller with a bit of humor, but a very fine example nonetheless. Certainly not the best picture of the year (for me, that would be The Master), but out of these noms - probably the most deserving.
And yet another credibility cloud hanging over "Lincoln" is that Doris Kearns Goodwin was accused of plagiarism for her book "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys" (details in Forbes.com article, 2002), and the charges were so serious she resigned her pundit spot on the McNeill Lehr PBS show.
Of course there was the "Amistad" lawsuit filed against Spielberg (though at least that was dismissed).
JR
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