It helped Slumdog Millionaire a great deal, dropping only 36% on a non-holiday Monday (it was the week before MLK last year) and helping it to have a huge increase on MLK weekend even though it lost a few theaters. ROTK, on the other hand, didn't really get any noticeable bump as people who are interested in seeing it already did and will less likely be influenced by GG. Avatar falls more to the latter.

Can anyone tell me, what was the last role from a sports film to get an Oscar acting award (best actor, actress, supporting actor, or supporting actress)?

Was Hillary Swank in Million Dollar Baby the last one along with Morgan Freeman? Which other sports film performances have won an acting Oscar?

that makes sense. thanks.

Avatar winning best picture is a fucking joke, I am sorry.

Chicago won???

Crash???

Think about it, Oscars are a Joke excel...



Oscars are not that bad, last year they have bad choices like The Reader but made it up with Slumdog winning.

I think Avatar will win BP but Best Director will likely go to hurt locker's director.

it makes sense that avatar does not need any boost. i dont think even oscar bp win would make tangible difference.

Yeah it would really be there to please James Cameron and the General audiences.

LOL!

You can call her James Cameron's ex-wife.

I think even Cameron thought she would have won it.


Jeff Bridges is a great win.. He better win the Oscar.

If another man playing a homosexual wins again...

Nothing against Homosexuals but its getting silly now.

Some thoughts about the Oscar:

Best Picture
It's still a three-way race between Avatar, Hurt Locker and Up in the Air. The only change is Avatar's frontrunner status is confirmed by the Globe. And under the new voting system this year, Avatar with its broad appeal is more likely than the other two to garner more top 5 votes. But voting members who lean towards the drama genre will give both Locker and Air the top 2 choices.

Best Director
It is between the Ex(es).

Best Actor
a tie between George Clooney or Jeff Bridges.

Best Actress
a tie between Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock. Bullock is more likely because The Blind Side is a better received film. But Streep can still win due to her veteran status.

Supporting Actor
Christopher Waltz is a lock

Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique is a lock

I haven't seen Crazy Heart, but Colin Firth is really getting the bad end of the stick. He's brilliant in A Single Man. Clooney is just a cool actor not a good one so please not him!

James Cameron??? Fuck thats terrible. And Avatar for Best Picture??? Ugh.

Dont get me wrong i think its a really good film, but Bigelow/Reitman/Tarantino and Hurt Locker/Up In The Air/Basterds are all so much better choices.

I feel another Slumdog situation building which means im going to need 12 bottles of wine, 10 pounds of blow, 20 xanax and at least 50 valium to get me through the Oscars.

On the plus side im very happy about Bridges, Streep, Waltz and Mo, hopefully they are the winners come oscar time.

Golden Globe Winners and Academy Award Prediction

Director and Picture:
Avatar got both. This makes it position a fix for nomination and a front-runner in both these categories. So it is now between Avatar and The Hurt Locker to steal the show.

My Predictions:
Director - Kathyren Bigelow
Picture - James Cameron

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges and Robert Downey Jr. It is safe to say that Downey will miss the nomination because this was a bit weird category. Though Clooney was the initial favourite it seems that Jeff Bridges is stealing the later glory(BFCA win as well GG). There is just a tiny bit of support since Up in the Air is not winning any other their might be this one

My Predictions:
Jeff Bridges

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep. This one was as expected the two have been neck-to-neck in the later season. It seems that Sandra Bullock has been around for some time and not won whereas Meryl is already well known for amazing roles but not oscar winning. One more year would not hurt her.

My Predictions:
Sandra Bullock

Best Supporting Actor:
Mo'Nique. This was also staright from the book. No surprises here and this should go similarly with Academy. Though Anna Kendrick could still bring in a surprise win, but other than that I don't see anyone coming close to this one

My Prediction:
Mo'Nique

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz. This is another sure win. Though the speech leave lot of questions in one's mind. What the hell was he trying to say there? I don't even see anyone coming really close to the performance he has given so I am not going with any alternates on this one

My Prediction:
Christoph Waltz

Best Animated Feature
Up. I think so it will sweep the award because people are hell-bent to give award to Pixar now. Though Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox should be a good competition.

My Prediction:
Up

Best Original Song:
"The Weary Kind". The best song with Academy always goes really different than the song in GG. So I think so "I See You" has a good shot specially when it looks like Avatar will sweep a lot of awards at Kodak Theater

My Prediction:
"I See You" - Avatar

Best Original Score:
Up. This one again since in the Best Director speech which Cameron did not prepare he wanted the actors and James Horner to get the nominations and awards. I think so Avatar could win this one as well

My Prediction:
Avatar

Best Screenplay:
Up in the Air. I was surprised by this award and so was Jason Reitnam. Even if Up in the Air is the best Adapted Screenplay the best of all this year and Original in that category is Inglourious Basterds

My Prediction:
Inglourious Basterds - Original Screenplay
Up in the Air - Adapted Screenplay

Best Foreign Film:
The White Ribbon. Academy always surprises with this category. It seems that this year it could be neck-to-neck competition between The White Ribbon and A Prophet

My Prediction:
A Prophet

Best Comedy:
The Hangover. There is no such category at Academy so I think so it will be the best award Hangover will get. Though people have come to hate it. (500) Days was not an all out comedy like Hangover and it not because of the box-office that this movie is getting all the accolades. (500) deals with humor and not comedy, the end is nowhere happy, you have mixed feeling of fun and pity at the end of movie unlike the Hangover.

Wait, people have come to hate (500) Days of Summer? Huh? Did I miss your point?

I don't have any problem with Avatar and Cameron winning. I watched
The Hurt Locker on DVD and did not see the fuss. It's good yes, but not so
good that it couldn't realistically be beat by Avatar. I haven't seen Up In
the Air yet, but I would actually agree, before seeing Avatar a second time,
that I liked Inglourious Basterds the best. But that is so unlikely to win I'm
fine with Avatar winning. Avatar is what it is because of Cameron, I have a
hard time seeing a split this year between BP and Director.

I definitely see a split. You may not have loved it, but most people are blown away by Bigelow's super-tight and realistic direction of The Hurt Locker. And there's the bonus "I can't believe a -woman- directed this intense war movie!" factor. If James Cameron is Avatar and Avatar is James Cameron, then giving Best Picture to Avatar will satisfy their need to hail The Cameron and they can throw Bigelow a bone with Best Director.

Sadly, in this (very real) scenario, Up in the Air will have to go home with just Best Adapted Screenplay. God, I hope there's not an upset there, with The Hurt Locker or Precious winning. Then Up in the Air could conceivably win... nothing.

Oops that was a typo error I meant The Hangover there lol . Thanks for pointing it out. Edited and corrected the original post

Actually Hurt Locker also has a very good chance of winning Screenplay but it is up against Inglourious Basterds so I think so later will win.

Up in the Air will face either of the following Fantastic Mr. Fox, District 9, Precious, A Single Man, An Education. Precious and Fantastic Mr. Fox are good but not great and also the Jason Reitman is involved, so he gets one trophy to himself as well.

Oh wait, The Hurt Locker's an original screenplay? (whoops) I had it in my head it was based on a journalist's book, but now realize I may have been confusing it with Black Hawk Down. lol

*relief* Up in the Air is definitely winning Best Adapted Screenplay then. Screw Precious (not you, dad).

Yes that is the only current major award I see with Up in the Air. Clooney is getting sacked by most of the award shows plus he has won recently and has been the Academy choice in the recent nomination ballot.

Jeff Bridges on the other side has been nominated 4 times and has never won. Plus this role is similar to a biography where Bridges stands out all alone unlike Clooney where the show is stolen by both Anna and Vera

I'm rooting for Firth. He's amazing. And he definitely stands out in the film. Everyone else, including Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode, is very much supporting.

Bridges has the locomotive momentum, though.

But a good performance is a good performance. Where's the attitude, "Another person playing a heterosexual won again?"

Especially when the characters are completely different. Sean Penn portrayed a larger-than-life, loud, quirky politician, Colin Firth portrays a depressed, insular, quiet literature professor. Yes, both are "gay," but they couldn't be more different. You might as well say, "I'm tired of people winning awards for playing troubled characters!" or "I'm tired of people winning awards for playing real people!"

Mandeep's comment is oversimplified and homophobic.

If there is unfairness in the world, you should at least try to hide that you have noticed it.