January 2012 Archives

No, this is not the story of Albert Brooks saying good-bye to the world after being snubbed for an Oscar nomination.  However, it could be the story of Seal (dude, you are not going to do better than Heidi Klum, so apologize and beg her to take you back before she hooks up with some international billionaire who owns his own fleet of yachts). 

Sam Worthington stars as Nick Cassidy - a former cop convicted of stealing a $40 million diamond from New York's largest real estate king, David Englander (Ed Harris, who looks shockingly thin in this movie, I wanted to pass my popcorn up to him on the screen to make sure the guy had something to eat).  Despite exhausting the appeals process, Nick still claims he is innocent, and isn't willing to take this injustice sitting down.

So, the dude escapes from prison and makes his way to Manhattan.  He checks into the Roosevelt Hotel, has one fine last meal, and steps out onto the ledge.  Everyone is worried he wants to jump, but he requests police negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) with a much different plan in mind.

Liam Neeson plays Ottway - a sniper hired to protect Alaskan oil workers from the various wolves that surround their base camp.  Of course, a heavy snowstorm quickly is moving in, which forces them to evacuate.  During the flight, the plane suffers some sort of malfunction and crashes.  Now, abandoned in the middle of nowhere, the survivors have to start making their way south to civilization, but find themselves outnumbered by hungry hungry wolves. 

Who will survive and who will be eaten?

Who will become wolfy chow?

Set around the turn of the 20th century Dublin, Glenn Close is Albert Nobbs - a woman who has been posing as a man to work as a waiter/butler at a fancy hotel in order to raise enough money to start her own business. 

Times are tough, employers have no respect for the employees, and jobs are not easily found (sound familiar?), so Nobbs does everything to keep her secret and her job.  However, this lonely lifestyle is about to be upended by the arrival of two new employees, Joe (Aaron Johnson) and Hubert (Janet McTeer), who might expose her secret. 

Will Albert be unmasked?

Will she reach her goals?

I will forever eat my words for saying Jonah Hill will never get an Oscar nomination.  However, the formerly corpulent comic actor scored the adulation and respect so many in Hollywood crave today.  Am I the only one who is fearing the upcoming ads for the 21 Jump Street movie that will be touting Oscar Nominee Jonah Hill?

What are some of the other surprises? 

For a complete list of nominees, go here.



Best Picture

Under the new rules, we could have anywhere from 5 - 10 nominees, and the number of first place votes were of paramount importance, so I never thought those first place votes would be spread out over 9 nominees.  I was convinced The Artist, War Horse, The Descendants, The Help, and Hugo were locks for nominations (and Hugo surprisingly leads the competition with 11 total Oscar nominations), but welcome to the party Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Tree of Life.    

Midnight in Paris should not have been a surprise, since it has nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild, Producers Guild, and Writers Guild Awards (showing a broad base of support across every branch of The Academy), and I am pleased by the late campaign pushing Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close into the running, but I never thought Moneyball had enough people pushing it as their favorite, #1 choice. 

Tree of Life can thank the new rules for this nomination as people either love it or hate it, and a large enough group of Oscar voters loved it.  That group was possibly 5% of voters because you only needed 5% of first place votes to have a chance at a Best Picture nomination.  Think of Tree of Life as the Ron Paul of these Oscar nominees.  It might be a small base of support, but these people are sticking with it no matter how dire and slim the chances of victory.   

The movie with the most nominations goes on to win the Oscar for Best Picture about 70% of the time, so Hugo can make a claim to being the favorite (each branch of The Academy votes for the nominees in its category, so having the most nominations means you have a broad base of support from all members of The Academy from actors to directors to sound engineers, etc.).  However, I still think The Artist is the movie to beat. 

Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio and his swimsuit supermodel of the month girlfriend will be on the outside looking in after he was passed over for a nomination (like I predicted), but we did get one surprise, that shouldn't have been a surprise. 

The Academy has come up with a new way to pick nominees that no one has ever used before, so who will be able to understand and take advantage of the new rules?  This is another example of how the campaign counts, no matter how much anyone wants us to believe the Oscars are all about the art.

Which movies will be nominated for Best Picture?

The Artist

War Horse

The Descendants

Bridesmaids

The Help

Hugo

This year, to be nominated for Best Picture, the movie must receive at least 5% of the first place votes cast, which means a film with a passionate base of voters will be able to overcome one that might have more support, but tepid support. 

Being everyone's second or third favorite movie won't help very much (which is why I think Moneyball and Midnight in Paris get stepped over like Fredo).  Yes, Midnight in Paris has support from the Producers, Directors, Writers and Screen Actors guilds, which in another year would make it a sure thing for a Best Picture nominee, but I have yet to hear anyone anywhere argue Midnight in Paris is the best movie of the year.  It is in your top five, when being #1 counts more than ever this year. 

Additionally, The Academy has determined we will have anywhere from 5 to 10 nominees, as opposed to the set number of 10 nominees we have enjoyed the past few years.  If 7 movies have 5% of the first place votes, we get 7 nominees, so good luck trying to predict the number of nominees on top of all of that.     

Because of all of this, I think Bridesmaids gets a nomination.  While it is not uncommon for a comedy to be nominated for Best Picture, so many of the recent comedy pictures with nominations had some sort of drama element to them (Lost in Translation, Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, The Kids Are All Right).  Bridesmaids, even with its sense of heart and soul, is about as comical as a comedy gets, and many voters want to see a true comedy included with true dramas, which is why the movie has been nominated at the Producers Guild and Screen Actors Guild awards. 

Also, I think War Horse gets a nomination because the old guard of Hollywood will coalesce around this movie as a traditional, big movie Best Picture nominee.  I still think it is Bore Horse, but fans of sweeping epics have embraced War Horse.  

The Help, The Artist and The Descendants have all been included in just about every awards' discussion from critics groups to Golden Globes to Guild awards, so you have to consider them locks for nominations (with The Artist emerging as a frontrunner after winning Best Picture at The Producers Guild Awards), while Hugo has support from the Directors and Producers guilds, as well as an early win at the National Bord of Review, which shocked everyone and propelled it into the discussion for an Oscar.

Who could shock and surprise?  Watch out for The Tree of Life.  It is one of the most devisive movies of the year, but people who support it truly, passionately love it, which could help if these fans and voters list it as their first place choice.

I hope you get a chance to enjoy the announcements on Tuesday morning around 8:38 AM EST.  We'll talk about the nominees all week long.   

This year's list of nominees for Best Actor will resemble a list of Hollywood royalty, but you can always expect someone to try to crash the party.  This year, that guy is doing so silently.

Who will be nominated for Best Actor?

George Clooney - The Descendents

Jean Dujardin - The Artist

Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Michael Fassbender - Shame

Gary Oldman - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

That's right.  I left Leonardo DiCaprio off the list!!!! 

I know you have read all about my theories regarding the Screen Actors Guild and its influence on which actors get nominated in the Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories.  That's why I have predicted Clooney, Dujardin and Pitt will follow up those SAG nominations with Oscar nominations.

The other two SAG nominees, DiCaprio and Demian Bichir (A Better Life), benefited from the earlier nomination date for the SAG Awards this year.  When the voting was taking place in late November and early December, DiCaprio looked like a sure thing with his performance in J. Edgar, while Bichir was the beneficiary of an aggressive, early-in-the-season campaign by Summit Entertainment (A Better Life was one of the first DVDs I received as a Critics' Choice voter).   

However, Bichir has disappeared from almost all Oscar talk, and DiCaprio has seen his prospects fade as J. Edgar did not have the box office returns nor the critical and awards acclaim one might expect from a Clint Eastwood movie.  It has been forgotten. 

Instead, Fassbender, while in a lesser movie than J. Edgar, has become the talk of the town for his wonderful performance in Shame.  I am not sure Oscar voters are ready to nominate a guy who engages in full frontal nudity in a movie with an NC-17 rating, but Fassbender also put in strong performances in X-Men: First Class and Jane Eyre this year, so he has the respect of voters, who will want to reward him somehow.

Meanwhile, I think voters want to reward Oldman for a fabulous career.  As DiCaprio fades, I have seen Oldman's stock rising as sentiment builds to reward an accomplished actor who has never been nominated. 

Who is the frontrunner?  You have to consider Clooney the favorite to win the Oscar.  Only Dujardin seems to have any chance of challenging him.

This year was a banner year for women in movies, and that makes it even more difficult than ever to predict which ones will be nominated, and which one will win.  In reality, all five of the potential nominees could have won the category in a normal year, and even a couple of snubs would have been sitting in the Kodak Theater as nominees if this was 2011, 2010, 2009, etc. 

So, who will be nominated for Best Actress?

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Viola Davis, The Help

Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Again, we look to the Screen Actors Guild for some guidance here.  Remember, actors nominate actors at the Oscars, and many of these voters belong to the Screen Actors Guild, which has released its list of nominees and will hand out its awards on January 29.  A few years ago, it was Halle Berry's win at the SAG Awards that presaged her Oscar win, so don't take them lightly. 

All five women above were nominated for SAG Awards, so I feel safe predicting them here.  However, Glenn Close could find herself on the outside looking in.  When the SAG nominations were announced in December, Close and her film, Albert Nobbs, were taking a traditional path to Oscar contention by having a small release in December, then expanding that release throughout January to capitalize on possible Oscar nominations. 

Yet, Albert Nobbs quickly has become a forgotten film as Roadside Attractions and its PR firms have failed to get any buzz building for the movie.  This leaves her vulnerable to a challenge from a young, newly acclaimed actress like Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) or Elizabeth Olson (Martha Marcy May Marlene)  I still wish Charlize Theron would get more attention for her turn in Young Adult, but that ship has sailed.  The movie never took off, and might end up being one of those you catch on DVD or on TV in a few years and find yourself surprised at how good it was.

Who is the favorite?  The SAG Awards should shed some light on this January 29.  Streep has her best chance to win her first Oscar since 1983 (even though she has a record 16 nominations to her name, she hasn't won since Sophie's Choice), but the Viola Davis train feels like it is coming down the tracks.  She is a well respected actress, who many feel deserves some recognition, and The Help has been building momentum throughout the campaign season.

It's a movie you have heard a great deal about, but haven't had a chance to see, since it has been withheld from 99% of country until this week.  Luckily, the wait was worth it for those who aren't afraid to let some emotion creep into their movie going experience.

Thomas Horn stars as Oskar Schell - a troubled 9-year old boy still suffering from the loss of his father, Thomas (Tom Hanks), who was a victim of the September 11th terrorist attacks.  Thomas and Oskar had a special bond forged by the father's efforts to create adventures and mysteries for Oskar to solve, which would help him develop social skills he lacked. 

Now, a year later, as he goes through his father's belongings, Oskar finds a vase with a key in it.  Only in an envelope with a last name on it, Oskar thinks the key is part of what could be the last puzzle his father gave him to solve, and he is off to find the lock this key will open, while confronting a horrible secret he has been holding on to for far too long. 

Are you ready for a little action with your history?

Set in 1944 and inspired by the true story, Nate Parker, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Terrence Howard, Method Man, Tristan Wilds, Ne-Yo, David Oyelowo and more star as members of the Tuskegee Airmen - a collection of African-American pilots valiantly determined to dispel the racist notions that they are inferior in any way.  Finally, they get their chance as the Air Force rethinks its strategy to better protect the massive bombers flying over Europe and key to winning the war

Will the Tuskegee Airmen be able to help win the war?

Spoiler Alert - We are not speaking German, so I think you know how the war went for us.

I am convinced director Steven Soderbergh wants to be some modern day talent scout who discovers a young woman and makes her into an international superstar (and you can't just hang around the soda counter at Schwab's anymore, so this is more difficult than it was in the 1930's).  He failed with Sasha Grey in The Girlfriend Experience, while he could be more successful with Gina Carano in Haywire, if they can get past all of those rumors about looping in another voice for hers.

Current MMA/Muy Thai fighter, and former American Gladiator (she was Crush), Carano stars as Mallory - a former Marine who has become some sort of covert operative working for a shadowy company that carries out the kind of dirty work governments need performed, but want to maintain plausible deniability about afterwards.  After rescuing a journalist in Barcelona, Mallory has decided to get out of the business, but is called back by her boss, Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), to do one more job by request of the new client. 

We interrupt this week's Oscar nomination predictions to bring you the new Bruce Springsteen song, We Take Care Of Our Own.  The new CD/Album/Download drops March 6.

The Best Director category is a great indicator for which movie will win Best Picture at the Oscars.  Primarily since the 1970's, but, to some extent, throughout movie history, the director is most held responsible for the greatness or failure of a movie.  Because of this, the movie named Best Picture at the Oscars has been directed by the person who won Best Director 62 out of 83 times.  That's an amazing win-loss record the Wizards could only dream of. 

Who will be nominated for Best Director at the Oscars?

Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

Alexander Payne - The Descendants

Martin Scorsese - Hugo

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

Steven Spielberg - War Horse

Like actors nominate actors for Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, members of the Academy's Directors Branch nominate directors for Best Director.  And, like actors, they have their Directors Guild of America, to which many Academy voting members belong.  In fact, it is one of the most reliable predictors of who will win on Oscar night.

57 times out of 63 the winner of the Directors Guild award has gone on to win Best Director at the Oscars.

David Fincher (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) was the fifth DGA nominee (Spielberg was shut out), but I fear the momentum is with War Horse and Spielberg.  It has done well at the box office, while many question if we will get the next two planned sequels to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and I feel Spielberg is a favorite among those Oscar voters, especially the older generation, who tend to admire and appreciate War Horse more than a younger generation. 

Right now, I think the favorite is Hazanavicius, because I believe The Artist is the favorite for Best Picture.  Payne and The Descendants seem to be emerging as the challenger, so don't count them out.  Plus, Woody Allen is enjoying a revival of sorts for Midnight in Paris, but I think Oscar voters will reward him in the Best Original Screenplay category.

Whereas the Best Supporting Actress category is where we get the newcomers, the Best Supporting Actor category is where we get to honor the vets.  Sometimes, it is the vets who never got any honors, even though they deserve them.  Other times, it is for a guy who might not get another chance.

Who will be the Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actor announced on January 24?

Christopher Plummer - Beginners

Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn

Nick Nolte - Warrior

Max von Sydow - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Albert Brooks - Drive

This is the hardest category to predict because no one other than Plummer seems to have any momentum.  If Uggie the Dog from The Artist was eligible, he would have a better chance of getting a nomination than the other four guys.

Nolte, Branagh and Plummer all received Screen Actors Guild nominations, which, as I mentioned yesterday, is a great indicator for who might get an Oscar nomination.

However, I don't believe the other two SAG nominees in this category, Armie Hammer (J. Edgar) and Jonah Hill (Moneyball), will be wearing tuxes in the Kodak theater on Oscar night. 

J. Edgar is a movie that has lost all steam and underwhelmed both at the box office and throughout the awards season (I loved it, but I am in the minority).  Meanwhile, when you look at Jonah Hill, do the words "Oscar Nominee" come to mind?  I don't think Oscar voters will be willing to go there with the guy who is making the 21 Jump Street movie.

Which brings us to Albert Brooks and Max von Sydow.  Brooks was considered a contender early on, and seems to be holding on to that mantle, while von Sydow could be benefiting from the late breaking momentum for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  The movie entered the fray late in the awards season, but has been impressing as we get closer to its January 20 nation-wide release. 

Plummer is the man to beat as Oscar voters look to honor an actor who has had an amazing career, but only one previous Oscar nomination for the 2009 movie The Last Station.

Best Supporting Actress is one of those legendary categories where upsets abound and young actresses burst upon the scene.  This year, we will get some of both. 

Who will be nominated for Best Supporting Actress when the Oscar nominees are revealed on January 24?

Octavia Spencer - The Help

Berenice Bejo - The Artist

Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids

Shailene Woodley - The Descendants

Jessica Chastain - The Help

When you think of the possible nominees in this category, one must keep in mind who has been nominated for The Screen Actors Guild Awards.  Actors nominate actors for the Oscars, and many of the SAG voters also vote for the Oscars.  Think of it as a political poll where you get to question potential voters to gain insight. 

Woodley did not get a SAG nomination (that went to Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs).  However, the entire Oscar campaign for Albert Nobbs and everyone associated with it has been completely mismanaged by Roadside Attractions and whatever PR firm it hired, while Woodley and Chastain have been racking up attention from critics' groups around the country and my own Critics' Choice Awards. 

I was worried about choosing Jessica Chastain.  She is an amazing actress, but she was so good in so many different movies (The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter and The Tree Of Life), I thought she might be competing too much against herself (Oscar voters must specify which performance from which movie) and splitting her own vote!  However, The Help is one of those movies gaining attention and traction during the awards season, and she will benefit from that, as well as the people who want her to get some sort of nomination, and have started to put their support behind this performance.

Who is the frontrunner?  Golden Globe winner Octavia Spencer is getting tons of buzz right now, so you have to consider her the favorite.  However, watch out for Berenice Bejo.  The Artist is the frontrunner for Best Picture, and more and more people are starting to see her performance, which was amazing. 

I'll predict a winner when we get closer to Oscar night.

Tomorrow, I'll predict the nominees for Best Supporting Actor.

I know many of you watched the Golden Globes on Sunday night.  It's always a fun show, especially when hosted by the naughty and brilliant Ricky Gervais (Didn't it look like Elton John wanted to kill him when Ricky made the joke about Jodie Foster's sexuality?).

However, the Globes do not have the same influence they once had.  First, the Oscar nomination voting ended on Friday, January 13th, two days before the Globes were awarded.  Sure, it is good PR to be nominated for a Globe, and to win, but the impact will be eclipsed by other events and circumstances over the next few weeks.

Second, all of the controversy surrounding the credibility of the organization just won't go away.  From allegations of payola for nominations and wins to the coincidence of winners being very famous people who happen to be in the crowd to the credentials of voters, The Golden Globes appears more and more every year to be about putting on a highly rated show to keep the dough rolling in. 

This week, we'll talk about that as I make my Oscar Nomination predictions. 

Coming Tuesday, my predictions for Best Supporting Actress nominees.

Mark "Don't Call Me Marky Mark" Wahlberg stars as Chris - a former master smuggler in New Orleans who got out of the business, but might not be able to stay legit for long.  His brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), decided to take up the smuggling business, but had to dump the cargo when the fuzz moved in.  Now, the drug dealer he was working for, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), wants the kid to make up for the lost income and drugs.

To help Andy, who is his wife's, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), brother, Chris tries to negotiate some sort of settlement, which leads to a demand for him to make it good, or endanger Andy, Kate and their two kids.

Can Chris pull off one last scam to fix the situation?

Set in the years after her exit from the public stage, Meryl Streep stars as Margaret Thatcher - the former Prime Minister of Great Britain who now finds herself shuffling around the house suffering from the beginnings of mental decline.  As she conducts imaginary discussions with her deceased husband, Denis (Jim Broadbent), Thatcher flashes back and forth between the great memories of her life and modern day. 

If it wasn't for Streep, The Iron Lady wouldn't be nearly compelling and comprehensive enough. 

Director Phyllida Lloyd and writer Abi Morgan give us a movie more about feelings than storytelling. Sure, we get to learn about Thatcher's rise to power in a male dominated society, and the moments of her life that defined her as a hero or villain (depending on your political persuasion), but we see them in an impressionist-type fashion.  We get glimpses into the story, rather than the meat and potatoes. 

Jodie Foster stars as Penelope, Kate Winslet as Nancy, John C. Reilly as Michael and Christoph Waltz as Alan - a group of parents in New York City dealing with trouble between their kids. 

In an incident seemingly driven by some playground bullying, Nancy and Alan's child hit Penelope and Michael's child with a stick when he didn't want to take the abuse anymore.  Of course, in today's high strung, litigious society, this is a matter for a massive meeting far exceeding the peace accords between Egypt and Israel at Camp David. 

As the four try to hammer out some understanding, resolution and steps to move forward, we get a glimpse into their lives, personalities, troubles, marriages and more. 

Some actors making the foray into writing and directing might look to take the less controversial, easier, smaller scale path of making a lighthearted romantic comedy or a holiday-themed TV movie just in time for Christmas, but not Angelina Jolie.  Her new movie, In The Land Of Blood And Honey is about one of the worst wars you never read or heard about.

Set in Sarajevo during the 1990's war in the former Yugoslavia, Zana Marjanovic stars as Ajla - a Muslim woman full of life and love.  Before the war, she met a Serbian soldier, Danijel (Goran Kostic), and romance might have blossomed, but circumstance and the horrors of this conflict interrupted.  

Now, with war fully engaged, and the Serbs carrying out unspeakable atrocities, Ajla has been captured, and finds herself imprisoned in the camp run by Danijel.

SEE MY INTERVIEW WITH ANGELINA JOLIE HERE

How could Danijel and Ajla find that love again in this place?

Can either one trust the other?

Spamalot is returning to DC's Warner Theatre in March, but you better act fast to get your tickets, because the show will only be in town for one week, from March 13 to 18. 

Heading up the cast will be two DC actors. 

Arthur Rowan plays King Arthur.  Rowan attended high school in Vienna (Virginia, not the country), and has worked with the Folger Theatre, WSC Avant Bard, Scena Theatre, Horizons Theater, and American Century Theater. 

Adam Grabau plays Sir Lancelot.  He's a native of Howard County, who has performed in the Signature Theatre's Helen Hayes Award-winning Les Miserables.  He has also worked with Studio Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Toby's Dinner Theatre, and Rep Stage.
 
Tickets are on sale now. 

Will it be the usurious ATM fees that get them, or that evil guy who has trapped them in the most isolated, yet, urban ATM on the face of the planet?

If you thought the bank was robbing and abusing you when you get that $3.50 charge to use the ATM, check out what happens in the new movie, ATM. 

Part of me feels it could have been a campy Saturday Night Live skit gone wrong, but it does star the lovely Alice Eve, who still holds a special place in my heart. 

What do we think?  Shocker or laugher?

Check it out below.

I can't remember any time in my career as a movie critic when the crowd around me, winners of FREE tickets to see the movie before it was released, all started to boo.  The ending for The Devil Inside was so bad and people were jeering so loudly you would have thought Mel Gibson just walked into the synagogue on Saturday.

Fernanda Andrade stars as Isabella Rossi - a woman whose mother, Maria (Suzan Crowley), murdered three clergy members of her church when they attempted an exorcism on her 20 years ago in Hartford.  Oddly, Maria was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and remanded to the Centrino Mental Institution in Rome.

Now, Isabella wants to get to the bottom of what happened, so she, and a documentary filmmaker, Michael (Ionut Grama), have traveled to Rome to meet her mother and learn more about exorcisms.  Of course, this brings her in touch with Father Ben (Simon Quarterman) and Father David (Evan Helmuth) - a pair of rogue exorcists who are willing to meet with Maria to free her from the evil spirit inside.  

Is Maria possessed?

Can she be saved?

Are the four young people getting in over their heads?

Adepero Oduye stars as Alike - a teen lesbian trying to figure out how to live her life.  It's apparent to her entire family and friends, yet, no one is sure how to act.  Her mother, Audrey (Kim Wayans), tries to push Alike towards being more feminine and traditional, while Dad, Arthur (Charles Parnell), seems to be more understanding, but confused and unwilling to completely accept Alike for who she is.  

As Alike puts herself further out there and searches for true love, she meets Candace (Shamika Cotton), and decides she could be the one.

He is considered to be the greatest animal actor EVER (eat your heart out Beverly Hills Chihuahua), but did Rin Tin Tin win an Oscar?

Writer Susan Orlean, in her new biography about the Al Pacino of Pooches, claims Rin Tin Tin won the first Oscar for Best Actor, only to have it purloined by The Academy in 1929!

According to Orlean, Rin Tin Tin would have been the first Oscar winner for Best Actor, but the award was given to German silent movie star Emil Jannings, who didn't even show up for the ceremony (the winners were known in February, but the awards were handed out in a May ceremony). 

Was The Academy worried the entire academy and Oscar competition would be considered a joke if the first Best Actor winner was a dog?

And, you have to wonder, did members of The Academy think the Oscars was nothing more than a "Dog and Pony Show", so why not give the statue to the four-legged thespian?

Rin Tin Tin was a HUGE movie star at the time, and many feel he was the reason Warner Brothers became a major Hollywood studio as they produced and distributed his movies, which were top box office blockbusters, so, is this proof Hollywood has always loved a moneymaker?  

Congratulations, Susan.  Now, I might have to buy the book.

Many of you people wandering around Capitol Hill have your eyes on that crazy caucus voting in Iowa, but Hollywood is in the middle of its own campaign season right now, and some confusion is starting to reign (just like in Iowa).

Gold Derby is reporting Oscar voters are a bit confused about this year's ballot, since we could have anywhere from 5 - 10 nominees for Best Picture, but voters only are asked to provide their top 5 picks. 

For the past few years, the Oscars have had 10 nominees for Best Picture, so many voters still have that in mind as they open their ballots. 

However, the biggest confusion is over the flexible number of nominees this year.  As we mentioned last week, voters rank their top five movies of the year in order of preference, and any of the top ten vote getters which also score 5% of the first place votes will be a nominee on Oscar night.  We will have a minimum of 5 nominees, but maybe 7 or maybe 9 or maybe 10.  In a year without a dominant frontrunner, 10 nominees receiving 5% of the first place votes is not out of the question.

So, do you want to feel like Tom Hanks for a moment? 

Imagine you are proud Academy Board of Governors member, Oscar winner and Oscar voter Tom Hanks, in your slippers, bathrobe and 2 days of stubble growing on your face (maybe you even have your tooth brush in your hand) as you wander down the driveway of your massive Hollywood mansion to the mail box.  You get to open up one of these: