Oscar Buzz Pt. 3

So evolution takes up to the WOMEN and our predictions for those Oscar nods next year. It's a strong field this year with a few very potent contenders and, of course, Judi Dench.

Also, the picture above has nothing to do with Oscars or women but I was getting bored of just inserting a generic picture of statue. I think this is much more fun.

BEST ACTRESS:
Helen Mirren (The Queen), Kate Winslet (Little Children), Judi Dench (Notes On A Scandal), Annete Bening (Running With Scissors), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada), Penelope Cruz (Volver), Beyonce Knowles (Dreamgirls), Renee Zellweger (Miss Potter), Sienna Miller (Factory Girl), Laura Dern (Inland Empire), Cate Blanchett (The Good German), Nicole Kidman (Fur)

• A really solid field this year, led by three absolute acting titans in Mirren, Dench and the unimpeachable Streep. The latter's film-stealing performance should earn her a nod but a win is unlikely. Same for Dench leaving only Mirren in with a genuine chance of Oscar in my books.
• Bening has had great reviews but the film's been panned so her chances are hurt while Kate Winslet, despite being practically perfect yet again is likely to be snubbed for a win due to the edgy subject matter.
  
• The dark horses are once again many and varied with Penelope Cruz leading the trailing pack and decent bet to win. Beyonce is also gaining momentum while Zellweger's understated performance and previous win could see her get a nod.
• Laura Dern is an unlikely nominee but could easily get one depending on the eventual reception for David Lynch's new work which sounds like yet another confounding masterpiece.
• Cate Blanchett will likely be nominated elsewhere having been in just about everything this year but won't get a nod here.
• SPECULATIVE PREDICTION FOR NOMINATIONS: HELEN MIRREN (THE QUEEN), PENELOPE CRUZ (VOLVER), KATE WINSLET (LITTLE CHILDREN), MERYL STREEP (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA), BEYONCE KNOWLES (DREAMGIRLS)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Sandra Bullock (Infamous), Jennifer Connelly (Little Children), Cate Blanchett (Babel), Sharon Stone (Bobby), Meryl Streep (A Prairie Home Companion), Angelina Jolie (The Good Shepherd), Maggie Gyllenhaal (World Trade Center), Rinko Kikuchi (Babel), Natalie Portman (Goya's Ghosts), Maria Bello (World Trade Center), Carmen Maura (Volver), Vera Farmiga (The Departed), Demi Moore (Bobby)

• Hudson is the major frontrunner and, with other wins unlikely for Dreamgirls, will almost certainly be favourite cometh the night.
• Bullock would be worthy winner in an unlucky film but Jennifer Connelly is the weakest thing in a contraversial movie and won't get a nod unless Oscar feel they need to look after their own.
• Blanchett will get a nod but won't win, it's too soon after The Aviator while Bobby's lukewarm reception will harm both Stone and Moore's chances.
• Streep will get one in the leading category so won't be too worried about this but Jolie needs it while both Gyllenhaal, Portman (if her movie comes out this year) and Bello deserve one each for their previous work, particularly after Bello's snub last year for History Of Violence.
• Maura and Farmiga are good outside bets but Rinko Kikuchi will likely be overshadowed by Blanchett, Bernal and Brad.
• SPECULATIVE PREDICTIONS FOR NOMINATIONS: JENNIFER HUDSON (DREAMGIRLS), SANDRA BULLOCK (INFAMOUS), MARIA BELLO (WORLD TRADE CENTER), CATE BLANCHETT (BABEL), ANGELINA JOLIE (THE GOOD SHEPHERD)

SO THERE WE GO... SCREENPLAYS TOMORROW WITH OTHER LITTLE AWARD PREDICTIONS THROWN IN. THEN, WE'LL DO A LITTLE ROUND UP OF THE WHOLE DEALIO FOR REFERENCE.

Oscar Buzz Pt. 2

So HELLO!! Welcome to Part Two of our heavily predictive and slightly over ambitious attempt to predict the mind of these crazy buggers in the Academy and give you a rundown of where we believe the ACTING HONOURS will go at this year's Oscars. We won't do all the acting Oscars though, just the men today and the women tomorrow.

So, if you don't know the format, check out the previous post and enjoy...



BEST ACTOR:
Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Peter O'Toole (Venus), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed and/or The Blood Diamond), Derek Luke (Catch A Fire), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness), Matt Damon (The Good Shepherd), Will Ferrell (Stranger Than Fiction), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking), George Clooney (The Good German), Ryan Phillipe (Flags Of Our Fathers), Patrick Wilson (Little Children)

• Whitaker is the major frontrunner for this now with his performance as Idi Amin dominating the film. Everyone else is a dark horse is a slightly-weaker-than-usual field.
  
• But you never know and Leo DiCaprio should snag one nod, likely for The Departed, while Derek Luke in Apartheid-drama Catch A Fire and Peter O'Toole (post his honorary Oscar) in Venus are gaining serious momentum.
• Ferrell is unlikely to get one unless the reviews are immense and the Golden Globes honour him while Matt Damon will need the Oscar push behind his film to heat up fast.
• The other likely nominee probably come from a pool of Will Smith, Ryan Gosling (who should finally see his promise shown in previous work acknowledged) and Ryan Phillipe, the latter mostly on the strength of Flags Of Our Fathers' worthiness.
• SPECULATIVE PREDICTIONS FOR NOMINEES: FOREST WHITAKER (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND), PETER O'TOOLE (VENUS), DEREK LUKE (CATCH A FIRE), LEONARDO DICAPRIO (THE DEPARTED), MATT DAMON (THE GOOD SHEPHERD)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Adam Beach (Flags Of Our Fathers), Jack Nicholson (The Departed), Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls), Ben Affleck (Hollywoodland), Brad Pitt (Babel), Steve Carell (Little Miss Sunshine), Jackie E. Haley (Little Children), Tobey Maguire (The Good German), Gael Garcia Bernal (Babel), Michael Sheen (The Queen), Tim Robbins (Catch A Fire), James McAvoy (The Last King Of Scotland), Michael Pena (World Trade Center), Robert Downey Jr. (Fur)

• Adam Beach is the major frontrunner here but its a very strong field this year. Nicholson dominates The Departed and, with three already won, should get a nomination.
• Affleck won in Venice and now will definitely get a nod while both Brad Pitt and Eddie Murphy have been receiving major pre-release buzz.
• Fingers-crossed for Steve Carell in Little Miss Sunshine and he's a definite possibility while various others could easily sneak in.
• Haley is likely in too risky-a-role and Michael Sheen is outshone by Helen Mirren but anyone from Maguire, Bernal, Robbins, Pena and McAvoy could snag nods.
• SPECULATIVE PREDICTIONS FOR NOMINEES: ADAM BEACH (FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS), JACK NICHOLSON (THE DEPARTED), BEN AFFLECK (HOLLYWOODLAND), BRAD PITT (BABEL), STEVE CARELL (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE)

Women tomorrow then and a strong field to look forward to. See y'all then!!

Oscar Buzz - Pt. 1

So this is the inaugural Plattenspieler Oscars Prediction Post on which we will give you a rundown of everyone who could be nominated, who we think will be nominated and why we think others might not.

Part one will take in Best Picture and Best Director; Part 2 will take in Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress; Part 3 will take in Best Screenplay categories and various possible predictions. For each, we will list all the possible contenders, even the darkest of horses, and then sum up in the subsequent paragraph who will be nominated, who won't and who should.

So then, onwards and upwards.


BEST PICTURE: Flags Of Our Fathers, Dreamgirls, Babel, The Queen, The Departed, Bobby, United 93, Little Children, The Good German, Little Miss Sunshine, Blood Diamond, World Trade Center, Last King of Scotland, Volver, Stranger Than Fiction, History Boys.

• Flags Of Our Fathers, Babel and Dreamgirls all look dead certs for nods due to their pre-release buzz and Oscar worthiness.
• The other two slots could come from a variety of places although its unlikely Little Miss Sunshine, a super little movie, will get this sort of acclaim.
• Blood Diamond could certainly make some waves depending on reviews while United 93 seems a solid outside bet for a nod.
• Of the others, The Departed could well pick up a nod but has almost no chance of winning due to the gangster violence it depicts. War violence is okay.
• The dark horses for nominations are The Queen, Last King Of Scotland and Volver, the latter two definite outside favourites gaining considerable buzz.
• SPECULATIVE PREDICTION FOR NOMINEES: FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, UNITED 93, BABEL, DREAMGIRLS, LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
  

BEST DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood (Flags Of Our Fathers), Alejandro Innaritu (Babel), Bill Condon (Dreamgirls), Stephen Frears (The Queen), Martin Scorsese (The Departed), Todd Field (Little Children), Emilio Estevez (Bobby), Paul Greengrass (United 93), Pedro Almodovar (Volver), Christopher Nolan (The Prestige), Oliver Stone (World Trade Center), Robert De Niro (The Good Shepherd), Kevin MacDonald (The Last King Of Scotland), Alfonso Cuaron (Children Of Men), Steven Soderbergh (The Good German)

• Again, Clint and Marty will go up against each other but this time, due to the slightly underwhelming reviews for Flags, Marty might win.
  
• Its unlikely Condon will win unless Dreamgirls is utterly wonderful so count him out while Stephen Frears' The Queen is perhaps a little too low-key to swing this honour.
• Paul Greengrass is a definite dark horse here along with Almodovar, Innaritu and Emilio Estevez although it might be wishful thinking for him to win anything after Bobby's lukewarm festival reception.
• The other two to watch are Chris Nolan who should have won for Memento a couple of years ago but failed to even register and old stalwart Oliver Stone who already has 3 Oscars on his mantle and has now made a patriotic movie.
• SPECULATIVE PREDICTION FOR NOMINEES: MARTIN SCORSESE (THE DEPARTED), CLINT EASTWOOD (FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS), PAUL GREENGRASS (UNITED 93), PEDRO ALMODOVAR (VOLVER), ALEJANDRO INNARITU (BABEL)
  

Part two comin' soon. See yooz all on da flipside!

Movie News

Okay, so a little silver screen news round from the past few days with a few cool links to posters, trailers and stories currently buzzing around Tinseltown.

• Steven Soderbergh's new George Clooney-starring black and white movie The Good German has its trailer on Youtube here. My opinion? To be honest, it looks pretty bad with the trailer music making out like its some grand thriller. We'll have to wait and see on this one.

• Smokin' Aces, the new film from Joe Carnahan (the director of the ridiculously underrated Narc), looks just plain nuts. Guns, girls, car chases and heapin' piles o' violence, could be a supremely fun ride. The teaser is now on Youtube here.

• Zack Snyder, who attached himself to the long-gestated production of graphic-novel-masterwork Watchmen, is now trying to attach himself to yet another comic book adaptation with Cobalt 60, a cult 60s comic series by Vaughn Bode concerning post-apocolyptic revenge. Personally, would like to see him cut back on new projects and get Watchmen going seeing as 300, his Frank Miller adaptation, looks absolutely ace. You can see the trailer for that here.

• And... the Oscar Race is beginning to hot up with serious contenders emerging in most categories which I will go into detail on in the next post later today.

Coolio then peeps, not too much news of any real interest but not too bad. Look out for the first of our monthly Oscar predictions this evening.

We're Back!!

Its all in the title my lovelies, we have returned after a too-long-soujourn caused by house moving and job hunting. But unlike Emily over there (the picture means little but its there so deal with it) we do want you... to come visit our blog.

So we are indeed back and a few things are gonna have to change if yous be aksing me!! (Noo York styled accent there... no?)

We will now be functioning more on a blog-style format with regular film, music, literature and television news updates as and when we find them. Reviews will consistently make their way onto the site with upcoming live reviews including Cat Power, The Dresden Dolls, The Feeling, Tapes N Tapes and Scissor Sisters. More will be on their way in the near future too due to our relocation to London where its all happenin'.

So look out for our steady reascent into the blogosphere over the next few days and I hope you guys all enjoy what we're gonna be doing.

Remember also to visit our sister site, Lash Blog for regular updates on celebrity news, occasional downloads and other important frivolities.

Love you all, keep it with us here at Platt!

See Ya!!