By John C.
If you ask most awards season followers, myself included, what five films will be up for Best Picture, their list would likely look like this:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
For a while those have been the five films that I think will make the cut. But, since when have the Academy Awards been easy and predictable? Come Thursday, we could easily see the inclusion of either The Reader, Doubt, Revolutionary Road, Gran Torino, The Wrestler or even WALL•E. But, I somehow doubt it will be Doubt or Revolutionary Road. Even The Reader may not appeal to the Academy the way that type of movie usually would. Gran Torino, despite some very positive reviews, has sadly been trashed by a lot of people.
Both The Wrestler and WALL•E are definitely favorites, but will they make the final cut? Mickey Rourke will likely win Best Actor for his brilliant performance in The Wrestler, and there is no doubt Bruce Springsteen will win for his song, but will these be the only two things it is recognized for, or can it make it’s way into the rounds for Best Picture? What WALL•E has against it is, it’s animated. While Ratatouille should have made the cut last year, it didn’t for that very reason.
The bigger question for me is, if the predicted five don’t all make it through, which film would get left behind? There is no telling what Thursday will bring, we will either get the obvious or we will be surprised. But no matter what four of the nominees are, Slumdog Millionaire will likely be the winner, and it would deserve it.
If money was involved, I would keep it on Ben Button, TDK, Frost/Nixon, Milk and Slumdog, but we should be prepared for surprises come Thursday morning.
You can watch as the nominees come in live at 5:30 am PT (8:30 am EST) on Thursday January 22nd, right here at www.oscar.com
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