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Every year we watch the Academy Awards, the pain lessens a little. We begin to spot and actually enjoy tracking the predictably off-base and bland, box-office driven voting trends. The mildew on Billy Crystal’s jokes start to smell like grandma's house instead of stale, vaguely relevant attempts at humor. Heck, this year we even tuned in a little early to catch Joan Rivers and crew pathetically fawning and clawing at the celebrity muckety-mucks.
What made this year most enjoyable was that it just so happens that we were right. In 100% of our Oscars rundown, we correctly predicted which nominees the Academy would pick to win, despite the fact that they were usually (in our humble opinion) wrong. Here's a rundown on the ChicagoFilm.com polling, our predictions and how we all fared.
Graphics include results from the Opinion Exchange polling tool, where voters responded as to who they thought would win ("Agree"/Red) and who they wanted to win ("Want"/Blue).
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Best Actor | Best Actress | Achievement in Directing | Best Picture
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Winner: Charlize Theron
Again, a pretty easy pick as to who was most likely to win this race, with Theron's physical transformation from magnificence to malevolence drawing the expected award. Try as we might to click our heels and say "Samantha Morton" 3 times, her astounding performance in "In America" went unrecognized by the Academy and polling favorite Dianne Keaton couldn't pull through either, despite putting on her best "Annie Hall" outfit for the occasion.
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Winner: Renee Zellweger
Ugh. We guessed along with poll users that Renee Zellweger had this one wrapped, despite the fact that she was far from the best actress in "Cold Mountain," let alone Best Supporting Actress of 2004. What of Natalie Portman's brief turn as a woman left behind protecting her baby? Why didn't anybody ever mention Philip Seymour Hoffman in this film? The ballsy choice on this one would have been Clarkson, or even sleeper Agadashloo. Alas, no dice.
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Winner: Peter Jackson
Our money was on "Rings" and director Peter Jackson and a vast majority of respondents voting agreed. Coppola got the nod and a sort of consolation prize with the Best Screenplay Award for "Lost in Translation." If the film's sweep of the Independent Spirit Awards was any indication, in a Ringless world, "Translation" and Coppola would have romped.
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Review of Oscar Shorts
Interview with Errol Morris
(Oscar, Best Documentary Feature for "Fog of War")
Interview with Nathaniel Kahn
(Oscar Nominee, Best Documentary Feature for "My Architect")
Check out all the Archives.
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