Poll: Can Carey Mulligan pull off an upset at the Oscars?

The Oscars and BAFTA Awards reputedly share about 500 voters, so maybe that explains why BAFTA has correctly predicted the Oscars' lead actress race for the last four years. If they're really in sync, what are we to make of Carey Mulligan's lead-actress victory for "An Education"? Does this mean we're underestimating her voter pull at the Oscars? Or maybe the Brits just decided that they wanted to take a break from Hollywood groupthink this year and embrace a local British gal? What makes parallels difficult is the fact that Oscar front-runner Sandra Bullock wasn't nominated at BAFTA because she wasn't eligible. "The Blind Side" didn't open in Britain in 2009. Maybe the fact that...

Academy Awards BAFTA Carey Mulligan Gabourey Sidibe Julie & Julia Meryl Streep Oscars Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Sandra Bullock The Blind Side
02/23/2010 10:07
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Oscars poll: Will Sandra Bullock or Meryl Streep win lead actress?

Up until Oscar nominations came out, many pundits believed the lead actress race was a close contest between Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia") and Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side"). On one hand, "Julie & Julia" got the best reviews (66 at Metacritic compared with 53 for "The Blind Side") and Streep won more precursor awards, including laurels from the film critics in New York, Boston and San Francisco. Streep and Bullock both won Critics' Choice Awards and Golden Globes, but Bullock beat Streep at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Then "The Blind Side" pulled off a surprise Academy Award nomination for best picture, thus assuring Oscar watchers that voters take the flick — dismissed by...

Academy Awards Gabourey Sidibe Julie & Julia Meryl Streep Oscar nominations Oscars Sandra Bullock
02/03/2010 09:49
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Oscars guided by guild awards in nominations

This year, 19 of the 20 SAG acting nominees are contending at the Academy Awards. The only one not to make the cut was SAG supporting actress contender Diane Kruger ("Inglourious Basterds"), who was replaced on the Oscars ballot by Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Crazy Heart"). Last year, 18 of the 19 SAG acting nominees repeated at the Academy Awards. As double SAG nominee Kate Winslet was bumped up by the Oscars from supporting to lead for "The Reader," she was denied a lead nod for "Revolutionary Road." However, that film's Michael Shannon managed to knock SAG nominee Dev Patel of "Slumdog Millionaire" out of the supporting race. Two years ago, 15 of the 20 SAG nominees...

Academy Awards Avatar best actor best actress best director best picture best score best screenplay Carey Mulligan Clint Eastwood Colin Firth Crazy Heart DGA entertainment news Gabourey Sidibe George Clooney Jeff Bridges Julie & Julia Matt Damon Meryl Streep Mo'Nique Morgan Freeman Oscar nominations Oscars Penelope Cruz PGA SAG Awards Sandra Bullock The Hurt Locker Writers Guild of America
02/02/2010 10:01
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My fearless, peerless, 100% perfect Oscar nomination predictions

Oscar nominations will be unveiled Tuesday morning. Here's what the derby track looks like in my crystal ball. BEST PICTURE "Avatar" "District 9" "An Education" "The Hurt Locker" "Inglourious Basterds" "Invictus" "Precious" "A Serious Man" "Up" "Up in the Air" Vulnerable on the list above are "District 9," "Invictus" and "A Serious Man," which can be bumped by "The Hangover," "The Messenger," "A Single Man" or "Star Trek." BEST DIRECTOR Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker" James Cameron, "Avatar" Lee Daniels, "Precious" Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air" Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds" These seem to be set in stone. BEST ACTOR Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart" George Clooney, "Up in the Air" Colin Firth, "A Single Man"...

Academy Awards Avatar Carey Mulligan George Clooney Helen Mirren Inglourious Basterds Invictus Julie & Julia Meryl Streep Oscar nominations Oscars SAG Awards Sandra Bullock
01/31/2010 19:04
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Poll: What will win best comedy/musical picture at the Golden Globes?

Each of the five Golden Globe nominees for best comedy/musical picture -- "(500) Days of Summer," "The Hangover," "It's Complicated," "Julie & Julia," and "Nine" -- is predicted to win by some of our pundits panel. Normally, Golden Globe voters automatically choose successful musicals in the race for best comedy/musical picture. Past champs include "Sweeney Todd," "Dreamgirls," "Walk the Line," "Chicago," "Moulin Rouge," "Evita," etc. However, box office blockbuster "Mamma Mia" lost last year to "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," probably because film critics weren't dancing in the aisles alongside crazed moviegoers. That means "Nine" might be in trouble at the Golden Globes this year, if it doesn't rally soon with reviewers. It's only scoring 26% at...

Golden Globe nominations Golden Globes Julie & Julia Meryl Streep Oscars
01/15/2010 07:25
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Poll: Will Sandra Bullock, Carey Mulligan or Gabby Sidibe win best drama actress at the Golden Globes?

According the experts' predix we've pooled so far, the Golden Globe race for best drama actress is a fierce diva smackdown between Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side") and Carey Mulligan ("An Education"). That makes sense when employing traditional awards analysis. Globers consistently adore two things: hot superstars and ingenues. Bullock has been a longtime A-Lister overdue for a crown and she's reigning high right now. "The Blind Side" just became the first film driven solely by a female star to top $200 million at the U.S. box office. The role bears obvious parallels to Julia Roberts in "Erin Brokovich," who won this category in 2000. Bullock was nominated twice in the past, both times on...

Gabourey Sidibe Golden Globes Julia Roberts Julie & Julia Meryl Streep Oscars Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Sandra Bullock
01/05/2010 11:37
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Poll: Who will win the SAG Award for best actress?

Let's take a stab at predicting a winner among the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations. Usually, SAG Awards nominees and winners line up, uncannily, with the Oscars, but sometimes they don't. Last year the five contenders for best actress almost matched up, with one glitch. Instead of being nommed for "The Reader," eventual Oscar champ Kate Winslet ended up making SAG's best actress list for "Revolutionary Road." She lost to Meryl Streep ("Doubt"). This year, the SAG five for best actress look like a good bet to repeat at the Academy Awards (unless "Young Victoria" star Emily Blunt can bump a front-runner), so maybe we'll be predicting the Oscar race too. But this poll focuses...

Academy Awards Gabourey Sidibe Julie & Julia Meryl Streep Oscars Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire SAG Awards SAG nominations Screen Actors Guild Awards
12/17/2009 09:30
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