One year ago: What Oscar pundits prophesized

Let this be a lesson to all of us smug Oscar seers who insist that they know how the current derby will play out. Most of us now say that it's "The Social Network" versus "The King's Speech" for best picture, Colin Firth ("The King's Speech") versus James Franco ("127 Hours") for lead actor and Natalie Portman ("Black Swan") versus Annette Bening ("The Kids Are All Right") for lead actress. But true? One year ago today, we weren't even talking about the eventual winners of lead actor and actress: Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart") and Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side"). BEST PICTURE: Last year in mid-October we had a decent grasp of the best picture race...

127 Hours Academy Awards Annette Bening Black Swan Carey Mulligan Colin Firth Daniel Day-Lewis James Franco Jeff Bridges Natalie Portman Oscars The Kids are All Right The King's Speech The Social Network
10/21/2010 12:29
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Latest Oscar predictions: Lead actress

Two contenders seem to be out front to win the Oscar for lead actress: Annette Bening ("The Kids Are All Right") and Natalie Portman ("Black Swan"). Both rivals have the Cool Factor and significant camps rooting for them to win. Bening's performance as a lesbian momma is low-key compared with her flamboyant turns in the films that earned her past nominations: "The Grifters," "American Beauty" and "Being Julia." Ordinarily, this role wouldn't reap an Oscar bid, but Bening is so overdue to win that she could ride the same wave that resulted in victory for previous overdue veterans such as Helen Mirren ("The Queen"), Susan Sarandon ("Dead Man Walking") and Shirley MacLaine ("Terms of Endearment")....

Academy Awards Annette Bening Black Swan Natalie Portman Oscars The Kids are All Right
10/20/2010 09:23
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Is the Oscar derby already over?

At this point, it sure looks like we have solid Oscar front-runners for best picture ("The Social Network"), best actor (Colin Firth, "The King's Speech") and best actress (Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"). It's very possible that all three could trot across the derby finish line without tripping en route. However, we must remember how these top races appeared at this point last year. We knew that "The Hurt Locker" might be nominated for best picture, but that wasn't a certainty, and the front-runners were presumed to be "Up in the Air," "Invictus" and "Avatar." There were still high hopes for "Nine" and "The Lovely Bones," even "Brothers." Looking forward on this year's derby track, what...

127 Hours Academy Awards Black Swan Colin Firth George Clooney Jeff Bridges Natalie Portman Nicole Kidman Oscars Sandra Bullock Social Network The King's Speech The Social Network
09/23/2010 06:08
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Gold Derby nuggets: TIFF premieres Oscar hopefuls | 'The Fighter' contends | Foreign language film hopefuls

• Nicole LaPorte recaps the race for the Oscars in the wake of the Toronto film fest, including an analysis of a best actress bout between Hollywood vet Annette Bening ("The Kids Are All Right") and the ingenue Natalie Portman ("Black Swan"). As Nicole writes, "With the acquisitions mood relatively low-key -- long gone are the days of all-night bidding wars, thanks to the economy and the slimmed-down independent film market -- the focus was almost entirely on predicting this season's 'The Hurt Locker.' No one seemed to mind that it's still relatively early, and that a number of films already looming large in the Oscar race, such as David Fincher's Facebook movie, 'The Social...

Academy Awards Annette Bening Black Swan Emmy Awards Emmys Natalie Portman Oscars The Fighter The Kids are All Right The King's Speech Tony Awards Tonys
09/20/2010 13:18
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Natalie Portman is the official Oscar front-runner

"That's it! The best actress race is already over!" gasped a notable Oscar-tracking journo after witnessing Natalie Portman's dazzling diva turn in Darren Aronofsky's ballet thriller, "Black Swan," at the Toronto International Film Festival. I was equally wowed and tempted to agree with that Oscar assessment except for one cautious reminder. At this point on last year's calendar we didn't know that the eventual winners of the last Academy Awards for best actress and actor -- Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side") and Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart") -- were even in the running. That said, it's still fun to make fierce pronouncements, so let's leap as boldly as Portman does on screen while she performs "Swan...

Academy Awards Black Swan Darren Aronofsky Julia Roberts Natalie Portman Nicole Kidman Oscars Sandra Bullock Toronto Film Festival Toronto International Film Festival
09/10/2010 14:21
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Oscar mystery surrounds 'Black Swan'

"Natalie Portman’s dazzling tour de force makes her an instant leading contender in every best-actress race," Pete Hammond (Deadline Hollywood) proclaimed about her performance in "Black Swan" after its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival. The London Times decreed Portman so "astounding" in Darren Aronofky's ballet thriller that "awards are sure to follow." Portman is so lovely that she could certainly fit this year's "The Babe Factor" at the Oscars, where the best-actress race has largely been a beauty pageant for more than a decade (Sandra Bullock, Marion Cotillard, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, etc.). It can't hurt that she has a steamy lesbian scene in "Black Swan" that will...

Academy Awards Black Swan Darren Aronofsky Natalie Portman Oscars Telluride Film Festival
09/07/2010 06:08
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