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movie news
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Thu. 02 21. 2008 8:00 AM EST
Oscar History Says Bet On Cate Blanchett, Steer Clear Of 'There Will Be Blood'
'Ratatouille' has an edge given Pixar's golden past in the Best Animated Feature category.
by
Shawn Adler
Cate Blanchett
(
Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images
)
The Oscars are the biggest film commercial of the year, but while you might see surprises and shocks at Sunday's ceremony, what you won't see is an actual commercial for any film. Or for feminine-hygiene products. No, seriously. The Academy
prohibits advertising for both.
This time of year, Oscar trivia isn't just for stat-heads, not when you have a couple of bucks riding on your picks. And if you're anything like us, you certainly do.
So we took a look at some of this year's nominees to see how history stacks against them.
The Nominees: The "History Says No" Division
Ruby Dee: A surprise win at the SAG Awards may spell Oscar glory for Ruby Dee, but she'll have to buck history to do it. If she wins for her role in "American Gangster," she'll have the record for lowest total screen time of any winner in history, ahead of Judi Dench's eight minutes onscreen in "Shakespeare in Love." Dee is only on camera for approximately five minutes in the film.
Marion Cotillard: Great performance. Awesome acting. Too bad it's in French. Not only have just three actors ever won an Oscar for a performance in a language other than English, but they all did it in Italian: Sofia Loren, Robert De Niro and Roberto Benigni. And, frankly, we all know how that last one turned out.
Hal Holbrook: We're not saying Hal is old, but we hear he has an autographed copy of the Bible. We're not saying he's old, but "Jurassic Park" brought back memories. We're not saying Hal's old, but if he wins the Oscar for "Into the Wild," he'll become the oldest winner ever. At 83 years old, Holbrook would beat out previous Best Supporting Actor George Burns (who was 80 when he won).
"There Will Be Blood": Just twice in the past 10 years has the Best Actor winner starred in the Best Picture winner (Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe) — and both of those wins are still hotly contested. That's bad news for "There Will Be Blood" if, as expected, Daniel Day-Lewis walks away with the award.
"Atonement": The period piece scored big with seven nominations. Unfortunately, one of them was not for director Joe Wright. The last film to win Best Picture without a corresponding nomination for its director was "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1990. It's also the only film to do it in the last quarter-century.
Kevin O'Connell: He has the record for the most ever nominations (19) without a win. He's currently up for sound mixing on "Transformers." Go get 'em, Kevin.
The Nominees: The "History Says Yes" Division
Cate Blanchett: You have to like Blanchett's chances. Not only has her performance in "I'm Not There" won the Golden Globe, consider this: 10 times in history have performers been twice-nominated in a single year. Eight times they've walked away with at least one golden statue.
The Coen Brothers: Nominated for four separate awards, the dynamic duo have a chance to make history. More important than their bevy of noms, however, is their recognition from the Directors Guild of America. Fifty-three of the past 59 winners of that award have gone on to Oscar glory.
"Ratatouille": Call this one the Pixar award. Every Pixar film released since the Academy created the Best Animated Feature category has been nominated. If Brad Bird's film wins, it'll be three out of five for the Disney-owned subsidiary.
This report is from MTV News.
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