Sadly, the Olympics finally came to an end, so we're forced to return to the real world. Yes, it's time to start dealing once again with the questions of real life, the things that really matter, such as "Who's going to win the Oscars?"
Today on NPR, a film critic mused that maybe front-runners "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar" would split the vote and "Inglorious Basterds" would sneak in for the win for Best Picture. Uh... no. First, Hurt and Avatar are vastly superior films to the uneven, sometimes juvenile, revenge fantasy Basterds, (as if the "Best" film ever really wins), but Hurt has other qualities which make it irresistable to Academy voters. It's an "anti-war" movie, which liberal Hollywood loves, and if it wins, it will be the first time ever that a female-directed film wins for Best Picture. Hollywood would love to see a woman, (Kathryn Bigelow), win for Best Picture and Director.
As for Inglorious Basterds, let's get really real here, no movie with a performance as cringe-inducing as Brad Pitt's will win Best Picture. Mark it down. Look, we love Mr. Jolie, seriously, but the guy cannot act. That Southern accent he created, good god, it's straight out of the Scarlett O'Hara school of fake, Hollywood, Southern accents. Listening to his dialogue in the film made our skin crawl. But luckily, the film's other performances were inspired, and Christoph Waltz is truly deserving of the Supporting Actor Oscar he's going to win. He made our skin crawl, too, but for the right reasons; because he was so believable, and he scared the crap out of us. It was also great to see the German actor, Til Schweiger, (pictured below), one of the sexiest guys in movies. We first discovered him in the 1994 film, "Maybe, Maybe Not", and he's only gotten better looking with age.
