Oscar Predictions - 2011

Before I give you my picks for the Oscars I want to tell you a bit about my love of the movies. I would say that I probably fell in love with movies when I was about 7 years old, when I saw BenHur at the drive-in. That film has stood in my mind from that day to this, and that’s 50 years ago! (The story of my phobia will be told at a different time).

I was raised up on the westerns though. Saturday afternoons on television there was always a double feature of westerns. I remembered being utterly disgusted with my father when he said that the real cowboy was Gary Cooper. “Gary Cooper!” I exclaimed scornfully. “Why, everyone knows that Randolph Scott is THE cowboy.” And today everyone would agree that John Wayne is the ultimate cowboy.

My favorite movie of all time is “Gone with the Wind” (for true aficionados we say GWTW). I was utterly appalled when the Academy named “Citizen Kane” as the top of the One Hundred List. No one outside of Hollywood has ever seen all of Citizen Kane, puhleez! GWTW is a timeless classic, and I mean that in the best possible way. It is ranked as a 1939 movie but watching it today I am still amazed at the perfect sets, the superior acting and the strength of the screenplay. There is nothing schmaltzy about this film. It truly deserved its Oscar. It’s a crying shame that Clark Gable did not win for Rhett because there is no one who could have played the part better than he. Perfect casting except for Ashley, Leslie Howard was way too old and ungodlike for the part. And yet his very disdain of the part caused him to have that “remote” feel which is part of Ashley’s character. But I am getting carried away.

Movies, I enjoy most genres but my favorites are the romantic comedies or the period pieces like “The King’s Speech” (you can guess where this is going). Generally these films don’t get much recognition at the Oscars so that’s why I am going to root for “The King’s Speech” this year. I figure my guesses are as good as the critics since I usually pick at least half of the winners!

So here are my picks:

Best Actor Colin Firth

Best Actress Natalie Portman

Best Supporting Actor Geoffrey Rush

Best Supporting Actress Helene Bonham Carter

Movie The King’s Speech