1-19-2. Something about that first number…just…doesn’t….look…right…. As I’ve reported in this space, I’ve been engaged in an ongoing bout for over twenty years, putting my best guess at the Oscar nominations in the six major categories up against those of my old movie review radio show colleague. Nineteen times, I’ve conceded defeat to him. Twice, I was able to call him up and note that we had tied, though those didn’t feel like accomplishments; they felt more like leaning across the ring with my face bloodied, asserting, “You didn’t get me down, Ray!” Then, this morning, for the first time … Continue reading Sell yourself short, but you’re walking so tall

It’s odd to be able to accurately use the phrase “decades of futility” about a personal endeavor. But the simple fact is that it was over twenty years ago the first time I challenged my friend and movie review show colleague to a duel, each of us taking a stab at predicting the Oscar nominees for the top six awards: Best Picture, Best Directing and all four acting categories. We’ve revived the skirmish nearly every year since. We’ve tied twice, he’s won nineteen times, and I’ve never won. Ever. In my tepid defense, we’re both quite good at this. It’s … Continue reading Predicting the Oscar Nominations, or The Definition of Insanity

You know how I’m like Penelope Cruz, Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick? When it comes to the Oscar competition I’m a part of this year, no matter how hard I try and how strong of an effort I put up, I know I’m going to lose. As you may recall, every year I go head-to-head with my longtime friend and former movie review show colleague in a friendly competition to see who can best predict the nominees in the six biggest Oscar categories. And every year I lose, except in those couple of years in which we tie. … Continue reading The loser standing small beside the victory, that’s her destiny

This morning I watched Roger Federer win the Australian Open for the fourth time, his sixteenth Grand Slam title overall. And it made me think of the Oscars. Specifically, it made me think of a yearly wager I’ve been participating in for around twenty years. The radio show The Reel Thing began on 90FM-WWSP in the fall of 1990. It was a movie news and review program, and this time of the year a remarkable amount of time was devoted to the Academy Awards, including attempts on the part of both myself and my on-air colleague to predict the films, … Continue reading Predicting the Oscar Nominations, or How to Lose a Competition in Six Categories

Things I learned about this year’s Oscar race from tonight’s Golden Globes awards: –Any meager lingering doubts that the Best Supporting Actress is done are now gone as Mo’Nique handled her Globes victory the same way she handled her big scene in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. She, to lean on a pertinent cliche, knocked it out of the park. –Any meager lingering doubts that the Best Actor race is done are wiped out by some simple awards ceremony arithmetic. If my count is correct, there were three standing ovations tonight. One was for Martin Scorsese when … Continue reading When you’re golden, I’m your beast

The mad rush of Academy Awards precursors is underway, and one of the biggest hit today as the Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced their annual awards. It’s so very early in the process, but this is already looking like another one of those years where the eventual Oscar winners will practically lock in early, and the critics’ organizations and other groups will be spending as much time ratifying those nearly predetermined selections as they do hashing out bold proclamations of merit. I note this because I take offense at any of their choices. Indeed, as a movie observer who … Continue reading No Man Can Be a God and Win At All