Baldwin to be biggest draw to award show

---

Tweet

What is so special about a tiny gold statue of a man named Oscar?

I really couldn’t tell you, because if I won an Oscar, I’d melt it down so I could have a miniature gold bar like the ones that fill Fort Knox. But for some reason, a lot of people really care about the Academy Awards. Workers in the movie industry especially like the event because winning one solidifies their career. And for some reason, America really likes to watch movie stars get all glammed up and be pompous as they win awards.

I don’t think I’ve ever watched a whole awards show. They just get boring, and there’s something about lengthy speeches by cocky winners and too many commercials that makes me change the channel and forget to turn it back.

But this year could be different.

The man, Alec Baldwin, is hosting, albeit with Steve Martin. Martin once was cool, I guess he still sort of is, but he can’t compare to Baldwin. Although I realize they were co-stars in a movie this year, Baldwin could have held his own. Martin’s comedic heyday was in the ’70s to ’90s. Baldwin has gone from being a serious to brilliant actor on countless episodes of “Saturday Night Live,” to being the anchor character of NBC’s “30 Rock.” I think I might be able to make it through the whole event because of Alec Baldwin — and maybe a little Steve Martin too.

Don’t get me wrong, I love movies. I can’t say I’m an expert, but personally I feel like I can tell what makes a good movie. My friends think that of me too, but they also say I like bad movies — as if “Jurassic Park,” “Die Hard” and “Beverly Hills Cop” are
bad movies. So in the grand pre-Oscar tradition, let’s make some picks.

The Academy could save a lot of people a lot of time by picking Best Picture at the start of the show, but I guess I understand why they don’t. I have to say I don’t really like the fact they expanded the nominees to 10, because quite frankly, it makes it harder to see them all and make a good judgement. I’ve only seen six of the films, not including “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker.” I can say I don’t want “Avatar” to win and don’t feel like I should explain. I’ve only heard good things about “The Hurt Locker,” and after seeing footage and interviews the past couple of days, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it win. But I still can’t bring myself to watch it.

I love the Coen brothers, but “A Serious Man” won’t win. “Up in the Air” was a great film, but quite a few people disliked it. With those gone and the others in my mind not deserving, my favorite movie of the year, “Inglourious Basterds,” is my true pick for Best Picture, and every other category for which it is nominated.

For Best Actor, I loved George Clooney in “Up in the Air,” but it won’t be him. It will be Jeff Bridges. I realize he’s the favorite and I’m not going against anything here, but guess what, he is The Dude. I can’t pick against The Dude.

Best Supporting Actor, without a doubt, will be Christoph Waltz. His delivery as Col. Hans Landa of the SS in “Inglourious Basterds” was spot on, and being able to speak four languages flawlessly is not something a lot of actors can do. If he was in Best Actor, he might even have challenged Bridges.

Seeing as I’ve only seen two of the movies with Best Actress nominees, I can’t judge fairly, but I’ll go with Meryl Streep. Only because I love Julia Child ever since I saw the clip of the very large cook drop a turkey on the floor and still cook it.

“Up in the Air” has two nominees for Best Supporting Actress, and because I enjoyed the movie so much, and it hasn’t won elsewhere, it will be one of the two. I hope it’s Anna Kendrick, because maybe it will show her she’s better than “Twilight” and stop it with those movies.

The only other category I really give a hoot about is Animated Feature Film. I loved “Up” and it probably will win, but “Fantastic Mr. Fox” deserves a strong look as well — if only because I love Wes Anderson.

All the other categories mostly are parts of movies that casual moviegoers can’t accurately judge.

However, “Avatar” likely will have a lot of the artistic awards locked up, but “Inglourious Basterds” was a masterpiece in its own right.

If I’m wrong on these, which I likely will be, I won’t be surprised. But if I am right, I’ll take the words of Hans Landa, “That’s a bingo!”

Pat Evans is the State News opinion writer. Reach him at evanspa7@msu.edu.

---