Pre Oscar Tidbits
A little warm up for tonight. Here we go!
– Kris Tapley has Natalie as his “will win” and “should win” picks. Bening is filed under “could win”.
The frontrunner has been as much for months now, and that’s Natalie Portman in Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan.” Here’s a bolt of lightning from clear blue sky, a performance of emotional and physical intensity from an actress we’ve watched grow up on the silver screen for over 15 years now. Add to that a baby bump that gets a little bigger every time she takes another awards show stage and you have a story built for Oscar. She may have gotten a bit snippy at press recently regarding the usual mundane questions, but who can blame her? It’s possible she gets edged out by the Hollywood royalty card, but in all likelihood, voters see this as the best and most sensible place to honor the film (which is also a Best Picture nominee) on their ballot.
– 12 of the 15 Guru’s Of Gold think Natalie will win in their final predictions.
– We know Natalie is the clear favourite, having picked up every award under the sun, but take a look at these comments from actual voting members, courtesy of Deadline Hollywood.
Actress in her 50’s: “Also, sorry, but I don’t really get the Natalie Portman thing. I thought she was over the top in Black Swan. I did like Annette Bening but I am voting for Jennifer Lawrence who was remarkable in Winter’s Bone. There was a special, very authentic, quality to that performance that touched me.”
Former studio head: “For Best Actress, definitely Annette Bening.”
Marketing person with uncanny knack for voting winners: “I loved Black Swan and will definitely vote for Natalie.”
