The race is on!
The Oscar race that is. It’s the only competitive event in February that gets my blood pumping.
Well, OK, I might care mildly about the Grammys this year, but only because of Green Day. The rest of the music world pretty much has me depressed and uninterested.
But back to the fancy pants awards.
So each year I form my idea of who I want to win, who I think should win and who I’m pretty sure will win. Don’t be confused – those are three separate categories and usually three different people/films.
Those I want to win are often members of the Randi’s Favorites Club – actors and actresses that have had me awed for months or years or longer. Some happen to be critic favorites, but most aren’t. They’re just those folks who I want to see on that stage thanking people or spouting nonsense.
Those I think should win are often those who aren’t my favorites, but the ones I feel are the most deserving for whatever reason. Some of these fall into my “those who probably will win” category, but again, usually they’re the ones who stand little if any chance at the pretty gold statue named so for looking like some actress’s husband’s tush.
Now, the category of those I think will win is pretty self-explanatory. These are the ones that everyone thinks will win. They’re the frontrunners, the golden children of Hollywood. More often than not, I am not happy when people win from this category. I guess I wanted Lord of the Rings to win too last year, but hey, maybe it’s just because I wanted to see Peter Jackson squished in a tux. Don’t judge me!
OK, now that I’ve explained how this works, on with the extremely unscientific guesses. Oh, and just so you know, I have no intention to guess about areas I can’t make remotely logical guesses about – meaning the areas I know nothing about. So, I’m going to stick to big area awards like every other half-assed columnist making Oscar predictions.
And since I suspect this may take some space, I’ll have to stretch these predictions to more than one column. Hey, something to look forward to!
So, who’s taking home gold in the Best Actor category?
If you ask me, it should be a guy whose name’s not on the ballot. Jim Carrey got robbed for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but you know what, that’s what you get for being, I don’t know, a good actor.
So in his place on my checklist of who I want to win, I’m writing Johnny Depp. Because, oh hell, he’s Johnny Depp. The man is film god. I don’t care if he is a quasi-anti-American, the man just deserves it. From a dead teenager on Elm Street to a kabuki-faced gardener (to steal lines from Entertainment Weekly) to a toothless transvestite (damn, I can’t make up my own stuff) to the man who created Peter Pan, Depp has played characters and convinced audiences for years. I personally haven’t seen the movie he’s nominated for yet, but you know what, I still want him to win. So nah.
In my “who should win” box for actor I’m going with … Don Cheadle. You know that guy you see all over the place but can’t come up with his name? That’s him. Ocean’s Eleven, Traffic, other movies I can’t think of as I type this, he plays the characters well every time.
His part in Hotel Rwanda is no different. The fact that he’s playing a real person (like Depp) just ups his should win factor in my opinion. Especially since the man he’s playing (Paul Rusesabagina) isn’t long dead like most of the other “real people” characters in this year’s race. So, I think he should win, but he probably won’t.
Who probably will win is the same guy who won the Golden Globe for Ray a little while ago. Jamie Foxx, who I still can’t wrap my head around as a serious actor, will undoubtedly walk home with the glory next month. And that’s OK, I’d rather see him win than Leonardo DiCaprio, who deserved his What’s Eating Gilbert Grape nomination years ago but I’m not so sure about this one for The Aviator.
So either one of those four men will win or Clint Eastwood will. We’ll see on the 27th.
Those are my Best Actor hopes, dreams and predictions. True, I am not an actor so this is essentially based on who I like and not at all on who played what best – funny that’s pretty much how Oscar winners are decided anyway. Maybe I won’t be completely wrong!
So, next time I’ll move on to Best Actress and space willing Best Supporting Actor predictions.
But I’ll still be upset about Jim Carrey.

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