With Oscar season upon us I shall from time to time give a few Oscar notes to keep myself, and you dear reader, up to date. From the L.A. Film Critics to the Boston Film Critics to the National Board of Review there already seems to be an either/or at work. That is, each category seems to have two front-runners going into the final stretch (although of this could be moot once the Oscars - usually fairly clueless to what the critics and cinephiles generally like - nominate in February). For now though Best Picture is a two way battle between No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Best Actor seems to be Daniel Day Lewis' for There Will Be Blood to lose. Best Actress between Julie Christie for Away From Her and Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose (aka La Môme).
If Julie Christie wins for Away From Her she will receive her second Oscar 42 years after her 
first (Darling, 1965), a record from first to second. The record from first to last is 48 years for Katherine Hepburn who won her first for Morning Glory (1933) and her fourth and last for On Golden Pond (1981). But this early on I'd lay my money on Marion Cotillard. Why? Because lately the Academy loves honoring actors playing real people. Of the last eight Best Actress Oscars, starting with Hillary Swank winning for Boys Don't Cry, six have been for portrayals of real people. Only Swank in Million Dollar Baby and Halle Berry in Monster's Ball were playing fictional characters.
Same goes for the men. Of the last five Best Actor Oscars, starting with Adrien Brody in The Pianist, only one, Sean Penn in Mystic River, has been fictional. Due to a lack of big biographical portrayals for the men this year, this one will probably be for a fictional character. But I'm sure the Academy is just itching for Martin Scorsese to finish his biopic of Teddy Roosevelt with Leonardo Dicaprio (yes you read that correctly) so they can get back to handing out Oscars for biographical performances.
There have been no noticable trends for Best Picture lately (aside from the fact that I generally disagree with almost all of their choices - that's why I had to stop writing about them). They've done crime (The Departed), social commentary (Crash), drama (Million Dollar 
Baby), fantasy epic (Return of the King) and musical (Chicago) for their last five. So clearly, no trends. None. No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood are the clear front runners in the nomination stakes and Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd may actually gain a few nods itself, being the only notable musical in the lineup this year. Still, at this point it seems to be a two movie year: NCFOM and There Will Be Blood.
So those are my notes for now. As I actually see more of these films I'll update with more current and historical notes.
