Oscar Sunday is a big day, not just for the stars up for an Academy Award but for countless movie and entertainment fans worldwide. Millions will tune in to see what one film get the best picture Oscar 2011, to see if Natalie Portman really wins best actress, and to see how James Franco and Anne Hathaway perform as the hosts. But there are some big questions, well one burning one.
What is the Oscars 2011 start time? What channel are they on and are you ready?The red carpet coverage starts at 6PM ET / 5PM CT / 3PM PT,on several channels but the E! one with Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic is pretty popular.
The big show, what everyone wants to see starts at 8PM ET / 7PM CT / 5PM PT and is on ABC.
Prediction: Who will win Oscar Award 2011?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
The Field: Christian Bale, “The Fighter”; John Hawkes, “Winter’s Bone”; Jeremy Renner, “The Town”; Mark Ruffalo, “The Kids Are All Right”; Geoffrey Rush, “The King’s Speech.”
The Race So Far: Hawkes and Renner have yet to win any major guild or critics’ prizes, so they’re pretty much non-starters. Bale won this category at SAG and the Golden Globes, giving him a definite edge — but there’s a contingent who found his acting over-the-top, and he has a bit of a cranky reputation. Nice-guy Ruffalo won the New York critics’ prize; BAFTA, which adored “The King’s Speech,” gave Rush its award. (L.A. reviewers went for Niels Arestrup from the French film, “A Prophet,” who isn’t a factor here.) Rush has won an Oscar before, though; Ruffalo’s work was solid but hardly astounding.
Who Will Win: Christian Bale
Who Should Win: Geoffrey Rush
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
The Field: Amy Adams, “The Fighter”; Helena Bonham Carter, “The King’s Speech”; Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”; Hailee Steinfeld, “True Grit”; Jacki Weaver, “Animal Kingdom.”
The Race So Far: Adams has yet to win anything (although she played wonderfully against type as the brassy barmaid). Steinfeld is excellent, but while a young un’ getting an Oscar for her debut isn’t unprecedented, it is rare (although sympathetic voters may vote for her anyway, feeling she was under-nominated for what’s clearly a lead). Jackie Weaver’s only prize came from the anti-commercial L.A. crowd; Bonham Carter predictably nabbed one from her subjects at BAFTA.
No, clearly Leo is far out in front on this one, with wins at the Golden Globes, the New York critics and SAG (which carries extra weight, as performers make up the largest contingent of Oscar voters). The only question is if the actress hurt herself by getting a little pushy, taking out ads in the trades to ask for votes.
Who Will Win: Melissa Leo
Who Should Win: Amy Adams
OUR COMPLETE OSCAR COVERAGE
BEST ACTOR
The Field: Javier Bardem, “Biutiful”; Jeff Bridges, “True Grit”; Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”; Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”; James Franco, “127 Hours.”
The Race So Far: Apart from Paul Giamatti’s win for “Barney’s Version” at the Golden Globes — the only contest to have a separate comedy/musical category — this has been all-Firth, all-the-time. He not only won the best-actor-in-a-drama prize at the Globes, he also picked up the lead male prizes at SAG, BAFTA, New York and, yes, even contrarian Los Angeles. Plus, Firth has been doing this for decades, he should have won last year (for “A Single Man”) and he gives the most charming acceptance speeches around. This race? As Bardem himself said, in “No Country for Old Men” — “Call it.”
Who Will Win: Colin Firth
Who Should Win: Colin Firth
BEST ACTRESS
The Field: Annette Bening, “The Kids Are All Right”; Nicole Kidman, “Rabbit Hole”; Jennifer Lawrence, “Winter’s Bone”; Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”; Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine.”
The Race So Far: Finally, a genuine competition — and five inarguably terrific performances. But how do the odds stack up? Well, Portman won at SAG, BAFTA, and took the Golden Globes’ drama prize; Bening won in New York, and picked up the Golden Globes’ comedy/musical prize. (The L.A. scribblers, bless them, decided the best actress of the year was Hye-ja Kim, in “Mother.”) Everyone else is excellent, but so far unrewarded — and it’s likely that Lawrence is too young, and Williams’ work too emotionally and literally naked, for their candidacies to take off.
That brings it right back to Bening and Portman, and the same two-woman race it’s been for months. Do Bening’s two previous losses for best actress mean that it’s her time now — or that there’s some strangely strong anti-Annette bloc out there? Will members focus on Portman’s physical transformation (always a plus, particularly for female nominees) or merely write the performance off as a stunt? This may be the night’s first real race.
Who Will Win: Natalie Portman
Who Should Win: Natalie Portman
BEST DIRECTOR
The Field: Darren Aronofsky, “Black Swan”; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “True Grit”; David Fincher, “The Social Network”; Tom Hooper, “The King’s Speech”; David O. Russell, “The Fighter.”
The Race So Far: It’s not surprising Russell hasn’t picked up anything so far — he has a habit of yelling at actors, and “The Fighter” wasn’t particularly prized for its style. Still, nothing for the deliriously stylish Aronofsky? It’s curious — but not quite as curious as the fact the DGA honored Hooper, for a film that’s conventional looking, at best. The obvious big winner so far this season has been the prickly David Fincher, who won directing trophies at the Globes, BAFTA (even over native son Hooper), and from both New York and Los Angeles critics groups (although the equally prickly L.A. contingent made him share with Oliver Assayas, who directed “Carlos”).
Fincher is definitely the smart choice — but Hooper is the emotional one, particularly if voters are already checking off “King’s Speech” nominees left and right. (Meanwhile Fincher’s attempt at damage control — sitting for a big cover story in the Hollywood Reporter — only succeeded in reminding everyone of his “difficult” reputation.) It’s the second neck-and-neck race of the evening, but this may be the decisive stat: since the DGA started passing out prizes in 1949, their pick has won the Oscar all but six times.
Who Will Win: Tom Hooper
Who Should Win: David Fincher
BEST PICTURE
The Field: “Black Swan”; “The Fighter”; “Inception”; “The Kids Are All Right”; “The King’s Speech”; “127 Hours”; “The Social Network”; “Toy Story 3”; “True Grit”; “Winter’s Bone.”
The Race So Far: Not as crowded as you’d think from those 10 titles. “The King’s Speech” won best picture prizes from the Producers Guild and BAFTA, along with the “best ensemble” prize from SAG. “The Social Network” picked up awards from the critics on both coasts, as well as the Golden Globes drama award. “The Kids Are All Right” won the Globes award for best comedy/musical. The rest of the nominees have gone pretty much unnoticed so far, although “The Fighter,” “Toy Story 3,” “Inception” and “True Grit” were all popular favorites.
Expect “Toy Story 3” to win in its animated-film category instead, and this to come down to “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech.” But who has the edge? Traditionally, Academy members have voted for films that end on an upbeat note, which would favor “The King’s Speech”; recently, though, they’ve given the nod to bleaker films like “No Country for Old Men” and “The Hurt Locker,” which would bode well for “The Social Network.” So who will win? In the end — like all of this — it still comes down to a hunch.
What Will Win: “The King’s Speech”
What Should Win: “The Social Network”
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