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BRAD POMERANCE
Special to the Jewish News
0
n Sunday,
Hollywood
royalty will
descend on Los Angeles'
Shrine Auditorium for
the 72nd Annual
Academy Awards. While
handicapping the Oscars
may have been easier in
Best Supporting Actress: If there is one
for his Magnolia performance, Cruise
category where there is a clear favorite,
may still be looking in his rearview
it has to be this one. Throughout the
mirror at veteran performer Michael
Oscar sweepstakes, the front runner has
Caine. The British actor's emotional
remained Angelina Jolie, who played
depiction of American Dr. Wilbur
the dangerous and charismatic Lisa in
Larch, the compassionate, ether-addict-
Girl Interrupted. Jolie has already won a
ed director of a New England orphan-
Golden Globe and the Screen Actors
age in The Cider House Rules, earned
Guild trophy for her riveting perfor-
him the Screen Actors Guild prize.
mance.
This one is a squeaker.
If an upset is in the offing, Chloe
Sevigny will be the one to snatch the
Best Actress: Although the very early
statue from Jolie. Sevigny disturbing
betting had been on Annette Bening to
portrayal of Lana Tisdel, the
take home the statue for her por-
Top to bottom:
love interest of a young
trayal as an obsessed suburban
woman posing as a man in
wife
in American Beauty, this
Hilary Swank:
Boys Don't Cry, was haunting- Can she hold
odds-maker is going with the
ly seductive. In the end, the
break-through performance of
off Bening?
easy money stays on Jolie.
Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry:
A nge
li na Jo ie.
Swank's portrayal of gender-ben-
Clear favorite.
Best Supporting Actor:
der Tema Brandon, a young
While 11-year-old nominee
Tom Cruise:
woman who lived as a man
Haley Joel Osment's chilling A-list talent in
before she was brutally raped and
a challenging
utterance in The Sixth Sense
then murdered in 1993, was so
supporting role.
"I see dead people" —
convincing that she has received
was undoubtedly the most
virtually every honor that could
memorable line of the year, Oscar tends
possibly be bestowed. She won the
to shine brightly on artists with a
Golden Globe and kudos from practi-
lengthy repertoire of outstanding work
cally every film critic society around.
behind them. Given this bias, the slight
With these awards under her belt,
favorite remains Tom Cruise for his per- • most of Hollywood was predicting
formance as a sex sage revealing the pain
that Swank would arrive at the Shrine
of deep-seeded family grief in Magnolia.
the likely winner for her heartbreaking
Even though his prior Oscar nomina-
performance.
tions for Born on the Fourth of
Unbelievably, the seeming inevitabili-
July and Jerry Maguire may have been
ty of a Swank win was dashed when
for playing characters more likable
Annette Bening was feted by the Screen
than Frank T.J. Mackey, the Academy
Actors Guild late in the kudos season.
has a soft spot for A-list talents who
Now an absolute lock has turned into a
excel in challenging supporting roles.
razor-thin edge for Swank.
Having already won a Golden Globe
Best Actor: While this category is
Brad Pomerance, an entertainment and
probably one of the closest calls of all
media correspondent for Los-Angeles-area
the major contests, .I give the ever-so-
National Public Radio affiliate KPCC-
slightest edge to Denzel Washington,
89.3, writes about the entertainment
who played Ruben Carter in The
industry for the Jewish News. The views
Hurricane, a film about a young boxer
expressed in this article are solely his own.
who was purportedly framed for mur-
—
prior years — think
Titanic
—
most pundits
agree that many of this
year's contests are wide-
open races. But, keeping
my ear to the ground
around Hollywood, here
are my predictions for
this year's Academy
a
3/24
2000
88
Award winners.