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4B - Thursday, February 22, 2007 {oscar 2007]
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
He'll never win
BEST SUPPORTING
ACTOR
T hough the early buzz
around "Dreamgirls" has
faded, Eddie Murphy still
looks like the frontrunner here
for his role as fictional soul leg-
end James "Thunder" FArly.
Long popular for his comedic
impressions, Murphy channels
that energy so seamlessly into
his creation of an authentic,
drug-addled Motown icon that
he should overcome even the ter-
rible press surrounding his lat-
est cinematic trash ("Norbit") to
pick up this award early Sunday
evening.
While Murphy is the conven-
tional choice, there are strong
cases to be made for two other
contenders in this category. Dji-
mon Hounsou struck the deep-
est cords of genuine sympathy
as a distressed villager in "Blood
Diamond," and Mark Wahlberg
VERDICT
NOMINEES
Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Jackie Earle Haley. "Little Children"
Djimon Hounsou,"Blood Diamond"
Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"
Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed"
Will win: Eddie Murphy
Should win: Djimon Hounsou
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Honoring the man
behind the music
4
According the IMDB, "The
Good, The Bad & The Ugly" has
been referenced in over 100 films,
and understandably so. How often
is it the film's infamous howling
score is parodied, imitated and
honored, but never matched. It's
that infamous ah-ee-ah-ee-aaah-
hhh (sounds better than it reads)
and it's the timeless gift of com-
poser Ennio Morricone, this year's
Honorary Oscar recipient.
His epitomized grand movie
compositions with the likes of "The
Mission," "Cinema Paradiso," "The
Untouchables" and "Bugsy," which
achieved fully orchestrated bliss.
Yethe was never afraid tostir things
up like with his synth-based horror
scores ("The Thing" and "Phantom
Of The Opera"), and rock driven
spaghetti westerns (His infamous
work for Sergio Leone, director of
"Once Upon A Time InThe West").
Nominated five times, but never
earning a win, Morricone has been
in the ears of filmgoers for over
four decades. The first nomination
came from Terence Malick's "Days
Of Heaven," and most recently he
received his fifth for 2000's "Male-
na." Always fresh and experimen-
tal and never repetitive, Morricone
is considered the daredevil blender
of classical compositions with con-
temporary sounds.
With over 40 years and 400
scores to his credit, the 78-year old
has expressed his disdain for the
Academy in the past, citing that his
losses had left "a hole" in him. But
hey, Altman, Hitchcock and Scors-
ese never won Oscars. And though
they're more popular, Morricone
has always been just as important.
BLAKE GOBLE
Eddie Murphy, sans fat suit, is the favorite for "Dreamgirls."
resonated complete command in
his every scene as a crude police
captain in "The Departed."
Both men are respected charac-
ter actors and their Hollywood
stock is rising, but their roles
will probably be considered too
minor to win.
Of the other two nominees,
longshots Alan Arkin ("Little
Miss Sunshine") and Jackie
Earle Haley ("Little Children"),
Haley has the slightly better
shot, but then the nomination
itself is recognition enough for
a no-name actor thrust into the
Oscar circus. Arkin, meanwhile,
though an integral part of a best
Courtesy of Paramount
picture nominee, wasn't even the
best supporting actor in his own
film (that would be the tragically
overlooked Steve Carell).
It'll come down to Murphy
and Wahlberg and, if voters are
in a Scorsese mood, it wouldn't
be shocking to see Wahlberg pull
the upset.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
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With the notable excep-
tion of Cate Blanchett,
the Best Supporting
Actress race this year consists of a
whole bunch of deserving names
you've never heard of, including a
record three minorities and - just
for spice - a minor.
The category's criteria, howev-
er, is just as inconsistent. Blanch-
ett gives a spirited but wholly
unremarkable performance as a
pedophile art teacher in "Notes
on a Scandal," and her nomination
for that film can only be a surro-
gate for her briefer - but better
- performance in "Babel." At
least there's some dramatic heft
to that role. Abigail Breslin, the
geeky to-year-old pipsqueak from
"Little Miss Sunshine," wormed
her way into a nomination on gig-
gles alone. Yes, she's adorable, and
one of the sleeper comedy's big-
gest crowd-pleasers, but if being
cute was award-worthy the Olsen
twins would be drowning in old
Emmys.
VERDICT
NOMINEES
Adriana Barraza, "Babel"
Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"
Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"
Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel"
Will win: Jennifer Hudson
Should win:Rinko Kikuchi
The Academy has also turned
this category into an opportu-
nity to confuse acting with sing-
ing (an effort which is somewhat
understandable, considering that
someone has to make up for the
Grammy's embarrassing incom-
petence). "Dreamgirls"' Jennifer
Hudson could belt in a bell jar and
still break the glass, but that's no
reason to award a performance
which adds up to a whole lot of
one-dimensional pouting. Hud-
son should have been hitting some
emotional notes as well.
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It's a strong race, but neither of this performers seems the probable victor.
That leaves the two most inter-
esting performances in "Babel" to
provide the remaining nominees
and, though neither actress will
walk away with it, they've earned
their recognition. Adriana Barra-
za's frenzied Mexican housekeep-
er is truly the sympathetic soul of
the movie, hard as it is to watch
director Inarritu emotionally
run her down, and Rinko Kikuchi
injects her depressed deaf-mute
teenager with that most rare of
Hollywood commodities - believ-
able angst. Those who dismiss
Kikuchi's storyline as unconvinc-
ing or even maudlin aren't doing
justice to the actress stuck with it,
and Kikuchi's depiction of incom-
municable frustration will only
equal mine when Hudson takes
home Oscar instead.
-, . It
a
Gain real world f
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