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Staff Blog: The Slow Road to the 79th Annual Academy Awards
by Eugene Monzon Jr.
We are barely a week into the new awards season and there already seems to be a clear-cut favorite as to who could walk away with Oscar gold in the Best Actor and Actress category come February 25th. What is not clear is the race for the Best Picture of '06. "Dreamgirls" is on everyone's must see list (it truly is one of the best films I've seen all year) and many thought it would be an award show juggernaut, but so far the film has only garnered two Supporting Actress nods for Jennifer Hudson's superb performance.
The real surprise is Clint Eastwood's WWII drama "Letters From Iwo Jima," which seems to be the odds-on favorite to win the Best Picture Oscar. The film has already earned Best Picture honors from the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics as well as being named one of the American Film Institute's Best Pictures of the Year.
When it comes to the acting categories, this year's Oscars could be dubbed the "Year of the King and the Queen." I am talking about Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland") and Helen Mirren ("The Queen"). Both are in theaters now.
In the past ten years there has never been a heavily favored actor or actress so early on in the season. Out of all the awards announced this past week Forest and Helen are a perfect 5 out of 5. Of course, neither one is a stranger to receiving awards. Between the two they have won 19 major awards. However, Helen (who also won an Emmy earlier this year) is the only one to be nominated for an Oscar. In fact, she received two nominations in the Supporting Actress category (2001's "Gosford Park" and 1994's "The Madness of King George") but walked away empty-handed.
Obviously these two easily deserve the recognition they've been getting since their films opened. And with the Golden Globe nominations being announced tomorrow (Thursday) morning, it would only solidify their great work.
So, long live "The Queen"....and "The King"!
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