THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503240086
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 284 lines
GOING FOR the gold is America's rite of spring.
The Oscar hoopla is one of the most venerable, and bizarre, American traditions. At 9 p.m. Monday (airing on ABC, Channel 13 locally), the Academy Awards will be handed out for the 67th time. More than a billion people around the world will watch.
Is it a symbol of America's faded glory, a view backward to a more glamorous time? Or is it a rejuvenation, a suggestion that some things, including Hollywood and American movies, go on forever? Is it merely a parade of the gauche nouveau riche or a reward for true art? Is it real gold or tarnished imitation?
Whatever it is, it's the year's favorite guessing game. Folks who never even venture out to a movie theater give in to the temptation to watch - at least until all that glitter blinds them into sleepiness.
This year, the host is David Letterman. He might be mean-spirited, but he could also be a lot livelier than Madame Whoopi, who had a rather bland outing last year.
The real reason so many people watch is that they love to see very rich and very famous people make fools of themselves. Things seem to go wrong on every Oscar show - and we love it.
But the biggest joy of Oscar night is in guessing the winners. Suspense is a much bigger draw than mere entertainment.
Once more, we go out on a limb. Never, in our years of predicting, have we predicted all six of the major awards. In many years, however, we have missed only one, and never have we done worse than 50 percent. (One year, we won a national award for having the most correct predictions among the nation's critics. That was the year we correctly predicted ``Out of Africa'' would upset ``The Color Purple'').
This year, we're on firm ground, except, perhaps, for the tricky best actress category. But, as Mama Gump says, ``you never know.''
Bring out the limb. On Monday night, Oscar will, yet again, be ready to saw it off.
BEST PICTURE
The nominees: ``Forrest Gump,'' ``Four Weddings and a Funeral,'' ``Pulp Fiction,'' ``Quiz Show,'' ``The Shawshank Redemption''
A feather has been spotted drifting toward Forrest. It is almost certain to turn into an Oscar for a film which, in spite of the snobs who feel it is too popular or too simple, is richly deserving. It's a fable that covers four decades of American experience - already a classic.
Filmgoers had reason to complain about the lack of imagination coming from Hollywood, but the industry nonetheless came up with five awesomely worthy, and varied, nominees. Two of them (``Forrest Gump'' and ``Pulp Fiction'') are great films.
A third (``Quiz Show'') is a classic morality drama that would be no embarrassment if it won. ``Quiz Show'' reminded us that American morals are closely aligned to love of money, success and good looks. But it couldn't put fannies in theater seats, which kills its Oscar chances.
The others are also-rans, but deserving nominees in their own way. ``Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is the most clever romantic comedy in years - and one of the year's major surprises (Hugh Grant should have been a nominee). ``The Shawshank Redemption'' is an old-fashioned movie, driven by emotion and sweeping story-telling momentum. It overplays its hand at times, and trots out every prison movie cliche, but it does it with unbridled feeling.
There are growlers among us who still think ``The Lion King'' deserved a slot here - more than ``Beauty and the Beast'' did, as the only animated film ever to be nominated.
The real race is between the wildly different ``Pulp Fiction,'' the most talked about and controversial film of the year, and ``Forrest Gump,'' the most loved. ``Pulp Fiction'' goes into the race with best picture accolades from The Los Angeles Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics. The National Board of Review threw in the towel and declared ``Pulp'' and ``Forrest'' a tie.
``Pulp'' is innovative, hilarious and threatening. It is a mischievous and unpredictable take on the low lives of petty criminals. It's the movie that made a joke over the fact that John Travolta accidentally shot a backseat passenger just because the car ran over a bump - the kind of movie in which one character desperately wants to clean out a dead body before his wife gets home from work.
Oscar voters usually don't go for on-the-edge films, but you never know. If there is to be an upset Monday night, it could be pulled off by ``Pulp Fiction,'' the only Gump challenger that has a chance.
``Forrest Gump'' has to overcome its own popularity. Not since 1973's ``The Sting'' has the year's most popular movie also become the Oscar winner. Oscar usually avoids big box office hits as if they were too gauche to receive the statuette. But ``Gump'' chronicles the conscience of America with rare, subtle wisdom. Forrest's naivete cuts through both hypocrisy and pretense. He sees America through the '70s and Vietnam with a wisdom that is infectious.
One of the sidelights of watching Monday's competition will be to keep count on ``Forrest.'' This could become the biggest Oscar-winning picture in history. The all-time record is 1959's ``Ben-Hur,'' which won 11. ``Forrest'' is up for 13.
Prediction: ``Forrest Gump''
BEST ACTOR
The nominees: Morgan Freeman in ``The Shawshank Redemption,'' Tom Hanks in ``Forrest Gump,'' Nigel Hawthorne in ``The Madness of King George,'' Paul Newman in ``Nobody's Fool,'' John Travolta in ``Pulp Fiction.''
It's been 58 years since it's happened, but Tom Hanks, 38, is likely to pull off the most amazing feat of all - a consecutive win. He will join Spencer Tracy to become the only actor in Oscar history to win consecutive Oscars in this category. (Tracy won in 1937 for ``Captains Courageous'' and in 1938 for ``Boys Town.'') Hanks won last year for ``Philadelphia.''
The early predictions are of a close race with veteran Paul Newman, 70, nominated for ``Nobody's Fool.'' Newman was in the running seven times (for ``Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,' ``The Hustler,'' ``Hud,'' ``Cool Hand Luke,'' ``Rachel, Rachel,'' ``Absence of Malice,'' and ``The Verdict'') before he finally won for ``The Color of Money'' in 1986. That win, coupled with an honorary award the next year, may well ruin his chances here.
Travolta, 41, has already scored the comeback of the year. It has been 18 years since his other Oscar nomination (for ``Saturday Night Fever''). Since then, he suffered one of the most rapid downfalls of any bright movie newcomer. His return in ``Pulp Fiction,'' as a dense petty criminal, is already a winner for him. If nothing else, he pointed out to us that a Big Mac in Paris would be called a ``Le Royale with Cheese.'' Thanks for that, John. His chances are hurt by the fact that ``Pulp Fiction'' was an ensemble piece and his role was only minimally larger than the rest of the cast.
Nigel Hawthorne, 65, is a distinguished stage actor, but madness is an easy, showy role. His nomination is sweet, since he's seen others take his stage roles when they became movies (for example, the role he created in ``Shadowlands'' went to Anthony Hopkins in the movie).
Morgan Freeman, 57, is up for the third time. He was previously nominated for ``Street Smart'' in 1987 and for ``Driving Miss Daisy'' in 1989. He's served his time and paid his dues. But Gump seems to have a hold on it.
Prediction: Tom Hanks in ``Forrest Gump''
BEST ACTRESS
The nominees: Jodie Foster in ``Nell,'' Jessica Lange in ``Blue Sky,'' Miranda Richardson in ``Tom and Viv,'' Winona Ryder in ``Little Women,'' Susan Sarandon in ``The Client''
Will it be Jessica or Jodie?
This is the most unpredictable race of the bunch. It's neck and neck, and who can say?
First to the also-rans: Susan Sarandon, 48, is in the running for the fourth time. Given a stronger role, there might have been some sentiment for her. She played a suitably feisty lawyer who protected a young boy from Tommy Lee Jones in ``The Client.'' But it's almost a supporting role. She would have stood a better chance had she been nominated for ``Safe Passage,'' perhaps her best performance ever.
Miranda Richardson, 36, was formerly nominated for ``Damage'' and won the National Board of Review nod this year. As a great writer's unrecognized wife, she faces a world that thinks she is insane. She was lucky, however, to make it into the nominees. Her movie, ``Tom and Viv,'' is a downer that few people saw.
Winona Ryder, 23, is the youngest of the nominees and the brightest hope for those of us who want the species of ``movie star'' to survive. She's a charmer and a rounder as Jo in ``Little Women.'' She was a heavy favorite to win last year for a more subtle performance in ``The Age of Innocence'' but she's walking in tall cotton here. Katherine Hepburn, incidentally, was nominated for the same role in the 1933 version of ``Little Women.'' There will be other years for little Winona.
That leaves the real race of the night. The late surge is for Jessica Lange's portrayal of a depressive, yet sexually liberated military wife in ``Blue Sky.'' Blue what? Few people even saw the movie, but you can bet that every single Academy voter received a video copy in the past month. ``Blue Sky'' is three years old, held out of release because of Orion Picture's bankruptcy until this year.
Lange goes into the night with a win from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association as well as the Golden Globe on her side. Her performance in ``Tootsie,'' unbelievably, won the supporting actress Oscar in 1982; as such, she goes down with Goldie Hawn, Geena Davis and Marisa Tomei as the most undeserving winners. She's been in the running since, and more deservedly, for ``Country'' (as a farmer's wife), ``Sweet Dreams'' (as Patsy Cline) and ``Music Box'' (as a Nazi hunter).
Usually considered a Hollywood ``outsider,'' who took two years off to have a family life in Virginia, she's been going to all the right parties and being seen at the right places in the past month.
On the other hand, Jodie Foster's role in ``Nell'' is an Oscar natural - a backwoods nature-girl with a language and a movement all her own. A win for Foster would make her the only actress in history to win a whopping three in this category. Considering the fact that Jodie is just 32, it would be an amazing feat.
She has won no critics awards to support her this year - critics think ``Nell'' was a showpiece, designed to win an Oscar. Why, then, am I going against the odds to pick her? For two reasons. One, she has the block voting of a big studio, 20th Century-Fox, to back her. The studio desperately needs the win to help the picture, and all Fox employees will vote for Jodie. (In contrast, Lange's studio, Orion, no longer exists). More importantly, the Screen Actors' Guild voted a month ago to give its acting award to Jodie. The actors are the largest guild in the Academy, making up over 20 percent of the voters. (The fact that Jodie didn't show up to accept the award doesn't help her chances, though; those voters may change their ballots at Oscar time).
Prediction: Jodie Foster in ``Nell''
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
The nominees: Rosemary Harris in ``Tom and Viv,'' Helen Mirren in ``The Madness of King George,'' Uma Thurman in ``Pulp Fiction,'' Jennifer Tilly in ``Bullets Over Broadway,'' Dianne Wiest in ``Bullets Over Broadway''
Jennifer Tilly, 34, is the surprise nominee. Her work as the dumb actress in the Woody Allen comedy turned stereotype into an archetype.
Helen Mirren, 48, a great favorite of PBS fans, made it into the running as Georgy's girl, the queen who gave birth to 15 children via a crazy man.
Uma Thurman was quirky and delightful as a gangster's plaything in ``Pulp Fiction'' but she's just 24 and will have other chances.
My favorite is the exquisite, charming and classy Rosemary Harris who won the National Board of Review honor this year as Miranda Richardson's wealthy mother in ``Tom and Viv.'' She is the epitome of the supporting actress, creating a detailed characterization out of just two scenes. A Tony-winning stage actress, she has often seen her stage roles go to others when made into movies (such as Katharine Hepburn in ``The Lion in Winter''). At 64, she's been a Tar Heel for decades, living with her college-prof husband in Winston-Salem, N.C. She's unlikely to win, but the nomination is long overdue.
The front-runner, way out front, is Dianne Wiest's aging, alcoholic theater star in ``Bullets Over Broadway.'' The character orders three martinis as she moans, ``I'm just a fading Broadway . . . legend.'' Wiest, 46, has already won all the preliminary awards, from New York Film Critics to the Golden Globe. Her other Oscar, in 1986, was also for a Woody Allen film, ``Hannah and Her Sisters.''
Prediction: Dianne Wiest for ``Bullets Over Broadway''
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
The nominees: Samuel L. Jackson in ``Pulp Fiction,'' Martin Landau in ``Ed Wood,'' Chazz Palminteri in ``Bullets Over Broadway,'' Paul Scofield in ``Quiz Show,'' Gary Sinise in ``Forrest Gump''
This is a particularly strong field.
Most unlikely would be Chazz Palminteri, 43, even though he was hilarious as a thug who knew more about theater than the so-called artists in the Woody Allen comedy.
Paul Scofield, 73, gave a memorable performance as a rich, famous father who holds back any admiration for his son in ``Quiz Show.'' It's another perfect example of what a supporting performance should be. He won previously for ``A Man for All Seasons'' in 1966. Unlikely here.
In any other year, Gary Sinise's role as Lieutenant Dan, the double amputee victim of Vietnam, might have been a shoo-in. Sinise, 39, could still prevail, if a ``Forrest Gump'' stampede happens.
Samuel L. Jackson, 45, could well pull an upset in this category if the voters feel ``Pulp Fiction'' needs recognition. Jackson, as a scripture-quoting gangster, had big scenes and a performance that was just as large as Travolta's. The Academy did him a favor by putting him in the supporting category, where he has a better chance.
The front runner, though, is Martin Landau's amazing portrayal of Bela (``Dracula'') Lugosi in ``Ed Wood,'' a virtual hymn to faded actors. The drawback could be that not many people saw ``Ed Wood'' in theaters. Landau, 63, has won every preliminary honor. More importantly, he has sat in the Oscar audience twice before as a heavy favorite and lost both times (for ``Tucker: The Man and His Dream'' in 1988 and ``Crimes and Misdemeanors'' in 1989). He is the epitome of the steady, reliable actor whose career has had both highs and lows. This is a high.
Prediction: Martin Landau for ``Ed Wood''
BEST DIRECTOR
The nominees: Woody Allen for ``Bullets Over Broadway,'' Robert Zemeckis for ``Forrest Gump,'' Quentin Tarantino for ``Pulp Fiction,'' Robert Redford for ``Quiz Show,'' Krzysztof Kieslowski for ``Red''
It's the 16th nomination for Woody Allen, 59. He has three Oscars (for directing and writing ``Annie Hall'' and for writing ``Hannah and Her Sisters''). As usual on Monday nights, he'll be playing in the jazz band at Michael's Pub in New York when he doesn't win.
The nomination of Polish director Kieslowski, 53, is a rarity for a foreign language film.
Redford, 57, won this award previously, in 1980 for ``Ordinary People.''
The race narrows down to an interesting one between maverick newcomer Quentin Tarantino, 31, and special effects master Robert Zemeckis, 42. Tarantino is the new whiz kid and we can hardly wait to see what he'll pull next. He has every critics' award to back him this year, and created the most daring film. Only three times in history, though, has the Director's Guild winner not also won the Oscar, and Zemeckis got the directors' nod this year. Besides, the best picture winner should, logically, be directed by the best director.
Prediction: Robert Zemeckis for ``Forrest Gump''
For the losers, Disney has an Oscar-nominated song for them to hum. It's called ``Hakunna Matata.'' It means, sorta, ``Why Worry?''
The envelope, please . . . ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/Staff color photo illustration
The Grump and the Gump. Movie critic Mal Vincent, left, predicts a
big Oscar night for Forrest (Tom Hanks).
Photos
MIRAMAX
``Pulp Fiction'' star John Travolta, left, director Quentin
Tarantino, right, and the movie itself are in the running for
Oscars. Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson are nominated in the
supporting category.
``Four Weddings and a Funeral,'' with Andie McDowell and Hugh Grant,
is up for best picture.
Graphic
THE 1995 OSCARS
STAFF
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: ACADEMY AWARDS PREDICTIONS by CNB