Slumdog Millionaire |
Is our Phoenix film editor good, or what? This past week, Peter Keough predicted six major Oscar categories and earlier went out on a limb and called the two short-subject winners.
To quote, Keough wrote: "Slumdog Millionaire will win the Academy Award as Best Picture this Sunday, and Danny Boyle will win for Best Director. (The film also has a better than average shot at Best Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, and Editing.)"
And though by now most readers have actually forgotten who won what, that Slumdog prognostication was five for five (at least by baseball's asterisk-addled, steroid-era standards).
Granted, nailing the actor and actress winners wasn't exactly rocket science. Predicting Sean Penn would grab the Best Actor statue for Milk was something of a given, and even with Angelina Jolie and Meryl Streep in contention, Kate Winslet stood a good chance of getting the nod.
Heath Ledger, as The Dark Knight's Joker, couldn't lose for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Keough himself modestly noted that Penélope Cruz didn't face very stiff competition for best supporting actress.
That covers the six biggies (with extra credit for the additional three Slumdog calls — too bad he didn't mention Best Original Screenplay), but our critic's championship play was his advance warning that Kunio Kato's animated apocalypse, La maison en petits cubes, and Jochen Alexander Freydank's live-action holocaust-era disturber Spielzeugland (Toyland) would take the short-film categories. Wow. That's 11 for 11. Guess we'll let him keep the job for another year.