The Movie Empress

The Empress Predicts

Picture:  The Hurt Locker

Director:  Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Original Screenplay:  The Hurt Locker

Adapted Screenplay:  Up in the Air

Actor:  Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Actress:  Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Supporting Actor:  Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds

Supporting Actress:  Mo'Nique, Precious

Foreign language film:  The White Ribbon

Animated feature:  Up

Documentary feature:  The Cove

Editing:  The Hurt Locker

Sound Editing:  The Hurt Locker

Sound Mixing:  The Hurt Locker

Visual Effects:  Avatar

Art Direction:  Avatar

Cinematography:  The Hurt Locker

Costume Design:  The Young Victoria

Makeup:  Star Trek

Score:  Up

Song:  "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart

Live Action Short:  Kavi

Animated Short:  A Matter of Loaf and Death

Documentary Short:  Music by Prudence

And a couple of personal notes.  The Empress is pulling hard for Meryl Streep, but thinks it would be really, really great if Gabourey Sidibe broke through the Streep/Bullock heat for a win.  And the Empress is also really, really tired of Mo'Nique, whose speeches aren't really ringing all that sincere in their efforts to be "humble."  It's okay not to be humble, so long as you don't try so hard to sound like you are.  So, even though it's not going to happen, a Vera Farmiga moment would just be so satisfying.

That having been said, a note on the fashion, which as we know is the Empress' favorite topic.  She is most eagerly awaiting the choices by the two women of Precious, who have shown up at every event looking lovely and elegant in colors and cuts that are flattering yet unapologetic.  It really says something when the pencil-sized actresses who have every outfit imaginable at their disposal so often manage to show up in something hideous while these two new-to-the-red-carpet faces have been dressed to best advantage despite the perceived limits placed on them by their size. 

A brief explanation is needed for the references to "Salma's Dream" that the Empress will likely make throughout the broadcast.  It is a long-standing joke between the Empress and her Grand Vizier, and the origins are described here.

Ten pictures - 5 songs + 2 hosts + 2 dance numbers + that awful presentation format from last year in the acting categories = a ceremony that will supposedly not run over?  HAH!

And, finally, a heartfelt wish.  Please, please, please, may James Cameron not have opportunity to take the podium.  My heart, it will not go on. 

The Empress Predicts

Down & dirty, short & sweet.

Picture:  No Country for Old Men

Actor:  Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Actress:  Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

Supporting Actor:  Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Supporting Actress:  Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Director:  Ethan & Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men

Adapted Screenplay:  Ethan & Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men

Original Screenplay:  Diablo Cody, Juno

Animated Feature:  Ratatouille

Foreign Language Film:  The Counterfeiters

Documentary Feature:  No End in Sight

Art Direction:  Atonement

Cinematography:  There Will Be Blood

Costume Design:  Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Film Editing:  No Country for Old Men

Makeup:  La Vie en Rose

Score:  Atonement

Song:  "Falling Slowly," Once

Sound Editing:  Transformers

Sound Mixing:  Transformers

Visual Effects:  Transformers

Documentary Short Subject:  Freeheld

Animated Short:  I Met the Walrus

Live Action Short:  Tanghi Argentino

Stochastic Predictions

The Empress will make her own predictions in the next post, but her socially-scientific-minded Consort has whipped up a batch of computer-generated predictions.  If the Consort's computer does better than the Empress Herself... well, it will be a dark night around the estate for someone, that's for sure.

Picture:  Michael Clayton

Actor:  Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood (Apparently even stochastic generators agree with popular opinion in some cases.)

Actress:  Julie Christie, Away from Her

Supporting Actor:  Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War

Supporting Actress:  Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

Director:  Michael Clayton

Adapted Screenplay:  Atonement

Original Screenplay:  Ratatouille

Animated Feature:  Persepolis

Foreign Language Film:  Katyn

Documentary Feature:  No End in Sight

Art Direction:  The Golden Compass

Cinematography:  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Costume Design:  Across the Universe

Film Editing:  No Country for Old Men

Makeup:  Norbit  (Even stochastic generators should be ashamed of themselves sometimes.)

Score:  The Kite Runner

Song:  "Raise It Up", August Rush

Sound Editing:  Ratatouille

Sound Mixing:  Transformers

Visual Effects:  Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Documentary Short Subject:  Freeheld

Animated Short:  Peter & the Wolf

Live Action Short:  Tanghi Argentini

SAG Predictions?

The Movie Empress' royal consort, Captain Stochastic, has generated random results to the Screen Actors' Guild Awards tonight. 

The Captain (and his random generator) say that Emile Hirsch will win for best actor, Julie Christie for best actress, Tommy Lee Jones for best supporting actor, Tilda Swinson for best supporting actress, and No Country for Old Men for best ensemble cast.  The Movie Empress admits that, while not infallible (Emile Hirsch?) she thinks this isn't a bad set of bets and has decided to let his predictions stand. 

Prediction results.

The Empress is pleased with herself.  This is a normal state for the Empress, but it is not to suggest that the Empress is in any way smug.  That would be vulgar.  However, the Empress would like to point out that she correctly predicted that Ruby Dee would be nominated, and that she only failed to guess one of the nominees.  (That being the great Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth, The Golden Age.  She did not guess this one, not for any lack of respect of Ms. Blanchett's talent, but because there was absolutely no buzz in that direction.  The Empress is only slightly embarrassed to admit that she sometime listens to buzz.)  The Empress would like to observe that, by her reckoning, she scored an impressive 40/50... 80%.  (And the Empress does not care to have anyone question her methods of reckoning, so don't try.)

Nomination Predictions (150th Post!)

The Movie Empress predicts the nominations -- her top five picks and a handful of runners-up.  After the nominations are announced, she'll score her picks.  Two points for every correct top pick and one for every correct runner-up, with a possible grand total of 50 points.

Best Supporting Actress

• Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
• Ruby Dee, American Gangster
• Vanessa Redgrave, Atonement
• Julia Roberts, Charlie Wilson's War
• Saoirse Ronan, Atonement

or

• Lauren Ambrose, Starting Out in the Evening
• Catherine Keener, Into the Wild
• Kelly MacDonald, No Country for Old Men
• Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
• Adrienne Shelly, Waitress
• Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Best Supporting Actor

• Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
• Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
• Paul Dano, There Will Be Blood
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
• Tommy Lee Jones, No Country for Old Men

or

• Robert Downey, Jr., Zodiac
• Robert Duvall, We Own the Night
• Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
• Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

Best Actress

• Amy Adams, Enchanted
• Julie Christie, Away from Her
• Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
• Jodie Foster, The Brave One
• Keira Knightley, Atonement

or

• Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
• Ellen Page, Juno
• Laura Linney, The Savages
• Belen Rueda, The Orphanage

Best Actor

• George Clooney, Michael Clayton
• Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
• Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
• Denzel Washington, American Gangster

or

• Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages
• Frank Langella, Starting Out in the Evening
• Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
• Brad Pitt, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Best Picture

• Atonement
• Into the Wild
• Juno
• Michael Clayton
• No Country for Old Men

or

• American Gangster
• Charlie Wilson's War
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• There Will Be Blood