Rice community expresses Oscar opinions

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by Chris McKenzie

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The 68th Academy Awards will be held on March 25. As usual, the annual gala promises big stars, low-cut dresses, badly scripted dialogue, gaudy musical numbers and, oh yes, some awards will be handed out for excellence in movie-making.

Past experience shows that the three-hour ceremony can be a tedious affair. To get to the categories you really care about, like Best Actor or Actress, you have to sit through such categories as Best Documentary Feature, Best Art Direction, Best Animated Short.

But patience will pay off since Oscar night always makes for some interesting moments. A long-shot may win a major award, an actor may give an impassioned speech about endangered woodchucks, Cher may wear something opaque. You never know what will happen.

And besides, it's always exciting to see the moment when the envelope is opened, with five cameras trained in tight on each of the candidates' faces. Then the winner is announced, one person jumps up with glee and the other four try to look like gracious losers.

With a gluttonous number of awards shows on television nowadays (like the American Comedy Awards and the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards), the Academy Awards manages to stand out as one of the best. Sure, it's all commercial hoopla, but after all, it is the Oscars.

This year, the Thresher polled the Rice community on 14 of the most important categories.

Over 50 students, faculty and staff were asked who they would want to win (not who they thought would win). The consensus choices were clear; the big winners were Apollo 13 and Braveheart.

In addition to the six major categories, there is an "expert" opinion from someone in the Rice community that seemed appropriate for the category as well as my predictions for who will win.

Best Picture

*Apollo 13

*Babe

*Braveheart

*The Postman (Il Postino)

*Sense and Sensibility

Zenaido Camacho, vice president for student affairs, is rooting for:

*Sense and Sensibility

Poll results:

*Apollo 13

It was a tight race between this and Braveheart , but Ron Howard's tale of the ill-fated space flight finally took the prize. This film somehow manages to take a story whose ending we already know and make it exciting.

Chris' prediction is:

*Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen was all the rage in Hollywood this year with three films based on her books. She's set to clean up at the Oscars.

Best Actor

*Nicolas Cage,

Leaving Las Vegas

*Richard Dreyfuss,

Mr. Holland's Opus

*Massimo Troisi,

The Postman (Il Postino)

*Anthony Hopkins, Nixon

*Sean Penn, Dead Man Walking Jon Gala, Hamlet in Hello Hamlet , wants:

*Nicolas Cage

Poll results:

*Nicolas Cage

The overwhelming favorite amongst those polled, Cage easily deserves the Oscar for his magnificent portrayal of a chronic alcoholic. Many of you admitted to voting for him because of his roles in previous films ( Raising Arizona was a favorite), but that's just as well.

Chris' prediction:

*Nicolas Cage

Sean Penn is the only possible upset in the group. But don't count on it.

Best Actress

*Susan Sarandon,

Dead Man Walking

*Elisabeth Shue,

Leaving Las Vegas

*Sharon Stone, Casino

*Meryl Streep, The Bridges of Madison County

*Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility

Katie Myer, who plays Gertrude in Hello Hamlet , picks:

*Emma Thompson

Poll results:

*Emma Thompson

Another period piece pays off big for Thompson, who has established herself as the actress to turn to for a good portrayal of anything British from before 20th century.

Chris' prediction :

*Susan Sarandon

Thompson has already won an acting Oscar for Howard's End , and the Academy will think it's high time Sarandon got one herself for her role as a nun who becomes a condemned man's closest confidante.

Best Supporting Actor

*James Cromwell, Babe

*Ed Harris, Apollo 13

*Brad Pitt, 12 Monkeys

*Tim Roth, Rob Roy

*Kevin Spacey,

The Usual Suspects

George Zener, Col. Pickering in My Fair Lady , bets on:

*Tim Roth

Poll results:

*Brad Pitt

"The Sexiest Man Alive" won over the hearts and minds of a majority of those polled with his butt-baring portrayal of a lunatic in Terry Gilliam's apocalyptic 12 Monkeys. However, some of you admitted that he could have just stood there and still have earned your vote.

Chris' prediction:

*Brad Pitt

The only other one with a real chance is Tim Roth, but he's still a relative unknown compared to Pitt. Five bucks says that Pitt will give an acceptance speech as empty-headed as the one he gave at the Golden Globes.

Best Supporting Actress

*Joan Allen, Nixon

*Kathleen Quinlan,

Apollo 13

*Mira Sorvino,

Mighty Aphrodite

*Mare Winningham, Georgia

*Kate Winslet, Sense and Sensibility

Stacy Strehlow, who plays the heroine, Hero, in Much Ado About Nothing:

*Kate Winslet

Poll results:

*Kathleen Quinlan

The first reaction on this category for many of you was, "I've nev- er heard of any of these!" In the end, however, Quinlan's portrayal of the wife of astronaut Jim Lovell earned your favor. However, it may have been a vote for Apollo 13 as much as a vote for the actress.

Chris' prediction :

*Joan Allen

The pool for Supporting Actress is extremely weak this year, so your guess is as good as mine. Allen may edge her way to an Oscar just by the fact that she played Pat Nixon, the type of dramatic character Academy members usually go for.

Best Director

*Chris Noonan, Babe

*Mel Gibson, Braveheart

*Tim Robbins,

Dead Man Walking

*Mike Figgis,

Leaving Las Vegas

*Michael Radford, The Postman (Il Postino)

Sarah Nelson Crawford, director of student activities, votes for:

*Tim Robbins

Poll results :

*Mel Gibson

Braveheart , the epic tale of 13th-century Scottish rebel William Wallace, was a favorite. Gibson did a fantastic job with this movie, which is (unless I'm mistaken) his first time in the director's chair.

Chris' prediction:

*Mel Gibson

Same thing happened in 1990 with Kevin Costner: a popular actor gets behind the camera to direct a three-hour film that wins accolades and Oscars ( Dances With Wolves ). Let's just hope that Gibson doesn't find his own Waterworld in a few years to inflict upon us.

Other poll results:

Best Original Screenplay

*Toy Story

Best Adapted Screenplay

*Apollo 13

Best Cinematography

*Braveheart

Best Sound

*Apollo 13

Best Original Song

*Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman , from Don Juan DeMarco

Best Costumes

*Braveheart

Best Film Editing

*Seven

Best Visual Effects

*Apollo 13

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 22, 1996 issue.

Copyright © 1996 The Rice Thresher. All Rights Reserved.
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