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HOLLYWOOD — It’s Oscar time in Tinseltown.
With all the rains having coaxed those intoxicating citrus blossoms into early bloom, even the road rage usually resulting from all those Kodak Theatre-related street closures seems to have mellowed this year.
And with Vancouver’s (darned addictive) Winter Olympics over and done, folks can finally get down to the serious business of taking the plunge into the old Oscar pool.
As many here will tell you, predicting this year’s winners should be a relative piece of cake compared to times when other awards failed to produce a clear-cut, pre-Oscar consensus.
But as others will tell you, there’s nothing Oscar voters love to mess with more than a perceived sure thing.
Bearing both camps in mind, this year’s Fearless Oscar Predictions will be split between the usual industry wisdom, and a sort of Avatar-ish, parallel universe approach to prognosticating.
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Best Actor
Common wisdom: Jeff Bridges. His Crazy Heart turn earned him all those other awards, and he’s never won an Oscar, despite having been nominated four previous times.
Then again: It’s likely Bridges’ year, but we hear a number of Academy members also cast their votes for Colin Firth and Jeremy Renner.
Best Actress
Common wisdom: This has really been Sandra Bullock’s year, after a decade of poor choices. Judging by what she’s got in the works, who knows when she’ll have this opportunity again.
Then again: It’s been 28 years since Meryl Streep actually won an Oscar. Talk about due — this could be the closest we’ll come to a conceivable tie since Hepburn/Streisand in 1968.
Best Supporting Actor
Common wisdom: Christoph Waltz. The Inglourious Basterds scene-stealer came out of nowhere (at least, by Hollywood standards) and proceeded to nab everything that wasn’t nailed down.
Then again: Woody Harrelson has been gaining momentum for his dramatic turn in The Messenger. People forget he was nominated before, in 1996 for The People vs. Larry Flynt. And folks like him, they really like him.
Best Supporting Actress
Common wisdom: Mo’Nique. Like Waltz, she handily beat down all competition in the other awards races. The Oscar’s hers to lose.
Then again: That’s exactly what they said about Eddie Murphy and Dreamgirls. And guess what? The Oscar went to ... Alan Arkin, for Little Miss Sunshine. So maybe this time the Oscar actually goes to ... uh, no, they’d cancel each other out ... uh ... yeah, it’s Mo’Nique.
Best Director
Common wisdom: Kathryn Bigelow won the Directors Guild’s top prize, and where the DGA goes, the Oscars usually follow. Besides, James Cameron’s ego already is big enough for this world and Pandora put together.
Then again: Who else but Cameron could break his own record in this economy?
Best Picture
Common wisdom: The Producers Guild gave their top honours to The Hurt Locker. The feeling is Avatar’s $710-plus million take is reward enough.
Then again: There’s simply not sufficient love for The Hurt Locker. Avatar’s universal appeal can’t be denied.