What Hugh Jackman Needs for Christmas: Academy voters to not listen to Golden Globe voters—and nominate The Dark Knight for Best Picture.
If the Academy's new host is to succeed, he'll need more box-office firepower than what's offered by the Globes' Best Drama field of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Revolutionary Road and Slumdog Millionaire.
But Billy Crystal Didn't Need Blockbusters, Right? For all his talent as an Oscar host, Crystal's biggest TV ratings year was the year he got Titanic. Poor Jon Stewart got Crash and No Country for Old Men.
How Can Dark Knight Get in the Game? If the Globes' drama category is the template—and some would loudly argue it isn't—then Batman could nab a Best Picture spot should voters be less wowed by Benjamin Button (and Brad Pitt) than the star-worshipping Hollywood Foreign Press. Drop The Reader, too, and maybe the similarly Globe-denied Milk makes the cut.
Why Won't Heath Ledger Win? The National Board of Review and New York critics commandeer the balloting and vote in their favorite: Milk's Josh Brolin. Other than that?
If Ledger Wins, Who Will Accept? His father, mother and sister did the honors at last weekend's Australian Film Institute awards, where the late Dark Knight star was named Best Actor.
What Hasn't Penélope Cruz Won? The Washington, D.C. critics went with Rachel Getting Married's Rosemarie DeWitt for Best Supporting Actress. Regardless, the Vicky Cristina Barcelona star, a winner in New York and Los Angeles, and a Globe nominee, looks like a safe pick for your office pool.
What Hasn't Sean Penn Won? The contrarians in Washington opted for The Wrestler's Mickey Rourke, and the NBR picked Gran Torino's Clint Eastwood. The Milk star, however, went on a winning streak with the New York and L.A. critics, picked up his must-have Globe nomination, and, like Cruz, should be the favorite in his category.
What About Speed Racer? You mean, Speed Racer, one of the Top 10 films of the year, according to Time magazine? Speed Racer will score a Best Picture nomination when Kirk Lazarus scores a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
Speaking of Kirk Lazarus… DreamWorks has launched an Oscar ad campaign for the Tropic Thunder ham, so, yes, Globe nominee Robert Downey Jr. is a real-deal contender. Unlike Speed Racer, which didn't even make the short list for Best Visual Effects. Unlike Australia, which did.