|
Robert Osborne, film historian and the Academy Awards’ biggest
fan, discusses this year’s nominations, predicts the
winners and reveals why the Oscars still matter.
Robert Osborne, the film historian best known as the dapper
host of the Turner Classic Movies network since its inception
in 1994, has a detectable excitement in his voice. It’s
understandable, for the Academy Award nominations have been
announced just a few hours earlier. As the author of an eclectic
showbiz column in The Hollywood Reporter for the past 25
years and the authoritative reference book 75 Years of the
Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards, Osborne’s
name is nearly as synonymous with classic Hollywood as any
of the actual Oscar winners he discusses with equal parts
candor and reverence in his intros to the films showcased
in “31 Days of Oscar” on Turner Classic Movies.
We speak by phone with the film buff who enthusiastically
opines on why we still care about who will win the Academy
Awards, Oscar’s most notorious oversights and which
recent films might soon be considered classics.
Mr. Osborne, what was the biggest surprise for you in this
year’s nominations?
There were a lot of surprises. It’s never happened
before that the film with the most nominations didn’t
get a best picture nomination, so Dreamgirls being shut out
was a surprise. I was also surprised that United 93 came
out of nowhere for the director nomination and didn’t
get attention anywhere else. I thought it was great that
Letters from Iwo Jima wasn’t totally ignored since
it hasn’t done so well at the box office. I was surprised
that Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for Blood Diamond rather
than The Departed. I was delighted by Jackie Earle Haley
[nominated for Little Children] as I wasn’t sure he
was going to make it. I was also surprised that of all those
great actors in The Departed that Mark Wahlberg was the only
one to get a nomination. I thought Adriana Barraza was out
of this world in Babel.
In my opinion, she gave one of last year’s most authentic
performances.
I was delighted she was nominated. I thought it was one of
the great performances on film. I couldn’t believe
it was an actor. I thought it was a Mexican lady they picked
up somewhere. I thought she couldn’t be an actress.
She was just wonderful. All the five films nominated are
really good movies.
Do you think that academy voters seeing many films on home
video affects the outcome of the Academy Awards?
I do.
Do you think a more intimate film like Little Miss Sunshine,
which plays just as well on the small screen, benefits from
the screeners sent to voters?
I do.
I’m obviously trying to make sense of the
Dreamgirls snub for best picture—perhaps a bigger-scale
film with huge production values might not have the same
impact it does on a huge screen. What is the impact of screeners?
I think the big effect [of screeners for Academy members]
is that people actually see a film like Little Miss Sunshine.
Ryan Gosling’s nomination [for Best Actor in Half Nelson]
is a perfect example of what the home screeners can do. What
I don’t understand is how the filmmakers have bought
into letting people watch the films at home. Screens are
getting bigger, but it’s such a different experience
watching films at home with people walking around and with
the phone ringing. The movie experience in a theater is extraordinary.
One of the big success stories of last year was Jennifer
Hudson’s performance in Dreamgirls. Some reviewers
have called it the best movie debut by a singer since Barbra
Streisand in Funny Girl. Do you think she could be the heir
apparent to Barbra?
There are hazards. Musicals aren’t being made like
they were then, and that’s her strong suit. She’s
black and it’s difficult for an actor of any color
and for all actresses. One thing that helped Streisand, besides
having Ray Stark supporting her in the beginning, is that
she is such a dynamo and went out and made things happen—she
produced and directed. Right from the beginning, she was
not going to be denied. Even Streisand hasn’t had the
kind of career she deserves. There was a long period where
she was doing stuff that wasn’t terribly good, but
because we loved her, we saw it anyway. I’m not sure
Jennifer can have the kind of career Streisand has, mainly
because of the musical films, though. It’s an art form
that’s been lost.
Which films from the past year do you think you might be
screening on TCM as classics in the future?
I think The Queen will certainly be considered a classic
film and will go on for some time. Babel is great. The Departed
is great. I think there are a lot of films on the list this
year. Venus. I don’t think The Devil Wears Prada is
a great film but [Meryl Streep] is certainly great in it.
Little Children is a great film. Another film I loved was
The Illusionist. There’s a lot of good stuff out there.
What do you consider the single biggest oversight in Oscar
history?
Probably Greta Garbo in Camille. It’s one of the greatest
performances ever put on film. She lost to Luise Rainer in
The Good Earth. That’s one I’d rectify. The other—in
general—that I’d rectify is Cary Grant, who was
only nominated twice. I’d give it to him for None But
the Lonely Heart—he was great in that.
A lot of people complain about a disconnect between the
films people go to see and those that are honored by the
Academy. Why do you think the Oscars are still relevant?
I think they matter for two reasons: We have more good films
because there are Academy Awards and filmmakers have something
to shoot for. If there wasn’t an Academy Award process,
all we’d have are films like Dumb and Dumber or Deck
the Halls—anything that will make a buck and get out
of town. I think [the Academy Awards] matter because if you
win an Oscar, that will be the lead in your obituary. If
you win the award, that’s what they’ll write
about. It’s been touched by so many of the great artists
of the past—Bogart and Gable and Vivien Leigh and Bette
Davis... It has a stature to it and the integrity of the
awards has been protected. There’s never been a big
scandal attached to the awards. No one has been caught with
their fingers in the voting box. The Academy gets criticized
for being staid and slow to make changes but they’ve
kept it pure. It’s like the Kennedy Center Honors and
the Pulitzer Prize, it stands out from all the rest.
Osborne hosts Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar,
which airs through March 3.
Osborne Picks the Winners
Asked on the morning of Jan. 23 who will take home Academy
Awards on Feb. 25, Osborne is characteristically diplomatic,
offering only “This year anyone who wins is deserving,
as there’s not a clinker on the list.” Pressed,
he offers the following predictions with the caveat that “this
could easily change” once the campaigning really begins.
Best Picture
The Queen
Director
Martin Scorsese
Actor
Forest Whitaker
Actress
Helen Mirren
Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy
Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson
|
