AND THE WINNER IS…

BEST PICTURE
Projected Nominees
[1] “Avatar” (20th Century Fox, 12/18, trailer)
[2] “Up in the Air” (Paramount, 12/4, trailer)
[3] “The Hurt Locker” (Summit, 6/26, trailer)
[4] “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company, 8/21, trailer)
[5] “Invictus” (Warner Brothers, 12/11, trailer)
[6] “Precious” (Lions Gate, 11/6, trailer)
[7] “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics, 10/9, trailer)
[8] “Nine” (The Weinstein Company, 12/18, trailer)
[9] “A Serious Man” (Focus Features, 10/2, trailer)
[10] “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope, 11/13, trailer)
Major Threats
[11] “Up” (Disney, 5/29, trailer)
[12] “Brothers” (Lions Gate, 12/4, trailer)
[13] “Julie & Julia” (Columbia, 8/7, trailer)
[14] “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics, 12/23, trailer)
[15] “Star Trek” (Paramount, 5/8, trailer)
[16] “This Is It” (Columbia, 10/28, trailer)
[17] “District 9” (TriStar, 8/14, trailer)
On the Outside
[18] “The Blind Side” (Warner Brothers, 11/20, trailer)
[19] “It’s Complicated” (Universal, 12/25, trailer)
[20] “500 Days of Summer” (Fox Searchlight, 7/17, trailer)
[21] “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company, 12/11, trailer)
[22] “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight, 12/16, trailer)
[23] “Bright Star” (Apparation, 9/18, trailer)
[24] “The Road” (The Weinstein Company, 11/25, trailer)

BEST DIRECTOR
Projected Nominees
[1] Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”)
[2] James Cameron (“Avatar”)
[3] Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”)
[4] Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”)
[5] Clint Eastwood (“Invictus”)
Major Threats
[6] Lee Daniels (“Precious”)
[7] Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
[8] Rob Marshall (“Nine”)
On the Outside
[9] Lone Scherfig (“An Education”)
[10] Nora Ephron (“Julie & Julia”)
[11] Jim Sheridan (“Brothers”)

BEST ACTOR
Projected Nominees
[1] George Clooney (“Up in the Air”)
[2] Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”)
[3] Morgan Freeman (“Invictus”)
[4] Colin Firth (“A Single Man”)
[5] Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”)
Major Threats
[6] Daniel Day-Lewis (“Nine”)
[7] Tobey Maguire (“Brothers”)
[8] Ben Foster (“The Messenger”)
On the Outside
[9] Michael Stuhlbarg (“A Serious Man”)
[10] Viggo Mortensen (“The Road”)
[11] Matt Damon (“The Informant!”)

BEST ACTRESS
Projected Nominees
[1] Carey Mulligan (“An Education”)
[2] Meryl Streep (“Julie & Julia”)
[3] Gabby Sidibe (“Precious”)
[4] Helen Mirren (“The Last Station”)
[5] Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”)
Major Threats
[6] Emily Blunt (“The Young Victoria”)
[7] Melanie Laurent (“Inglourious Basterds”)
On the Outside
[8] Marion Cotillard (“Nine”)
[9] Abbie Cornish (“Bright Star”)
[10] Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Crazy Heart”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Projected Nominees
[1] Woody Harrelson (“The Messenger”)
[2] Christoph Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds”)
[3] Christopher Plummer (“The Last Station”)
[4] Matt Damon (“Invictus”)
[5] Alfred Molina (“An Education”)
Major Threats
[6] Stanley Tucci (“The Lovely Bones”)
[7] Alec Baldwin (“It’s Complicated”)
On the Outside
[8] Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”)
[9] Christian McKay (“Me and Orson Welles”)
[10] Peter Sarsgaard (“An Education”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Projected Nominees
[1] Mo’Nique (“Precious”)
[2] Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air”)
[3] Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”)
[3] Penelope Cruz (“Nine”)
[5] Julianne Moore (“A Single Man”)
Major Threats
[6] Diane Kruger (“Inglourious Basterds”)
[7] Judi Dench (“Nine”)
[8] Samantha Morton (“The Messenger”)
On the Outside
[9] Mariah Carey (“Precious”)
[10] Natalie Portman (“Brothers”)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Projected Nominees
[1] Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner (“Up in the Air”)
[2] Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”)
[3] Anthony Peckham (“Invictus”)
[4] Nick Hornby (“An Education”)
[5] Nora Ephron (“Julie & Julia”)
Major Threats
[6] David Benioff (“Brothers”)
[7] Michael Hoffman (“The Last Station”)
[8] Tom Ford (“A Single Man”)
[9] Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell (“District 9”)
On the Outside
[10] Anthony Minghella, Michael Tolkin (“Nine”)
[11] Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach (“The Fantastic Mr. Fox”)
[12] Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers (“Where the Wild Things Are”)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Projected Nominees
[1] Mark Boal (“The Hurt Locker”)
[2] Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”)
[3] Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
[4] Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber (“500 Days of Summer”)
[5] Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (“Up”)
Major Threats
[6] James Cameron (“Avatar”)
[7] Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman (“The Messenger”)
[8] Nancy Meyers (“It’s Complicated”)
On the Outside
[9] Jane Campion (“Bright Star”)
[10] Pedro Almodovar (“Broken Embraces”)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Projected Nominees
[1] “Food, Inc.” (Magnolia, 6/12, trailer)
[2] “The Cove” (Roadside Attractions, 7/31, trailer)
[3] “Valentino: The Last Emperor” (Acolyte, 3/18, trailer)
[4] “The Beaches of Agnes” (Cinema Guild, 7/1, trailer)
[5] “Every Little Step” (Sony Pictures Classics, 4/17, trailer)
Major Threats
[6] “Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope, 5/20, trailer)
[7] “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” (Kovno, 6/1, trailer)
[8] “Under Our Skin” (Shadow, 6/19, trailer)
[9] “Garbage Dreams” (Iskander, 7/31, trailer)
[10] “Sergio” (Passion, 1/1, trailer)
On the Outside
[11] “Mugabe and the White African” (Explore, 8/7, trailer)
[12] “Facing Ali” (Lions Gate, 6/16, trailer)
[13] “Which Way Home” (HBO, 1/31, trailer)
[14] “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders” (Red Floor, 8/14, trailer)
[15] “Soundtrack for a Revolution” (Freedom Song, 8/7, trailer)

Photo: Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger.” Credit: Oscilloscope.

Last year, as you may recall, an Oscar-winning screenwriter/member of the Academy agreed to help peel back the curtain on Oscar voting by sharing his (a) thoughts about the major awards contenders as he saw them, and (b) rationale about his ultimate selections on his nomination ballot and final ballot as he filled each out. This year, because a busier schedule will prevent him from corresponding at length like he did last year, he has agreed to periodically share his thoughts over the telephone instead. We had our first converstaion of the 2009-2010 awards season last week, during which he shared his reactions to “Inglourious Basterds” and “Precious.“ I suspect that you will be — as I was — somewhat surprised to hear which he loved and which he hated…

“Inglourious Basterds”

• Says he “fervently despised” the film, describing it as merely the latest example of “Quentin Tarantino‘s cheap idiocy”
• Says he is “offended” by films like this and “Life Is Beautiful” (1998) because, he feels, they make light of the Holocaust; moreover, he says watching it “enraged me in the way that ‘JFK’ enraged me, because there are a lot of people young enough not to know how historically inaccurate it is”
• Says he thought Brad Pitt was “awful” and was not particularly impressed with Christoph Waltz, either, despite having high hopes at the start — “the opening scene led me to believe I was going to see a realistic movie,” he says, but feels Waltz “overacts more and more outrageously” as the film goes on
• Says that friends have told him to “lighten up” and appreciate it for what it is — namely, an enjoyable revenge fantasy — but that he simply “hated everything about” it
• Despite his own strong feelings, he says, with an air of defeat, “I think the whole thing could win”

“Precious”

• Says “I liked it very much” and “I would vote for it for best screenplay” (referring to the adapted screenplay category in which it is eligible)
• Feels “all of the acting in that movie was excellent,” but was especially impressed with Gabby Sidibe, who he felt was “amazing” — “I’d vote for her,” he says, adding, “I’d love to see her go up on the stage to get it”
• Believes that Mo’Nique‘s “role is a stereotype” but that her performance is “very good,” noting, “I would vote for her, too”
• Says his biggest surprise was finding out from the end-credits that Mariah Carey played the social worker, as he “did not recognize” her but felt throughout the film that the actress playing the part was “magnetic” and “had a wonderful voice” with the “right kind of accent and right kind of poise”

Photo: Gabby Sidibe in “Precious.” Credit: Lions Gate.

You know what just occurred to me? The backpack lecture delivered several times in “Up in the Air” by Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), which discusses the pointlessness of material possessions, is essentially a more somber version of comedian George Carlin‘s famous “Stuff” routine (see above).

I haven’t read the Walter Kirn book from which Jason Reitman adapted the film, so I don’t know if the backpack shtick was Kirn’s or Jason’s contribution, but I’d love to ask the one whose it was if Carlin’s shtick was at all an inspiration.

Video: George Carlin on “Stuff” at Comic Relief in 1986. Credit: CappyNJ on YouTube.

Did you ever think about the fact that when little-known actors portray characters with attributes similar to their own, doubts are usually raised about how much (or little) acting was actually required to do so, but when well-known actors portray characters with attributes similar to their own, they are usually celebrated for having the courage to confront their shortcomings in the public arena? Let’s take a moment to examine this phenomenon…

When little-known actors portray characters with attributes similar to their own, doubts are usually raised about how much (or little) acting was actually required to do so. Consider the actors who played the title characters of two critically and commercially successful films, “Juno” and “Precious.”

In 2007, Ellen Page broke into the public’s consciousness as a smart, quick-witted teenager in “Juno.” In reality, Ellen Page was a smart, quick-witted teenager, as she demonstrated during a lengthy publicity campaign that began prior to the film’s release and continued throughout the awards season. Voters were charmed by Page both on and off the screen, and nominated her for the best actress Oscar, but ultimately threw their support behind another previously-unknown young actress: Marion Cotillard, whose movie “La Vie En Rose” featured subtitles and earned only a fraction of the money that “Juno” had, but for which she had physically transformed herself from a beautiful and vibrant young 32-year-old into another person altogether. Whether it was true or not, voters believed that Cotillard had to dig deeper as an actress than Page to formulate her performance, and so they voted accordingly.

This year, Gabourey Sidibe has earned rave reviews for her big-screen debut as a significantly overweight young woman who endures numerous hardships (low self-esteem, illiteracy, physical and sexual abuse, teenage pregnancies, AIDS) in “Precious.” In reality, Gabourey Sidibe is a significantly overweight young woman, but apparently one who has led a very happy life. Consequently, publicity strategists have been working overtime to subvert the assumption that befell Ellen Page’s Oscar hopes and now threatens Sidibe’s: that the actress didn’t have to dig very deep to formulate her performance because she was essentially portraying herself. Recently, Gabourey Sidibe began going by the much happier sounding “Gabby” Sidibe. She began making a string of upbeat TV appearances, dancing on “Ellen,” discussing pop-culture on “The Jay Leno Show,” and cracking jokes on “The Late Show” and “The Tonight Show.” And her co-stars began mentioning in interviews and Q&As how impressed they were with Sidibe’s ability to morph from a regular young woman (painting her nails and chatting about “Gossip Girl”) into her character (with a completely different voice, posture, walk, and “energy”) and then back again. Will voters buy the notion that Sidibe is not Precious? Time will tell.

Interestingly…

When well-known actors portray characters with attributes similar to their own, they are usually celebrated for having the courage to confront their shortcomings in the public arena.

Last year, the veteran actor Mickey Rourke gave a critically-acclaimed performance as a has-been who comes to realize that he made terrible mistakes in the past and was now hoping for another chance to try to make up for them. At the time of the film’s release, Mickey Rourke was a has-been who had come to realize that he made terrible mistakes in the past (essentially throwing away his promising career and good looks for foolish reasons) and was now hoping for another chance to try to make up for them (by getting a good role, making the most of it, and reviving his career). Rourke’s performance was strong enough that it would have been well-received even if his own story did not resemble his character’s, but the fact that it did — and in such a revealing way — made it all the more moving. Publicity strategists realized this, worked with Rourke to emphasize the parallels, got him a best actor Oscar nod, and very nearly the best actor Oscar itself, so in that case there’s no question that the actor was helped by playing someone similar — indeed, uncomfortably similar — to himself.

This year, George Clooney, arguably the biggest movie star in the world, finds himself in a somewhat similar situation. In “Up in the Air,” Clooney plays a dashing, witty, charming, wealthy bachelor who elects to maintain few meaningful relationships in his life. In reality, Clooney is a dashing, witty, charming, wealthy bachelor who elects to maintain few meaningful relationships in his life. Clooney’s director Jason Reitman (who also directed Page in “Juno”) has said that after reading the script for the first time, Clooney recognized the connections between himself and his character and “wanted to stare it straight in the eyes,” something that others are now promoting as a courageous decision that was well executed and deserves to be rewarded. Will voters agree? Time will tell.

Photo: Ellen Page in “Juno” (2007). Credit: Fox Searchlight.

Following is a list of 50 solid performances from 2009 that deserved more attention than they received — it’s an addendum to my recently-posted “personal ballot.” (Share your feedback/alternative choices in the ‘Comments’ section!)

1. Viggo Mortensen (“The Road”) for best actor
2. Nicolas Cage (“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans”) for best actor
3. Alfred Molina (“An Education”) for best supporting actor
4. Ben Foster (“The Messenger”) for best actor
5. Bill Milner (“Is Anybody There?”) for best actor
6. Zooey Deschanel (“500 Days of Summer”) for best actress
7. Patton Oswalt (“Big Fan”) for best actor
8. Peter Sarsgaard (“An Education”) for best supporting actor
9. Kristen Stewart (“Adventureland”) for best actress
10. Clive Owen (“The Boys Are Back”) for best actor
11. Tilda Swinton (“Julia”) for best actress
12. Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”) for best supporting actor
13. Melanie Laurent (“Inglourious Basterds”) for best actress
14. Sacha Baron Cohen (“Bruno”) for best actor
15. Stanley Tucci (“Julie & Julia”) for best supporting actor
16. Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”) for best supporting actor
17. Natalie Portman (“Brothers”) for best supporting actress
18. Christian McKay (“Me and Orson Welles”) for best supporting actor
19. Michelle Monaghan (“Trucker”) for best actress
20. Hal Holbrook (“That Evening Sun”) for best actor
21. Sam Rockwell (“Moon”) for best actor
22. Sharlto Copley (“District 9”) for best actor
23. Penelope Cruz (“Broken Embraces”) for best actress
24. Sasha Grey (“The Girlfriend Experience”) for best actress
25. Jessica Haines (“Disgrace”) for best supporting actress
26. Tom Hardy (“Bronson”) for best actor
27. Marion Cotillard (“Public Enemies”) for best supporting actress
28. Jason Segel (“I Love You, Man”) for best supporting actor
29. James McAvoy (“The Last Station”) for best actor
30. Hilary Swank (“Amelia”) for best actress
31. Abbie Cornish (“Bright Star”) for best actress
32. Hugh Dancy (“Adam”) for best actor
33. Paul Schneider (“Bright Star”) for best supporting actor
34. Michelle Pfeiffer (“Cheri”) for best actress
35. Judi Dench (“Nine”) for best supporting actress
36. Amy Adams (“Sunshine Cleaning”) for best actress
37. Peter Capaldi (“In the Loop”) for best supporting actor
38. Olivia Williams (“An Education”) for best supporting actress
39. Lluis Homar (“Broken Embraces”) for best actor
40. Audrey Tautou (“Coco Before Chanel”) for best actress
41. Paula Patton (“Precious”) for best supporting actress
42. Rupert Friend (“The Young Victoria”) for best supporting actor
43. Leslie Mann (“Funny People”) for best supporting actress
44. Fred Melamed (“A Serious Man”) for best supporting actor
45. Timothy Spall (“The Damned United”) for best supporting actor
46. Liam Neeson (“Taken”) for best actor
47. Ricky Gervais (“The Invention of Lying”) for best actor
48. Robin Williams (“World’s Greatest Dad”) for best actor
49. Catalina Saavedra (“The Maid”) for best actress
50. Jae Head (“The Blind Side”) for best supporting actor

Photo: Alfred Molina in “An Education.” Credit: Sony Pictures Classics.

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to speak at-length with best supporting actor hopeful Woody Harrelson (“The Messenger”) just a few hours after he learned he was a SAG Award nominee and just a couple of days after he learned he was a Golden Globe nominee — both for the first time in 13 years.

Since breaking into the public eye 24 years ago as a lovable bartender on “Cheers,” Woody has given a plethora of memorable performances in commercially and/or critically successful films. Among them: Ron Shelton‘s “White Men Can’t Jump” (1992), Adrian Lyne‘s Indecent Proposal” (1993), Oliver Stone‘s “Natural Born Killers” (1994), Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly‘s “Kingpin” (1996), Milos Forman‘s “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996), Barry Levinson‘s “Wag the Dog” (1997), Terrence Malick‘s “The Thin Red Line” (1998), Ron Howard‘s “EdTV” (1999), Niki Caro‘s “North Country” (2005), Robert Altman‘s “A Prairie Home Companion” (2006), and Ethan Coen and Joel Coen‘s “No Country for Old Men” (2007). (Few of today’s actors can claim to have worked with more great directors.)

But, against all odds, 2009 has proven to be the best year yet for the 48-year-old father of three daughters, including one who is soon to be college-bound. For starters, he helped propel not one but two movies to the #1 spot at the box-office on their opening weekends. In October, the $23.6 million zombie comedy “Zombieland” kicked off with a $24.7 million opening weekend, went on to make $75.6 million domestically, and earned a grand total of $93.2 million internationally. Then, in November, the $200 million disaster flick “2012″ scored a $65.2 million opening weekend, went on to make $160.3 million domestically, and earned a grand total of $733.1 million internationally. Ironically, Harrelson’s third film of the year, Oren Moverman‘s “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope, 11/13, trailer) — in which the self-described “hippie” plays a stone-cold military man whose job is notify next-of-kin about military casualties — cost only a fraction of what the other two did and earned less than $600,000 but is easily the best of the lot and might well feature the best performance of his career.

It must be fun to be Harrelson today. To women, he’s hot; to men, he’s cool; and to everyone, he’s proven beyond a doubt that he’s a formidable talent. Now, with the Globe and SAG nominations under his belt, he is all but certain to receive his first Oscar nomination in 13 years, as well. But, as I learned while preparing for and conducting my interview with him — excerpts of which you can hear below — his journey to this point has been anything but easy…

• Woody on the actors who were his favorites as a kid

• Woody on the girl who inspired him to give acting a try in high school (and performing an exclusive rendition of Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up”!)

• Woody on his first impressions of acting

• Woody on his strange journey from high school theater to “Cheers” (and how a runny nose played a pivotal part)

• Woody on his transition from TV star to movie star, which was a lot harder than most realize

• Woody on the “heartbreaking” controversies that hurt his films “Natural Born Killers” (1994) and “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996)

• Woody, a self-described “hippie,” on how he wound up being cast as a soldier in “The Messenger,” walking around Bucharest in military fatigues, and learning to distinguish his feelings between American troops and the missions on which they are dispatched

• Woody on the film’s six notification scenes, in which he and Ben Foster were filmed in long uninterrupted takes and without knowledge of who or what they would find on the other side of the door

• Woody on working with Ben, shooting the showstopping scene in which he breaks down crying (he had onions at the ready, but they were never needed), and the meaning of his SAG nomination

Photo: Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger.” Credit: Oscilloscope.

A few weeks ago, over Thanksgiving hour doeuvres, several friends asked me to describe the plots of a few of the better films that were about to be released in theaters. As I began to talk about “Brothers” (Lions Gate, 12/4, trailer) and noted that it reminded me of “Enoch Arden,” Alfred, Lord Tennyson‘s famous 1864 poem, person after person began to chime in with examples of other films that seemed awfully similar, as well.

The more I thought about it, the more fascinating I found it that so many films appear to be derived from the same core story — Person A is informed that his or her spouse, Person B, is dead; eventually, Person A finds love again, with Person C, sometimes producing a child in the process; then, Person A finds out that Person B is actually alive, creating a difficult situation for all concerned — and I set out to compile as complete a list as possible of all of the examples that fit that bill.

As it turns out, this same story has been consistently told and re-told for over a century (as early as 1932, a New York Times critic described a film as, “proof that even as old a theme as that of Enoch Arden can be used as the foundation for an entertaining film”), in countries around the world (the United States, Germany, Russia, etc.), across the spectrum of genres (dramas, comedies, musicals, films-noir), under the oversight of some of each era’s most critically and/or commercially successful filmmakers (from D.W. Griffith to Vsevolod Pudovkin to Michael Bay), and through the performances of many of the most celebrated of movie stars of all-time (from Orson Welles to Betty Grable to Tom Hanks).

Take a look (but beware of spoilers!)…

“Enoch Arden: Part I” and “Enoch Arden: Part II” (1911)

• Director D.W. Griffith
• Stars Wilfred Lucas, Linda Arvidson, Francis J. Grandon
• Genre drama
• Summary Lucas, a humble fisherman, marries Arvidson, his sweetheart, and together they have children. In order to provide for his family, Lucas takes work as a sailor. On one voyage, the ship he is aboard is wrecked by a storm. He is presumed dead (by all but his wife, who holds out hope for a long time), but is actually alive and spends an untold number of years alone on a deserted island. Then, a series of events lead to his rescue… he returns home… and finds that his wife, at the urging of his now-grown children, has finally moved on and married her former suitor, Grandon. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods pre-Oscars

“The Man Without a Name” (1932)

• Director Gustav Ucicky
• Stars Werner Krauss, Helen Thimig, Mathias Wieman
• Genre drama
• Summary Krauss, a German lieutenant married to Thimig, is sent to Russian front, where he is presumed dead following a gas attack in 1916, and officially declared dead five years later. However, Krauss actually survived the attack, but was afflicted with a severe case of amnesia for years, during which time he has remained in Russia. Meanwhile, Wieman, Krauss’s best friend, comforts Thimig… they become close and marry… and then Krauss comes out of his fog and returns to Germany. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods none

“The Dark Angel” (1935)

• Director Sidney Franklin
• Stars Fredric March, Merle Oberon, Herbert Marshall
• Genre drama
• Summary As children, March, Marshall, and Oberon were the best of friends. As adults, March and Marshall both find themselves deeply in love with her and competing for her hand in marriage. She eventually decides on March — much to the consternation of Marshall — but before they can wed World War I breaks out and both men go off to battle. Marshall, the superior officer, sends March off on a dangerous mission from which he fails to return, and he is therefore presumed dead. Marshall returns home and comforts Oberon… after a period of mourning, they decide to marry… but just before the wedding, they learn that March is, in fact, alive, but blinded and living in seclusion, wishing not to be a burden on his wife. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods best actress (Oberon), best art direction WON, best sound recording

“My Favorite Wife” (1940)

• Director Garson Kanin
• Stars Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Gail Patrick
• Genre comedy
• Summary Dunne and Grant were married with two children when a ship she was aboard was wrecked, leading everyone to presume her dead. Seven years later, she is declared legally dead and Grant marries Patrick, only to discover shortly thereafter that Dunne is actually alive, having survived for all that time on a deserted island. Caught between the two women, he is leaning towards Dunne, only to discover that she had company for those seven years: Randolph Scott. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods best original screenplay, best art direction, best original score

“Too Many Husbands” (1940)

• Director Wesley Ruggles
• Stars Fred MacMurray, Jean Arthur, Melvyn Douglas
• Genre comedy
• Summary Businessman MacMurray and Arthur were married when the ship he was aboard was wrecked. He is presumed dead, but is actually alive and spends over a year on a deserted island. Meanwhile, MacMurray’s best friend and business partner Douglas comforts Arthur… after a year, they marry… and then MacMurray is found alive and brought home. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods best sound recording

“Tomorrow Is Forever” (1946)

• Director Irving Pichel
• Stars Orson Welles, Claudette Colbert, George Brent
• Genre film-noir
• Summary Soldier Welles and Colbert were deeply-in-love newlyweds with a child on the way when he was sent off to fight in World War I. After being severely injured in action, he decides that he would rather be presumed dead and start a new life somewhere else than return to his wife in such a condition, and so he opts not to contact her again and is therefore presumed dead. Meanwhile, Colbert’s employer Brent comforts her… before long, they marry… and, over the ensuing years, she gives birth to two boys (the first of them Welles’s). 20 years after his disappearance, Welles returns to town — virtually unrecognizable, and using a new name — seeking employment from Brent, unaware that his wife is now Brent’s. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods none

“Desire Me” (1947)

• Director Mervyn LeRoy
• Stars Robert Mitchum, Greer Garson, Richard Hart
• Genre drama
• Summary Mitchum, a French soldier, is sent to fight in World War II, leaving behind wife Garson. Garson receives a report that her husband was killed by the Germans, but still holds out hope that a mistake has been made — until she receives a visit from Hart, who tells her that he was in a prisoner-of-war camp with Mitchum and personally saw him killed after an attempted escape five years earlier. (Hart genuinely believes Mitchum is dead, having set him up to be shot.) Garson finally begins to accept the situation… Hart comforts her… they become close and marry… and then Mitchum comes home. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods none

“Cage of Gold” (1950)

• Director Basil Dearden
• Stars David Farrar, Jean Simmons, James Donald
• Genre drama
• Summary Artist Simmons marries childhood crush Farrar (who is less than meets the eyes), and together they have a child. Then, a plane on which Farrar is supposedly traveling crashes and he is reported dead. Donald, a young doctor, comforts Simmons… they become close and marry… and then Donald comes home. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods none

“The Return of Vasili Bortnikov” (1953)

• Director Vsevolod Pudovkin
• Stars Sergei Lukyanov, Natalya Medvedeva, Nikolai Timofeyev
• Genre drama
• Summary Lukyanov, a Russian soldier, was sent to fight in World War II, leaving behind wife Medvedeva. He went missing and was presumed dead, but had actually been hospitalized with amnesia for five years. Meanwhile, Timofeyev comforts Medvedeva… they become close and marry… and then Lukyanov comes out of his fog and returns home. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods none

“Three for the Show” (1955)

• Director H.C. Potter
• Stars Jack Lemmon, Betty Grable, Gower Champion
• Genre musical
• Summary Lemmon, a Broadway writer-turned-American soldier, is sent to fight in World War II, leaving behind wife Grable, a popular Broadway star. Lemmon goes missing-in-action and is presumed dead. Meanwhile, Lemmon’s best friend and writing partner Champion comforts Grable… eventually, they marry… and then Lemmon returns home. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods none

“Move Over, Darling” (1963)

• Director Michael Gordon
• Stars Doris Day, James Garner, Polly Bergen
• Genre comedy
• Summary Day and Garner were married with two children when a plane she was aboard disappeared over the Pacific Ocean, leading everyone to presume her dead. Five years later, she is declared legally dead and Garner marries Bergen, only to discover shortly thereafter that Day is actually alive, having survived for all that time on a deserted island. Caught between the two women, he is leaning towards Day, only to discover that she had company for those seven years: Chuck Connors. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods none

“The Forgotten Man” (1971-TV)

• Director Walter Grauman
• Stars Dennis Weaver, Anne Francis, Andrew Duggan
• Genre drama
• Summary Weaver, an American soldier, is sent to fight in the Vietnam War, leaving behind wife Francis and a child. He is captured by the Vietcong and presumed dead, but is actually alive and spends a lengthy period as a prisoner-of-war. Eventually, he is released… he returns home… and finds that Francis has married Duggan; his child has been adopted by another family; and his business has been sold off. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods ineligible

“Cast Away” (2000)

• Director Robert Zemeckis
• Stars Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Chris Noth
• Genre drama
• Summary Hanks, an efficiency expert for FedEx, and Hunt, his girlfriend, become engaged. Their Christmas together is interrupted when Hanks is summoned overseas for work. Mid-flight, the plane he is aboard crashes into the Pacific Ocean. He is presumed dead, but is actually alive and spends four years alone on a deserted island. Then, a series of events lead to his rescue… he returns home… and finds that Hunt has married someone else and had that man’s child. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods best actor (Hanks), best sound mixing

“Pearl Harbor” (2001)

• Director Michael Bay
• Stars Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett
• Genre drama
• Summary Childhood best friends Affleck and Hartnett are military flyers. Affleck and Beckinsale are lovers. Affleck accepts a special assignment to go to Europe to help the British fight the Germans. He is shot down and reported dead. Hartnett and Beckinsale are devastated, comfort each other, and have a sexual encounter… Beckinsale discovers she’s pregnant… and then Affleck turns out to be alive and comes home. Complications ensue. Then Pearl Harbor is attacked… both men sent off to participate in the retaliatory Doolittle Raid… and only one comes home alive.
• Oscar nods best original song, best sound editing WON, best sound mixing, best visual effects

“Brothers” (2009)

• Director Jim Sheridan
• Stars Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal
• Genre Drama
• Summary Maguire is an American soldier who is deployed to Afghanistan, leaving behind wife Portman, two young kids, and neer-do-well brother Gyllenhaal. Following a helicopter crash, he is presumed dead, but is actually alive and spends a significant period as a prisoner of terrorists. Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal comforts Portman and the kids… they become close… and then Maguire is found alive and brought home. Complications ensue.
• Oscar nods TBD

Photo: Francis J. Grandon and Linda Arvidson, with Wilfred Lucas looking on, in D.W. Griffith’s “Enoch Arden: Part II” (1911). Credit: General Film Company.

BEST PICTURE
Projected Nominees
[1] “Avatar” (20th Century Fox, 12/18, trailer) ▲
[2] “Up in the Air” (Paramount, 12/4, trailer)
[3] “The Hurt Locker” (Summit, 6/26, trailer)
[4] “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company, 8/21, trailer) ▲
[5] “Precious” (Lions Gate, 11/6, trailer)
[6] “Invictus” (Warner Brothers, 12/11, trailer)
[7] “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics, 10/9, trailer)
[8] “Nine” (The Weinstein Company, 12/18, trailer) ▼
[9] “Up” (Disney, 5/29, trailer)
[10] “Julie & Julia” (Columbia, 8/7, trailer)
Major Threats
[11] “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope, 11/13, trailer)
[12] “A Serious Man” (Focus Features, 10/2, trailer)
[13] “Brothers” (Lions Gate, 12/4, trailer)
[14] “The Blind Side” (Warner Brothers, 11/20, trailer) ▲
[15] “It’s Complicated” (Universal, 12/25, trailer) ▲
[16] “Star Trek” (Paramount, 5/8, trailer)
[17] “500 Days of Summer” (Fox Searchlight, 7/17, trailer)
[18] “This Is It” (Columbia, 10/28, trailer)
[19] “District 9” (TriStar, 8/14, trailer)
On the Outside
[20] “Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Brothers, 12/25, trailer) ▼
[21] “Bright Star” (Apparation, 9/18, trailer)
[22] “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics, 12/23, trailer)
[23] “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company, 12/11, trailer)
[24] “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight, 12/16, trailer)
[25] “The Hangover” (Warner Brothers, 5/5, trailer) ▲
[26] “The Road” (The Weinstein Company, 11/25, trailer)
[27] “The Lovely Bones” (Paramount, 12/11, trailer)

BEST DIRECTOR
Projected Nominees
[1] Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”)
[2] James Cameron (“Avatar”) ▲
[3] Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”)
[4] Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”) ▲
[5] Lee Daniels (“Precious”)
Major Threats
[6] Clint Eastwood (“Invictus”)
[7] Rob Marshall (“Nine”) ▼
[8] Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
On the Outside
[9] Lone Scherfig (“An Education”)
[10] Nora Ephron (“Julie & Julia”)
[11] Peter Jackson (“The Lovely Bones”)

BEST ACTOR
Projected Nominees
[1] George Clooney (“Up in the Air”) ▲
[2] Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”)
[3] Morgan Freeman (“Invictus”)
[4] Colin Firth (“A Single Man”)
[5] Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”)
Major Threats
[6] Daniel Day-Lewis (“Nine”) ▼
[7] Tobey Maguire (“Brothers”)
[8] Michael Stuhlbarg (“A Serious Man”)
[9] Ben Foster (“The Messenger”)
On the Outside
[10] Robert Downey, Jr. (“Sherlock Holmes”)
[11] Viggo Mortensen (“The Road”)
[12] Matt Damon (“The Informant!”)

BEST ACTRESS
Projected Nominees
[1] Carey Mulligan (“An Education”)
[2] Meryl Streep (“Julie & Julia”)
[3] Gabby Sidibe (“Precious”)
[4] Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”)
[5] Helen Mirren (“The Last Station”)
Major Threats
[6] Emily Blunt (“The Young Victoria”)
[7] Melanie Laurent (“Inglourious Basterds”) ▲
[8] Marion Cotillard (“Nine”)
On the Outside
[9] Abbie Cornish (“Bright Star”) ▼
[10] Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Crazy Heart”)
[11] Penelope Cruz (“Broken Embraces”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Projected Nominees
[1] Christoph Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds”)
[2] Woody Harrelson (“The Messenger”)
[3] Christopher Plummer (“The Last Station”)
[4] Matt Damon (“Invictus”)
[5] Stanley Tucci (“The Lovely Bones”)
Major Threats
[6] Alfred Molina (“An Education”)
[7] Alec Baldwin (“It’s Complicated”)
[8] Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”)
On the Outside
[9] Christian McKay (“Me and Orson Welles”)
[10] Peter Sarsgaard (“An Education”) ▼
[11] Jude Law (“Sherlock Holmes”) ▼

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Projected Nominees
[1] Mo’Nique (“Precious”)
[2] Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air”) ▲
[3] Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”) ▲
[3] Penelope Cruz (“Nine”)
[5] Julianne Moore (“A Single Man”)
Major Threats
[6] Diane Kruger (“Inglourious Basterds”)
[7] Samantha Morton (“The Messenger”)
[8] Judi Dench (“Nine”)
On the Outside
[9] Mariah Carey (“Precious”)
[10] Natalie Portman (“Brothers”)
[11] Sigourney Weaver (“Avatar”)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Projected Nominees
[1] Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner (“Up in the Air”)
[2] Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”)
[3] Nick Hornby (“An Education”)
[4] Nora Ephron (“Julie & Julia”)
[5] Anthony Peckham (“Invictus”)
Major Threats
[6] Anthony Minghella, Michael Tolkin (“Nine”)
[7] Tom Ford (“A Single Man”)
[8] Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach (“The Fantastic Mr. Fox”)
[9] David Benioff (“Brothers”)
On the Outside
[10] Michael Hoffman (“The Last Station”)
[11] Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers (“Where the Wild Things Are”)
[12] Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh (“The Lovely Bones”)
[13] Joe Penhall (“The Road”)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Projected Nominees
[1] Mark Boal (“The Hurt Locker”)
[2] Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”)
[3] Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
[4] Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (“Up”)
[5] Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber (“500 Days of Summer”)
Major Threats
[6] James Cameron (“Avatar”)
[7] Nancy Myers (“It’s Complicated”)
[8] Jane Campion (“Bright Star”)
On the Outside
[9] Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman (“The Messenger”)
[10] Pedro Almodovar (“Broken Embraces”)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Projected Nominees
[1] “Food, Inc.” (Magnolia, 6/12, trailer)
[2] “The Cove” (Roadside Attractions, 7/31, trailer)
[3] “Valentino: The Last Emperor” (Acolyte, 3/18, trailer)
[4] “The Beaches of Agnes” (Cinema Guild, 7/1, trailer)
[5] “Every Little Step” (Sony Pictures Classics, 4/17, trailer)
Major Threats
[6] “Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope, 5/20, trailer)
[7] “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” (Kovno, 6/1, trailer)
[8] “Under Our Skin” (Shadow, 6/19, trailer)
[9] “Garbage Dreams” (Iskander, 7/31, trailer)
[10] “Sergio” (Passion, 1/1, trailer)
On the Outside
[11] “Mugabe and the White African” (Explore, 8/7, trailer)
[12] “Facing Ali” (Lions Gate, 6/16, trailer)
[13] “Which Way Home” (HBO, 1/31, trailer)
[14] “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders” (Red Floor, 8/14, trailer)
[15] “Soundtrack for a Revolution” (Freedom Song, 8/7, trailer)

Photo: Melanie Laurent in “Inglourious Basterds.” Credit: The Weinstein Company.

PLEASE NOTE: Of 2009′s Academy-eligible films and performances, these are my personal favorites. Please note that these do/will have zero impact my objective forecasts, as my desire for something or someone to be rewarded will never exceed my desire to see my projections proven correct.

Best Picture

1. “The Hurt Locker” (Summit, 6/26, trailer)
2. “Up in the Air” (Paramont, 12/4, trailer)
3. “A Serious Man” (Focus Features, 10/2, trailer)
4. “500 Days of Summer” (Fox Searchlight, 7/17, trailer)
5. “The Road” (The Weinstein Company, 11/25, trailer)
6. “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics, 10/9, trailer)
7. “Adventureland” (Miramax, 4/3, trailer)
8. “Nine” (The Weinstein Company, 12/18, trailer)
9. “Big Fan” (First Independent, 8/28, trailer)
10. “Avatar” (20th Century Fox, 12/18, trailer)

Best Director

1. James Cameron (“Avatar”)
2. Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”)
3. Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”)
4. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
5. John Hillcoat (“The Road”)

Best Actor

1. Viggo Mortensen (“The Road”)
2. George Clooney (“Up in the Air”)
3. Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”)
4. Nicolas Cage (“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans”)
5. Ben Foster (“The Messenger”)

Best Actress

1. Carey Mulligan (“An Education”)
2. Meryl Streep (“Julie & Julia”)
3. Zooey Deschanel (“500 Days of Summer”)
4. Emily Blunt (“The Young Victoria”)
5. Kristen Stewart (“Adventureland”)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Christoph Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds”)
2. Woody Harrelson (“The Messenger”)
3. Alfred Molina (“An Education”)
4. Peter Sarsgaard (“An Education”)
5. Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”)

Best Supporting Actress

1. Mo’Nique (“Precious”)
2. Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air”)
3. Penelope Cruz (“Nine”)
4. Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”)
5. Natalie Portman (“Brothers”)

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner (“Up in the Air”)
2. Joe Penhall (“The Road”)
3. Nick Hornby (“An Education”)
4. Anthony Minghella, Michael Tolkin (“Nine”)
   
5. Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”)
   

Best Original Screenplay

1. Mark Boal (“The Hurt Locker”)
2. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
3. Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber (“500 Days of Summer”)
4. Greg Mottola (“Adventureland”)
5. Robert D. Siegel (“Big Fan”)
   

Best Animated Feature

1. “Up” (Disney, 5/29, trailer)
2. “Mary and Max” (TBD, 9/25, trailer)
3. “Coraline” (Focus Features, 2/6, trailer)
4. “The Princess and the Frog” (Disney, 12/11, trailer)
5. “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” (Fox Searchlight, 11/13, trailer)

Best Documentary Feature

1. “Racing Dreams” (TBD, 7/31, trailer)
2. “This Is It” (Columbia, 8/28, trailer)
3. “Valentino: The Last Emperor” (Acolyte, 3/18, trailer)
4. “Tyson” (Sony Pictures Classics, 4/24, trailer)
5. “Anvil! The Story of Anvil!” (Abramorama, 8/10, trailer)

Photo: Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker.” Credit: Summit.

I just got off of the phone with Amy Heckerling, who directed Brittany Murphy in her breakthrough film “Clueless” (1995) nearly 15 years ago. Heckerling authorized me to post audio of our six-minute conversation, which you can listen to by CLICKING HERE, but for those who would rather read text here are a few excerpts…

• ON BRITTANY’S WORK IN “CLUELESS” “She was wonderful. She was just such a sweet, innocent person. And when we were working on that movie, her mother was going through cancer treatments, and was always on the set, and they were inseparable. And Brittany was just this little teenage person that was so loving and caregiving towards her mother.”

• HOW DID BRITTANY GET THE PART? “She came in, and read, and she was just perfect. She just had such a lovable, innocent quality.”

• DID SHE KEEP IN TOUCH WITH BRITTANY? “I haven’t seen her recently. I mean, I didn’t see her, like, maybe over the past year. But over the years, yeah. She’s not one of the people that I email like Paul [Rudd] and Alicia [Silverstone], you know, where you’re making jokes during the year and stuff. But, yeah, a little bit. I really wasn’t in her crowd, you know?”

• WERE THERE WARNING SIGNS ABOUT BRITTANY? “You know, everybody’s shaking their heads and going ‘drugs,’ of course. I don’t know what was happening on the last movie. I know that, you know, she seemed to go through a change, you know, on ‘Clueless.’ Maybe she felt like she was not the, like, skinny, pretty girl, you know? And then the next few movies she was, you know, thinner, blonde, you know, at MTV Awards and all sorts of things like that, and going out with Eminem and Ashton Kutcher, and, you know, suddenly got more into that whole glamorous scene… I think she felt the pressure to become a different sort of commodity to survive in show business, and I think it was awful.”

• WHAT KIND OF A CAREER WOULD BRITTANY HAVE GONE ON TO HAVE? “I think she could have done anything… I think she did a few things after “Clueless,” you know, before she, sort of, tried to be more of a glamorous girl. I mean, she certainly, you know, had talent and could have done a lot of things. She could have, as she got older, been a wonderful character, too. She had ‘acting chops,’ as they say, and, you know, she could have gone on for as long as she wanted.”

• HOW DO YOU THINK/HOPE BRITTANY WILL BE REMEMBERED? “She was sweet, and playful, and fun, and a very lovable girl… I’m so sorry for her family, and her mother, who she was so close to. I just can’t imagine what she’s going through.”

Photo: Stacey Dash, Alicia Silverstone, and Brittany Murphy in Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless.” Credit: Paramount.