Wise Blood

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Another early correct call was made last October by Santa Barbara Film Festival honcho Roger Durling in booking Best Actor nominee Colin Firth...way before it was clear to anyone that the star of Tom Ford's A Single Man would end up as one of the five contenders.

Hammond's Early Blind Side Call<< previous | next >>"Vera Furmeega..."

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 2, 2010 at 9:59 AM

comment #1

Flash Gordon says ...

I wonder if this guy or Pete Hammond have tomorrow night's winning powerball lottery numbers.

Posted by Flash Gordon at February 2, 2010 10:30 AM

comment #2

Jack South P.I. says ...

Next year I am going to float the name of every actor in every movie for an Oscar nomination. That way, if I'm right, Wells will lionize me. If I'm wrong, who will remember?

Posted by Jack South P.I. at February 2, 2010 10:59 AM

comment #3

mccool says ...

Another correct call and absolute steal for me was Austin Miles in the 16th Round of my draft. All these correct calls are what propelled me to the fantasy football championship this year. SI has contacted me, so keep an eye out for an article about my prescient player picking.

Posted by mccool at February 2, 2010 11:06 AM

comment #4

ManhattanMadcap says ...

"If I'm wrong, who will remember?"

If you're wrong, you will be consigned to a life of looking over your shoulder and changing the locks on your doors, a la Stalinist Russia.

Posted by ManhattanMadcap at February 2, 2010 12:03 PM

comment #5

Unison says ...

What?!?! Firth won Actor at Venice and got raves at Toronto, with many predicting that TWC would ride it to Oscar glory when they picked it up at TIFF.

To "call" this in October is to be behind the curve, to be sure.

Posted by Unison at February 2, 2010 12:05 PM

comment #6

Rich S. says ...

A couple months back, I tried to get D.Z. to take a "loser leaves town" bet of one year's self-imposed exile if Inglourious Basterds were nominated. Unsurprisingly, he wouldn't take it.

Posted by Rich S. at February 2, 2010 12:07 PM

comment #7

Guy Lodge says ...

I was at the film's first Venice screening in early September, and I can assure you that the Oscar buzz started then and there.

By October, he was practically locked in.

Posted by Guy Lodge at February 2, 2010 12:10 PM

comment #8

Jack South P.I. says ...

I think it would be interesting to see how many people called it right for Inglourious Basterds right out of the box. I seem to remember most of the buzz (for the movie, not Waltz) was little better than mezzo-mezzo when it debuted at Cannes.

It is now routinely listed as one of the best of the year.

It was one of the Top Five Best Picture nominations (based on it also getting a nom for Director)

It's 8 nominations are one more than Pulp Fiction, an agreed-upon classic

It is a shoo-in for two wins (Original Screenplay and Supporting Actor).

Posted by Jack South P.I. at February 2, 2010 12:17 PM

comment #9

Jack South P.I. says ...

It's one thing to throw up a flyer on an individual performance. It's another thing to say a movie is going to rake in eight nominations eight months before the nominations are announced.

Who was the first to call it for IG?

Posted by Jack South P.I. at February 2, 2010 12:22 PM

comment #10

Phreaker says ...

Oh that is such crap. If you follow the right websites you see all of this stuff way earlier than October. Seriously, Colin Firth was one of the first strong best actor contenders.

Posted by Phreaker at February 2, 2010 12:40 PM

comment #11

televisiontears says ...

I can't wait for this to be over so we can get to predicting next year's nominees.

Posted by televisiontears at February 2, 2010 2:40 PM

comment #12

btwnproductions says ...

Lovely, great, spot on...but that blinking SB banner is giving me a headache and not encouraging attendance. I feel like I'm going to melt into a slushpile of snakes and bugs at any second, like at the end of HALLOWEEN III.

Posted by btwnproductions at February 2, 2010 3:44 PM

comment #13

televisiontears says ...

You referenced Halloween III, therefore I like you.

On the other hand, you just got that fucking Silver Shamrock jingle stuck in my head and now I don't like you. :)

Posted by televisiontears at February 2, 2010 5:09 PM

comment #14

Phreaker says ...

btwn, ftw.

Posted by Phreaker at February 2, 2010 6:57 PM

comment #15

Gordon27 says ...

Jack - for whatever it's worth, I was saying 'Basterds' would be nominated immediately after I saw it. Although, to be fair, I did not think Tarantino would get it until much more recently; I didn't expect it to be actually in the running (as it appears to be now), I just thought it would get on with ten slots to fill. I never really wavered, because the usual standard is that at least 50% of what gets hyped as the favorites for the Oscars are terrible, so the lists that didn't include 'Basterds' always seemed padded out with birds in the bush.

Posted by Gordon27 at February 2, 2010 9:14 PM

comment #16

Gordon27 says ...

btwn - download an adblocker; changed my entire browsing experience, and plugged up some security holes (especially from this site).

Posted by Gordon27 at February 2, 2010 9:15 PM

comment #17

btwnproductions says ...

I can't, Gordon27, I'm bug slush. But Conal Cochran robotized me before my death so maybe my android will do it. "Happy, happy Halloween...SB Fllm Festival!"

Posted by btwnproductions at February 2, 2010 9:22 PM

comment #18

Wholesale NFL Jerseys says ...

I can't, Gordon27, I'm bug slush. But Conal Cochran robotized me before my death so maybe my android will do it. "Happy, happy Halloween...SB Fllm Festival!"

Posted by Wholesale NFL Jerseys at February 2, 2010 11:39 PM

comment #19