A persuasive argument piece by MSNBC’s Sarah Bunting that Steve Carell deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work in Little Miss Sunshine…hail to that. (He and Alan Arkin have been topping the list of Best Supporting Actor possibles in the Oscar Balloon since last spring.)
But the thing you really want to look at on the same page is that MSNBC slide show of Oscar bait movies …hah! The banner copy says that “Martin Scorsese‘s The Departed will take on Clint Eastwood‘s Flags of Our Fathers“…hah!! (Which is the reason why Warner Bros. isn’t bringing The Departed to Toronto — because it’s such a tangy Oscar contender.)
Of the eleven films listed by MSNBC as likely Oscar bait, exactly four are rock-solid contenders for Best Picture or Screenplay or some level of acting award — Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu‘s Babel, Todd Field’s Little Children, Flags of Our Fathers and Pedro Almodovar‘s Volver.
And there are two likely-possibles as far as the acting categories are concerned — Phillip Noyce ‘s Catch a Fire (i.e., Derek Luke as a Best Actor contender…maybe) and Ryan Murphy‘s Running with Scissors (i.e., a possible Best Supporting Actress nod for Annette Bening).
The list also includes Chris Nolan‘s The Prestige but my gut tells me this is more in the realm of an entertainment than Oscar glory…but maybe not. (Disney publicists are convinced it’s their ’06 Oscar missile.)
Anything’s possible, but I will eat both of my loafers if any of the following four films, listed as hotties by MSNBC, significantly distinguish themselves in the derby: Ridley Scott‘s A Good Year, Steven Zallian’s All The King’s Men, Brian DePalma’s The Black Dahlia and The Departed.