I can’t think of any journalist who’s been a more impassioned Dreamgirls fan that The Envelope‘s Tom O’Neil, so it’s significant that he wrote yesterday, “Surrender, Dreamgirls fans — The Departed is now officially ahead for the Best Picture Oscar. When the top Critics’ Choice Award went to The Departed on Friday night, it was the last bit of evidence I needed to change my prediction.”
O’Neil’s conclusion was fortified “a day earlier when I heard a third academy member over two days tell me that they planned to vote for The Departed. The only other film they even considered was Little Miss Sunshine. They liked Dreamgirls, even admired it, but they didn’t flip over it, didn’t feel it was their movie — not one targeted to old straight white geezers.”