My friends and many of our site’s regular contributors have complimented me for predicting the Oscars more accurately than most accomplished professional pundits. I am no genius or clairvoyant but as I wrote earlier, there was a method to the madness, an absolute science at work.
All I needed to know was the lobbyist and the name that popped up was Harvey Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein is no Howard Hughes. But he knows and abides by one single law of Hollywood Inc. The runner up is a loser that everyone remembers and Weinstein is no loser. In 1998 he singlehandedly took a little remembered movie, Shakespeare in Love, to Oscar glory beating (check this out) Saving Private Ryan, one of the most realistic war dramas ever produced.
When I learned that he is personally in charge of King’s Speech, The Fighter’s supporting cast and Natalie Portman, I knew the rest didn’t stand a prayer except for categories where he had no vested interest.
Person had commented that they have a new voting system. Yes, it is a fair system where you rank the nominees, so technically you can have a 2nd best nominee win if the number 1 nominee gets a significant number of lower rankings at the same time. In other words, if you vilify the favorite nominee, you can still have the second best nominee win. It sounds outrageous and improbable. Who would go to such lengths for a trophy that has lost its sheen?
Except that is exactly what happened. Serious movies were ignored to satisfy a company’s lust for ill-deserved prestige. In Hollywood, money doesn’t just talk, it screams – at times, obscenely.
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