With the possible exception of Crowe, Giamatti and a few techs, Cinderella Man is dead. Poor box office, early release date and much stronger buzz surrounding the fall and winter releases.
All the King's Men, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Rent may all face the challenge of being Sony films; Sony can't push them all equally. FYI: Revolution has hired someone (who works independently of Sony) to assess Rent's Oscar chances because Sony is putting more of its campaign money behind Memoirs and ATKM. Pushing both Memoirs and ATKM in the acting categories works because Memoirs is a female-dominated film whereas ATKM is a male-dominated film.
I give the edge to Memoirs for Best Picture because it will probably have the support of the guilds (costumes, art direction, etc) more than either Rent or ATKM. Unless it turns out to be a bad film, and I don't think it will...
EDIT: In the end, I think Dawson's performance in RENT will receive more acclaim than Zhang's performance in MEMOIRS. So... I give the edge to Dawson. Surprisingly good (sometimes even great) singing. Probably great dancing. Brings something new to the character. Gets really sick and almost dies. African-American/Latina... Halle Berry can't be the last.
Updated On: 9/21/05 at 07:10 PM