Name Dropping

By Alan Appel
Television ratings were once HUGE, but audience interest for Oscar broadcasts in recent years does seem to be plummeting faster than Harrison Ford’s career. Maybe if more sophisticated, crowd-pleasing films were nominated, and maybe if the Academy could settle on a quick-witted, continuing-year-to-year host (come home, Billy Crystal) , and maybe if telecasts didn’t have painfully long running times to accommodate lame performance segments and lamer acceptance speeches for even the minor awards, there would be hope. I’m not holding my breath that this year’s 83rd ceremony, slated for Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theater, will be an appreciably livelier or better-paced affair.
On another gloomy front, there’s yet another film adaptation of The Great Gatsby in the works, this one to star Leonardo DiCaprio  and Carey Mulligan  and directed by Baz Luhrmann. Listen up, old sports: some Great American Novels simply defy adaptation; five previous versions didn’t work, and if Francis Ford Coppola’s script couldn’t save the Robert Redford-Mia Farrow Gatsby from 1974, then just give it up. Another remake in production, however, does have intriguing possibilities—Colin Firth in a big-screen version of John LeCarre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, which got a spectacular six-part adaptation back in 1979 on PBS’s Great Performances franchise.

When this year’s nominations are announced on Jan. 25, it may certify that this may, in fact, be Firth’s year; he’s pretty much a sure thing to nail a Best Actor nomination (and be the odds-on favorite to win) as England’s George VI for The King’s Speech, a “payback award” for the Oscar he might have won last year for A Single Man if his competition didn’t happen to be Jeff Bridges, a long-overdue winner (after four previous nominations) for Crazy Heart—and, look out, Colin, the same potential rival being talked up again for the Coen Brothers’ remake of True Grit. The “reverse payback” victim for The King’s Speech could be Firth’s costar Geoffrey Rush, playing the speech therapist helping the monarch deal with a debilitating stuttering problem. Rush will likely get a Supporting Actor nod, but voters who remember him winning the Best Actor prize back in 1997 for Shine (and somehow beating Ralph Fiennes for The English Patient) might be inclined to say, not this time. If you want another solid “payback” Supporting Actor bet, take Jeremy Renner —great in The Hurt Locker last year but another loser to Bridges—for The Town.
Finally, back to DiCaprio and what to forecast for Inception? Both a critical and box-office success, it will surely nail one of the 10 Best Picture nominations, and probably recognition for DiCaprio and director Christopher Nolan. But do many in the Academy actually understand the film? Some more early questions—will The Social Network overwhelm all in its path (let’s hope not); will Annette Bening and Julianne Moore —two more “payback”-worthy candidates--split the Best Actress vote for The Kids Are All Right and allow another (we’re thinking of you, Natalie Portman, for Black Swan) to grab the prize?; and, as long as small, art-house indies seem to be all the rage, will someone, please, invest a marketing buck or two for Andy Garcia’s City Island?
Next week; history was made last year when Kathryn Bigelow  became the first woman to win Best Director. Now, will animation at long last break through and get the big prize, for Toy Story 3?