The Oscars

 

Some Oscars Trivia

I have previously posted general Oscars trivia at: http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/oscars-trivia.html Click on that link to access that post, there are some quite interesting bits. The following trivia items relate to the current ceremony, the 84th presentation

Meryl Streep, nominated for Best Actress for The Iron Lady, has 16 previous nominations (the most ever) and 2 Oscars.

There are 20 acting nominees.  Nine have never been nominated before and only 2 have previous Oscars: Meryl Streep (Best Supporting Actress, Kramer v Kramer; Best Actress, Sophie’s Choice) and George Clooney (Best Supporting Actor, Syriana).

The other 11 nominees have a collective total of 40 nominations.

Although Michelle Williams is nominated for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn, Monroe herself was never nominated for an Oscar.

Best Actress nominees Streep and Viola Davis are competing against each other this year.  In 2008 they were nominated in different categories for their work in the film Doubt, Streep for Best Actress (the nasty nun) and Davis as Best Supporting Actress (the mother of the boy who may have been abused by a priest).

Three of the acting nominees have roles in two Best Picture contenders: ·         Brad Pitt; Moneyball and The Tree of Life ·         Jessica Chastain: The Help and The Tree of Life ·         Viola Davis: The Help and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The youngest nominee is Rooney Mara, 26, for her role in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  She has been nominated for Best Actress.

The oldest nominees are both vying for best Supporting Actor: Max von Sydow for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Christopher Plummer for Beginners.  They are both 82 but von Sydow is eight months older than Plummer. If either Plummer or von Sydow win, they will become the oldest Oscar-winning actor. Jessica Tandy, who won Best Actress for Driving Miss Daisy at age 80, currently holds the title.

Silent performances: ·         The film The Artist, which has 10 nominations including Best Actor for Jean Dujardin and and Best Supporting Actress Berenice Bejo, is a silent film. ·         Max von Sydow plays a mute man in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Diversity: Gary Oldman, a first-time nominee for his role in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, is also a voice actor in Kung Fu Panda 2, a nominee for Best Animated Film. He is no stranger to diverse roles, having portrayed Beethoven and Sid Vicious.

This year’s ceremony will be held at the same location as it has been since the 74th Annual Academy Awards in 2002.  However the venue is no longer named Kodak Theatre in that Kodak declared bankruptcy in January of this year, resulting in the loss of the naming rights for the theatre.  The venue has yet to find a new corporate sponsor. This year it will be referred to as the Hollywood & Highland Centre.

Billy Crystal will be hosting, his ninth time.  The only person with more is Bob Hope, 19 times.

If The Artist wins Best Picture, it will be the first silent film to win the category since the first ever Academy Awards in 1927 when the silent film Wings took home the Oscar.

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo has the most nominations, 11.  The Artist is next with 10.  Both have a nomination for Best Pic.

Until 2008, the Best Picture category was limited to five nominees. In 2009 and 2010, there were 10 nominations for Best Picture. This year, they used a new polling system that resulted in 9 Best Picture nominations.

If Glenn Close loses Best Actress for Albert Nobbs, it will be her sixth nomination and sixth loss, tying her with Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter for the most losses.

Natalie Portman is expecting her first child, which could help her take home her first Best Actress award for her role as ballerina Nina Sayers in Black Swan. Some superstitious film buffs believe pregnancy to be a good luck charm, as Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront), Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago) all took home Oscars with a baby on the way.

While Best Actress contender Annette Bening has received four Oscar nominations (The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia, The Kids Are All Right), the actress has yet to take home a golden statue.

Composer John Williams is nominated twice in the original score category (The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse), giving him 47 career nominations (five wins), second only to Walt Disney, who scored 59 nominations (32 wins).