Oscar Buzz for Mo'Nique

That's right. Its April, only 9 months from the 2010 Oscar Nominations being announced. Most films that will be honored haven't even seen daylight, yet the 41 year old former phone sex operator turned comedian is already garnering Oscar buzz for her role as an abusive mother in Lee Daniel's Precious. 

The Film Experience blog has announced it's monthly Oscar predictions and Mo'Nique has topped the Best Supporting Actress list. "Everyone who I've spoken to who has seen this says 'it's not just hype. She's in'. We'll trust them".  Now the list changes every month but last year Film Experience correctly predicted three-out-of-the-five eventual nominees in April.

Mo'Nique already won the Special Jury Prize for acting at the Sundance Film Festival. Precious also won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance, has been picked up for distribution by Lionsgate, and will receive additional promotional assistance through Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions and Tyler Perry's 34th Street Films. All of which will create a big release and hopefully ensure Mo'Nique's buzz lasts throughout the year. 

Let's not forget, Lee Daneils has a knack for making films that garner Oscars for black women. In 2001, he produced Monster's Ball which made Halle Berry the first African-American woman to win Best Actress. 

My, this month seems all about Lee Daniels doesn't it. At least it's well deserved. Precious is set premiere nationwide on November 9th, 2009.

 

Morgan Freeman is also garnering buzz for playing inspirational leader Nelson Mandela in Clint Eastwood's biopic The Human Factor. There is also some talk of Djimon Hounsou for The Tempest and Sophie Okonedo for Skin. 

BLACK FILM HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

African-Americans and Oscars did not exactly go hand in hand. Before the turn of the century, out of sixteen overall nominations, only one African-American had ever been awarded the Academy’s highest acting award. Sidney Poiter took it home in 1963 for Lillies Of The Field. However, when the 74th Academy Awards rolled around in 2001, blacks remained hopeful. For the first time ever, between Best Actor and Best Actress, three blacks were nominated and everyone was sure either Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, or Will Smith would be leaving with a statuette. Not only did we get one, but we got two. Denzel Washington won Best Actor for his role in Training Day and Halle Berry became the first black Best Actress winner for her role in Monster’s Ball. The wins grouped with the Sidney Poiter’s Lifetime Achievement Award had people dubbing the show The Bloscars. In an odd turn of events, after Halle’s win, Lee Daneils also became the first black to solely produce an Academy Award winning film. Also, Washington became the first black actor to win two Oscars, having won Best Supporting previously for his role in Glory.

Watch Medley of Bloscar Wins

CONTROVERSY:
With so many firsts, many felt Hollywood was sending a clear signal about racial equality in America, however the night was not without controversy.

Halle’s and Denzel’s wins were dubbed bittersweet for African-Americans. It was great they broke the glass ceiling, but their respective roles did little to break old racial stereotypes. Washington, known for playing acceptable, heroic roles, was also nominated for playing Malcolm X in Spike Lee’s epic, and Rubin Carter in The Hurricane. However, he finally won  for playing a dangerous, crooked cop.



Berry’s win was an even worse firestorm. Berry's role was the wife of a criminal, used sex to solace herself after her husband’s execution, and was a mother of questionable competence (her mordibly obese son ends up dying too). Berry also had an intense, graphic, and nude sex scene with a white racist in Billy Bob Thorton. With Berry being mulatto, the scene brought up past racial stereotypes as mulattos being oversexualized. Black women had been snubbed for decades, and the big win finally came for portraying a black woman with animalistic qualities.

Even Angela Bassett had harsh words about the role (in which she was previously offered): 

"I wasn't going to be a prostitute on film. I couldn't do that because it's such a stereotype about black women and sexuality. Film is forever. It's about putting something out there you can be proud of 10 years later. I mean, Meryl Streep won Oscars without all that."

Halle Berry Sex Scene - For more funny videos, click here

Many remembered Hattie McDaniel winning Best Supporting Actress for playing the stereotype of Mammy and felt the Academy still had a long way to go in honoring Black Actresses. Since 2001, Jamie Foxx and Forrest Whitaker have gone on to win the prestigious Best Actor award. To this day, Berry still remains the only black female to win Best Actress, and the last to be nominated. Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett have also competed for the Best Actress Award.

OSCAR PREDICTIONS

I love Slumdog Millionaire, but unlike everyone else I'm not predicting a sweep. I think Slumdog is vulnerable in the sound categories, but everything else should and will go to Slumdog. 

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Best Actress: Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black (Milk)

Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)

Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire)

Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt & Victor J. Zolfo (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Costume Design: Michael O' Connor (The Ducheess)

Editing: Chris Dickens (Slumdog Millionaire)

Foreign Film: The Class (from France)

Score: A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)

Song: "Jai Ho" (Slumdog Millionaire)

Sound Mixing: Lora Hirschberg, Garry Rizzo & Ed Novick (The Dark Knight)

Sound Editing: Richard King (The Dark Knight)

Visual Effects: Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, & Craig Barron (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Make-Up: Greg Cannon (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Animated: WALL-E

Animated Short: Presto

Documentary Short: Smile Pinki

Documentary Feature: Man On Wire

Live Action Short: Toyland

I also agree with most of these picks except for a few. I think Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) should win Best Actress, Viola Davis (Doubt) should win Best Supporting Actress, and that Andrew Statton should win best original Screenplay for WALL-E.

TALLY'S

Slumdog Millionaire (7)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (3)

The Dark Knight (3)

WALL-E (1) or Pixar (2)

Milk (1)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (1)

The Wrestler (1)

The Reader (1)

The Duchess (1)

TARAJI P. HENSON VS. VIOLA DAVIS

  VS.  

In this year's Oscars there are two blacks up for awards. Taraj P. Henson for her role as Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Viola Davis for her role as Mrs. Miller in Doubt. They're both up for Best Supporting Actress which means at best we can only get one. Taraj P. Henson is a fan favorite, haven starred in black films such as John Singleton's Baby Boy and Kasi Lemmon's Talk to Me. Unfortunately, I have to root for Viola Davis. Not only is she a former Tony winner, but she holds her own against Meryl Streep in a movie full of supreme actor starpower. Basically she's our only hope to take down Penelope Cruz. Check out the clips below and tell me what you think.