The Oscars According to Alma
Alma Mater offers her Oscar picks, with help from some flesh-and-blood students
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It’s definitely a tough race, though there aren’t as many Columbia connections as there have been in years past. First, there’s The Departed — a solid, entertaining, and sharply-written story that brings us back to the mean streets of Martin Scorsese. And, of course, I hold a soft spot for the best film of the summer, Little Miss Sunshine and its adorable, Oscar-nominated star, Abigail Breslin — I’m still holding out hope to add her to my list of former child-star students in 2014. However, after much consideration, I have to go with Babel, though its large cast certainly gave it an advantage. In fact, there are two roundabout cases to make for this pick: Brad Pitt, one of the film’s many co-stars, was also in Fight Club with Edward Norton, who appeared in Everyone Says I Love You, which was filmed on the Columbia campus. Not enough for you? There’s more: the director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, received a special thanks from Brokeback Mountain, produced by Focus Features (Columbia professor James Schamus is its co-president). All right, so it’s a bit of a stretch, but the movie is so excellent that it hardly matters.
—Michelle Rejwan
The choice is simple: this year, it’s Marty, Marty, Marty. Along with the indomitable Woody Allen, Scorsese is the greatest director ever to call New York home. While I could allow myself to become angry that these two Big Apple auteurs have recently found inspiration far away from home, I’m just glad they’re both doing brilliant work again after making several films that did not reach the stratospheric heights of their average fare. Rather than fixate on The Departed‘s Boston setting, I choose instead to remember the New York films that should have earned Scorsese multiple Oscars. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas, three classic New York pieces that were all unfairly snubbed by the Academy Awards. I’d like to throw into that mix Scorsese’s highly underrated mid-1980s flick The King of Comedy, a New York-based movie that looks incredibly prescient in today’s age of Anna Nicole and American Idol. Here’s hoping that the master of New York cinema doesn’t lose to an apprentice again.
—Jesse Horwitz
At the Golden Globes, Meryl Streep, who portrayed Miranda Presley in The Devil Wears Prada, finished her acceptance speech with her character’s biting line, “That’s all.” Well, “that’s all” also refers to the fact that it’s extremely obvious that Streep deserves the Oscar for Best Actress. Though this category is loaded with talent, she was absolutely fabulous as the editor of the fictitious Runway magazine. Through her poise and grace, she transformed the ultimate villain into one of the most appealing and interesting characters of 2006. And besides, with the real Vogue‘s headquarters in Times Square, I can’t help but thinking of all my Columbians who work as unpaid Condé Nast interns. Think of how satisfying it will feel for them to know that the sacrifices they make to work at the real-life Runway magazine are appreciated by the Academy.
—Susan Cohen
It’s a good year for college-aged straight girls and gay guys, with two nominees harking back to past loves that many of them undoubtedly shared. I’d be hard-pressed to find a floor on any campus dorm that doesn’t own a copy of The Notebook and much of that is due to Ryan Gosling — nominated this year for his work in Half-Nelson. He plays a drug-addicted junior high school teacher, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t still build you a house with his bare hands. He faces stiff competition though, with Leonardo diCaprio offering an impressive, gritty performance in The Departed. It’s a far cry from his days charming Kate Winslet in Titanic, but his days as a heart-throb aren’t totally eclipsed by his serious acting. Even though they could both be flattened by Forest Whitaker’s steamrolling path to the Oscars, it’s not that important — because no matter who wins, both of these boys seem to have proven that they’re all grown up.
—Emily Rauber
My support goes to Cate Blanchett for her role as Sheba Hart in Notes On A Scandal — which is based on a book written by Zoë Heller, a novelist who studied here at Columbia. It’s as simple as that, really. Though, I secretly hope the Academy recognizes Adriana Barraza for her heart-wrenching and fabulous performance in Babel. Let’s face it, though — the real shoe-in is Jennifer Hudson for her part in the Broadway-based musical Dreamgirls. Yes, she has a mind-blowing, phenomenal voice that deserves a standing ovation. But it’s difficult to compare a stellar vocal performance in the same category as acting-heavyweight Blanchett or the courageous parts in Babel acted by Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi. But, I have to stay true to my connections on the Hudson shore, and cross my fingers for an envelope with Blanchett’s name inside.
—M.R.
I’m torn between three former New York residents: namely Eddie Murphy, Alan Arkin, and Mark Wahlberg. I know, I know, Wahlberg was born in Boston, Massachusetts — but for several months in the early 1990s, he towered over Times Square in his Calvin Klein’s, making his residence in New York more memorable than either Murphy’s or Arkin’s. Although Murphy was born and raised in Brooklyn, I’ll always think of him as a Beverly Hills Cop, and am still trying to forget about his Harlem Nights. And, as for Arkin, although he’s an appealing sentimental nominee, he’s not my Little Miss Sunshine; I thought he was outshone by Abigail Breslin. Still, I wish that Long Island native and frequent Saturday Night Live host Alec Baldwin had been nominated for his work in The Departed. Like any good New Yorker, the man knows his way around an expletive.
—J.H.