Suspense surrounds Academy Awards

“THE ARTIST” cast mates Adria Tennor and Ken Davitian

LOS ANGELES –Meryl Streep or Viola Davis? George Clooney or Jean Dujardin? While “The Artist” appears to be the favorite to win best picture in the Academy Awards Sunday (Monday morning, Manila time), there’s a bit of suspense in the outcome of some of the categories.

Viola’s moving portrayal of a maid in 1960s Mississippi is predicted to bag her first Academy statuette.

But don’t count out Meryl just yet. Many argue that she has the more complex, challenging role – essaying Margaret Thatcher as she evolves from an aspiring politician to Britain’s first female prime minister to a frail lonely figure suffering from dementia.

Jean, as the charismatic silent film star whose career comes tumbling down with the advent of the talkies in “The Artist,” is favored to triumph at the Hollywood & Highland Center (no longer the Kodak Theatre as a result of Kodak’s bankruptcy proceedings).

OLIVER Tolentino with Maggie Grace wearing the Filipino designer’s salmon-hued dress made of piña. PHOTOS BY RUBEN NEPALES

But the French actor’s sprint to the stage might not happen. That is, if more Academy voters are swayed by George’s nuanced turn in “The Descendants” as a husband and father coping with a comatose wife and his discovery that she was cheating on him.

Oscar history

Octavia Spencer, the sassy maid in “The Help,” is expected to cap her sweep of the best supporting actress honors in this awards season with an Oscar in her hands on Sunday night. If both Viola and Octavia win, they will make Oscar history as the first African American actresses to win simultaneous best actress and best supporting actress awards.

Christopher Plummer, as a widower who comes out of the closet in his 70s in “Beginners,” is predicted to take home yet another best supporting actor trophy. He also dominated this field right from the start of the awards season.

In the best picture race, will it be “The Artist” or “Hugo”? We’ll be glad if either one wins. By coincidence, both are terrific odes to early cinema although there are some who grumble that “The Artist” is “too light” to be worthy of a best picture prize.

The competition between the two films carries over in the best director contest. “The Artist’s” Michel Hazanavicius is the odds-on-favorite to bag the Oscar, but Martin Scorsese’s handiwork in “Hugo” shows why he is one of the master filmmakers of our time.

VIOLA Davis: Moving portrayal in “The Help” AP

In the best foreign language film competition, we offer two words: “A Separation.” This superb Iranian film from writer and director Asghar Farhadi shows that when it comes to family and relationships, we’re in the same boat, whether you are in Tehran or Manhattan.

The winners in these and other categories will be announced by presenters which include Meryl, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Penelope Cruz, Michael Douglas, Tina Fey, Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz. We can’t wait to see what host Billy Crystal’s opening number will be like.

Pre-awards party

Ken Davitian, who plays a pawnbroker in “The Artist” but is best known as Azamat, the producer in “Borat,” was all pumped up for “The Artist’s” expected dominance of the Oscars when we talked to him last Wednesday evening.

He and Adria Tennor, who is the secretary of a studio mogul (John Goodman) in “The Artist,” were among the guests at the Global Green USA’s 9th annual pre-Oscars party at the Avalon in Hollywood.

In the fundraising event of Global Green—an environmental group which collaborates with Hollywood—Filipino designer Oliver Tolentino scored a coup anew when he was asked to show his eco-friendly fashion collection.

GEORGE Clooney takes a nuanced turn in “The Descendants.”

Tutay Maristela, Oliver’s muse, led models as they posed for pictures on the green carpet in gowns made of piña and other native fabrics.

Actresses Emmy Rossum and Maggie Grace also wore piña dresses by Oliver. The two actresses were kept busy being asked by the media on their dresses’ unique material, and both proudly credited Oliver for his elegant use of Philippine fabrics. The details on Emmy’s yellow dress were the standout images in photos posted by various wire photo agencies.

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