Thursday, March 26, 2009

Actress Psychic - Balloting Open

You can now enter round 3 of the infamous Actress Psychic contest. Guess the Best Actress Oscar nominees for the 2009 film year right now. How many can you guess this far in advance?



You have until Wednesday, April 1st at 12 NOON Pacific Standard Time to send in your ballot. Here's a cheat sheet list to help you pick your five possible shortlisters. Here's the details on how to enter. Read that carefully because there is a standard tiebreaker question, NEW bonus point questions and important rules.



Who will it be?
Which Oscar virgins: Jessica Biel? Emily Blunt? Alicja Bachleda-Curus? Abbie Cornish? Cameron Diaz? Romola Garai? Maggie Gyllenhaal? Sally Hawkins? Rachel McAdams? Carey Mulligan? Maya Rudolph? Audrey Tatou? Evan Rachel Wood?
Which previous nominees: Amy Adams? Brenda Blethyn? Kate Hudson? Catherine Keener? Keira Knightley? Michelle Pfeiffer? Natalie Portman?
Which past winners: Halle Berry? Jennifer Connelly? Penélope Cruz? Helen Mirren? Meryl Streep? Hilary Swank? Renée Zellweger?

P.S. I had a lot of requests to expand this contest to include Supporting Actress but I couldn't figure out a way to make it manageable since this many months in advance there are (literally) hundreds of possibilities because so many roles are supporting. Nevertheless, I hope to hold more contests this year once Awards Season hits so you'll have other chances. But this is the big fun one so please enter and spread the word to your Oscar fans who you'd love to trounce in this tough contest.

36 comments:

abstew said...

the first year i was in the top 20 and last year i was-god, only knows where.
i blame harvey weinstein.

Guy Lodge said...

OK, I'm doing this this year, though I'm damned if I have the slightest idea how to fill four of those slots. (One of them I feel fairly certain of -- but I ain't jinxing her by saying her name out loud.)

Sally Belle said...

Don't feel bad...the first year I was like in the top six and last year I was God knows where with you Abstew!

Anonymous said...

I've just entered... and my mom did too.

The firt year I ended up like with 16 points and last year I was better with 153 :) so I'm like the opposite of you Sally and abstew haha...

Sally Belle said...

Oh and also...Maggie Gyllenhaal does not have an amazing voice Nat, unless you are talking about her speaking voice! I actually am friends with the producer of that "singing" movie...forgot the name, and they went through all kinda tricks to make her sound better! I guess it worked, huh?

Can sing...Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Evan Rachel Wood and Amanda Seyfried.

Can't really sing without autotune and etc. Keira Knightley, Kirsten Dunst, Emily Blunt and Maggie Gyllenhaal!

I know, I'm such a buzz kill. ;)

adelutza said...

ha ha this is going to be so much fun :-) first time participant

FrenchGirl said...

charlize theron! no idea except her

Anonymous said...

It's "Alicja Bachleda-Curuś", not "Bakleda", actually. I haven't seen her role in "Trade" (which made her kind of recognizable in the US) but I'm surprised she made it this far - I thought her debut in Wajda's adaptation of polish classic "Pan Tadeusz" was completely dull. Anyway, I'd be happy to see any polish actress recognized so I hope the film is great.

Alex Constantin said...

I'm still unsure about my picks, it's MUCH HARDER than it was last year. but I'll participate, no doubt.

On other note:
go to youtube to see the TAKING WOODSTOCK TRAILER. Imelda looks funny! :D

Anonymous said...

Meryl Streep is winning this time. She is been nominated 15 times for god's sake, and only 2 wins, WTF?

NATHANIEL R said...

Sally... if that was all tricks they deserve an Oscar she sounds f***ing amazing in that movie. Like one of the best most emotive voices I've heard on an actress. And she has three songs.

Anonymous said...

This year is way harder to predict than the two previous: in 2007 by this time we had 2 favorites - Christie and Cottilard, and one of the Oscar-bait choices actually paid of (that would be Blanchett, for Elizabitch). Last year we had Sally Hawkins and Kristin Scott Thomas with buzz by this time around - and we all know Streep and Winslet - even if not for the movie we tought she would - would be on the mix.
What we have this year?
The best buzz so far is for Carey Mulligan (WHO????) and most of the perfomers short-listed dont look so good - is Streep really being nominated for a Nora Ephron or a Nancy Meyers movie? Michelle Pfeifer, the one I was sure made me fell shaky after the trailer of Cheri. And after a year without biopics (Angelina and Changeling were not a real biopic)will they be missing their biopics and go for more biopics than usual? - Swank, Watson, Connelly, Cornish, even Delpy with her Countess looks possible! (OK, maybe not Delpy, they wont go there!!)
Right now, I just like Sister Aloisius: I have so much doubt!!!!

Anonymous said...

I think Jennifer Connelly and her husband Paul Bettany both have shots at nominations...they are doing a Charles Darwin bipoic that's supposed to be very good...

Anonymous said...

This is my first time entering. I started to make really complicated charts that factored in some of the bonus point issues, such as who is likely to be on a cover or host SNL, but then realized I was getting a tad crazy. I'm just hoping to beat my husband in the rankings. He's filling out his list this weekend; I'm not letting him see my charts.

Sally Belle said...

Oh, so sorry to burst your bubble. But, in the immortal words of Lily Von Schtupp...it's true, it's true!

It's actually pretty amazing what they can do...even so far as to piece a song together note by note. It's like editing a movie.

Until you've seen an actor sing live...it's all suspect!

Glenn said...

I sent mine in. I am not confident in any of them really - I wasn't even going to put Pfeiffer down until I realised how unfamous the field was - but that's the problem with picking nominees a year in advance.

Isn't it funny though that we're all picking nominees a year out when most Academy members probably only choose who to put down five minutes before posting. grrr.

Anonymous said...

Oh Sally Belle, don't be such a party pooper. Her voice was amazing in Happy Endings. That's all I need to know.

adam k. said...

I don't remember being particularly impressed by Maggie's voice, other than having an "oh look, she can sing" moment. It was probably tricks. But I can see her having one of those technically imperfect but very emotive voices, even without much trickery.

And yeah, is it me, or is this contest MUCH harder this year?? Both of the last two years there were multiple choices that seemed (and turned out to be) sure things. Especially last year: easy gets in Streep and Jolie, Winslet in one of her films was a given, and Hathaway and Hawkins already had some major buzz.

This year... nothing. I share Glenn's annoyance with Cherí trailer's buzzkill.

And Nat, re: singing, PLEASE watch Across the Universe. I know you hate jukebox musicals, but it's much better than Mamma Mia!, and EVR is amazing. Worth seeing just or her voice.

adam k. said...

Grr. I had several typos in that last post.

Anonymous said...

Eek! This is exciting! I'm going to enter for the first time this year, just hope my instincts are sharp.

Anonymous said...

Eek! This is exciting! I'm going to enter for the first time this year, just hope my instincts are sharp.

Fernando Moss said...

Well, I think that the fact that this year is harder to predict will make it WAAAAY more interesting. At least there won't be a lot of exact same lineups from the contestants (or I hop so). Maybe the one who are more likely to appear repeateadly are Pfeiffer, Streep (for 2 films) and Mulligan but I think a lot of people are feeling NOT-TO-SURE about those 3.

NATHANIEL R said...

I will say that so far it's interesting to me who is leading and who is not inspiring guesses. One of the people I feel surest about isn't doing well.

I've only calculated one third of the entries thus far but so far only 33 women have been mentioned with 5 clear leaders among them.

Anonymous said...

Cool! btw you should response to us to let us know you received our predictions or put a list of the ones that have already entered.

Gianni said...

And what about Eva Green in Cracks? I searched but she isn't on the list :(

She's a fantastic actress and the role seems rather challenging!

Christine said...

My mind is officially boggled about how you are calculating all these nominations, with bonus categories. It's like the Excel-sheet from hell.

Bernardo said...

I like the idea of Mirren (The Tempest) and Swank (Amelia).

Cornish, Kebede, Pfeiffer, Rudolph and Streep.

I'm thinking Kebede is a nice idea because it's quite original. However, that's the same exact thing I thought when I went Portman instead of Hathaway last year... If I'd chosen Hathaway I would've tied with the first place...

Anonymous said...

Emma Caulfield - TiMER

Abbie Cornish - Bright Star

Sally Hawkins - Happy-They-Didn't-Snub-Me-Again

Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Natalie Portman - 17 Photos of Isabel

Fernando Moss said...

Anon 1:58: Are those really your choices?

I mean... as much as I woul LOOOOVE to see Caulfield score an Oscar nod... I don't think it'll happen for Timer, a really really tiney film. (will it even be released aside from Tribeca?)

And that lineup sound more GG Comedy/Musical than Oscar nominees.

NATHANIEL R said...

Christine my mind is boggled too. I am insane.

Wayne B. said...

I wonder if "Betty Anne Waters" will get released in 2009, just in case "Amelia" bombs. I remember back in early (Jan-Jun) 2004 when "Vanity Fair" seemed like it was going to be Reese Witherspoon's Oscar vehicle.

Anonymous said...

Just sent in my predictions...
last year we almost knew like who 3 of the nominees would be
this year I can even guarantee one of the five I've picked!

That is Whack!

Fernando Moss said...

But is HILARY SWANK... remeber that she (according to Nathaniel) has a pact with the devil... maybe that includes a 3noms/3wins for her... or possibly more.

Rob said...

Emily Watson, Within the Whirlwind.

I'm hopin', wishin', prayin' for some Emily lovin.

The pitch is total oscar bait. However I have no idea if it even has a distributor.

Cheri said...

2009 will be the year for Meryl Streep! She is the greatest and way overdue! She can play any part! What a class act!

Anonymous said...

Pfeiffer, Swank, Cruz, Streep and Portman will