Crime Fiction Dossier

Oscar Predictions

I used to be famous for my Oscar Prognostications -- I once won a newspaper contest 3 years running. I don't pay as much attention to the competition as I used to, but in case you need some picks, here ya go:

BEST PICTURE
No Country for Old Men

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie, Away from Her

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ruby Dee, American Gangster

BEST DIRECTOR
The Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody, Juno

BONUS PREDICTION
Host Jon Stewart will do a better job than Ellen DeGeneres (Carrot Top could do better than she did), but he'll still pale in comparison to Billy Crystal and Steve Martin.

2/25 Edit:

Six out of eight right -- not too shabby! The ones I missed were Best Actress (Winner: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose -- never heard of her or the film) and Best Supporting Actress (Winner: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton -- I had originally picked her before I changed it to Ruby Dee. I thought Dee would get the sentimental vote, but apparently not. Cruel, unsentimental Academy voters!)

Zodiac

Mystery author Megan Abbott has a wonderful essay on David Fincher's film Zodiac over on The Rap Sheet. I read it last night and was blown away by her insightful analysis. I enjoyed the film a lot, although I also found it frustrating. Having grown up in Northern California during the 1970s, the Zodiac Killer was something everybody knew about. Watching the film, I was fascinated to see the case (and its time and place) brought back to life -- and I kept hoping that someone the filmmakers had found an answer to the mystery. But, of course, they didn't. It takes balls to make a police procedural where the bad guy isn't caught and justice isn't served. But the makers of Zodiac did it, with excellent results.

Roy Scheider, R.I.P.

You've probably heard already that Roy Scheider, perhaps most memorable as the police chief in Jaws, has died. I always enjoyed Scheider's performances -- he was one of those actors who'd pop up in an otherwise lousy movie and make it worth watching for a while.

I wanted to remark on his passing because Scheider appeared in two of the best crime films of the 1970s: The French Connection and Marathon Man. The latter, based on William Goldman's great thriller, is a particular favorite of mine.

Scheider usually supported the star, seldom taking a solo turn in the spotlight. But few people did it better than him. He'll be missed.

Speaking of "The Da Vinci Code"

Yesterday I made an off-hand reference to The Da Vinci Code, which I never read. (Although I did listen to it on audiobook, on the way up to Toronto for Bouchercon 2004. To be honest, I don't really remember anything about the story.)

Today we watched the Ron Howard film on DVD. I wasn't expecting a whole lot from it, but it was actually a well-done and entertaining film. Tom Hanks was his usual appealing, solid self, and the plot was more clever and interesting that I anticipated.

The female lead was miscast, but it's not much of a role in the first place, so it hardly matters. It's also a little long for a thriller, but there was a lot of material in the book that Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman were trying to keep, so that's understandable.

Watching the film didn't exactly make me want to run out and buy the book, but I must say that it made for an enjoyable 2.5 hours.