Old Dogs, New Tricks

Despite the WGA strike and the cancelled Golden Globes, it appears that the Oscars will go on as scheduled. They are moving forward with the announcement of the nominations on Tuesday, January 22. At some point in the next day or so, I will offer here my two cents (actually one cent due to recession) on who will be nominated in the major categories.

But, as I am thinking about this now, there is one thing you can always count on. Somewhere among the Best Supporting Actor nominees, there will be the name of that one grizzled veteran who finally gets a chance at the gold. It's usually somebody that's been working for years with little to show for it. Finally, his agent gets an epiphany and gets the actor cast in a supporting role that will ultimately be his career legacy. There's also the thought that the guy might be dying soon, so the Academy quickly springs into "hurry up" mode. Oddly enough, this practice is not employed so much on the Supporting Actress side, although Ruby Dee might get a nod this year for slapping Denzel Washington in "American Gangster." For that, I'd give her the Nobel Peace Prize. But, I digress...

When you go back over Oscar history, it's amazing how many of those old codgers I could find amongst the nominations. And I just looked at the past 40 years.

1968: Jack Albertson, a winner for "The Subject Was Roses." He used it as a catapault to playing straight man to a Puerto Rican kid on TV.

1969: Gig Young, a winner for "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Ultimately, he went out for groceries and then came home and shot himself. Obviously, Gristede's was out of yogurt.

1970: John Mills, a winner for "Ryan's Daughter." I think he played a deaf mute, which would come in handy on the awards telecast this year if the writers are still out.

1971: Ben Johnson, a winner for "The Last Picture Show." He had already amassed a ton of film roles, always playing the guy who was shooting Gene Autry right off his horse.

1972: Eddie Albert, a nominee for "The Heartbreak Kid." Forget "Green Acres." This guy was working in films as early as 1951.

1973: John Houseman, a winner for "The Paper Chase." He acted a little while longer, and wrapped up his career playing a driving school instructor in "The Naked Gun."

1974: Fred Astaire, a nominee for "The Towering Inferno." The classic "hurry up" move. Except it didn't work. And, the only footwork he exhibits in the movie is running from a burning elevator.

1975: George Burns, a winner for "The Sunshine Boys." Who knew the guy would live another 20 years?

1976: Jason Robards, a winner for "All The President's Men." In true Hollywood irony, they wanted to honor him for his long, illustrious career on the Broadway stage.

1977: Jason Robards, a winner for "Julia." Because they really, really wanted to honor him for his long, illustrious career on the Broadway stage.

1978: Richard Farnsworth, a nominee for "Comes A Horseman." Another one of those professional B western actors looking for one last round-up.

1979: Mickey Rooney, a nominee for "The Black Stallion. Andy Hardy Wants an Oscar.

1980: Jason Robards, a nominee for "Melvin and Howard." Because they really, really, really wanted to honor him for his long, illustrious career on the Broadway stage.

1981: John Gielgud, a winner for "Arthur." Because they really wanted to honor him for his long, illustrious career on the London stage.

1982: Robert Preston, a nominee for "Victor/Victoria." They were trying to right the 1962 "Music Man" wrong.

1983: Rip Torn, a nominee for "Cross Creek." Another stage actor needing to be recognized. They wanted to do it so badly that nobody heard of the movie.

1984: Pat Morita, a nominee for "The Karate Kid." He deserved something for selling Arnold's to Al Molinaro.

1985: Don Ameche, a winner for "Cocoon." Long overdue nomination for his invention of the telephone and the moustache.

1986: Michael Caine, a winner for "Hannah and her Sisters." They had stiffed him on the Best Actor prize for so long that they needed to re-purpose him.

1987: Sean Connery, a winner for "The Untouchables." It was an award for James Bond as much as this movie. And it's not like Roger Moore was going to be up for it anytime soon.

1988: Dean Stockwell, a nominee for "Married to the Mob." He was a kid actor in the 40s. He never really distinguished himself one way or the other. At the same time, he never ever stopped working.

1989: Marlon Brando, a nominee for "A Dry White Season." I am supposing that this was the last chance they would have to get him to come and pick up the other one.

1990: Bruce Davison, a nominee for "Longtime Companion." Another Dean Stockwell type who always had a pay check. A few years ago, I went to the memorial service of this actress from my church and he was there.

1991: Jack Palance, a winner for "City Slickers." The Academy was probably afraid NOT to give him one.

1992: David Paymer, a nominee for "Mr. Saturday Night." This guy, whose face is instantly recognizable, had appeared in every screen comedy made since 1983. Maybe they thought this nomination would finally make him go away.

1993: Pete Postlethwaite, a nominee for "In the Name of the Father." The Academy wanted to finally honor him for his long, illustrious career as an Irish bartender.

1994: Paul Scofield, a nominee for "Quiz Show." He had won originally years ago in the Best Actor category for "A Man For All Seasons" and he had bupkus for most of them since.

1996: Armin Mueller-Stahl, a nominee for "Shine." Must have been a weak year for old American actors. Perhaps they were all clamoring to get on "Seinfeld" that season.

1997: Burt Reynolds, a nominee for "Boogie Nights." Despite the fact that he didn't get Loni Anderson's vote.

1998: James Coburn, a winner for "Affliction." Because they knew he really had an affliction and that he would die soon. He did.

1999: Michael Caine, a winner for "The Cider House Rules." Lifetime Achievement Award: The Sequel.

2000: Albert Finney, a nominee for "Erin Brockovich." I remember when this came out. I was surprised by his performance. I was more surprised by the fact that he was still alive.

2001: Jon Voight, a nominee for "Ali." He was a young actor when I first started going to movies. Now, he's the old veteran. Good for him. Depressing for me.

2002: Paul Newman, a nominee for "Road to Perdition." Because he's always threatening to retire. You never know.

2003: All the nominees were young this year. There was a black drape covering the window of Nate N'Al's for the entire month of February.

2004: Alan Alda, a nominee for "The Aviator." After a long, long career, he is finally nominated for an O*S*C*A*R*.

2005: Another bad year for the old guard. On Oscar night, Nate N'Al's cuts the prices on pastrami sandwiches 25%.

2006: Alan Arkin, a winner for "Little Miss Sunshine." The quintessential Lifetime Achievement Oscar for a movie he is in about 20 minutes.

This year, there's another classic actor who will finally be nominated for an Oscar for the very first time. Hal Holbrook is a lock for his supporting role in the otherwise dreadfully overrated "Into The Wild." Hal doesn't show up until about 90 minutes into the movie, so you might want to wait till the DVD comes out and do a chapter search. This guy, who, for the longest time, thought he was Mark Twain, has been kicking around for close to 50 years. As much as I hated the movie, I hope he wins it. Because, as the Academy will always think,...

...you never know.

Dinner last night: Chorizo with pasta.