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If you've been waiting for someone to check in with Patrick Patterson to see how he did with his Oscar picks, well, wait no more. We're about to get this done.
Last Friday, noted film enthusiast Patterson was asked by the Toronto Sun's Mark Daniell for his big five Academy Award picks: Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress. (I would have also asked him if he was as outraged as I was that Whiplash got moved to the Adapted Screenplay category. But I digress)
Anyway, let's see how he did:
Best Supporting Actress - Emma Stone, Birdman
Not a bad idea with this pick, given that Birdman ultimately won four awards (including Best Picture and Director), but Stone was considered a long shot at best behind Patricia Arquette's moving performance in Boyhood.
Best Supporting Actor - Robert Duvall, The Judge
Real swerve here. First: Patterson says that he thinks Duvall will win because of what he's read about The Judge which, I mean, I don't know. Most of the press around that movie was pretty bad. To make up for that weird pick, he goes with Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher. I support this decision even if he had no chance in the face of J.K. Simmons' yelling. He picked two wrong names here out of five. Things are not going well so far for 2Pat.
Best Actress - Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Controversy! Many thought Pike should have gotten more recognition for playing what turns out to be a very complicated part in Gone Girl. And, I'm still waiting for someone to tell me they've actually seen Julianne Moore, the winner, in Still Alice.
Best Actor - Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
I understand the logic here. I really do. American Sniper is the biggest hit of the Oscar season, by far. It's crept over the $300 million mark (one of only three movies to do that) and Bradley Cooper's performance had a lot to do with that popularity. But come on Patrick, help me out here. You knew it was down to Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne, right? No way was the Academy going to reward a performance based on a guy who may or may not have enjoyed killing people a tad too much.
Best Picture - The Imitation Game
We're fully off the rails now. Despite The Imitation Game's Audience Award win at the Toronto International Film Festival - an early indicator of Oscar success - the choice really came down to Birdman or Boyhood. All I can offer here is a shake of the head. Sorry, Pat.
So, if you're scoring at home, that's a big 0-for-5 on picks for Patterson. He did get a chance to shoutout an honourable mention to Selma, a film that should have won more than it did, but close doesn't count in this assessment.
Ultimately, what we've learned here today is that you should count on Patterson to hit three-pointers before you rely on him to win you your Oscar pool.
(If interested, here's my recap of the entire Oscar broadcast at the Same Page. I didn't make any picks, but it's safe to say I would have done better than Patterson.)