Local filmmaker gives his picks for Oscar gold

Editor's note: As a filmmaker and a longtime student of movies, Steve Turner knows his stuff pretty well. So with the academy's big night approaching, we asked Turner for his expert opinion on who'll be taking home the big prize this Sunday in the Oscar's highest profile categories. Regardless, we're sure you'll disagree with plenty he has to say, since every movie fan has his or her Oscar favorites. Let the debate begin.

By Steve Turner

Do you remember who won what at last year's Oscars? Me neither; I had to bring it up on the Web. But that's OK. The Oscars are here again, and everyone from your little sister to your Uncle Joe has an opinion -- though, clearly, Uncle Joe has only seen one of the nominated films.

So with apologies to Ricky Bobby and Captain Jack, here are my picks for who should win, who probably will win, and the reasons why.

Supporting Actor

The departed

Can you imagine Kelly from the "Bad News Bears" picking up the Oscar?

Kelly, aka Jackie Earle Haley, could pull this out. He seemed to be the only actor nominated that did his job and acted: Creepy, intense and wholly believable. Everyone else on the list were versions of themselves -- maybe a new name, occupation, a different haircut, but the same quality, safe performance.

Who will win? Jackie just might do it if Eddie Murphy or Alan Arkin don't get the "you've paid your dues and it's time" vote.

Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett is the only well-known name nominated, but her performance won't get her an Oscar. The little girl, Abigail Breslin?

Being yanked into a moving VW Bus and her fearless dance number might be enough. The "Babel" girls, Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barraza, split their votes and, in the end, were just the means to an end for the director.

That leaves Jennifer Hudson for "Dreamgirls." Not only did she give the best performance, you might say she made the film.

Leading Actor

I didn't see Peter O'Toole in "Venus." I heard he did a wonderful job, but what's a person in the Midwest to do?

Anyway, Forest Whitaker in the "Last King of Scotland" was brilliant, as usual. He should win, and he should always win. Will he? DiCaprio might upset him, but he was nominated for his unbelievable performance in "Blood Diamond" and not his astounding breakthrough performance in "The Departed."

Crikey, how'd that happen?

Will Smith was rather good, but "The Pursuit of Happyness" was just too darn much. The drug-addicted Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson" was, well, an unrepentant drug addict.

So Forest Whitaker has it nailed unless DiCaprio gets a two-fer for his performance in "The Departed," clearly the best thing he's ever done.

Leading Actress

Penelope Cruz received a lot of buzz this year for "Volver," but not playing the cutesy hot chick is no reason for an award. And Kate Winslet for "Little Children" would be a shoe in if it were not for Helen Mirren.

The Queen

As I mentioned in the screenplay category, sometimes the script is not as good as the film. Helen Mirren took a decent script about the Queen of England just after the death of Princess Diana (just the thought of it makes me sleepy) and made it one of the best films of the year. She's got this thing wrapped up.

Best Director

Martin Scorsese has never won an Oscar. Let me tell you why: When Scorsese directs a film his fingerprints are on every frame. Flipping through the channels at home and catching a second or two of any of his films will give you enough information to know immediately it's a Scorsese film.

He has a style all his own that will have people watching his films for a long, long time. Sadly, for Scorsese, the Best Director award is usually given to the director who gets out of the way and best tells the story as it is written. Scorsese makes Scorsese films, while, say, Clint Eastwood just makes films.

Can you imagine Scorsese making "The Letters of Iwo Jima?" Some would say yes, but I bet everyone can imagine Eastwood making "The Departed." So there's the rub. "The Departed" is Scorsese's most hands-off film to date and might finally do the trick, but Eastwood did a phenomenal job with "The Letters from Iwo Jima," and it was in Japanese!

Best Picture

"Little Miss Sunshine" was not the best film of the year -- by a long shot -- and after "Borat" came out, it was no longer the funniest.

"The Queen" was nominated because of Helen Mirren's performance; she should get the Oscar, not the film.

"Babel" was Inarritu's really big attempt to teach us all about this thing called life -- I'll read a book, thanks.

So that leaves "The Departed" and "Letters from Iwo Jima." They couldn't be more different in subject matter, and the only thing they have in common is they were directed by two men at the height of their powers.

Which should be given the Oscar? I don't know. But I do know that five to 10 years from now I'll sit down and flip on my wall-sized flat screen and see that "The Departed" and "Letters from Iwo Jima" are both coming on next.

What will I do?

I'll turn to my wife and exclaim "Hey, 'The Departed' is coming on next. Let's make some popcorn!"

Steve Turner is a filmmaker living in Jackson. He has his own production company, Schrader Turner Films. For more information on Turner's company visit www.schraderturnerfilms.com.