The ‘Music Man’ Awards Go To…

With the final Oscar ceremony just a few hours away these are my ‘Music Man’ awards based on the films I have seen this year.

Early last month I suggested that my tip for a host of Oscar awards went to The Queen, with Helen Mirren playing the part of Queen Elizabeth I coping with the events following the death of Diana. Nothing has altered my conviction that Helen Mirren deserves an Oscar for her superb playing of the Queen, but other films I have seen get my awards in other categories.

For example, Dreamgirls, the story of the rise to fame of a trio of ‘Supremes-like’ singers in the 1960’s, was a film I thoroughly enjoyed on the strength of the songs and the depiction of the American music scene in the 1960’s and early 70’s. Particularly enjoyable were the performances of Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson, and I would go for those two as my nominations for ‘best supporting’ actor and actress. My slight ‘wobble’ here is that Alan Arkin almost pips Eddie Murphy in the best supporting actor’ category with his performance as the grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine. The only reason I have chosen Murphy over Arkin in this category is the bizarre one that I have only seen Little Miss Sunshine on DVD and not on the big screen!

It is also from Dreamgirls that I take my nomination for ‘best original song’ and that is ‘Listen’, sung powerfully by Jennifer Hudson.

One film I have enjoyed because it was such a good story and strongly developed was The Departed. This film wins ‘best picture’ in my awards and Martin Scorsese takes ‘best director’. The award for Scorsese of ‘best director’ is slightly due to the strength of his previous work, in other words because he deserves it, but there are plenty of times in the past where awards have been given on that basis so why not now.

Finally, my last award is for ‘best actor’ and this goes to Leonardo DiCaprio for his performance in Blood Diamond. In a way this is also because I enjoyed The Departed, so those are two strong performances DiCaprio has put in this year, and on that basis I would reward him with ‘best actor’. It is also given to him because I have not seen the film The Last King Of Scotland, which my friends tell me would make me change my mind about best actor. But I will stick with these selections in my personal awards.

When I wake up on Monday morning and listen to the news on Radio 4 it will be interesting to see how I have done in comparison with the real ‘Oscars’.