“The Blind Side”: Oscar Ride?
Now that “The Blind Side” has crossed the $200 million mark at the box office, it’s time to ask whether the film could get an Academy Award nom for Best Picture and whether its star, Sandra Bullock, could win Best Actress. To the first question I think we can answer a resounding yes; there are ten spots this year and, as LW prognosticator Rex Okpodu points out to me, “since ‘Nine’ has faded there’s definitely room for ‘Blind.'” As to the second question, the answer is a more qualified yes. Carey Mulligan (“An Education”) and Meryl Streep (“Julie and Julia”) have scooped up most of the critics’ awards, but some voters might think Carey is not quite ready to stand in the winners’ circle and other voters think, mistakenly, that Meryl already has five Oscars and doesn’t need another. (She has two.) More information will be forthcoming with the Golden Globes and SAG awards. If Bullock wins the GG, her chances increase. I don’t see her winning the SAG, but last year Meryl won the SAG (for “Doubt”) but lost the Oscar. That could happen again.
