Why Sandra Bullock Is So Winning the Oscar
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Remember way back at the beginning of Oscar season (circa last September) when everyone was predicting that precocious pixie Carey Mulligan would be Oscar’s latest ingenue princess for her turn as a precocious-pixie high school student involved with an older man in An Education?
Then critical opinion slowly turned in Meryl Streep’s favor, and she became a sure thing to finally pick up her third statue from the Academy for impersonating Julia Child (or as she says, our idea of Julia Child) in Julie & Julia.
Suddenly, there’s no stopping Sandra Bullock. Previously a big box-office star with zero Oscar potential (sort of like Meg Ryan before her), thanks to The Blind Side, Bullock has become the woman most likely to ruin Mulligan’s and Streep’s night and make the trip to the podium on March 7 to accept the prize for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.
Here’s why:
She’s humble (or shrewdly modest). Bullock has never really seemed to care about silly things like awards and industry accolades. And now that she’s picking up every one in sight, she’s still insisting that her Oscar chances are nil. “I’m so not winning an Oscar,” she recently said at the the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where she received yet another one of those accolades, the American Riviera Award for her influence on film. “Nine times out of ten, I always pick who’s going to win. And I already know who’s going to win. I’m not going to say, but nine times out of ten, I’m right.” Just in case, Sandy, prep your speech. This is going to be a one-in-10 off year.
She can laugh at herself. Most A-list stars wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere near the Razzie Awards. (Though Halle Berry did drop by several years back to pick up her Worst Actress prize for Catwoman.) This year, Bullock is nominated for Best Actress for All About Steve, her 2009 critically savaged comedy that was sandwiched between The Proposal and The Blind Side. She’s already asked the Razzie organizers to save her a seat. If they bestow the honor upon her, she wouldn’t miss it for the world.
She’s generous (and not afraid to let everyone know it). Not that Bullock wouldn’t have donated money to the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti anyway (and her $15 million-per-film salary will quickly recover the expense), but giving $1 million is not the sort of thing that Oscar can just ignore.
She’s a great kisser. Oscar may feel a little guilty about making Meryl Streep wait another year for Oscar No. 3, but after Streep and Bullock’s ice-breaking onstage kiss at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, it won’t sting so much for Streep this year when she once again has to put on her good-loser face. Who knows? Maybe Bullock will blow her a kiss from the podium or call her onstage for an encore. Who wouldn’t stay up past midnight for that?
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OMG…I thought I had read it all in the last week but this really takes the cake…First “Sandra can laugh at herself”…I think you’re mistaking everyone else laughing AT her because of the absurdity of her nomination. Come on….Sandra Bullock an Oscar winner???? Why not give her an Oscar for the masterpiece “Speed 2″ while we’re at it…after all, it’s the same qualily as The Queen or Sophie’s Choice, right?
Now, let’s take the next two together….She’s generous (and not afraid to let everyone know it) and She’s humble (or shrewdly modest)….Going on national television and announcing to the world that “I’ve given one million dollars blah blah blah….you really think that’s humility…sounds like pride to me, and pride goeth before a fall….how many dozens of celebrities have given millions of dollars and you will never know about it because they don’t care if you know or not and they don’t want a pat on the back (LOOK WHAT I DID!)….they just want to help….that’s true humility…now…She’s a great kisser….It must feel really good for someone in Bullock’s position to be riding the coat tails of a legend….how the hell else would she be getting all of this attention….do you really think someone of say Helen Mirren or even Kate Winslet’s class would have done such a thing…no…in fact last year Winslet was nothing but respectful of Meryl Streep…as much as I don’t care for Kate Winslet, at least she didn’t pull some silly publicity stunt and fall to the white trash level of Bullock.
So why don’t you tell me how you really feel! Hahaha! Obviously, my sarcasm and the tongue-in-cheek spirit in which I wrote this post was lost on you. Will Sandra Bullock win the Oscar? Definitely. Does she deserve to? I think anyone who has seen the other four nominated performances know the answer to that one.
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