Radar

Hollywood Shuffle
Oscar Predictions, Using Numbers, Not Just Our GI Track

oscar.jpg
MAN OF MYSTERY Oscar (Photo: Getty Images)
It's been a rough, strike-ridden few months for Hollywood, so expect Sunday's Oscars to play out like an awkward family dinner where everyone's just trying to pretend that all is A-okay, even though little Juno is obviously knocked up.

Sure, Jon Stewart will acknowledge the awkwardness throughout, and mine it for humor, but mostly everyone will lay low, pass the gravy, hand out the trophies and get out alive. The only raging debate is No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood, and really they're both movies about dudes (bad ones) with similar tones (dark, intense) and some of the same players (uber producer Scott Rudin produced No Country and exec-produced There Will Be Blood, meaning he'd only get the trophy if the first one wins, but wouldn't be too bummed if Blood took it). George Clooney is calling himself the "Hillary Clinton" of this year's awards, and he's mid-backlash, so expect him to stay off the stage.

But remember through it all: The Oscars are as much about the strength of the marketing and publicity campaigns as they are about the strengths of the films themselves. With that in mind, Radar came up with a super scientific means of measuring this: Google, Lexis, and Technorati search result numbers (nominee+movie title+oscar+win in search field). Pseudo scientific picks after the jump.

Best Picture
Atonement
Google: 529,000 results
LexisNexis: 691 results
Technorati: 385 results

Juno
Google: 759,000
LexisNexis: 529
Technorati: 476

Michael Clayton
Google: 2,300,000
LexisNexis: 480
Technorati: 391

No Country for Old Men
Google: 2,610,000
LexisNexis: 661
Technorati: 1,063

*There Will Be Blood
Google: 3,400,000
LexisNexis: 985
Technorati: 1,185

Breaking it down: The buzz around tinsel town and the momentum's on No Country for Old Men, but our super scientific methods predict There Will Be Blood will score a not-so surprising upset.

Best Director
Ethan and Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men)
Google: 558,000 results
LexisNexis: 343
Technorati: 166

*Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
Google: 681,000
LexisNexis: 408
Technorati: 261

Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Google: 211,000
LexisNexis: 327
Technorati: 181

Jason Reitman (Juno)
Google: 493,000
LexisNexis: 230
Technorati: 98

Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton)
Google: 513,000
LexisNexis: 209
Technorati: 109

Breaking it down: Same deal here. The logical bet is on the Coens, who just won the DGA award and have a larger body of work for the Academy to do their "Best Director is actually a lifetime achievement award" thing, but our methods foresee P.T. swooping in with the upset.

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)
Google: 557,000
LexisNexis: 340
Technorati: 158

Ellen Page (Juno)
Google: 833,000
LexisNexis: 368
Technorati: 170

*Julie Christie (Away from Her)
Google: 736,000
LexisNexis: 737
Technorati: 233

Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
Google: 487,000
LexisNexis: 485
Technorati: 189

Laura Linney (The Savages)
Google: 303,000
LexisNexis: 153
Technorati: 81

Breaking it down: Cotillard peaked too early, she's French, and people liked her performance but were less enthused about the film. Ellen Page's performance has garnered her tons of attention, but she's young, and you know, has a really bright future ahead of her. The campaign for Julie Christie has been strong, brought to you by the Lionsgate masterminds who got Crash the big prize. And, she's an older dame in a small but praised movie the Academy will want to reward.

Best Actor
*Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
Google: 1,040,000
LexisNexis: 858
Technorati: 295

George Clooney (Michael Clayton)
Google: 608,000
LexisNexis: 553
Technorati: 308

Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
Google: 275,000
LexisNexis: 506
Technorati: 264

Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah)
Google: 285,000
LexisNexis: 353
Technorati: 172

Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises)
Google: 336,000
LexisNexis: 362
Technorati: 119

Breaking it down: In case you hadn't heard, people are pretty into Daniel Day-Lewis's performance. There are hints at a backlash lurking in the shadows, but it's too little, too late to effect this race.

Best Supporting Actress
Ruby Dee (American Gangster)
Google: 273,000
LexisNexis: 129
Technorati: 120

Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)
Google: 286,000
LexisNexis: 919
Technorati: 146

Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
Google: 630,000
LexisNexis: 182
Technorati: 153

Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)
Google: 736,000
LexisNexis: 148
Technorati: 199

*Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)
Google: 623,000
LexisNexis: 211
Technorati: 117

Breaking it down: This category is the most unpredictable of the major ones this year, and our numbers aren't really helpful here. Though Cate Blanchett's always an Academy fave, she's nominated in two categories and likely to cancel herself out. The awards campaign ad for the creepy little girl from Atonement was just a little picture of her eyes alongside Keira and James looking hot, not really bringing out Ronan herself. Ryan could sweep in for the upset, but you know, she's a newcomer who should feel honored just to be nominated. That leaves it to Dee who has age and Civil Rights cred on her side, and Swinton, who has arty cache, a bigger movie, and slightly (but not much) more time onscreen. We're going with Swinton, but don't bet the good booze on this one.

Best Supporting Actor
*Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
Google: 894,000
LexisNexis: 230
Technorati: 250

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War)
Google: 355,000
LexisNexis: 91
Technorati: 120

Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
Google: 208,000
LexisNexis: 84
Technorati: 137

Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)
Google: 259,000
LexisNexis: 96
Technorati: 121

Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)
Google: 787,000
LexisNexis: 123
Technorati: 157

Breaking it down: Bardem's win is the surest thing of the night. The Academy loves a performance with a brave hairstyle, and he's handily not competing with Daniel Day-Lewis.

Adapted screenplay
Atonement, Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
Google: 261,000
LexisNexis: 149
Technorati: 120

*Away from Her, Written by Sarah Polley
Google: 652,000
LexisNexis: 991
Technorati: 127

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
Google: 169,000
LexisNexis: No documents found
Technorati: 103

No Country for Old Men, Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Google: 550,000
LexisNexis: 146
Technorati: 165

There Will Be Blood,Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
Google: 535,000
LexisNexis: 295
Technorati: 140

Breaking it down: We're going to go out on a sleep-deprived limb here, and follow our sketchy numbers and say Away from Her scores a surprise upset here. It's based on an Alice Munro story, which is sort of less obvious than Cormac McCarthy but a bit more accessible than an old Upton Sinclair novel.

Original screenplay
Juno, Written by Diablo Cody
Google: 464,000
LexisNexis: 162
Technorati: 158

Lars and the Real Girl, Written by Nancy Oliver
Google: 134,000
LexisNexis: No documents found
Technorati: 79

Michael Clayton, Written by Tony Gilroy
Google: 327,00
LexisNexis: 126
Technorati: 141

Ratatouille, Screenplay by Brad Bird, Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
Google: 18,000
LexisNexis: 86
Technorati: 123

The Savages, Written by Tamara Jenkins
Google: 338,000
LexisNexis: 129
Technorati: 69

Breaking it down: This will be where Juno gets its reward (and, it's made over $100 million at the box office, so it deserves a reward, preferably before the DVD release). And, this is an easy category for the Academy to reward an indie film it has no intention of really giving the big trophy to. (See Sideways.) Plus, Diablo Cody is a hot young thing with a number of projects in development, including a TV series with Spielberg, so it behooves Hollywood to really anoint her and give her stripper-cum-screenwriter Cinderella story a proper Hollywood ending.

By Hailey Eber   02/22/08 3:00 PM
Related: Google, Oscars, Pop
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