Oscars wrap-up: Film professor aces the test

Friday, March 12, 2010

In submitting his picks for the 82nd annual Academy Awards, Mark Rhoda actually said he would prefer for his Oscar picks not to come true.

Last year the St. Mary's College film professor correctly predicted the winners in six out of seven major categories. "You know, I may have done well last year with predictions," he wrote in an e-mail. "I really hope I'm wrong this year."

Rhoda, meanwhile, made it clear that his predictions were just that. In other words, these were not the people or films he hoped would win. Were it up to him, Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" would've been dubbed best picture; the "incomparable" Meryl Streep would've won for best actress; and Maggie Gyllenhaal's role in "Crazy Heart" would've been good for best supporting actress.

Rhoda, though, sort of aced it: This year he went seven for seven, thereby besting the other film experts and film buffs who weighed in for Southern Maryland Weekend's annual Oscars edition, which was published March 5.

There were few surprises at this year's Academy Awards, as it happens, and it appears that, with the exception of best picture, the results were fairly easy to predict. Angela Breck, a film buff and editor in chief of the Maryland Independent, went five for seven. Jeffrey Lyles, a film critic for the Gazettes, went six for seven, and so did Matt DeGroot, a writer for poptimal.com.

What separated Rhoda from the competition? "The Hurt Locker" — or was it "Avatar?"

It depends on how you look at it, but Rhoda did choose "The Hurt Locker" for best picture whereas Breck and DeGroot (you can't blame them) chose "Avatar." (It was, after all, the highest grossing film of all time … though that figure does not consider things like the changes in ticket prices.) Lyles, on the other hand, chose "Up in the Air" for best picture.

It kind of makes you wonder: Is Mark Rhoda the Oscar Oracle?