Five of this year’s nominees for acting honors at the 79th annual Academy Awards account for about 370 films, including some of the shining moments of the cinema, like “Lawrence of Arabia,” “The Heart is the Lonely Hunter,” “The Deer Hunter,” “Sophie’s Choice,” “Beckett,” “A Room With a View,” “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “The Madness of King George,” “Some Mother’s Son” and “Wait Until Dark.” Nostalgia and a sense of respect will run rampant at this year’s Oscars, for it’s the year of great veterans. Among the actresses are three bona fide silver foxes, Meryl Streep, 57, with 53 films to her credit; Helen Mirren, 61, with 90 films, and Judi Dench, 72, with 64 films; and two men, Peter O’Toole, 74, with 80 films, and Alan Arkin, 72, with 84 films.
Some have already won Academy Awards in the past; a few remain Oscar-less, including the great Peter O’Toole. It was O’Toole’s misfortune to turn in the performance of a lifetime in “Lawrence of Arabia” in the same year that Gregory Peck offered his performance of a lifetime as Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” I’m sure Oscar voters figured Peck was the veteran that year and O’Toole was the rookie, and would have plenty of chances to win later.
Indeed, he’s had seven more chances, counting this year, but has yet to win. His only Oscar is an honorary one.
The veteran motif extends to the directing category, as well, where three men have accounted for about 100 films, including gems like “Raging Bull,” “Mystic River,” “Taxi Driver,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “My Beautiful Laundrette” and “The Grifters.” Martin Scorsese, nominated in the directing category this year for “The Departed,” is 64. Clint Eastwood, also nominated for director for “Letters from Iwo Jima,” is 76, and Britain’s Stephen Frears, nominated for director for “The Queen,” is 65.
These actors and filmmakers know what they’re doing, and have been doing it for a long time. Hopefully, this year’s young acting upstarts – 10-year-old Abigail Breslin, 26-year-old Ryan Gosling, 25-year-old Jennifer Hudson and 26-year-old Rinko Kikuchi – will be taking notes.
