There has been much discussion of Kate Winslet's belt-and-braces desperation to secure an Oscar. Today, she's half succeeded - in the first stage, at least.
But while Winslet's back has been turned, a small gang of crazy-lookin' character actors have turned her endeavours to their own, gong-grabbing advantage.
Yep, there's a new, surefire Oscar nomination formula in town: play a creepy but sympathetic oddball in a Kate Winslet film, preferably one featuring suburban ennui and lots of kitchen-set sex.
Michael Shannon has just two scenes as Kathy Bates' fabulously off-message son in Revolutionary Road. But he completely steals the film, just as today he's stolen the glory, securing himself a best supporting actor nod, while everyone else involved, including Winslet, was left empty handed.
Had he, perhaps, been watching Little Children (2006), starring Kate as – you guessed it – a bored housewife in all-too-perfect small town America? That film failed to pay dividends for Winslet at awards time, but Jackie Earle Haley snuck off with a best supporting actor nomination for his role as a self-loathing paedophile who eventually (spoiler alert) castrates himself on a playground swing.
And, because two is a curio and three is a trend, let's not forget Geoffrey Rush as a muckily irrepressible Marquis De Sade in Quills (2004). Rush got nominated for almost everything going, including an Oscar, while Kate's innocent laundry maid Maddy was largely ignored.
Coincidence? Or something more sinister?
