By Paul Sheehan at GoldDerby.com

HollywoodNews.com: As the saying goes, “Win on Saturday, lose on Sunday.” This axiom refers to the less-than-impressive track record of Indie Spirit winners repeating at the Academy Awards. Of the 48 Indie Spirit acting champs to contend the following day at the Oscars, only 10 of them have won there as well.

Last year, two of the four acting champs celebrated double victories — Best Actor Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”) and Supporting Actress Mo’Nique (“Precious”). Spirit winner Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious”) lost the Best Actress Oscar to Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”) while Woody Harrelson was defeated by Christoph Waltz (“Inglorious Basterds”). Two years ago, just one of the three Spirit winners in the running at the Oscars prevailed — Supporting Actress champ Penelope Cruz (“Vicky Christina Barcelona”). Mickey Rourke (“The Wrestler”) was edged out of Best Actor by Sean Penn (“Milk”) while Melissa Leo (“Frozen River”) lost Best Actress to Kate Winslet (“The Reader”). Spirits supporting actor winner James Franco (“Milk”) was not nominated at the Oscars.

The trend of the Spirits winner also contending at the Oscars dates back to the first Indies in 1985 when Geraldine Page (“The Trip to Bountiful”) won Best Actress with both groups. Since then, Frances McDormand (“Fargo,” 1996), Hilary Swank (“Boys Don’t Cry,” 1999), and Charlize Theron (“Monster,” 2003) have repeated in this race. The 11 Spirit Best Actress winners who lost at the Oscars were:

1987: Sally Kirkland (“Anna”) lost to Cher (“Moonstruck”);
1990: Angelica Huston (“The Grifters”) lost to Kathy Bates (“Misery”);
1995: Elisabeth Shue (“Leaving Las Vegas”) lost to Susan Sarandon (“Dead Man Walking”);
1997: Julie Christie (“Afterglow”) lost to Helen Hunt (“As Good As It Gets”);
2000: Ellen Burstyn (“Requiem for a Dream”) lost to Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”);
2001: Sissy Spacek (“In the Bedroom”) lost to Halle Berry (“Monster’s Ball”);
2002: Julianne Moore (“Far From Heaven”) lost to Nicole Kidman (“The Hours”);
2004: Catalina Sandino Moreno (“Maria Full of Grace”) lost to Hilary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby”);
2005: Felicity Huffman (“Transamerica”) lost to Reese Witherspoon (“Walk the Line”);
2007: Ellen Page (“Juno”) lost to Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”); and
2009: Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious”) lost to Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”).
Of the 15 Spirit Best Actor champs to compete at the Oscars only two — Bridges and Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote,” 2005) — prevailed there as well. The Spirit winners who were Oscar losers were:
1986: James Woods (“Salvador”) lost to Paul Newman (“The Color of Money”)
1988: Edward James Olmos (“Stand and Deliver”) lost to Dustin Hoffman (“Rain Man”);
1994: Samuel L. Jackson (“Pulp Fiction”) lost supporting Oscar to Martin Landau (“Ed Wood”);
1995: Sean Penn (“Dead Man Walking”) lost to Nicolas Cage (“Leaving Las Vegas”);
1996: William H. Macy (“Fargo”) lost supporting Oscar to Cuba Gooding, Jr. (“Jerry Maguire”);
1997: Robert Duvall (“The Apostle”) lost to Jack Nicholson (“As Good As It Gets”);
1998: Ian McKellen (“Gods and Monsters”) lost to Robert Benigni (“Life is Beautiful”);
1999: Richard Farnsworth (“The Straight Story”) lost to Kevin Spacey (“American Beauty”);
2000: Javier Bardem (“Before Night Falls”) lost to Russell Crowe (Gladiator”);
2001: Tom Wilkinson (“In the Bedroom”) lost to Denzel Washington (“Training Day”);
2003: Bill Murray (“Lost in Translation”) lost to Sean Penn (“Mystic River”);
2006: Ryan Gosling (“Half Nelson”) lost to Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland”)
2008: Mickey Rourke (“The Wrestler”) lost to Sean Penn (“Milk”).

Of the Supporting Actress winners at the Spirits, three — Dianne Wiest (“Bullets Over Broadway,” 1994), Cruz and Mo’Nique — went on to win an Oscar. The eight Spirit winners who went down to defeat at the Oscars were:
1991: Dianne Ladd (“Rambling Rose”) to Mercedes Ruehl (“The Fisher King”);
1995: Mare Winningham (“Georgia”) to Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aphrodite”);
1998: Lynn Redgrave (“Gods and Monsters”) to Judi Dench (“Shakespeare in Love”);
1999: Chloe Sevigny (“Boys Don’t Cry”) to Angelina Jolie (“Girl, Interrupted”);
2003: Shohreh Aghdashloo (“House of Sand and Fog”) to Renee Zellweger (“Cold Mountain”);
2004: Virginia Madsen (“Sideways”) to Cate Blanchett (“The Aviator”);
2005: Amy Adams (“Junebug”) to Rachel Weisz (“The Constant Gardener”); and
2007: Cate Blanchett (“I’m Not There”) to Tilda Swinton (“Michael Clayton”).

The only Supporting Actor to win both awards was Alan Arkin for “Little Miss Sunshine” in 2006. The six Spirit winners who were beaten at the Oscars were:

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By Greg Hernandez

HollywoodNews.com: Thought I had processed the fact that “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from ‘Burlesque’ was snubbed by the Oscars in the best original song category. The song, written by Diane Warren and sung by Cher, is a huge hit and won the Golden Globe Award.

Now that I’ve just read in ‘Entertainment Weekly’ the line-up of performers on Oscar night singing the nominated songs, my disappointment has reared its ugly head again.

To not be able to see Cher, at 64 and still in all her glory, belt this big power ballad on the show is such a missed opportunity. Any Oscars that involves Cher turns out to be memorable whether it’s what she wears (where do I begin?) or what she wins (best actress for ‘Moonstruck’) or doesn’t win (the snub for ‘Mask’).

So, no Cher this year. [I've already written about her feelings on the matter and posted my interview with Diane Warren.]

So who will we get instead?

Gwyneth Paltrow will sing “Coming Home” from ‘Country Strong’ and that should be fun. Gwyneth sang at a country music show a few months ago, was superb on ‘Glee’ and we’ve known about her singing abilities since ‘Duets.’

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The film, an audience award winner at the Trifecta Film Festival, is reminiscent of “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Moonstruck,” but while comedies about dysfunctional families are about as rare as Starbucks drive-thru’s, writer-director Raymond De Felitta has created a dysfunctional family one can not only root for in earnest, but leave the theater actually liking (even if they all have the annoying habit of stealing smokes when nobody’s watching them).

The patriarch is Vince Rizzo (Garcia), a prison guard with a Bronx accent accustomed to dealing with the undertow of life who harbors dreams of becoming an actor, but isn’t comfortable telling the family about the drama classes he’s taking on the side. So, Vince studies up on Marlon Brando whenever he’s alone and then hides the book on Brando in the bathroom. Then there’s his hot-tempered wife, Joyce (Julianne Margulies), who would like a little zest put back in her marriage and erupts when her husband asks for something special for dinner. Ezra Miller plays their teenaged son, Vinnie, who’s bizarre sexual fetish with morbidly obese women and the food they consume leads him to befriend a fat neighbor next door. And then there’s Vinnie’s older sister, Vivian (Dominik Garcia-Lorido, Garcia’s real-life daughter), who returns home from college but doesn’t tell anyone that she’s secretly working nights at a local strip club.

Rounding out the cast is Steven Strait, who plays a hunky young prisoner named Tony, who Vince invites home to stay for awhile, not telling Tony or his family that he is convinced Tony is the son he fathered by another woman and abandoned years before.

Misunderstandings abound in the Rizzo household. When Joyce discovers that her husband isn’t at work, she believes he is having an affair, so she decides to take revenge by coming on to Tony. Emily Mortimer is Molly, a member of the drama class, who befriends Vince. As drama teacher Michael Malakov, Arkin builds on the deadpan curmudgeon that fit him so well in “Little Miss Sunshine” that he won the Oscar for best supporting actor.

Garcia’s impersonation of Brando during an audition for a Martin Scorsese film had the audience roaring with laughter during a special screening Wednesday night at the Landmark Theater in Westwood. There were more laughs when teenager Vinnie remarks at the dinner table that his sister’s breasts seem to be getting larger and a peeved Joyce catches her husband gazing at their daughter’s chest. Arkin, meanwhile, delivers a humorous rant to his drama students about something that really annoys him: actors who pause for dramatic effect when delivering their lines.

Garcia, who is a producer on the film, addressed the crowd at the Landmark prior to the screening. He said the entire shoot lasted only 27 days and he’s had children born that required more labor. While mild-mannered and introspective, you can tell Garcia is proud of the film, as he should be. His performance is, at turns, hilarious, manic and powerful. The scene where he nearly botches his audition by trying to mimic Brando is a classic and then the true talent of Garcia is showcased when he is called back to asked to improvise into the camera. Garcia also noted that many of Arkin’s lines were improvised.

If I had my way, some smart TV network executive would watch “City Island” and then turn the Rizzo’s into a weekly comedy – sort of an update on the Bunkers. But TV now seeks out real-life eccentrics to put on camera.

Rats.