Cracking open the newspaper on a recent January morning, associate professor of literature James Morrison was surprised to see a full-page ad asking for Academy consideration for the Eminem feature film, 8 Mile. Coincidentally, Morrison had grown up around the block from the eight-mile city limit in Detroit for which the film is named. The film’s starring rapper and its director, Curtis Hanson, had pulled in some solid reviews following the movie’s release, but toss it in the ring for a shot at Oscar gold? Morrison shook his head in disbelief.

For Morrison, the ad campaign signaled the kick-off to the annual rush by filmmakers and studios to rouse Academy support for their pictures. The winners of that rousing bottleneck, by vote of peers in their respective fields are the shining competitors arriving in limos for the annual Academy Awards show, an iconic event in American culture watched by more than a billion people, or about one-sixth of the planet, Morrison told CMC students and their families during a Parents Weekend presentation on Oscar history last month.

Since the ceremonies were first televised in 1957, they have been interrupted only twice--- with the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan. And in both cases, the Oscars aired with a one-day delay.

For the past several years, Morrison has become famous among his friends for his attempts to pick the winners. But, he admits, his winning streak hasn’t been so hot. “I’m not famous for getting my choices right,” he joked to students and parents seated in Pickford Auditorium, “I’m known for getting them wrong! So if you have the opportunity, don’t take my choices to the polls!”

What Morrison does do well, however, is make a good argument for his voting rationale. Adding to the entertainment value of his Parents Weekend presentation, he not only outlined this year’s nominees, but provided an overview of Oscar history, its “clear influence” on a film’s box office success, and discussed the value of the awards. For fun, he also provided ballots to the audience, enabling them to vote for the biggest categories in this year’s competition. To see how Morrison’s votes stacked against theirs, read on:

Best Actor

Parents/Students: Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt). “Saner heads have prevailed!” Morrison replied, laughing. “Maybe you can’t think these things to death!”

Best Actress

Morrison: Diane Lane (Unfaithful). “This category is almost up for grabs, but she would be my choice. She is one of those figures with the Halle Berry factor working for her. She's been just under the radar until this point in her career. It's really her breakthrough role.”

Parents/Students: Renee Zellweger (Chicago). One parent asked if the sexual nature of an actor’s character may sway votes, as with Zellweger’s Roxie Hart in Chicago. “I suppose it’s possible,” Morrison replied. “Maybe there’s a sense that there's a bracing honesty in sexual situations.”

Best Director

Morrison: Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York). “It’s almost always the case that biopics get the Best Director award. Of 75 shows, only 18 awards have not gone to such directors.”

Parents/Students: Rob Marshall (Chicago). One parent commented that the first-time nominee would win on the basis that he was able to pull a movie out of a play. “When I saw the play, I couldn’t see the plot in it. But there was clearly a plot in the movie version.”

WHAT: The 75th Academy Awards

WHEN: Sunday, March 23; 5:30 p.m., PST, on ABC/Channel 7.

Despite acclaim for individually strong performances and much talked-about false appliances (read Nicole's nose), Professor Morrison doesn't see much Oscar gold awaiting The Hours, primarily because of its depressive subject matter. Last month, Hours novelist Michael Cunningham visited campus, speaking at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum.

Morrison's pick for Best Actress? Dark horse Diane Lane, in Unfaithful. "Lane is extraordinary in what is really a very bad movie. At last, she's gotten the chance to show what she can do."

In his favor for Best Actor is Daniel Day Lewis' stylized performance in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. "It's so very different from what he traditionally does, and The Academy tends to favor these kinds of performances."

If Professor Morrison had it his way, Far From Heaven would win Best Picture. (Julianne Moore's performance in the film earned her a Best Actress nod.) "It was my favorite film of the year," Morrsion says. Although he enjoyed Heaven's stylized performances, ("not naturalistic acting by any means"), some may consider it "artificial" or "slightly inaccessible," he says.

Morrison thinks Martin Scorsese's long cinematic history and versatility---the ability to cross over from studio pics to edgier filmmaking---make him the most likely candidate for Achievement in Directing gold.