THE CRITICS SWEAT IT OUT

By DEBORAH CAULFIELD

March 23, 1986 12 AM PT

With few exceptions, it seems as if film critics around the country spent last week trying to figure out their Oscar predictions, while at the same time lamenting the difficulty of the task. (Their choices are listed in the chart below.)

For one major example, New York Times critic Vincent Canby, who has made guesses in the past, flatly refused this year: “It’s too difficult; I wouldn’t do it if someone paid me. I’m abstaining.”

“It’s the first year in a long time where--who can figure it--there’s two or three nominees in each category that could win,” mused Newsweek’s David Ansen. He confessed to giving differing sets of predictions to those who queried and said his vacillation centered mainly on best picture (either “Out of Africa” or “The Color Purple”) and best supporting actor (Klaus Maria Brandauer or Don Ameche).

Others reached new heights in supporting their selections, but the Herald Examiner’s Peter Rainer may have concocted the most preposterous with his theory on how and why “The Color Purple” will take best picture.

He explained: “When the film was nominated for best picture, I think (director Steven) Spielberg bought the majority of the voting members in the director’s branch to make sure that they wouldn’t vote for him. This would ensure a tremendous outpouring of sympathy which would drastically alter the final voting.”

Sensing a reporter’s skepticism, he retorted, “Well, with all the money he has, he could afford to do it.”

The New York Post’s Rex Reed, who is not unknown for his sometimes-outrageous opinions, reluctantly picked “Out of Africa” to win “because it’s the kind of coffee-table movie that the conservative element of the academy likes to promote.”

Gary Franklin of KCBS-TV found the nominations as dull as ever this year. “The pictures are getting lousier because audience’s tastes are getting lousier,” he opined. “There is no cultural leadership; our culture is in a terrible state. In fact, it is deteriorating worldwide.

“The Academy Awards show itself is little better,” he said, giving it “around a 7” on his own cultural estimate, the Franklin Scale (“1 to 10, 10 being best . . .”).

The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael, the reigning cynosure of cinematic criticism, gracefully declined to discuss the Oscars at all.

“I review the movies when they come out; I don’t like that business of hitting things twice,” she said. “That everybody in the country is doing Oscar picks just augments the importance of the Oscars way out of line.”

THEIR CHOICES FOR THE OSCARS

Critic/ Publication Picture Director Actor Gene Siskel “The Color No selection William Hurt Chicago Tribune Purple” Roger Ebert “Out of Africa” John Huston William Hurt Chicago Sun-Times Rex Reed “Out of Africa” John Huston Jack Nicholson New York Post Gary Franklin “Out of Africa” John Huston Jon Voight KCBS-TV Channel 2 David Ansen “Out of Africa” John Huston William Hurt Newsweek Paul Attanasio “Out of Africa” John Huston William Hurt Washington Post Peter Rainer “The Color John Huston William Hurt Herald Examiner Purple” Kirk Honeycutt “The Color Sydney Pollack William Hurt The Daily News Purple” Michael Burkett “The Color John Huston Jack Nicholson Orange Co. Register Purple” Andy Klein “Out of Africa” Sydney Pollack William Hurt L.A. Reader John Powers “Out of Africa” Akira William Hurt L.A. Weekly Kurosawa John S. Jackson “The Color Sydney Pollack James Garner Shoeshiner, Purple” Burbank Studios

Critic/ Supporting Supporting Foreign Film Publication Actress Actor Actress Gene Siskel Geraldine Page Klaus Maria Anjelica No selection Chicago Tribune Brandauer Huston Roger Ebert Whoopi Don Ameche Anjelica “The Official Chicago Sun-Times Goldberg Huston Story” Rex Reed Geraldine Page Klaus Maria Anjelica “The Official New York Post Brandauer Huston Story” Gary Franklin Meryl Streep Klaus Maria Anjelica “The Official KCBS-TV Channel 2 Brandauer Huston Story” David Ansen Meryl Streep Don Ameche Anjelica “The Official Newsweek Huston Story” Paul Attanasio Geraldine Page Klaus Maria Anjelica “The Official Washington Post Brandauer Huston Story” Peter Rainer Whoopi Klaus Maria Anjelica “The Official Herald Examiner Goldberg Brandauer Huston Story” Kirk Honeycutt Whoopi Klaus Maria Anjelica “TheOfficial The Daily News Goldberg Brandauer Huston Story” Michael Burkett Geraldine Page Don Ameche Anjelica “The Official Orange Co. Register Huston Story” Andy Klein Geraldine Page Klaus Maria Anjelica “The Official L.A. Reader Brandauer Huston Story” John Powers Geraldine Page Don Ameche Anjelica “The Official L.A. Weekly Huston Story” John S. Jackson Anne Bancroft Don Ameche Oprah “3 Men and Shoeshiner, Winfrey a Cradle” Burbank Studios

COMPILED BY DEBORAH CAULFIELD

National Society of Film Critics Picture--”Ran”

Actor--Jack Nicholson (“Prizzi’s Honor”)

Actress--Vanessa Redgrave (“Wetherby”)

Supporting Actor--John Gielgud (“Plenty” and “The Shooting Party”)

Supporting Actress--Anjelica Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”)

Golden Globes Picture-Drama--”Out of Africa”

Actress-Drama--Whoopi Goldberg (“The Color Purple”)

Actor-Drama--Jon Voight (“Runaway Train”)

Supporting Actress-Drama--Meg Tilly (“Agnes of God”)

Supporting Actor-Drama--Klaus Maria Brandauer (“Out of Africa”)

Director--John Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”)