Cloud 9 links lead to Oscar upset!

This morning, Oscar’s on Cloud 9!

They called it a stretch. They accused us of satire!

But in the end, the two degrees or less of separation to the beach volleyball-stripper motion picture comedy, Cloud 9, was the common link to every major winner of the 78th Annual Academy Awards.

This morning, Hollywood is arguing whether Crash’s surprise Best Picture win over favorite Brokeback Mountain was the result of an expert campaign (they sent us the DVD months ago) or a reflection of Hollywood’s hidden homophobia.

The answer, quite clearly, is actually one we’ve trumpeted loud and clear for a month now—Crash would win because of its uncanny connections to Cloud 9!

We’ve shown you, and the Internet has crackled with the Kevinbaconbusting connections between each major nominee and Cloud 9, the hilarious comedy starring Burt Reynolds, written and produced by Brett Hudson & Burt Kearns of Frozen Pictures and last year’s Best Picture winner (Million Dollar Baby) Albert S. Ruddy.

On Friday, we shook the Cloud 9 Magic Nine Ball to predict which connections were closest.

We did indeed calculate that Crash would take top honors and win for Best Original Screenplay, and that Reese Witherspoon would snag Best Actress.

We were off by a degree on the other “closest links” to Cloud 9, which missed out on Oscar contention only by a few days—and format (it was released January 4th on DVD—rent or buy it today!).

Is there really a Cloud 9 connection? Here are the final results. We’ll let them speak for themselves:

Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman(Capote) worked with Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights.

Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line) starred in Legally Blonde with the small dog, Moonie. Moonie appears as Gary Busey’s dog in Cloud 9.

Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney (Syriana) appeared with Cloud 9 costar Paul Rodriguez on Playboy’s 50th Anniversary Celebration TV special. He also appeared in the TV series Baby Talk, with Cloud 9 actor Tony Danza supplying the voice of a baby.

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) appeared with Cloud 9 star Tom Arnold on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on February 22, 2005.

Best Director: Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) co-wrote the screenplay for Tortilla Soup, which starred Paul Rodriguez, who coincidentally plays an Asian character, Wong, in Cloud 9.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain .
Co-writer Larry McMurtry wrote the film, Terms of Endearment. The starring role of Garrett Breedlove, played by Jack Nicholson, was written for, and supposed to be played by, Cloud 9 star Burt Reynolds.

Best Original Screenplay: Crash. Co-writer Paul Haggis (Crash) wrote the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby, the film that won a second Best Picture Oscar for Albert S. Ruddy, and worked with Ruddy on the TV series, Walker, Texas Ranger.

Best Picture: Crash.

Oscar Picks based on links to Cloud 9!

With the 78th Academy Awards only hours away, it's time to announce the Major Oscar Picks Based on Their Connections to Cloud 9.

Only weeks ago, all Hollywood was buzzing over their lattes about the uncanny, eerie similarities between Cloud 9, the hilarious beach volleyball comedy starring Burt Reynolds and written and produced by Burt Kearns and Brett Hudson of Frozen Pictures and last year’s Best Picture Oscar winner (Million Dollar Baby), Albert S. Ruddy, and this year's Best Picture nominee, Crash.

This da Vinci Code-like revelation was followed by the amazing two or less degrees of separation between Cloud 9 and every single one of this year’s major Oscar nominees (and a nostalgic look back at the two-or-less degree links between the Fox DVD and every Academy Award Best Picture of the past ten years).

Well, time for the Big Night. The Two Degrees or Less of Separation chart is now being used it to forecast the winners of this year’s Oscars.

These predictions are based on their proximity to Cloud 9 (which missed out on Academy Award consideration only by a matter of days and format— it was released January 4th on DVD). Some go far afield of conventional wisdom. But that's what happen when you stir up an incomprehensible blend of science and Hollywood magic. Here goes:

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) worked with Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights; Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain) co-starred in Four Feathers with Brett Hudson’s niece, Kate; Joaquin Phoenix (Walk The Line) showed up at the West Coast party for Burt Kearns' book, Tabloid Baby; and David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) worked with Cloud 9 movie-stealer Gary Busey in The Firm. BUT…

Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) appears in Crash with Cloud 9’s Ken Garito and Tony Danza!

CLOUD 9 BEST ACTOR PICK: TERRENCE HOWARD, HUSTLE & FLOW

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Judi Dench (Mrs. Henderson Presents) starred with Anthony Hopkins, who plays a key plot role in Cloud 9, in 84 Charing Cross Road; Felicity Huffman (Transamerica) is married to William H. Macy from Boogie Nights; Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice) played an ex-stripper and performs a lap dance—a la Cloud 9’s Angie Everhart-- in Domino; Charlize Theron (North Country) appears with Mel Gibson (whose ficus tree is a plot point in Cloud 9) and Anthony Hopkins in Cinema Mil, and was nominated for a Razzie the same year Burt Reynolds and Sylvester Stallone were nominated as Worst Screen Couple. BUT…

Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line) starred in Legally Blonde with the dog named Moonie, who appears as Gary Busey’s dog in Cloud 9!

CLOUD 9 BEST ACTRESS PICK: REESE WITHERSPOON, WALK THE LINE

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
George Clooney (Syriana) appeared with Cloud 9 costar Paul Rodriguez on the TV special, Playboy’s 50th Anniversary Celebration and with Tony Danza in the TV series Baby Talk; Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man) played Pig Vomit in Private Parts, starring Howard Stern, who dated Cloud 9 star Angie Everhart; Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) starred in Day After Tomorrow, which featured KTLA show biz correspondent Ross King, who was in the running for the Tommy Z role in Cloud 9; and William Hurt (A History of Violence) and Burt Reynolds were in the documentary, Sex at 24 Frames Per Second. BUT…

Matt Dillon (Crash) appeared in Crash with Tony Danza and Ken Garito from Cloud 9!

CLOUD 9 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR PICK: MATT DILLON, CRASH

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Catherine Keener (Capote) starred in Death to Smoochy with Vincent Schiavelli, star of The 4th Tenor, directed by Cloud ‘s Hary Basil; Frances McDormand (North Country) appeared with Barbra Streisand (whose “home” and chair are featured in Cloud 9) and Mel Gibson at the 69th Academy Awards; Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) appeared with Cloud 9 star Tom Arnold on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on February 22, 2005; and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) and Cloud 9 actor Jeff Altman appeared on Baywatch. BUT…

Amy Adams (Junebug) has wrapped a new movie, Standing Still, which also stars Cloud 9 starlet Marne Patterson.

CLOUD 9 BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS PICK: AMY ADAMS, JUNEBUG

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) co-wrote the screenplay for Tortilla Soup, which starred Paul Rodriguez; Bennett Miller (Capote) attended NYU Film School, where Albert S. Ruddy thought “beach volleyball” upon seeing a Gabrielle Reece poster on his son’s dorm room wall; George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck) appeared with Gary Busey in the TV special, Inside The Playboy Mansion; and Steven Spielberg (Munich) directed Minority Report, which featured Cloud 9’s Paul Wesley, and 1941, featuring Cloud 9's executive producer Gray Frederickson as Lt. Bressler. BUT…

Paul Haggis (Crash) wrote the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby, the film that won a second Best Picture Oscar for Albert S. Ruddy, and worked with Ruddy on the TV series, Walker, Texas Ranger.

CLOUD 9 BEST DIRECTOR PICK: PAUL HAGGIS, CRASH

And click here for the uncanny similarities between Crash and Cloud 9.

CLOUD 9 BEST PICTURE PICK: CRASH

There you have it.

Direct from Cloud 9’s Magic 9 Ball:

ACTOR: Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon, Walk The Line
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Matt Dillon, Crash
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams, Junebug
DIRECTOR: Paul Haggis, Crash
PICTURE: Crash

(And let's throw in:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Crash
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Munich (cowriter Eric Roth is Brett Hudson's pal-- he also wrote Ali, which starred Cloud 9's Paul Rodriguez.)

Olga! Olga! Olga!

Katheryn Winnick, a standout actress, athlete and comediane in Frozen Picture's hit motion picture comedy, Cloud 9, is featured in the Sarah Jessica Parker-Matthew McConaughey comedy, Failure to Launch, which opens March 10.

And she’s in the spotlight just in time in the wild, steamy, sexy website, Hot Sexy Fashions Pictures Daily.

Katheryn plays the Russian beauty Olga, the stripper-turned-beach-volleyball-star who comes into her own once she gets over breaking her nails!

Katheryn has tremendous acting chops, honed on films like Hellraiser: Hellworld and TV series like CSI and Law & Order. She also made a big impression as Ivana Trump in the ABC-TV movie, Trump: Unauthorized.

Katheryn took the role of Olga and ran with it. In fact, Brett Hudson & Burt Kearns of Frozen Pictures and their writing and producing partner, Academy Award-winner Albert S. Ruddy, originally wrote the role as “Inga,” a stereotypical Swedish beauty who was a throwback to the classic femme fatales of the 1960s.

Katheryn showed up with her own twist: from Russia with lots of attitude, energy and comedic skills. The Canadian beauty made the role her own. The writer-producers renamed her “Olga” on the spot. And history was made!

As the Hot Sexy Fashions website says: “Volleyball is a very physically demanding sport, and the 5 foot 6 inch actress is up to the task. Not only does Katheryn Winnick hold a second-degree black belt in Karate and a third degree black belt in Tae Kwan Do, but she is also a licensed bodyguard.”

We interviewed Katheryn and she told us about the challenge of playing a stripper from Minsk:

“Olga is from Russia. She is a woman who’s very strong, independent. She comes to this country trying to make a living and make some money and so she decides to make a living through exotic dancing. And she falls in love with the sport of volleyball.

“The reason why she got involved is to make extra money. But then halfway through the movie, she realizes she’s actually good at what she does. And I think she had the naturally ability to get better at the sport.”

“Believe it or not, the hardest part for me was to get comfortable. I’m from Canada. This is the first time I’m on the beach! I don’t even own a bikini. And so it was a bit of a transition for me to put one on and be a stripper. That part was, was a challenge. But once I got into it, it was great. And to prepare for a playing stripper, you know, every girl kind of strips for the guy. Ha ha! At least I think they do. I guess whatever you do at home, you have a chance to do it on camera. At least for this movie.

“Did this movie give me any more respect for women who are in the business of stripping? Yes, it definitely did. Because it’s not easy. And it’s hard to be so confident even when you’re not feeling as confident, and to strut your stuff and shake your tush and do all the sexy moves that a woman needs to do to try to make the money. Because it really comes down to one thing. They don’t necessarily do it for the love but they do it for the money.”

“I think the overall message in this film really is actually female empowerment. When I started reading the script I was hesitant in terms of, ‘Okay, this is a stripper exploitation movie, what are you doing?’ I called up my agent I’m like, ‘You’re sending me on a stripper movie?’ But then halfway through the script, I kind of got the whole message. It’s these women really coming together and there’s a bigger story than what it starts out to be and there’s a bigger message that women are strong. The woman can come forward and really achieve whatever they want to do, no matter who they are. It’s definitely female empowerment.

We couldn't have said it better!