In his first year doing the “Match Mike” Oscar contest, Tribune movie critic Michael Wilmington scored five out of six. And 226 of the 10,552 participants got six out of six, plus the two tiebreakers, creating the pool from which the 62 contest winners were selected at random.
Wilmington offered his picks for Best Picture; Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Supporting Actor; Best Supporting Actress and, added this year, Best Director. Participants make their picks in those categories and answer a two-part tiebreaker: What movie will win the most Oscars, and how many.
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“American Beauty” won Best Picture; Kevin Spacey won Best Actor; Hilary Swank won Best Actress; Michael Caine won Best Supporting Actor; Angelina Jolie won Best Supporting Actress, and Sam Mendes won Best Director. Wilmington had Denzel Washington for Best Actor but got the rest right. “American Beauty” won the most Oscars with five.
This year’s contest offered some $17,500 in prizes. First prize, valued at $2,517, includes a trip to Los Angeles. Second prize, valued at $1,025, features a night at a Chicago hotel, dinner and a screening with Wilmington. Third prize, valued at $435, is a party at a General Cinemas theater in Chicago. 30 fourth-prize winners receive a packet of movie screening passes valued at $255 each, and 29 fifth-prize winners will receive a packet of movie admissions valued at $204 each. (Please check the contest rules for details and terms of acceptance.)
First prize goes to Kathy McGovern, a homemaker from Aurora. Second-place winner Virginia Brown is an administrative assistant from Riverside.Third prize was won by Vijay Bhargava, a management consultant from Chicago.
Fourth prize: Barbara Burksaitis, Jill Schoeneman-Parker, Lisa Pratt, Laurie Echales, Moissant Smith, Susan Furst, Mary Makielski, Mark Thorpe, Brian Kelley, Jason Pekala, Jason Allen, Jessica Putra, Carl F. Gilmore, Nancy Bruner, Kate Lorenz, Margaret Lakin, Christa Noel, Gerry Bolton, S. S. Taubitz, Tara Jordan, Richard Duong, Janet Albarado, Dedrea Greer, Eric Tyree, Gail Cox, Sheila Hager, Lynn Harris, Ellen Moorman, Michael Strocko, and Elolise Deyoung.
Fifth prize: Brittney Lerner; Shan Jumper, Dianne Tse, Guy West, Lore Stein, Matt Croft, Candy Truong, Christine Lee, Judith Levinson, C. Brose, Scott Neri, Simon Moulton, Anthony Torres, Jane Cater, Charles Kwasniewski, Kim Childress, Pamela Gorsch, Karen Walls, Sherry Avila, Ben Hayden, Danette Mcafee, Becky Parr, Jon Locker, Barbara Brumleve, Cheryl Hollander, Audrey Todd, Adam Allgood, Maureen Hannon, and Judy Christiansen.