Pete’s picks: Pete Delkus talks Oscars

Last year, if you’ll recall, DFW.com’s annual Oscar party was canceled because of an ice storm. We waited as long as we could, but ultimately opted to play it safe.

So who better to host this year’s Oscar party than a meteorologist?

Pete Delkus, the chief meteorologist for our content partner WFAA/Channel 8, will be the host of this year’s Oscars party Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. We’re more used to Pete predicting the weather than the Oscars, but we bounced a few questions off him on Friday the 13th — a key date not because of superstitions, but because of deadlines, leading us to try to get a long-range forecast out of him.

“I’m trying to figure out what’s going to happen on Monday morning and Tuesday morning, let alone nine days from now,” Delkus says, referring to the winter-weather outlook for Feb. 16-17. “But it looks like we’re going to be dry [Feb. 22]. At this point, a repeat of last year is unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely.”

Delkus, who’s known for doffing his jacket and even rolling up his sleeves in intense weather situations, says he can’t think of a movie that’s made him do that. But he is a movie fan, and he’s ready to plunge into the Oscars party.

“I’m looking forward to the night,” Delkus says. “I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I’ve [hosted] probably 150 things a year, but never an Oscars party.”

Here’s a few other things we asked him.

Do you have a pick for Best Picture?

I would like Birdman to win, but only for selfish reasons. I see Michael Keaton every year in Montana. I go fly-fishing and bird-hunting a lot in Montana — I spend about a month up there a year. He’s up there in the same part of the state and the same towns that I’m in, and I see him every year. Only for that reason am I interested in him winning.

So you have a Keaton bias.

[Laughs] Totally. I think he’s a great guy. He’s just a friendly guy, blends in with the locals. He’s just nice.

Are you worried that when you say that, people are going to say, “Wait a minute — Boyhood’s the Texas movie!”?

[Laughs] I’m not gonna be a homer or anything. I’d love to see Boyhood win, but if Michael Keaton wins, I’ll be happy, and if that movie wins, I’ll be thrilled.

Do you have a pick for Best Actress?

That’s tough. I don’t know right now. [We give him a little prompt by listing the nominees, feeling like we should have an envelope in our hands.] That’s tough. There’s some good ones there. My problem is, sometimes I let my personal opinions of people that I like come in.

So you’re just like a member of the Academy.

[Laughs] It’s all politics. But I like [Wild’s] Reese Witherspoon, I think she’s a really solid actress, she seems like a decent human being, so I kind of lean in her direction.

Best Supporting Actor?

I go back to Birdman [Edward Norton is a nominee]. I don’t know, it’s tough. But I’d also like to see Boyhood’s Ethan Hawke win.

Best Supporting Actress?

I’m a big Meryl Streep fan. I’ve liked her for a long time. You said Laura Dern? She’s pretty hot. Can I say that? But I’m a Meryl Streep fan. [Streep’s 19th nomination is for Into the Woods; she has won Best Actress twice and Best Supporting Actress once.]

Do you have a favorite weather movie?

I liked Twister only because it was so outrageous and so unlikely. It was so fictional.

This story was originally published February 17, 2015 at 9:38 AM with the headline "Pete’s picks: Pete Delkus talks Oscars."