This is my first Oscars post.
The Oscars this year are likely going to be unforgettable in how forgettable they feel now. Though it’s considered a lukewarm movie year, several of the film out this year – most notably “Avatar,” “Up in the Air,” and “District Nine,” as I see it – really capture contemporary issues and really encapsulate just how far moviemaking has come in the last 100 years.
Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”: PREDICTION. This seems like an apology for ignoring Mickey Rourke last year.
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth in “A Single Man”: PREFERANCE. Even though the movie was uneven, Firth has been stuck in awkward supporting parts in silly comedies for too long.
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. Another standout performer in a less-than-perfect film. Nazis tend to come in two speeds: dead, or Ralph Fiennes. It’s always nice to see riffs on established movie traditions, and in four languages, to boot.
Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”: PREDICTION. As much as it pains me, it’s clear. Bullock has been humble, grateful, and seems to have the ability to honestly assess her career, all three things that endear her to voters. The movie surrounding her is less than prestigious, and that might (might) be her downfall, though.
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”: PREFERRED. Though more for her as a person, and less so for the movie as a movie.
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”: PREFERRED. Girl survived “Twilight” and held her own against an Oscar winner and supposedly the latter-day Meryl Streep. Granted, there’s no way in hell she could take the prize (and if she did, she’d have hell to pay), but she gave sort of the opposite of the traditional overplayed “monster” role, and for that she deserves some props.
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”: PREDICTION. She’s somewhat of an outsider, made a small film into a big deal, got ugly, and has a history that relates to the tumultuous story. It’s Jennifer Hudson all over again (save the ugly).
Animated Feature Film
“Coraline” Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
“Up” Pete Docter: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. Nobody does animation like Pixar, and in a year full of strong children’s films, it was still evident how much farther they are ahead.
Art Direction
“Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair: PREDICTION. With a Best Picture upset very possible, “Avatar” will probably rack up dozens of technical awards.
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray: PREFERRED. Every fork and spoon and curtain and earring takes thought in an extravagant period piece such as this one.
Cinematography
“Avatar” Mauro Fiore: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. One thing that Cameron really accomplished was the ability to do more than a slow pan or zoom over CGI. And the depth of field achieved with the 3D was amazing.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” Christian Berger
Costume Design
“Bright Star” Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier: PREFERRED. It’s a film about fashion’s most unique and probably most influential mind.
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell: PREDICTION. It’s a period piece. They wear petticoats, etc.
Directing
“Avatar” James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. Everyone wants to make history. Why do you think Halle Barry won that statue 8 years ago? When Sofia Coppola was nominated, it was still too soon. But backlash aside, it seems fitting that for a neo-war movie, the brave step forward was honoring the first female best director.
“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman
Documentary (Feature)
“Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
“Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. I’ simply prefer to be right. It’s “The Jungle” of movies, and people are moved by finding that the things they trust – like supermarkets – aim to hurt them.
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa
Documentary (Short Subject)
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. I don’t watch too many documentary shorts, but this seems topical and relevant in a way that the others aren’t (for an American voting base).
“Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra
Film Editing
“Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. With so much CGI, there was precious little time for shaky camera tricks or epileptic cuts, and for that, someone should be commended.
“District 9” Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz
Foreign Language Film
“Ajami” Israel
“The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)” Peru
“A Prophet (Un Prophète)” France: PREFERRED. This is a purely personal coice, enjoying films about criminals and their origins.
“The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina
“The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)” Germany: PREDICTION. It’s critically popular and critics make or break this award.
Makeup
“Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. The makeup was a little cheesy, but far superior to those horrible Klingon effects in the TV show.
“The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
Music (Original Score)
“Avatar” James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
“Up” Michael Giacchino: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. Giacchino had an excellent year – with “Up,” “Fringe,” and the superb “Star Trek” – and created a score that held much of the emotion in the film, particularly that beginning montage.
Music (Original Song)
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston: PREFERRED. The movie was a mess, but wasn’t Cotillard wonderful in it?
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett: PREDICTION. “The Princess and the Frog” fell somewhat flat, as did “Nine.” “Crazy Heart” is already a sentimental favorite. Like the Best Actor prize, this should try and make amends for ignoring Brice Springsteen for “The Wrestler.”
Best Picture
“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Blind Side” Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers
“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. This will probably go down as one of those “Worst Best” awards, with “Avatar” remembered as a far superior achievement. But right now, “The Hurt Locker” is still technically perfect, well acted, and just as topical. It will probably have less of an effect on films to come, but in March 2010, “The Hurt Locker” is the one to beat.
“Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
“Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
“Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers
Short Film (Animated)
“French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert: PREDICTION? I can’t say what people will enjoy, but this film was a bit of pure absurd genius.
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell: PREFERRED. Angry Irish grandma for the win!
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park
Short Film (Live Action)
“The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi” Gregg Helvey: PREDICTION. I predict in favor of the sentimental pick.
“Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson: PREDERRED. Seems interestingly edgy in its darkness, with too little time for a tacked on ending.
Sound Editing
“Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. Do I know anything about sound editing? No. Do I think that some small attempt at a sweep will be made? Yes.
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Sound Mixing
“Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. Same as Sound Editing.
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
Visual Effects
“Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones: PREDICTION AND PREFERRED. No one else is even in the race on this award.
“District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche: PREFERRED. The artful usage of not only profanity, but the hysterically unclear mumbling of politicians was executed perfectly. It might be a bit much for voters, though, especially if they only see the “For Your Consideration” bits and not the whole thing.
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner: PREDICTION. Reitman’s film not win anything else (again), but this time he gets the trophy. He’s the epitome of what Hollywood wants. Cheap, “indie,” filmmakers that work with big studios and can turn A-Listers into artists.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal: PREFERRED. Lawsuits aside, this other, equally radical war movie managed to be character-driven.
“Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino: PREDICTION. The movie is a structural mess. The various plots are only tenuously strung together. But it shows off Tarantino’s ability to write dialogue. And it also was the rare war movie that had setpieces that revolved not around death and explosions, but slowly mounting dread.
“The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
