2010 Oscar Picks

Welcome to a very special episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

As we come ever so close to Oscar time. I figured I would entertain all of you with my picks for this year's Academy Awards. Just like my 2008 picks I am not choosing winners for every single category. Just the main ones with a few extras added in for fun.

I actually did pretty well with my 2008 picks. 17 categories.....15 right. Can I top that?

Only one way to find out. Here we go.


Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”
James Franco in “127 Hours”

Like most of the categories this year, Best Actor is a no brainer for Colin Firth. This isn't to say that the other nominees aren't worthy. That's far from the truth. The issue here is that Firth just blows you away with his performance as King George VI. From his fear of public speaking and reluctance to take the throne to his bursts of anger when challenged or frustrated by his speech training. Firth puts on display a performance fueled with emotion and heart.

The years of snubbing will come to an end for this very talented and underrated actor.

Actress in a Leading Role

Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Best Actress was a tough one to gauge. I'm going to go with my gut here and give it to Natalie. She was so good in Black Swan that I find it hard to see any other of the nominees running away with it. Annette Bening is probably the only one who could steal it from Natalie. It might be close but the prima ballerina takes this one.


Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King's Speech”

I don't need to get into why Bale is the hands down winner here. This is as easy a pick to make as Heath was for The Dark Knight. 

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King's Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Before I begin I would like to point out a major snub in this category. I think Mila Kunis should have been considered for her role in Black Swan. Portman isn't as strong without Mila's intensity challenging her at every turn. Having said that, this was a little easier choice to make. First off, Leo and Adams knock each other out (no pun intended) since they are in the same movie. Plus Bale outshines them both. I didn't see what made Bonham Carter's performance so great to take the Oscar. This left the one person that I thought was superior. Hailee Steinfeld was quite possibly the biggest reason to see True Grit. She holds her own with Bridges and Damon quite nicely. You can even make the argument that she not only steals the show, she was the show.

I just hope that her young age doesn't bias her against the Academy. They tend to be snobby when it comes to child/young adult nominees.

Animated Feature Film

“How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
“The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
“Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

It's Pixar man. Happy Feet was a long time ago. It might be a long time before this giant is slain again.

Cinematography

“Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
“Inception” Wally Pfister
“The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
“The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit” Roger Deakins

All of these films contained amazing cinematography hence their nominations. Having said that, it's time for the Academy to right a major wrong that has been done to Mr. Deakins. This man should have won multiple statues for his amazing work and yet his trophy case remains Oscar-less. That should and better change this year.

Film Editing

“Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
“The Fighter” Pamela Martin
“The King's Speech” Tariq Anwar
“127 Hours” Jon Harris
“The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

The odds on favorite is The Social Network for it's several transitions in time. Editing for the Oscar is predictably unpredictable. Most times when there's a runaway train film taking most of the main honors, the Editing crown comes along for the ride. This year there really isn't such a picture so I'm choosing 127 Hours for the same reason most are picking the Facebook movie. The main difference is that the passing of time in Hours showcases a well executed and stylized progression and regression of Ralston's journey of survival and sanity.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
“The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
“Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
“True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

After all the gushing I did about Sorkin's script. It would be highly hypocritical of me to go with something else right?

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
“The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
  Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
“Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
“The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
“The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

A very tough one to pick. I loved the imagination of Inception & The heart of The Kids Are All Right. But The King's Speech had more heart and just enough imagination to single itself out among the rest.

Directing

“Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
“The Fighter” David O. Russell
“The King's Speech” Tom Hooper
“The Social Network” David Fincher
“True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen


This will be another one of the years where Best Director and Best Picture aren't married to the same film. All of these men are tremendous film makers who comprise a powerhouse list. In this case I just felt that Fincher did something I didn't think was possible. He made a movie about of all things in this world "Facebook" pure entertainment with heart, soul and a brain. That alone can be considered a borderline miracle.



Best Picture

“Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
“The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
“Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
“The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
“The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
“127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
“The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
“Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
“True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
“Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Here we are. Finally at the big one. Though I still hate the expanded 10 Best Picture nominee format. The Academy got it right with the nominees. There isn't a dud in this bunch. Including a bit of history with Toy Story 3 cracking the world of live action and placing it's hat into the ring. It's not winning though so that was the easiest one to eliminate. Winter's Bone got a very small theatrical release and was already out on DVD when the nominations came out. This film is way too small to go up against this group.

Despite how good True Grit is, I think the Academy is a little Coen-ed out. Though it wouldn't shock me if it won. The Fighter just isn't good enough overall to be on this list. That movie is more of a collection of terrific performances than a combination of story and characters. You could make a better case for The Town being here instead. Inception has no chance because the Academy turns a blind eye to blockbusters and for some reason they have a bug up their ass about Christopher Nolan. It's an ABSOLUTE CRIME that he isn't in the Best Director race. How can you nominate his film for Best Screenplay and Best Picture and not Best Director. It makes no sense to me. He's been snubbed 2 times before. The Dark Knight got jobbed because it was a comic book and Memento only got nominated for Editing and Screenplay. This angers me to no end considering what did win for Best Picture in 2000. A joke of a film called Gladiator. I will never be convinced that Gladiator was a better film in 2000 than Memento or my personal favorite Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

This leaves the final 5. As much as I loved The Kids Are All Right, I don't think it's got the juice to leapfrog over the rest. Danny Boyle once again gave us another great film with 127 Hours. The problem is, it isn't Slumdog Millionaire. The bar was set way too high. The Social Network was the hands down early favorite. That is until after the kids saw it leaving the adults to seek out other forms of entertainment which brings us to the final 2. Black Swan was awesome but I think the creepy nature of the film coupled with it's thinning plot might hurt it's chances. And then there was 1. The King's Speech had everything you wanted in a film. It was funny, emotional, heart warming, tragic, uplifting, inspiring, and entertaining. Oh by the way it was a good movie too. I never thought I would love this film as much as I do.

This one will take home the little gold man.

Well there you have it. My picks for this year's Oscars. Let the debate begin.

That's a wrap for today. Up next is my 1st review of the year. The Mechanic.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"