With the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony just under two weeks away, the movie blogging community is going rabid with their predictions. Here at Cut Print Review, however, we’ve kept quiet on the subject, as down here in Australia many of the Oscar nominated films don’t see the light of day until the weeks leading up to the ceremony, and often, long after it has passed. Now that I’ve had a chance to see most of the films nominated, I thought it was about time to chime in with my predictions.
Unlike last year, where Slumdog Millionaire was a far and away the favourite across the board, there’s a tad more ambiguity surrounding some of the chief categories, particularly for Best Picture. Some argue that this is a result of the Academy’s decision to increase the best picture field from five to ten nominees. I disagree. If you ask me, all that’s done is give five pictures – District 9, The Blind Side, Up, An Education and Precious – a false sense of hope. The remaining five, however, are all in with a chance. But as much as I’d like to see Up in the Air or Inglourious Basterds take the Oscar, the last few weeks have seen two favourites emerge: Avatar and The Hurt Locker.
My prediction is that The Hurt Locker will edge out Avatar for two reasons. Firstly, because I really don’t think Avatar, although highly entertaining, is best picture material. Secondly, because it’s incredibly rare for the Best Picture winner to be different to the Best Director winner. Since Kathryn Bigelow is practically a shoo-in for the director statuette – Jim Cameron has had his day as King and it’s about time a woman director won — one would therefore assume her film would also pick up Best Picture. Wouldn’t it be great if during her acceptance speech Kathryn said “I’m the Queen of the world!” just to really rub it in.
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Best Actor Nominees: Colin Firth, Jeff Bridges, |
Best Director Nominees: Quentin Tarantino, |
As for the Best Actor category, I’m not convinced there is a clear cut winner like many suggest. Jeff Bridges of Crazy Heart is often cited as the favourite, but I feel that because he appears in a movie that isn’t nearly as good as his performance, he tends to come out looking better by comparison. George Clooney on the other hand appears in a fantastic movie and still manages to shine, which to me makes his performance all the more commendable. I wouldn’t rule out Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) or Colin Firth (A Single Man) either, Renner entirely possible for the upset. But I’m going with Clooney.
Best Actress? I honestly haven’t the foggiest. One thing I can say for certain is that I do not want Meryl Streep to win. Not only did I find her performance in Julie & Julia irritating, the actress has Oscars practically for earrings. Same goes for you, Helen Mirren. I say give it to one of the newbies, preferably Carey Mulligan over Gabourey Sidibe. Say what you like, but I’m still not convinced Sidbe’s performance is all that good in Precious. Chances are though Sandra Bullock will win gold for The Blind Side, purely because the Academy felt sorry that she was involved in the disaster that was All About Steve (which our reviewer Katina went against the grain to give a lukewarm review).
Far more predictable are the supporting actor/actress categories; I wouldn’t be surprised if Mo’Nique (Precious) and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) had already cleared a space out in their trophy cabinets. While I’m secretly rooting for Anna Kendrick of Up in the Air and Stanley Tucci of The Lovely Bones, it’d be a huge upset if Mo’Nique or Waltz lost.
In the best Animated Feature category, I’d almost be willing to bet my left testicle that Up will win. Since the Pixar film was also nominated for Best Picture, surely that would mean it is guaranteed to win Best Animated, right? It just seems so logical. (By the way, I’m still devastated Adam Elliot’s clay-animated masterpiece Mary and Max didn’t make the nominees, as with the insanely entertaining Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs).
As for all the other categories, I suspect most of the technical awards will head the way of Avatar (and rightfully so) and art/design awards will be fought between The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes and Nine.
Below is a full list of nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards:
My predicted winners are listed in blue, however the nominees I’d like to win (however improbable) are listed in green.
Best Picture:
“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9″
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Morgan Freeman – “Invictus”
Jeff Bridges – “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney – “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth – “A Single Man”
Jeremy Renner – “The Hurt Locker”
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Meryl Streep – “Julie & Julia”
Sandra Bullock – “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren – “The Last Station”
Gabourey Sidibe – “Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire”
Carey Mulligan – “An Education”
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Christoph Waltz - “Inglourious Basterds”
Christopher Plummer – “The Last Station”
Matt Damon – “Invictus”
Stanley Tucci – “The Lovely Bones”
Woody Harrelson – “The Messengers”
Performance by Actress in a Supporting Role:
Penelope Cruz – “Nine”
Vera Farmiga – “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal – “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick – “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique – “Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire”
Achievement in Directing:
James Cameron – “Avatar”
Kathryn Bigelow – “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino – “Inglourious Basterds”
Jason Reitman – “Up in the Air”
Lee Daniels – “Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire”
Adapted Screenplay:
“District 9″ by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” by Nick Hornby
“Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire” by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
“In the Loop” by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin and Tony Roche
Original Screenplay:
“The Hurt Locker” by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” by Quentin Tarantino
“A Serious Man” by Joel and Ethan Coen
“Up” by Pete Docter and Bob Petersen
“The Messenger” by Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year:
“Up” – Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
“The Princess and the Frog” – Ron Clements and John Musker
“Coraline” – Henry Selick
“The Fantastic Mr Fox” – Wes Anderson
“The Secret of Kells” – Tomm Moore
Best Documentary Feature:
“Burma VJ” – Anders Ostergaard and Lise Lense-Moller
“The Cove” – Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” – Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” – Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” – Rebecca Cammisa
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year:
“Ajami” – Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, Israel
“A Prophet” – Jacques Audiard, France
“The Secret of Her Eyes” – Juan Jose Campanella, Argentina
“The White Ribbon” – Michael Haneke, Germany
“The Milk of Sorrow” – Claudia Llosa, Peru
Achievement in Art Direction:
“Avatar” – Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“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
Achievement in Cinematography:
“Avatar” – Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” – Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” – Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” – Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” – Christian Berger
Achievement in Costume Design:
“Bright Star” – Janet Patterson
“Coco Before Chanel” – Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” – Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” – Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” – Sandy Powell
Achievement in Film Editing:
“Avatar” – Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“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
Achievement in Makeup:
“Il Divo” – Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” – Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” - Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (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
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (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
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” – Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett
Achievement in Sound Editing:
“Avatar” – Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” – Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” – Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” – Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” – Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Achievement in Sound Mixing:
“Avatar” – Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“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
Achievement in Visual Effects:
“Avatar” – Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9″ – Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” – Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
Best 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
“Music by Prudence” – Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit a la Berlin” – Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra
Best Animated Short Film:
“French Roast” – Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” – Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” – Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” – Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” – Nick Park
Best Live Action Short Film:
“The Door” – Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra” – Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellstrom
“Kavi” – Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish” – Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants” – Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
Who are your picks for the Oscars? Leave a comment below.
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Best Actor Nominees: Colin Firth, Jeff Bridges, |
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