Preparing for the Oscars (Nominee Predictions)

Alright, I know my posts have mostly been about awards, but that's because I created this blog at the beginning of award season. Plus, I haven't had a lot of time to write reviews of the movies I've seen lately. I'll get on this soon.

However, tomorrow the Academy Award nominees will be announced. So I feel the need to give my predictions for who and what will be nominated. Now it's fairly easy when looking at typical Academy precedent, and also the nominees and winners of every other award show that's happened this year. So here goes:

Best Picture:
(extra hard this year since there will be 10 nominees...dumbest thing ever)
-Avatar
-The Hurt Locker
-Inglourious Basterds
-Up in the Air
-Precious
-Nine
-Invictus
-Up
-The Lovely Bones
-An Education

I'm really pulling for "An Education" to make the list. I feel very strongly that "Up" has no place on this list, considering it's a shoe-in for Best Animated Feature. It's not fair to take up the spot another feature film could have, but it'll probably happen. Bringing back this 10 movies idea is just a way to include movies that weren't nominated for any other category, making them awkward to have in the Best Picture category, when we all know they won't win.

Best Director:
-James Cameron, "Avatar"
-Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
-Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"
-Clint Eastwood, "Invictus"
-Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"

Usually it just mirrors the Best Picture list, but since there are 10 in that category and only 5 in this one, it's a bit tougher. This is the exact list of nominees for this year's Golden Globes, and I just realized that in that running, Clint Eastwood was nominated thought "Invictus" wasn't. Rather, "Precious" was a Best Picture nominee and not Lee Daniels for directing it, though he deserves as much.

Best Actor in a Leading Role:
-Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
-Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
-George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
-Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
-Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Same as the Globes list for the Drama category, though I replaced Tobey Macguire with Jeremy Renner based on his nominations for other awards, and though I haven't yet seen "Brothers," I think Renner's performance deserves a nod. And notice, for once Daniel Day-Lewis might not be on this list.

Best Actress in a Leading Role:
-Meryl Streep, "Julie and Julia"
-Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
-Gabbie Sidibe, "Precious"
-Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
-Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"

I honestly don't understand how Sandra Bullock won a Globe for "The Blind Side." Not that it was a bad movie or a bad performance, I just don't think it was award-worthy, and I really don't think it's Oscar material. I'm pulling for the unlikely Sidibe in "Precious," and the deserving Mulligan in "An Education." Streep has some pull beacuse, well, she's Meryl Streep.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
-Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
-Stanely Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
-Matt Damon, "Invictus"
-Alfred Molina, "An Education"
-Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"

Just give it to Waltz. I must say these guys all deserve it (though I can't speak for Harrelson. Haven't seen that one yet). Molina was not nominated for a Golden Globe, but he was for other awards. He's the only one I'm not certain will be on this list.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
-Mo'Nique, "Precious"
-Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
-Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
-Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
-Julianne Moore, "A Single Man"

I dunno. This is also copied right from the Globe list. I've only seen "Precious" out of this list, but Mo'Nique won the Globe and she deserves the Oscar.

Best Original Screenplay:
-Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
-Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, "(500) Days of Summer"
-Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"
-Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, "Away We Go"
-Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, "The Hangover"

"The Hangover" because I guess it deserves something, "(500) Days..." because it was fantastic, and the "Away We Go" because it was also fantastic. Long shots I guess, but I stand by them.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
-Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"
-Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious"
-Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air"
-Nora Ephron, "Julie and Julia"
-Scott Cooper, "Crazy Heart"

Self explanatory I guess.

So my list doesn't include Daniel Day-Lewis or the Cohen brothers, and I like it that way. Diverse, I guess. Though it has Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep - two names that never seem to leave the nominee list. I'm upset that "Where the Wild Things Are" hardly got noticed at all for the fantastic and imaginative adaptation that it was. Oh well. Nominees will be announced tomorrow so we'll see how I did.

Nominees for The Razzies are out. Some terrible films made that list, and they've also listed nominees for Worst Movie of the Decade. Superb.

That's all for now. More on the Oscars soon.

-Brendan