The Oscars!
Best Picture
Up in the Air
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
An Education
Precious
Up
A Serious Man
The Blind Side
Avatar
Best Actor
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Best Actress
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Matt Damon, Invictus
Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, Precious
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Penélope Cruz, Nine
Best Director
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
James Cameron, Avatar
Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy, Up
Best Adapted Screenplay
Can't say; haven't seen In the Loop yet.
Best Animated Film
Can't say; haven't seen The Princess and the Frog yet, and haven't even heard of The Secret of Kells until this morning!
Best Foreign Language Film
Not a single one has shown in Tulsa yet!
Best Art Direction
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria
Sherlock Holmes
Avatar
Best Cinematography
Can't say; haven't seen The White Ribbon yet.
Best Costume Design
The Young Victoria
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Coc Before Chanel
Bright Star
Best Documentary
Can't say; I've only seen The Cove and Food, Inc. (The Cove is easily the best of those two)
Best Editing
Inglourious Basterds
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Avatar
Precious
Best Makeup
Can't say; haven't seen Il Divo yet.
Best Score
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Up
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Avatar
Best Song
Don't know yet.
Best Sound Editing
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
The Hurt Locker
Up
Avatar
Best Sound Mixing
Star Trek
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker
Avatar
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Best Visual Effects
Star Trek
Avatar
District 9
I've no idea about the shorts yet...
Okay, if you know me, you know how I feel. If you haven't seen all the nominees in a category, your opinion just doesn't matter. So...
I'm only listed categories if I've seen all the nominees. I'll update this as I see more..
Choices are listed from my favorite to my least favorite.
I think it would be disingenuous of me to even pretend I could rank the nominees on how good their Sound Editing is, so I'm always impressed when you pull off something like this.
I agree with many of your picks, although what is holding back the Inglourious Basterds screenplay for you? That's easily my favorite of the nominees. Actually, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that film in general if you don't mind enlightening me. Ditto A Serious Man.
By the way, isn't the Art Direction category kind of random? The most-buzzed nominee was probably Avatar and that almost lacks any art direction whatsoever. I was also pretty surprised District 9, Inglourious Basterds, and A Single Man were passed up here, and I thought that if Harry Potter would be nominated anywhere, it would be here instead of for Cinematography (another WTF moment).
I thought I replied to you, but I guess I started a new comment thread - sorry!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I'm an audiophile nerd; I'm always much too aware of the sound elements in films...
I don't dislike the Inglourious Basterds screenplay at all; I just liked the other two a little more! I think the acting and directing were much stronger elements in that film, although the screenplay was very good. I enjoyed the film, but I didn't think it was any better than, say, the first Kill Bill. Enough people disagree that I wonder if I should check it out again...
It did boast a terrific opening and ending.
A Serious Man had an interesting, if not entirely successful, opening, and it had a terrific ending. Unfortunately, I found too much between the ends of the film to be by-the-book brother goofs. The modern-day Job schtick wore awfully thin for me. It was a much better film than Burn After Reading, but I'm going against the critical trend by branding it yet another Coen misfire rather than one of their hits...
I'm amazed anybody even thought of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus for Art Direction, but I'm not complaining! What a crazy category.
I'm very surprised of the nomination the mediocre Nine managed, Cinematography wasn't one. It was the best part of the film, and the best cinematography I've seen this year (though my town won't get The White Ribbon until April, so...).
The biggest disappointments for me are the (500) Days of Summer snubs for Picture and Screenplay, Emily Blunt's lack of a Best Actress nod for Young Victoria, and Capitalism not even making the Documentary shortlist!
Yes, I am utterly stunned by Harry Potter's nod.
What were the biggest disappointments for you?
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I actually walked out of Inglourious Basterds thinking it was a fun but fairly superficial time at the cinema, but it definitely grew in memory for me. I absolutely loved the dialogue in that film and I marvel at how fast the film went. It flew by faster than any of the other Best Pic noms for me, and that's especially surprising given that it was the second-longest. What also helped was that I read an article (which may have actually been posted here on Listology, I don't remember) that made me realize that its exploration of violence was actually somewhat provocative and that it wasn't just a well-made pulpy WWII Western,
I didn't see The Young Victoria and didn't like Capitalism, but I agree that 500 Days of Summer deserved a Best Pic nod. Blind Side's Best Pic nom was a big disappointment for me; I haven't seen it, but I can't imagine liking the movie, and I'm betting 500 Days, Star Trek, The Messenger, The Last Station, Crazy Heart, Me and Orson Welles, and hell, even The Princess and the Frog were all more deserving. My other big disappointment was that Christoph Waltz was the only Inglourious cast member nominated, as I thought the whole cast was terrific. The other disappointments were unsurprising but still disappointing: I would've loved to have seen noms for Matt Damon for The Informant!, Sharlto Copley, Christian McKay, Marion Cotillard, or a Screenplay nod for Adventureland (although that last one was especially a pipe dream). I also wouldn't have minded an off-the-wall nod for Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover, if only just to shake things up, but I never believed that that film had any real Academy Awards steam, even though some called it a dark horse.
P.S. I also just heard of The Secret of Kells this morning, but I think it sounds like a lot of fun! I hope it comes out soon.
I guess I like IG, just not quite as much as you do. Of course, though, I would not have cried to see a woman portraying a gorgeous French woman running a classic movie theater nab a nomination...
I can go with your nomination suggestions, and I'll also say that although he had no chance, Sam Rockwell for Moon would have been a very pleasant surprise in the Best Actor category...
I think Kells sound quite cool also. I wonder if it will ever hit Tulsa...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Oh yeah, I was sorry that I missed Moon. I hope to catch it on DVD.
A few months ago, I thought this Best Picture race was between Up in the Air and Precious, but now it seems like Hurt Locker vs. Avatar, with Inglourious Basterds as a dark horse. Moving forward, I am really hoping that The Hurt Locker has enough support to beat Avatar. Casting aside the silly Hollywood Foreign Press and looking at the major guilds (DGA/PGA/WGA/SAG) whose awards comprise people who are actually voting on the Oscars, Avatar's position looks very weak, but I fear that AMPAS may think Avatar feels more like a Best Picture than Hurt Locker given Avatar's scope and gross. I keep telling myself that no film has ever won Best Pic without any major guild support, but no film has ever won Best Pic with as few ticket sales as Hurt Locker either. Still, I'm optimistic, especially given the Hurt Locker's out-of-the-blue Best Score nomination and Avatar's Best Song snub; that stuff can often be an indication of how much AMPAS likes each film as a whole.
Of course, I wouldn't mind at all if Inglourious Basterds or Up in the Air snuck in and surprised us all! Or Precious or District 9, but those too seem like pipe dreams.
My gut at this point is gearing up for a split, with Avatar taking Picture and Bigelow earning Director nods. I hope I'm wrong about the former; I truly hate and despise Avatar and would rather anything else nominated beat it. Hurt Locker is a very real possibility. It is so hard to tell this far out, especially with the new voting procedure...
Did I mention I hate Avatar? Yes? Okay... :)
(The Blind Side isn't much better, so definitely do not feel bad about missing it.)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Preferential voting can only help Hurt and hurt Avatar. The new procedure favors wide appeal over polarizing films, and Avatar is the most polarizing of the bunch.
I actually participated in this simulation that, as you can see, has the Hurt Locker as the vote leader all the way to the second-to-last round, when Inglourious Basterds topples it. The guy who ran the simulation made the case for Inglourious as a serious contender for Best Pic given the new voting procedure, while admitting there are more Tarantino fanboys on the site than in the Academy. I still think it's between Avatar and Hurt though.
"help Hurt and hurt Avatar"
I love it, both as a turn of phrase and a potential reality!
I enjoyed reading the simulation. Interesting...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
PS - I'm very happy Avatar did not end up with a screenplay nomination... =whew-
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
So here's the real question... if Avatar wins Best Picture, will you still think Crash is the worst BP winner of last decade?
Yes, I think Crash is probably worse than Avatar, but I'm splitting an awfully thin hair in saying that... :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
You know, I had in my head that the quality of this past decade's Oscar winners was better than the previous decade's, but I just looked again and at least for the Best Picture winners, I'm not sure that's true, on average. That 1991-1993 run was terrific in my book, and it may help that I haven't seen Titanic. Also, it helps that unlike many other people, I enjoyed Shakespeare in Love. I would feel this way even if The Hurt Locker beat Avatar, although that would certainly help the oughts' case.
At least they're both better than the 80s (Amadeus being the only shining beacon, IMHO).
91-93 was a great streak. I'm in the minority, but I've found this decade pretty rough, with worthy films dotted with some rather bad ones (Crash, Gladiator).
I'm probably a horrible judge of the 80s, since I've not seen many of those films since that decade, and I was pretty young at the time. I do remember loving The Last Emperor and Amadeus and the much maligned Gandhi, and honestly, I don't recall actively disliking any of the winners, even if they often were obviously not the best choices. Maybe I should revisit a few of them.
I find it interesting how many people still have this idea of an Oscar film based in the 80s, even though the last two decades are full of winners that don't fit that mold at all!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Yeah, I was a big fan of The Last Emperor too, but I strongly disliked Chariots of Fire, didn't care much for Driving Miss Daisy (which I admit I saw ages ago), and didn't really love any of the others. As for this past decade, I must say I didn't dislike any of the winners (although a few came close...), but I did find most of them overrated. At least we got The Departed, which in my book was the only year of the last decade where the Best Picture winner was the actual best picture of the year.
It's true though, the Oscars have thankfully been able to veer in unconventional directions. Of course, even amidst the No Country For Old Mens, sometimes the Academy is still a sucker for those weepy historical epics.
I'm a sucker for those also, but only when done well... :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs