Sunday, February 28, 2010

TV's Spring Awakening

Haven't really mentioned it at all here, but I have more or less been watching the Winter Olympics nonstop. I guess I'm just a sucker for the inherent drama of representing one's country and going for the win against all odds. The stories some of these athletes have coming into the games have been incredible.

And with a less than subtle segue, I do miss the stories from some of the TV shows that have taken a break because of the Olympics. I mean the past two weeks on TV haven't been completely barren. Lost, Amazing Race, Greek, and 24 are some of my regulars that didn't take a break. And other than a lagging 24, the other shows I mentioned have been kicking it out of the park. Lost, in particular, seems to be bringing its A-game for its final season, but this is nothing new for the show really. With that said, I do greatly miss my weekly dose of half-hour comedies--How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Community, and 30 Rock.

As for new shows premiering this mid-season, the only one that has caught my eye is Parenthood. How could I miss it when NBC has been insanely promoting it throughout its Olympic coverage? PROS: Lauren Graham and Peter Krause. CONS: Dax Shepard and it is up against The Good Wife. So... I'm still undecided.

Finally, there are those shows that have taken a much longer hiatus than just the two weeks for the Olympics. It's interesting to note that for some, absence does make the heart grow fonder while for others, it's more like out of sight, out of mind. For example, I'm getting impatient about waiting for Glee, Fringe, and V, but finding myself not really caring for the return of Gossip Girl and FlashForward.

Alan Sepinwall has recently posted a very convenient list of "notable shows debuting or returning" in the coming months. It's pretty complete, though I take issue with him forgetting that Doctor Who returns with the new Doctor on April 17 for American audiences and two weeks earlier on April 4 (Easter Sunday) for those lucky Brits. Geronimo!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Looking Forward To...


Alice in Wonderland
Release: March 5, 2010
Distributor: Buena Vista
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Crispin Glover, Helena Bonham Carter, Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, and Mia Wasikowska

Monday, February 22, 2010

My Personal Oscar Ballot

Final Oscar ballots were mailed out to the Academy members more than ten days ago and while most of them have already filled theirs out, there are certainly a few stragglers waiting until the very last minute. Every film/Oscar watcher have dreamed about getting their hands on a ballot and being one of the few to choose the winners of film's highest honor. So I thought what if I was given the chance to cast my ballot for this year's awards. What would that look like? What would I do?

First Note: For Best Picture, Academy voters are asked to rank their choices from 1 to 10. For the other categories, they are only ask to pick their choice of winner.

Second Note: These are NOT my predictions. Like I said on top, this is how I would cast my own ballot if I was an Academy member.

Best Picture
1 - District 9
2 - Avatar
3 - Up
4 - Up in the Air
5 - Inglourious Basterds
6 - An Education
7 - The Hurt Locker
8 - Precious
9 - A Serious Man
10 - The Blind Side

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Lead Actor: Colin Firth, A Single Man
Best Lead Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious
Best Animated Film: Up
Best Original Screenplay: Inglourious Basterds
Best Adapted Screenplay: District 9
Best Foreign Language Film: Un Prophete, France
Best Original Score: Up
Best Original Song: "Take It All," Nine
Best Editing: District 9
Best Art Direction: Avatar
Best Cinematography: Avatar
Best Costume Design: Bright Star
Best Makeup: Star Trek
Best Documentary: The Cove
Best Documentary Short: China's Unnatural Disaster
Best Animated Short: Logorama
Best Live Action Short: Instead of Abracadabra
Best Sound Editing: Up
Best Sound Mixing: Star Trek
Best Visual Effects: Avatar

Tally: 3 - District 9, Avatar, Up; 2 - Inglourious Basterds, Star Trek; 1 - The Hurt Locker, A Single Man, Julie & Julia, Precious, Bright Star, Nine, Un Prophete, The Cove, China's Unnatural Disaster, Logorama, Instead of Abracadabra

I ended up giving most of the awards to 3 of my top 4 films of the year and yet still went with the concensus choices for Director and the two Supporting categories. Go figure.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

BAFTA Winners


The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) handed out their annual film awards tonight. Due to the time difference, American audience won't see the show until a couple of hours. Oddly enough the show was also tape-delayed in Britain even though the organization itself tweeted the ceremonies as it happen. Oh those, crazy Brits.

The winners are listed below:

Best Film: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Colin Firth, A Single Man
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious
Best Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker
Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air
Best British Film: Fish Tank
Best Foreign Language Film: A Prophet
Best Animated Film: Up
Best Cinematography: The Hurt Locker
Best Production Design: Avatar
Best Costume Design: The Young Victoria
Best Film Editing: The Hurt Locker
Best Makeup & Hair: The Young Victoria
Best Music: Up
Best Sound: The Hurt Locker
Best Special Visual Effects: Avatar
Best Short Film: I Do Air
Best Animated Short: Mother of Many
Best British Debut: Duncan Jones (director), Moon
Orange Rising Star Award: Kristen Stewart

Already the front-runner to win big at the Oscars, The Hurt Locker once again flexed its award season muscle as it dominated the field winning six of its eight nominations including Best Director and Best Picture. Its strong showing here was largely unexpected since it wasn't a British film, but it was the clear favorite over Avatar and British film An Education and only strengthened the certainty of it winning at the Oscars. Both Avatar and An Education had the same number of nominations as The Hurt Locker and at least didn't walk away empty-handed. Mo'Nique and Christoph Waltz continue their award sweep while the leading acting categories had a refreshingly British flair going to Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan. The latter win, or more accurately Meryl Streep's loss here, solidifies Sandra Bullock's win at the Oscars.

All of this is to say that if you bet against The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, Christoph Waltz, Mo'Nique, Up, Avatar (for Visual Effects), Up in the Air (for Adapted Screenplay), The Young Victoria (for Costume Design), and Sandra Bullock at the Academy Awards, you should be committed. In fact this award season is surprisingly making last year's Slumdog Millionaire-dominated award season look downright nail-biting and unpredictable.

Writers Guild Winners


More than a month after announcing its nominations, the Writers Guild of America finally gave out its awards last night. The winners are...

Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Documentary Screenplay: Mark Monroe, The Cove

TV Drama Series: Mad Men
TV Comedy Series: 30 Rock
New TV Series: Modern Family

View the complete list of winners here

Great effort for Modern Family to finally breakthrough this award season besting its flashier half Glee for a major award.

As for the movies, the little film that could has all but sewn up the awards season as The Hurt Locker has now won the PGA, DGA, WGA, ACE, and the Critics Choice Awards. I guess it's worthwhile to note that it did lose to Inglourious Basterds at the SAG and to Avatar at the Golden Globes, but it's prominently the front-runner as it also co-leads the nomination tally at the Academy Awards and as Award Daily's Sasha Stone points out, a film to win DGA, WGA, and ACE has gone on to win Best Picture at the Oscars 100% of the time.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Paris Education



My friends are just starting their Parisian vacation today. Of course I'm jealous even though they asked me to go with. Oh well.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Not Like the City in Alaska

I've recently been thinking about past Best Picture nominee, Juno, and how maybe I should really give the film another chance. I mean I liked it well enough (was in the top 25 for me that year), but all of my friends REALLY LOVED the film. I told myself that maybe it was because I saw it in a theater full of obnoxious teenagers coupled with my heightened expectations. In any case, I already convinced myself that I would need to rewatch it down the line. And maybe that time is now.

You may be asking, why now?


Because in the past few months I fell in love with Ellen Page in Whip It!, was impressed by Jason Reitman's film Up in the Air, and could not get enough of Diablo Cody's United States of Tara. I mean, of course, me loving their current individual projects doesn't necessarily mean I will end up liking their previous collaboration with one another more, but now I do think it deserves a second viewing ASAP.

Monday, February 15, 2010

End-Of-Year: Favorite Films

Whoops. This sort of fell in the wayside as I got caught up on tennis, various award shows, Super Bowl, Olympics, TV shows, etc. In any case, if you want to refresh your memories on the worst and the in-between films I saw the past year, go ahead. But below are my top 28 favorite films of last year.

Disclaimer: Since making this list about a month or so ago, I've seen a few other 2009 films such as Nine, Zombieland, and New York, I Love You. Not to say any of them would actually make this list (probably not), but just wanted to point it out. And since I'm strapped for time, only brief comments for each film...


#28 Away We Go - The word "cozy" comes to mind when I saw this film.
#27 Easy Virtue - Way more hilarious that I expected. Sames goes for Jessica Biel's performance.
#26 Bright Star - Just an absolutely beautiful film top to bottom.
#25 Make the Yuletide Gay - Not groundbreaking, but unexpectedly fun and heartfelt.
#24 Sin Nombre - Emotionally resonant and gorgeous movie.


#23 Duplicity
- Had no expectations, but ended up liking how smart and perfectly paced it was.
#22 Goodbye Solo - Touching film about two different worlds colliding. Reminded me of The Visitor.
#21 Taking Woodstock - Perfect movie to see at the of summer. It was leisurely paced and completely charming.
#20 Julia - Headlined by a powerhouse performance by Tilda Swinton. Raw and gripping.
#19 The Cove - Really pulls at your heartstrings. Informative, important, and beautiful.


#18 Precious - Amazing performances from Mo'Nique and newcomer Gabby Sidibe.
#17 The Hurt Locker - A small film that requires patience. Superbly directed.
#16 An Education - A star-turn for Carey Mulligan flanked by impressive veteran and new actors alike.
#15 A Single Man - A somber and stylized film that makes an ugly situation look so awfully pretty.
#14 Moon - A fantastic sci-fi tale that had me guessing all the way through the end. Sam Rockwell nails his complicated role.


#13 Whip It!
- Fun and energetic film that reminds oneself of Juno except without being annoying.
#12 Julie & Julia - Five words: Meryl Streep as Julia Child. Her performance like the movie as a whole was utterly delicious.
#11 Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino is a risk-taker and he really brought his A-game when making this wild revisionist film.
#10 Where the Wild Things Are - I felt like a kid again when I saw this very well-adapted film.
#9 Up in the Air - Impressive and topical film with a cast full of chemistry.


#8 In the Loop
- Rip-roaringly funny film that made me cry a lot. The cast is wonderful and equally absurd in their hilarity.
#7 Star Trek - Shockingly fun and smart with an engaging and expertly-picked cast. Perfect popcorn summer movie.
#6 Coraline - The first 2009 film I saw and over a year later, I'm still completely enamored.
#5 The Brothers Bloom - Quirky storytelling with quirky dialogue said by quirky characters. Easy to fall in love with it.


#4 Up - It's Pixar. It made me cry several times. What else do I need to say? Also my first 3D film.
#3 Avatar - My second 3D film ever and what a cinematic/visual experience it was. I've yet to see it a second time, but I'm dying to see it in IMAX. Cameron hit cinematic lightning once again.
#2 (500) Days of Summer - Perfection in 95 minutes, this little "not-a-love-story" film is smartly told and the two leads are too adorable.
#1 District 9 - Totally engrossing and surprisingly touching. Never thought this would be my favorite film of the year, but it hass lodged itself into my brain and refuses to leave.

Whew! Now bring on 2010.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Blue Valentine.. or is it Pink?

As Valentine's Day winds down, I just wanted to share a recently-discovered poster I absolutely LOVE for a movie I'm highly anticipating this year. Blue Valentine stars former Oscar nominees Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams and according to IMDB, the film is about "a contempo married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time period."


The color choice of the poster is a bit genius not only because it's a great shade of pink, but the color both relates (Valentine) and go against the title (Blue). Plus the graphic of the two main leads with their bodies forming a very recognizable heart shape is perfectly subtle and effective.

The movie itself was warmly received when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival a few weeks ago where it was also picked up by The Weinstein Company. There's no word yet on its release date, but both Goslin and Williams are already getting some Oscar buzz. I'm trying not to get my hopes up though I'm already viewing this as this year's 500 Days of Summer. I'll try to temper my expectations until I actually see the film, but if the movie is as awesome as this first poster, I can't wait.

Not a Love Story

"This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story. "


"Roses are red, violets are blue... Fuck you, whore!"

Happy Valentines Day! Happy Single Appreciation/Awareness Day!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Posts Forthcoming

Seriously need to find the time and/or inspiration to post a few things again. Sadly my TV/film lists are bordering on being very outdated since we're well into the second month of 2010. But in the near future I will post my top 28 films of 2009 and my best of film/TV of the decade as well as further Oscar thoughts and a few other posts on recent TV. Just need to find the time.

Maybe I'll find the time during this holiday weekend. Maybe. Tonight I'll be watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympic. My family has this little tradition of watching the opening ceremonies so there's that. This year it's taking place in Vancouver over at our neighbor up north. Whenever someone mentions Canada all I can think of is How I Met Your Mother's resident Canadian character Robin Scherbatsky and of course her pop princess alter-ego Robin Sparkles. Too bad the Olympics are airing on NBC since it would've been just fantastic if CBS could get Robin Sparkles to sing at the ceremonies. Appropriate? Not really, but hey it's my fantasy.

"Let's go to the mall... today!"

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Avatar Sinks Titanic

On the same day it garnered nine Oscar nominations, Avatar also became the highest-grossing movie ever. In only 47 days, James Cameron's Avatar grossed $601.1 million domestic surpassing Cameron's own Titanic who had held the top spot for 12 years.


We can get into that whole messy inflation deal or talk about how the premium 3D prices are boosting its gross, but who really cares? Not James Cameron certainly. But if you do care then Box Office Mojo has a more detailed breakdown of the record-breaking gross. To date, Avatar has amassed $2.07 billion worldwide. That's billion.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Thoughts on Oscar Nominations

Out of the 58 films nominated, I've seen 21 of them including 8 of 10 Best Pictures. Some of the films I still need to see are A Serious Man, The Blind Side, Crazy Heart, Invictus, The Messenger, The Last Station, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Un Prophete, and The White Ribbon. I doubt I'll get to see them all before the actual show.

Also out of the 121 nominations, I've seen 73 (60.3%) of them. Below, I've bolded the films/performances I have seen...

BEST PICTURE
  • Avatar
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Inglourious Basterds
  • Up in the Air
  • Precious
  • Up
  • District 9
  • An Education
  • A Serious Man
  • The Blind Side
The decision to expand the Best Picture list to ten was mostly thought of as an exercise of getting more mainstream movies into the fold. Along with including the highest-grossing movie ever, it also found a place for two films to crack $200 million and another two to get at least $100 million. Money is one thing, but it's also worth a look to see the kinds of movies they picked. A CGI-filled fantasy mega-blockbuster, an Iraqi war film, a purely Tarantino movie, an animated movie, a gore-tastic sci-fi thriller... these types of movies don't get nominated or if they do, it's rare. The one film that surprised me was The Blind Side, but everything else was fairly predictable. Other than The Blind Side and A Serious Man, I've seen all of the other films and have given them all at least B+.

BEST DIRECTOR
  • Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
  • James Cameron, Avatar
  • Lee Daniels, Precious
  • Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
  • Quentin Tarantino, Inlglourious Basterds
This is the list of directors that everyone expected and nicely divides our top ten Best Picture nominees into "the real 5" and "the other 5." It's no surprise also that the films of these five directors also garnered the most nominations. I'd say it's anybody's game, but I'd be lying since it will most likely go to immense front-runner Kathryn Bigelow which would mean she would be the first woman to win an Oscar for directing. Her biggest competition is interestingly enough her ex-husband James Cameron. As they will fight so will both of their films which tied with 9 nominations each.

BEST LEAD ACTOR
  • Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
  • George Clooney, Up in the Air
  • Colin Firth, A Single Man
  • Morgan Freeman, Invictus
  • Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
No surprises here as these are the five actors to be nominated at the SAG Awards. The media would like you to believe it's a two-man race between Clooney and Bridges, but don't be fooled. Bridges has ALL of the momentum and even though anything can happen, he looks to grab his first Oscar. It's really great to see Firth and Renner get their first Oscar nominations, but for them the nomination is its own reward.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS
  • Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
  • Helen Mirren, The Last Station
  • Carey Mulligan, An Education
  • Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
  • Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Unfortunately Sandra Bullock now holds the distinction of being nominated for a Razzie and an Oscar in the same year. For the former she was nominated for her role in All About Steve, for the latter in the Blind Side. She is the front-runner to win as much as it pains me to say. While she didn't win any critic awards, she won the important industry awards so far. Her closest competitor is 16-time nominated Meryl Streep who was so very close to her second leading role Oscar. There was some heat for Milligan early on, but it's since been dissipated by all the Streep vs. Bullock talk. The other two are just happy to be nominated.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
  • Matt Damon, Invictus
  • Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
  • Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
  • Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
  • Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
It was a guessing game as to who the other four nominees would be since Christoph Waltz pretty much won everything in sight this year similar to Heath Ledger last year. Suffice it to say, he's the overwhelming front-runner especially since he's the only one to appear in a Best Picture nominee. Supporting categories, however, are known for their wacky results so don't completely rule out Tucci or Plummer being honored for their career. But, I'd tell Waltz to brush up on his inevitable speech about all of the people named Oscar he knows.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
  • Penelope Cruz, Nine
  • Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
  • Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
  • Mo'Nique, Precious
The only surprise nominee here is Maggie Gyllenhaal since she didn't appear anywhere else leading up to her nomination. But with all the love that her co-star is getting, it was less of a shock to see her included. She knocked off Julianne Moore and perhaps a woman from Inglourious Basterds. Still, Maggie Gylenhaal is an Oscar nominee now! Think about it! This prize is going to go to Mo'Nique. Like Waltz, she's dominated the precursor awards with only Anna Kendrick putting up a fight, a measly one at that.

BEST ANIMATED FILM
  • Coraline
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox
  • The Princess and the Frog
  • The Secret of Kells
  • Up
No one saw The Secret of Kells coming. It most likely took the place of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs or even 9, but the other four were widely predicted. This year it's not a complete slam dunk for Pixar as it's been getting some competition from Fantastic Mr. Fox. Though it'll probably still go to Up.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Inglourious Basterds
  • The Messenger
  • A Serious man
  • Up
A solid list of nominees that were more or less predicted except for the out-of-left-field choice of The Messenger. The notable exclusions are WGA nominated (500) Days of Summer, Avatar, and The Hangover. The former especially since the one things it's been awarded for this whole award season has been it's script. Very sad to see it get ignored. This will most likely come down to the Inglourious Basterds and The Hurt Locker.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
  • District 9
  • An Education
  • In the Loop
  • Precious
  • Up in the Air
Precious and Up in the Air will win this and they are also the only two who also got nominated by the WGA to make it in. The other three were deemed ineligble for the WGA, but were expected to get an Oscar nomination. An Education was a bit of a surprise. Films not nominated that could've been include Fantastic Mr. Fox, Crazy Heart, Julie & Julia, and Star Trek. Shout out to Where the Wild Things Are which totally should've been nominated!

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
  • Ajami, Israel
  • El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina
  • The Milk of Sorrow, Peru
  • Un Prophete, France
  • The White Ribbon, Germany
The French and German flicks have been tapped as Oscar nominees ever since they made their splash at Cannes the past year. Un Prophete has had the more award show wins, but The White Ribbon lead in critical awards. Plus the latter is nominated elsewhere (Cinematography). The others can win, of course, but I haven't heard much about them yet.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
  • Avatar
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Sherlock Holmes
  • Up
This is usually my unofficial favorite category and I don't think they made bad choices. I have no idea what other films were in the running, but I'm definitely rooting for Up since the composer also worked on the scores for Star Trek and Lost (omg it premieres tonight!!!) Most likely, however, it's between two other Best Picture nominees, Avatar and The Hurt Locker.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
  • "Almost There," The Princess and the Frog
  • "Down in New Orleans," The Princess and the Frog
  • "Loin de Paname," Paris 36
  • "Take It All," Nine
  • "The Weary Kind," Crazy Heart
"The Weary Kind" will win just like "Jai Ho" last year. It just has the momentum. I love the nominated for "Take It All" if only for the possibility of Marion Cotillard to sing it. Please don't hire Beyonce to do it. I'm a bit sad that the songs from An Education and Where the Wild Things Are didn't get nominated as well as Leona Lewis' "I See You" from Avatar. Somewhere Celine Dion is smirking singing "My Heart Will Go On."

BEST ART DIRECTION
  • Avatar
  • The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
  • Nine
  • Sherlock Holmes
  • The Young Victoria
Avatar looks to dominate the technical awards and I don't see it not get this award. The others, except for Sherlock Holmes, have a small chance I suppose.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
  • Avatar
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Inglourious Basterds
  • The White Ribbon
If Avatar doesn't pick up a win and either The Hurt Locker or Inglourious Basterds does, then it will tell us a lot about who could win Best picture at the end of the night. Keep that in mind. Oh and look a Harry Potter film is Oscar nominated! When was the last time that happened?

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
  • Bright Star
  • Coco Before Chanel
  • The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
  • Nine
  • The Young Victoria
Nothing too shocking here. Bright Star finally gets its one and only mention (which is one more than 500 Days so whatever). The Young Victoria might be a slight front-runner here, but really who knows?

BEST DOCUMENTARY
  • Burma VJ
  • The Cove
  • Food, Inc.
  • The Most Dangerous Man in America
  • Which Way Home
I need to investigate what the other documentaries are about, but I *did* watch The Cove and I'm still thinking about it. At the very least, it is the front-runner so the other films will really need to resonate more than dead dolphins if they hope to win.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
  • China's Unnatural Disaster
  • The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
  • The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
  • Music by Prudence
  • Rabbit a la Berlin
Like every year, I pick the one with the best name to win. It worked last year with Smile Pinki! This year the titles are a bit dry except for Rabbit a la Berlin. So that's my pick. Of course then I find out it's about the slaughters of rabbits, isn't it?

BEST EDITING
  • Avatar
  • District 9
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Inglourious Basterds
  • Precious
Everyone will look to this award to find out who will win Best Picture since the winner here usually goes on to win the top prize. District 9 or Precious probably won't win, but the other three definitely have a chance and again will tell us a lot about the tone of the award show.

BEST MAKEUP
  • Il Divo
  • Star Trek
  • The Young Victoria
District 9 was robbed! It was in the short list and it was robbed. I can't even look at this category. Well I'm half kidding, sine it's not a terrible list. At least none of them are Norbit.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
  • French Roast
  • Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
  • La Dama y la Muerte
  • Logorama
  • A Matter of Loaf and Death
Again, pick the best name and run with it. It's toss up between Logorama and A Matter of Loaf and Death. Hopefully I can check them out soon.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
  • The Door
  • Instead of Abracadabra
  • Kavi
  • Miracle Fish
  • The New Tenants
I have no idea what any of these are about but I so love love love the title, Instead of Abracadabra, and the general feeling it gives you, you know?

BEST SOUND EDITING
  • Avatar
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Inglourious Basters
  • Star Trek
  • Up
Any of them can win this, but Avatar will probably get it.

BEST SOUND MIXING
  • Avatar
  • The Hurt Locker
  • Inglourious Basters
  • Star Trek
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
See above comment... and wtf is Transformers doing at the Oscars?! Ugh.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
  • Avatar
  • District 9
  • Star Trek
And here are the best sci-fi films of the year rounding out the last category. Avatar will win this hands down, but they all deserve to be present in the big show. I'm still tickled pink that District 9 actually finds itself nominated for Best Picture (and Screenplay!). It and Star Trek got 4 nominations each while of course Avatar leads the field with 9. Who says the Academy is afraid of a little bit of sci-fi? They just want sci-fi done right.

Now, I didn't post any official predictions, but I did keep an excel sheet with the top categories and used that to form my own set of predictions. You don't have to take my word on it, but I still wanted to share...

I was 8/10 for Best Picture missing out on The Blind Side and The Messenger. My predictions were (500) Days of Summer and Invictus. I was 5/5 on Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor which just shows you how cut and dried this awards season has been. I was 4/5 on Best Supporting Actress going instead for Julianne Moore instead on Maggie Gylenhaal. I was 4/5 on both Screenplay categories. For Original I went for (500) Days instead of The Messenger and for Adapted I went for Fantastic Mr. Fox instead of An Education.

So in the major categories I went 40/45 which is a very respectable 89%.

Oscar Nominations


BEST PICTURE
Avatar (9 nominations)
The Blind Side (2 nominations)
District 9 (4 nominations)
An Education (3 nominations)
The Hurt Locker (9 nominations)
Inglourious Basterds (8 nominations)
Precious (6 nominations)
A Serious Man (2 nominations)
Up (5 nominations)
Up in the Air (6 nominations)

BEST DIRECTOR
James Cameron, Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

BEST LEAD ACTOR
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

BEST LEAD ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mett Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious man
Up

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ajami, Israel
El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina
The Milk of Sorrow, Peru
Un Prophete, France
The White Ribbon, Germany

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Almost There," The Princess and the Frog
"Down in New Orleans," The Princess and the Frog
"Loin de Paname," Paris 36
"Take It All," Nine
"The Weary Kind," Crazy Heart

BEST ART DIRECTION
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The MOst Dangerous Man in America
Which Way Home

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
China's Unnatural Disaster
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin

BEST EDITING
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

BEST MAKEUP
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
La Dama y la Muerte
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants

BEST SOUND EDITING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basters
Star Trek
Up

BEST SOUND MIXING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basters
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek