So, the 82nd Academy Awards is almost upon us, however I will not be watching - it's on Sky Movies. Rage. Although, I do have my guesses as to who'll come on top after the statues are handed out. So I should probably crack on. I'll put up all of the nominees, then list my favourite and why they should win. If you feel so inclined, leave a comment with your own favourites! Also, I'm only basing my choices based on the films I've seen, so my apologies if I get a couple wrong.
Without Further Ado...
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
My Pick: The Hurt Locker
Why: Because Avatar made truckloads of money, but it's a feast for the eyes, not the mind. Plus what The Hurt Locker did with $15m is amazing, and it hasn't even made that back yet, so it at least deserves a statue.
Best Director:
* James Cameron – Avatar
* Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
* Lee Daniels – Precious
* Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
* Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
My Pick - Kathryn Bigelow
Why: She made the film so nerve-wracking to watch, you feel for the lives of the characters and it made me sit on the edge of my seat.
Best Actor:
* Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart as Bad Blake
* George Clooney – Up in the Air as Ryan Bingham
* Colin Firth – A Single Man as George Falconer
* Morgan Freeman – Invictus as Nelson Mandela
* Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker as Sgt. William James
My Pick - George Clooney
Why: It's George Clooney. (And I haven't seen Crazy Heart.)
Best Actress:
* Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side as Leigh Anne Tuohy
* Helen Mirren – The Last Station as Sofya Tolstoy
* Carey Mulligan – An Education as Jenny Miller
* Gabourey Sidibe – Precious as Claireece "Precious" Jones
* Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia as Julia Child
My Pick - N/A
Why: I haven't seen any of these, although if Sandra Bullock wins, she'd be the first person to win an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year. For that, she should win.
Best Supporting Actor:
* Matt Damon – Invictus as François Pienaar
* Woody Harrelson – The Messenger as Capt. Tony Stone
* Christopher Plummer – The Last Station as Leo Tolstoy
* Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones as George Harvey
* Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds as Col. Hans Landa
My Pick - Christoph Waltz
Why: Hans Landa makes the film. "That's a bingo!"
Best Supporting Actress:
* Penélope Cruz – Nine as Carla Albanese
* Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air as Alex Goran
* Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart as Jean Craddock
* Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air as Natalie Keener
* Mo'Nique – Precious as Mary Lee Johnston
My Pick - Anna Kendrick
Why: She's as equally amazing in this as Vera Farmiga, but the scene where she bursts into tears is comedy gold.
Best Original Screenplay:
* The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal
* Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
* The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
* A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
* Up – Tom McCarthy, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter
My Pick: Inglourious Basterds
Why: Come on. It's Tarantino. The La Louisiane scene alone deserves that statue!
Best Adapted Screenplay:
* District 9 – Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell from Alive in Joburg by Blomkamp
* An Education – Nick Hornby from An Education by Lynn Barber
* In the Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche from The Thick of It by Iannucci
* Precious – Geoffrey Fletcher from Push by Sapphire
* Up in the Air – Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner from Up in the Air by Walter Kirn
My Pick - Up In The Air
Why: Because the fact it's so relevant to the mass job losses of today, even though the script was written several years ago, means that it has an added poignance to an already fantastic script.
Best Animated Feature:
* Coraline – Henry Selick
* Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson
* The Princess and the Frog – Ron Clements and John Musker
* The Secret of Kells – Tomm Moore
* Up – Pete Docter
My Pick - Fantastic Mr Fox
Why: The first 10 minutes of Up might have all people with souls in tears, but Fantastic Mr Fox is just an hour and a half of great storytelling, a fantastic (PUN!) cast, and a great musical interlude from none other than Jarvis Cocker. Wes Anderson needs an Oscar tonight!
Also, forget about the Visual Effects Oscars, Avatar has them wrapped up.
So, you might not agree with my choices, but that's what the comment box is for. Tomorrow, I'll be ready to gloat/eat humble pie (delete as applicable).
Darren out, saying "that's just poor songwriting. You wrote a bad song, Petey!"
Fantastic Mr Fox would get my vote =)
ReplyDeleteKirstieee x
Correct on many my good man. The Hurt Locker would've been my pick for the biggies. However, it's obvious you haven't seen Precious. Mega performance from Notorious B.I.G.! Not sure about the wig though. I would've put my money on Bridges for Best Actor, but would've liked to have seen Colin Firth win it. He'll never get as good a role again I don't think and if he does, doubt he'll perform as well. Apparently, Waltz was more of a stick-on than Ledger last year. Did he die or something?
ReplyDeleteWes Anderson should have got an Oscar for Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums or The Life Aquatic before T.F.M.F. He's too quirky for those straight-laced fuckos!
Ps. Films for you to check out (unless you've seen em):
ReplyDelete*Anvil: The Story of Anvil
*Rushmore
*District 9
*Adaptation
*The Acid House
*Leon
*The Thing
Link us up/get one of these so we can be saddos together on this:
http://flixster.com/user/chrismarlow40
Thuuug-life.
Love both D9 and The Thing, Kurt Russell's awesome, but can't wait to see Sharlto Copley as Murdock in The A-Team. If you ever want to get utterly smeshed, try the Hunter D9 Drinking Game (TM): Drink every time Wikus says the word "fuck".
ReplyDeleteFun times guaranteed.