For most of my early years I foolishly believed that whomever won those tiny golden men were indeed “The Best” in their categories. Now... Well, one could launch into a very filmmakerey conversation about the futility of putting such unique works in competition with one another (even if it is for a dazzling night of stars and glamor). One COULD have that conversation, but instead, I’d like to talk about FORREST GUMP.
It was the 67th Annual Academy Awards and Gump had just won Best Picture; Gump beat FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, PULP FICTION, QUIZ SHOW and THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. Therefore (in the innocent mind of a child) FORREST GUMP was the best film of the 5 nominees... At the time I had no idea that I was on the verge of losing a substantial chunk of my innocence.
I hadn’t yet seen any of the films nominated. After all, I was 12 and the only one that interested me at the time was PULP FICTION (which I was forbidden to see). Over the next year, friends’ parents’ and parents’ friends’ managed to leave their VHS rentals in clear view, and so I was able to experience them all (except FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL... still haven’t seen that one...).
Today, when asked my favorite films of all time THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION is always on that list, QUIZ SHOW has appeared on the list a good number of times, and PULP FICTION... Well, I’d much rather watch that over FORREST GUMP, but I dig movies with samurai swords, gimps and bible-quoting hitmen. Plus, I heard FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL was pretty funny.
This year, the rivalry appears to be between AVATAR and THE HURT LOCKER. Having seen both, I will proudly say that THE HURT LOCKER deserves that Oscar so much more than AVATAR, but it probably won’t get it. I have a sneaking suspicion they're going to "GUMP" the Oscars this year. Which means, The Academy will give it to either AVATAR or some dark horse, like INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.The competition between these films encapsulates my relationship with Sir Oscar quite nicely. Which is why I now present to you:
MY OSCAR PICKS: WHO SHOULD WIN AND WHY THEY WON'T
Here we go...
Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Who should win: THE HURT LOCKER
Who will win: AVATAR
My Favorite (who definitely won’t win): UP IN THE AIR
You already know the Na’avi vs. Bombs argument quite intimately, so I’ll only quickly toss out that I loved UP IN THE AIR. I know it’s not as awesomely ulcer-inducing as THE HURT LOCKER, but I dug it. I loved the characters, it's timely, it's funny, it's heart-breaking, it's inspiring, and finely executed. I laughed, I almost cried (but I didn’t because I’m a man, dammit).BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow - 'The Hurt Locker'
James Cameron - 'Avatar'
Lee Daniels - 'Precious'
Jason Reitman - 'Up in the Air'
Quentin Tarantino - 'Inglourious Basterds'
Who should win: KATHRYN BIGELOW - THE HURT LOCKER
Who might win: JAMES CAMERON - AVATAR
Possible Upset: QUENTIN TARANTINO - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Kathryn Bigelow deserves this award, hands down. James Cameron “revolutionized 3-D camera blabbity blah”, and don’t get me wrong, he did an AMAZING job of that. Visually, that film blew my mind and it was the best 3-D I'd ever seen (much better than MICHAEL JACKSON'S CAPTAIN EO, the last 3-D film I saw)... but that was the only good thing AVATAR had going for it. Story, characters, tension? Fuggetaboutit. One of the most important, and challenging, aspects of directing is creating tension. THE HURT LOCKER handles tension flawlessly, whereas AVATAR caused me to laugh out loud at it's silly characters and plotline. I just hope Bigelow’s “First Woman to Ever Win the Best Director Oscar” card can trump Tarantino’s “C’moooon, look how many movies I’ve made! Gimme an Oscar!” card. Best Actor
Jeff Bridges - 'Crazy Heart'
George Clooney - 'Up in the Air'
Colin Firth - 'A Single Man'
Morgan Freeman - 'Invictus'
Jeremy Renner - 'The Hurt Locker'
Who should win: GEORGE CLOONEY - UP IN THE AIR
Who will win: JEFF BRIDGES - CRAZY HEART
Possible Upset: COLIN FIRTH - A SINGLE MAN
Let’s face it, no men acted this year. They kinda just did what they always do: George Clooney and Jeff Bridges both acted like themselves, which is always amazing. Morgan Freeman is Nelson Mandela. Colin Firth was the best part of another boring, dramatic film. And Jeremy Renner... well, I don’t really know much about him. But, unfortunately for Renner, an independent film can’t get Best Picture buzz AND win an acting Oscar... thems just the rules! Best Actress
Sandra Bullock - 'The Blind Side'
Helen Mirren - 'The Last Station'
Carey Mulligan - 'An Education'
Gabourey Sidibe - 'Precious'
Meryl Streep - 'Julie and Julia'
I've only seen one of these movies, so I'm going with...Who should win: um.... CAREY MULLIGAN - AN EDUCATION
Who will win: SANDRA BULLOCK - THE BLIND SIDE
Possible Upset: GABOUREY SIDIBE - PRECIOUS
Once again, I've only seen one of them, PRECIOUS. Which I liked, but Sanda Bullock is going into this with a lot of buzz and awards at her back. I thought Gabourey Sidibe did an excellent job, but not an Oscar-winning job, and Carey Mulligan is really cute.
Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon - 'Invictus'
Woody Harrelson - 'The Messenger'
Christopher Plummer - 'The Last Station'
Stanley Tucci - 'The Lovely Bones'
Christoph Waltz - 'Inglourious Basterds'
Who should Win: CHRISTOPHER WALTZ - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Who will win: CHRISTOPHER WALTZ - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Possible Upset: CHRISTOPHER WALTZ - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Seriously, does anyone doubt this?
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'
Who should win: MÉLANIE LAURENT - INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
Who will win: MO’NIQUE - PRECIOUS
Possible upset: MAGGIE GYLLENHALL - CRAZY HEART
I thought Laurent was the one of the best parts of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, she almost made that terrible scene with the poorly used Bowie song watchable. ALMOST. And will someone please give Maggie Gyllenhall some awards?! In fact, I'd like to give Penelope Cruz an Oscar, but for an Almodovor Film, not NINE. Where's the BROKEN EMBRACES nod? But, alas, Mo’Nique kinda has this one in the bag. Mo'Nique is pullin' a Bullock... Or actually, since this will be one of the earlier awards perhaps it is Bullock who is pullin' a Mo'Nique.... Hm, I'll get back to you on that.Animated Feature Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
Who should win: UP Who will win: UP
Possible upset: UP
Up should win Animated Feature and Short for the first 10 minutes.
Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal - 'The Hurt Locker'
Quentin Tarantino - 'Inglourious Basterds'
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman - 'The Messenger'
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - 'A Serious Man'
Peter Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy - 'Up'
My should win: UP
Who will win: THE HURT LOCKER
Possible Upset: THE COEN BROTHERS
When a big Oscar buzz movie doesn’t win Best Picture they usually give them the screenplay category (assuming that their rival is not nominated for it). It's goes like this "GUMP. GUMP. GUMP. GUMP. Hm, Adapted Screenplay will be GUMP, so let's give Original Screenplay to this new kid... PULP FICTION). It’s practically science. Luckily AVATAR was not nominated (at all). If it had been I would be in jail now for doing terrible, terrible things. Best Adapted Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell - 'District 9'
Nick Hornby - 'An Education'
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche - 'In the Loop'
Geoffrey Fletcher - 'Precious'
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - 'Up in the Air'
Who Should Win - UP IN THE AIR
Who Will Win - PRECIOUS
Possible Upset - DISTRICT 9
DISTRICT 9 was the most fun I’ve had at the movies since sliced bread and I would be very happy to see it win for screenplay. Plus, since Avatar is going to take all the technical awards this is pretty much DISTRICT 9's best shot. But, I gotta back up my main 2009 pick, UP IN THE AIR.
Best Documentary
Feature Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
I haven’t seen any of these films so I’m picking...
Who Should Win: THE COVE
Who will win: FOOD, INC
Possible upset: THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA.
FOOD, INC is on my Netflix queue... and will be there forever, never watched. And that’s all I have to say about that.
Best Original Score
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up
Who should win: UP
Who will win: AVATAR
Possible Upset: SHERLOCK HOLMES
I heard the score was the only good part of SHERLOCK HOLMES and I support rewarding excellence.
Best 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
Who Should Win: CRAZY HEART
Who Will Win: RANDY NEWMAN... for one of them
Possible Upset: PARIS 36 (Whoa! There was a movie out called PARIS 36? Huh... go figure.)
Okay, now we’re getting into the more technical awards, which means one thing to all the people who know nothing about the technology: AVATAR, AVATAR, AVATAR. Which, don’t get me wrong, looked really cool and stuff and I'm totally in awe of the fancy-pants 3-D... but, c’mon...
It also means now is a good time to switch the laundry to the majority of viewers. I really like these awards and will certainly get into some arguments with my friends after the show about who REALLY deserved Sound Mixing... but a lot of my friends and family in the midwest would ask me, "Cinematographer? What do they do again?"
Best Film Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
My Should Win: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Who Will Win: AVATAR
Best Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon
My should win: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Who will win: AVATAR
I have to say, I haven't seen THE WHITE RIBBON, but considering it's Michael Haneke and this is the ONLY award it's up for it probably should win over Inglourious Basterds, but it doesn't matter... because Avatar is nominated.
Best Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Who should win: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Who will win: AVATAR
Who I wish would win: DISTRICT 9
I LOVED WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. I don’t care what you think. It was awesome. And the effects in DISTRICT 9 were seamless and utterly amazing. But... y'know... AVATAR.
Best Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up
Who should win: STAR TREK
Who will win: AVATAR
Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
My Pick: STAR TREK
Who will win: AVATAR
You see when The Academy vote for who the nominees will be, members can only vote within their profession, i.e. only Sound Mixers vote for Best Sound Mixing. So when Star Trek is nominated for essentially nothing but it's Sound Design & Mixing... I tend to trust the professionals. But, alas when EVERYONE in The Academy gets to vote on who wins the ballots will come in: AVATAR, AVATAR, AVATAR.Best Short Film (Live Action)
'The Door' - Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
'Instead of Abracadabra' - Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
'Kavi' - Gregg Helvey
'Miracle Fish' - Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
'The New Tenants' - Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
Didn’t see any... based on the cleverness of titles I like...
Who should win: Miracle Fish”
Who will win: The Door
Best Short Film (Animated)
'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
Again, didn’t see any... based on titles I like...
Who should win: The Lady and the Reaper
Who will win: French Roast
And those are my Oscar picks! For those of you who continued to read through the categories you didn’t really care about, THANKS! And for those of you who did really care about who won Best Sound Mixing, I didn’t mean that last joke (psst... I was just pandering to the folks who don’t care about good Sound Mixing as much as you or I).
We here in Michael’s head know that you have a wide selection of blogs to read and we thank you for reading this one.
And now, a picture of me as a Na'avi:
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