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FEBRUARY 27, 2011: Well... it wasn't exactly a clean sweep, with The King's Speech
winning four Oscars in the top categories and Inception winning another four in
the technical categories. The Social Network came away with three, and
Alice in Wonderland, Toy Story 3, and The Fighter earned two
each. Black Swan earned one top award, and True Grit, The Kids
Are All Right, 127 Hours, and Winter's Bone went home empty-handed.
I haven't seen the foreign language winner, In a Better World, yet, but it looks
pretty typical and will most likely be forgotten in a few years. But at least the Best
Documentary win for Inside Job will hopefully point people toward that
crucial film. I also suspect that we will be hearing more from the Best Live Action
Short winner, Luke Matheny. Just a gut feeling. As for the show, it had its moments,
but Anne Hathaway totally charmed me as a host. I'm not so sure about her co-host, but
then, I'm a guy...
JANUARY 25, 2011: Not a terrible batch this year, as I would
actually recommend all ten of the best picture nominees, though only a few of them
are really among the best pictures of the year. The King's Speech is fine,
but it's really nothing more than this year's historical British costume movie, not
much different from anything else released in the past 15 years. And yet it's in the
lead at the moment, with the most nominations and also the PGA award. The nomination
that most puzzles me, though, is Best Cinematography. Really?
Some nice nominees include True Grit, The Social Network
and Black Swan, all of which were on my ten best list, and Toy Story 3,
The Kids Are All Right, and Winter's Bone, which were runners-up.
The Best Documentary nominee Exit Through the Gift Shop was also a runner-up.
Two of my other favorites, Hereafter and I Am Love snagged one nomination
each. I liked seeing Trent Reznor (formerly of Nine Inch Nails) nominated for his
excellent Social Network score. And Rick Baker is back for his makeup for
The Wolfman. But otherwise, it's business as usual, with a typical batch
of dull foreign language films to top things off.
As for the actors, Jesse Eisenberg, James Franco, Jennifer Lawrence,
Christian Bale, John Hawkes, and Mark Ruffalo have their first nominations this year.
Colin Firth has his second nomination, Annette Bening has her fourth,
Natalie Portman has her second, Michelle Williams has her second,
Jeremy Renner has his second, Amy Adams has her third,
Helena Bonham Carter has her second, and Melissa Leo has her second.
None of these have ever won.
Of the previous Oscar winners,
Jeff Bridges has his sixth nomination,
Javier Bardem has his third nomination,
Nicole Kidman has her third nomination, and
Geoffrey Rush has his fourth nomination. At least Bening isn't going to lose to Hilary Swank for the third time!
In directing, David Fincher has his second nomination, and Tom Hooper,
Darren Aronofsky and David O. Russell have their first nominations. Joel Coen
has his third for Best Director, but Ethan Coen only has his second; Fargo
was made back in the days when Joel would take a solo directing credit.
Here's the breakdown of nominations: 12 nominations: The King's Speech 10 nominations: True Grit 9 nominations: The Social Network 7 nominations: The Fighter 6 nominations: 127 Hours, Black Swan, Inception 5 nominations: Toy Story 3 4 nominations: The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone 3 nominations: Alice in Wonderland 2 nominations: Biutiful, Harry Potter and the Deathly Halloww: Part I, How to Train Your Dragon 1 nomination: Animal Kingdom, Another Year, Blue Valentine, Dogtooth,
Exit Through the Gift Shop, Hereafter, The Illusionist, Inside Job, Iron Man 2,
Rabbit Hole, Restrepo, Salt, The Town, Tron: Legacy, Unstoppable, Waste Land
Watch this space for upcoming predictions, personal choices, and lists of overlooked films.
The Winner: Natalie Portman My Prediction: Natalie Portman My Vote: Natalie Portman Unfairly Overlooked: Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right;
Tilda Swinton, I Am Love; Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs
The Winner: Christian Bale My Prediction: Christian Bale My Vote: John Hawkes Unfairly Overlooked: Bill Murray, Get Low; Andrew Garfield, The Social Network;
John Malkovich, Secretariat
The Winner: Melissa Leo My Prediction: Melissa Leo My Vote: Hailee Steinfeld Unfairly Overlooked: Juliette Lewis, Conviction; Elle Fanning, Somewhere;
Allison Janney, Life During Wartime; Helena Bonham Carter, Alice in Wonderland; Mila Kunis, Black Swan
The Winner: Tom Hooper My Prediction: Tom Hooper My Vote: David Fincher Unfairly Overlooked: Clint Eastwood, Hereafter; Sofia Coppola, Somewhere;
Roman Polanski, The Ghost Writer
The Winner:The King's Speech My Prediction:The King's Speech My Vote:The Kids Are All Right Unfairly Overlooked: Chris Sparling, Buried; Peter Morgan, Hereafter; Gary Whitta, The Book of Eli;
Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin, Black Swan
The Winner:The Social Network My Prediction:The Social Network My Vote:The Social Network Unfairly Overlooked: Roman Polanski, Robert Harris, The Ghost Writer;
Mary Bing, The Duel; Matt Reeves, Let Me In
The Winner:Inception My Prediction:True Grit My Vote:Black Swan Unfairly Overlooked: Christopher Doyle, Ondine; Harris Savides, Somewhere;
Yorick Le Saux, I Am Love
The Winner:In a Better World My Prediction:Biutiful My Vote:n/a Unfairly Overlooked:Vincere, White Material, I Am Love, Wild Grass, Mother, The Strange Case of Angelica, Alamar, etc.
