83rd Academy Award Nominations

Here we go again. As much as I know it's ridiculous, I really love the Oscars. I never get bored by the long show, nor do I mind the constant self-praise. I just really like movies, and the Oscars are a great chance to talk about the year in review. Most importantly, by trying to watch as many of the nominated films as possible, I always discover a movie that I might not have otherwise seen, but that becomes one of my favourites (I won't give examples, because that might just ruin by still-to-come Favourite Movies of the Decade posts).

Best Actor:
Javier Bardem - Biutiful
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours

I've seen only The Social Network and The King's Speech so far. Excellent acting jobs by both of those actors, with the edge to Colin Firth. I don't know if it's actually true, but it strikes me as unusual that a film that is nominated for Best Foreign Film (Biutiful) is also nominated for Best Actor. Also, I know that the Golden Globes does genre-specific awards, but it's weird to me that Paul Giamatti could win a Best Actor award (for Musical or Comedy) at the Golden Globes and not even be nominated at the Oscars.

Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale - The Fighter
John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech

I have seen The King's Speech and The Town. Between those two, it's an easy choice to select Geoffrey Rush.

Best Actress:
Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

I've only seen Black Swan here. Interesting to note that Nicole Kidman is the only former winner on this list. Even more interesting is that Meryl Streep didn't get a nomination. I know she didn't make a movie this year, but still, I thought they'd figure out a way to fit her in. Maybe she'll get the Lifetime Achievement Award or something.

Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Jackie Weaver - Animal Kingdom

Again, the only one I've seen is The King's Speech. I'm not sure I really saw anything Oscar-worthy in Helena Bonham Carter's performance. I have to be honest, I've never even heard of Animal Kingdom.

Best Animated Feature:
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Back down to 3 nominees this year. I've only seen Toy Story 3, but you're going to have a hard time convincing me that it shouldn't win.

Best Art Direction:
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Here's a category where I'm already at 4/5 (only True Grit left to see). If there was one thing I liked about Alice in Wonderland, it was the Art Direction. As far as the widest variety of different sets Harry Potter and Inception are tied. I predict an Inception win here.

Best Cinematography:
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Another 4/5 here. Black Swan for now, but I'll wait until I see the Coen Brother's film first.

Best Costume Design:
Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

Nothing about Alice in Wonderland or The King's Speech deserves a Best Costume Oscar. I've never heard of I Am Love. This will be an interesting category.

Best Director:
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
David O. Russell - The Fighter
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
David Fincher - The Social Network
Joel and Ethan Coen - True Grit

I'm going to take the full 33 days (and see True Grit and The Fighter) before making this prediction.

Best Documentary:
Exit through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

I haven't seen any of these. I've heard a lot of good things about Exit through the Gift Shop, so it will be the highest priority one for me to see before the awards are given out. Plus, if it wins, Banksy will finally reveal his true identity! Ha.

Best Documentary Short:
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Guess how many of these I've seen.

Best Film Editing:
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network

I've seen 3/5. I'm hesitant to make any prediction yet, but of the three I've seen, Black Swan is definitely the standout in terms of editing.

Best Foreign Language Film:
Mexico - Biutiful
Greece - Dogtooth
Denmark - In a Better World
Canada - Incendies
Algeria - Hors-la-loi (Outside the Law)

Have not seen any, but I've seen trailers for both Biutiful and Incendies, and I'm very curious about both of them. It's also interesting to see Canada nominated here.

Best Makeup:
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

Interesting that for all three of these films, this is their only nomination. I haven't seen any of them, and in fact, have only heard of Barney's Version.

Best Original Score:
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network

3/5. Not sure, the music didn't stick out for me in any of them. The movie this year with the best score is Black Swan, but, of course, that's not an original score.

Best Original Song:
Coming Home - Country Strong
I See the Light - Tangled
If I Rise - 127 Hours
We Belong Together - Toy Story 3

4 nominees? I've seen 3, 5, and 10, but never 4. The only movie I've seen is Toy Story 3, and I don't remember this song. It was probably over the credits.

Best Picture:
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

At this point I've seen 5/10. I think seeing the remainder by the show is realistic. I can't really argue with this list, nor did I see anything else this year that deserves to be here and isn't. Whether that means the Oscars have it right, I didn't see enough 2010 movies, or it was just a year where the good movies all came out of the Hollywood system, I'm not sure.

Best Animated Short:
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let's Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

I saw Day & Night, of course, at the beginning of Toy Story 3. I love how Pixar does that. I really like Pixar. I haven't seen any of the rest.

Best Live Action Short:
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143

I have not seen any of these films.

Best Sound Editing:
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

I've seen 2 of these. My guess is Inception.

Best Sound Mixing:
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

I've seen 3 of these. Greg P. Russell is nominated for Salt. That makes 2 years in a row where he's nominated without Kevin O'Connell. As a result, O'Connell is stuck at 20 nominations without a win, while Russell gets his 14th (and I'm guessing not a win).

Best Visual Effects:
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

I've seen 3 of these. Inception is probably the front runner. My guess is that Harry Potter will win for Part 2, next year.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

I've seen 2 of these. Every one of these is also nominated for Best Picture. What is Toy Story 3 adapted from? The first two Toy Stories?

Best Original Screenplay:
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech

I've seen 2 of these. Notably, Another Year is not nominated for Best Picture, the only one of the 10 writing nominees that isn't (Mike Leigh has now been nominated for 5 original screenplays). As a result, Black Swan doesn't get a writing nomination, the only Best Picture nominee that doesn't. Is it adapted from Swan Lake, or original?

Here's the breakdown, less the shorts and documentaries:

12 - The King's Speech

10 - True Grit

8 - The Social Network
- Inception

7 - The Fighter

6 - 127 Hours

5 - Black Swan
- Toy Story 3

4 - Winter's Bone
- The Kids Are All Right

3 - Alice in Wonderland

2 - Biutiful
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 1

1 - The Town
- Rabbit Hole
- Blue Valentine
- Animal Kingdom
- The Illusionist
- I Am Love
- The Tempest
- Dogtooth
- In a Better World
- Incendies
- Hors-la-loi (Outside the Law)
- Barney's Version
- The Way Back
- The Wolfman
- Country Strong
- Tangled
- Tron: Legacy
- Unstoppable
- Salt
- Hereafter
- Iron Man 2
- Another Year

That is a lot of movies. Last year there were 38 (not including documentaries or shorts), and this year there are 36. Oh. That's not what I expected. But last year there were only 16 films with 1 nomination, and this year there are 22. That's what threw me off. I guess that's because last year Avatar and The Hurt Locker tied for the most nominations at 9, while this year both The King's Speech and True Grit have more than that.

Anything missing? Honestly, no. There was nothing I saw in 2010 and liked that isn't nominated here.

The priorities for me to see would be: True Grit, 127 Hours, Winter's Bone, The Kids Are All Right, The Fighter, Biutiful, Incendies, Exit through the Gift Shop, How to Train Your Dragon.