• 8Mar 10

  Oscar Winners

  Below I will list the nominees and winners from the categories I predicted in this blog entry. I will color code them as follows:

  Correct Prediction: Meaning, I correctly predicted the winner.

  Prediction: My original prediction.

  Actual Winner: The actual winner differs from my prediction.

  Best Picture:

  • The Hurt Locker
    • Avatar
    • The Blind Side
    • District 9
    • An Education
    • Inglourious Basterds
    • Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
    • A Serious Man
    • Up
    • Up in the Air

  Best Director:

  • Kathryn Bigelow– The Hurt Locker
    • James Cameron– Avatar
    • Lee Daniels– Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
    • Jason Reitman– Up in the Air
    • Quentin Tarantino– Inglourious Basterds

  Best Actor:

  • Jeff Bridges– Crazy Heart as Otis "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

  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: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Claireece "Precious" Jones
    • Meryl Streep– Julie & Julia as Julia Child

  Best Supporting Actor:

  • Christoph Waltz– Inglourious Basterds as Col. Hans Landa
    • 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

  Best Supporting Actress:

  • Mo'Nique– Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Mary Lee Johnston
    • 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

  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

  Best Adapted Screenplay:

  • Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire– Geoffrey Fletcher from Push by Sapphire
    • 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 created by Iannucci
    • Up in the Air– Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner from Up in the Air by Walter Kirn

  Best Animated Feature:

  • Up– Pete Docter
    • Coraline– Henry Selick
    • Fantastic Mr. Fox– Wes Anderson
    • The Princess and the Frog– Ron Clements and John Musker
    • The Secret of Kells– Tomm Moore

  Best Foreign Language Film:

  • El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina/Spain) in Spanish– Juan José Campanella
    • Ajami (Israel) in Arabic and Hebrew– Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani
    • The Milk of Sorrow (Peru) in Spanish and Quechua– Claudia Llosa
    • A Prophet (France) in French, Corsican and Arabic– Jacques Audiard
    • The White Ribbon (Germany) in German– Michael Haneke

  Best Original Score:

  • Up– Michael Giacchino
    • Avatar– James Horner
    • Fantastic Mr. Fox– Alexandre Desplat
    • The Hurt Locker– Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
    • Sherlock Holmes– Hans Zimmer

  Best Cinematography:

  • Avatar– Mauro Fiore
    • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince– Bruno Delbonnel
    • The Hurt Locker– Barry Ackroyd
    • Inglourious Basterds– Robert Richardson
    • The White Ribbon– Christian Berger

  Best Film Editing:

  • The Hurt Locker– Chris Innis and Bob Murawski
    • Avatar– James Cameron, John Refoua and Stephen E. Rivkin
    • District 9– Julian Clarke
    • Inglourious Basterds– Sally Menke
    • Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire– Joe Klotz

  Best Visual Effects:

  • Avatar– Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
    • District 9– Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, and Matt Aitken
    • Star Trek– Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

  Out of the 14 categories I actually predicted, I got 9 right and 5 wrong, which is decent enough. I'm not sure why I thought The Hurt Locker would lose best editing, even though I said in my previous blog that I thought it should win it. Upon retrospect, I should have guessed that The Hurt Locker would get editing and Avatar would get cinematography, even though I think The Hurt Locker should have snagged both awards.

  • Posted Mar 8, 2010 2:35 pm PT
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• 3Feb 10

  82nd Academy Awards Predictions: Who Should Win and Who Will Win.

  

  Best Picture:

  The Nominees: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, Precious, UP, Up in the Air

  Who Should Win: The Hurt Locker. Though I still need to see a few of the movies listed here, I think I can safely say that for me, The Hurt Locker is the movie that deserves to win.

  Who Will Win: The Hurt Locker. I know Avatar is the favorite here, but I still see The Hurt Locker taking home the big prize. This is a tough one to predict, but my gut tells me to go with The Hurt Locker.

  Best Director:

  The Nominees: Katheryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Lee Daniels, Jason Reitman, Quentin Tarantino

  Who Should Win: Katheryn Bigelow. This is even easier than picking the film she direct for Best Picture. Bigelow deserves this award more than anyone else on the list, to deny her the win is nothing short of robbery.

  Who Will Win: Katheryn Bigelow. Even though the Best Picture award is up in the air, she has this movie on lock down in the Best Director category.

  Best Actor:

  The Nominees: Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Clin Firth, Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Renner

  Who Should Win: Sam Rockwell. However, since he wasn't nominated, I'm going to go with Jeremy Renner, who gives one of the most intense and honest performances of last year in The Hurt Locker.

  Who Will Win: Jeff Bridges. A veteran who has been receiving a helluva lot of awards attention this season, there is no doubt in my mind he will take home the award for his performance in Crazy Heart.

  Best Actress:

  The Nominees: Sandra Bullock, Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe, Meryl Streep

  Who Should Win: Abstain, haven't seen any of the films nominated.

  Who Will Win: Sandra Bullock. She won at the Golden Globes and SAG, she'll take home the gold here as well.

  Best Supporting Actor:

  The Nominees: Matt Damon, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Plummer, Stanley Tucci, Christoph Waltz

  Who Should Win: Christoph Waltz. Though I wouldn't mind if Tucci took home the prize, Waltz deserves it for his incredibly funny and menacing performances in Inglourious Basterds

  Who Will Win: Christoph Waltz. He has been sweeping the awards ceremonies this season, there is no way he will go home empty handed on Oscar night.

  Best Supporting Actress:

  The Nominees: Penepole Cruz, Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Mo'Nique

  Who Should Win: Abstain

  Who Will Win: Mo'Nique for her performance in Precious.

  Best Original Screenplay:

  The Nominees: The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, The Messenger, A Serious man, UP

  Who Should Win: Inglourious Basterds. Tarantino is a great screenplay writer, its his greatest strength. The dialogue, topical references, unique structure, and strong characters are reason enough to give him the award.

  Who Will Win: Inglourious Basterds.

  Best Adapted Screenplay:

  The Nominees: District 9, An Education, In the Loop, Precious, Up in the Air

  Who Should Win: Though I really want to see An Education, for now I think I can safely go with In the Loop. The movie is hilarious, with incredibly sharp and witty dialogue that aims hard at the cluster-**** the political world usually is.

  Who Will Win: Up in the Air. Despite the who gets credit drama surrounding the film, I still think it will take home the prize for writing.

  Best Animated Feature:

  The Nominees: Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells, UP

  Who Should Win: UP. Do I really need to give a reason?

  Who Will Win: UP.

  Best Foreign Language Film:

  The Nominees: Ajami, El Secreto de Sus Ojos, The Milk of Sorrow, Un Prophete, The White Ribbon

  Who Should Win: Abstain

  Who Will Win: The White Ribbon

  Best Original Score:

  The Nominees: Avatar, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Hurt Locker, Sherlock Holmes, UP

  Who Should Win: UP.

  Who Will Win: UP

  Best Cinematography:

  The Nominees: Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, The White Ribbon

  Who Should Win: The Hurt Locker. Despite the shaky cam, documentary-like manner in which it is shot, it maintains focus and never causes confusion, a rariety that deserves to be rewarded.

  Who Will Win: The Hurt Locker.

  Best Film Editing:

  The Nominees: Avatar, District 9, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious

  Who Should Win: The Hurt Locker. It takes great editing to help make what is shot work, imo, they go hand in hand.

  Who Will Win: Avatar. This award usually goes to movies like Avatar when they are nominated for Best Picture, but do not win.

  Best Visual Effects:

  The Nominees: Avatar, District 9, Star Trek

  Who Should Win: Avatar. This is one thing the movie nailed.

  Who Will Win: Avatar. This is the most sure win of them all.

  There we have it, folks. Though I guess my mind could change should I see more of these films over the next month, I feel pretty happy with my who should win selections, and confident of my who will win selections. I know there are a few categories that I skipped over, but these are the ones that I feel are the most important.

  • Posted Feb 3, 2010 2:41 pm PT
  • Category: Movies
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• 29Dec 09

  Top Five Akira Kurosawa Films

  5. "Red Beard" (1965)

  

  4. "Ikiru" (1952)

  

  3. "The Seven Samurai" (1954)

  

  2. "Stray Dog" (1949)

  

  1. "High and Low" (1963)

  

  I can't really decide if I like "Stray Dog" or "High and Low" better, so for now, "High and Low" will remain my favorite Kurosawa flick.

  Which of his films do you enjoy most?

  • Posted Dec 29, 2009 6:11 pm PT
  • Category: Movies
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