Matt's 2010 Oscar Picks (not predictions)

The Academy Award nominations will be announced later today and here's hoping we don't get a repeat of the closed minded thinking that allowed The Reader to pick up a Best Picture nomination over The Dark Knight - a foul up last year that history won't be kind too. In fact, it kind of already hasn't if you think about it. The Academy's mistake last year in omitting The Dark Knight means we now have 10 Best Picture nominations, devaluing the whole idea of an Oscar nomination by HALF, and there's a distinct chance that a popular blockbuster like The Hangover or Star Trek could sneak in. That is of course, the whole idea of the 10 nomination scenario, so a couple of $100 million crowd favourites can play in the same ballpark as the serious fare, and the dwindling Oscar t.v. audience might have a reason to tune in. I don't think The Hangover or Trek will get nominated, and I would hope the added numbers will guarantee the Academy will look beyond a wider spectrum of choices; i.e. nominating the outstanding work of Pixar's Up or the Cannes winner The White Ribbon, but I don't hold much hope in the future. Last year, I might have struggled to pick 10. My voting would look like this (and I've now seen Avatar). Please note that the first five picks are in bold because I still believe there should only be five nominations in this category, so those five are what I would have chosen. Going off that five, I think it's a slightly stronger year than 2008 but still nothing compared to 2007 where There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men tussled it out - and somehow The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford was nowhere to be seen.

BEST PICTURE

A Serious Man

The Hurt Locker

Avatar

Up in the Air

Inglourious Basterds

Public Enemies

An Education

Precious

Up

The White Ribbon

BEST ACTOR

Morgan Freeman - Invictus

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart

George Clooney - Up in the Air

Sam Rockwell - Moon

Michael Stuhlberg - A Serious Man

BEST ACTRESS

Carey Mulligan - An Education

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

Gabby Sidibe - Precious

Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Helen Mirren - The Last Station

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles

Peter Capaldi - In the Loop

Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker

Woody Harrelson - The Messenger

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mo'Nique - Precious

Melanie Laurent - Inglourious Basterds

Julianne Moore - A Single Man

Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air

Penelope Cruz - Nine

BEST DIRECTOR

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

James Cameron - Avatar

Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Joel & Ethan Cohen - A Serious Man

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Joel & Ethan Cohen - A Serious Man

Duncan Jones & Nathan Parker - Moon

Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - 500 Days of Summer

James Cameron - Avatar

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air

Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious

Nick Hornby - An Education

Armando Inaccui - In the Loop

Spike Jonze & Dave Eggers - Where The Wild Things Are

BEST EDITING

Stephen Rivkin, John Refuoa, James Cameron - Avatar

Chris Innis, Bob Murawski - Precious

Dana E. Glauberman - Up in the Air

Sally Menke - Inglourious Basterds

Alan Edward Bell - 500 Days of Summer

BEST CINEMAOTGRAPHY

Robert Richardson - Inglourious Basterds

Mauro Fiore - Avatar

Christian Berger - The White Ribbon

Roger Deakins - A Serious Man

Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker