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