Lou's Oscar Picks

Posted by Lou. The time is 11.45 here in London, UK.

**Best Original Screenplay pick adjusted on 22 Feb after discovering that A Serious Man is not A Single Man - ooops**

For me the Oscars this year are all about two people:

Kathryn Bigelow.

Mo'Nique.

Here are my picks for (nearly) all categories - based on having only seen around a third of the key films, mind you.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

I completely disagree with Bel - I think it'll be Jeff Bridges. Cloonster's performance is too run of the mill (to my mind, getting nominated for that role is their show of Clooney love as it's not so much of an Oscar role I don't think), and he won for Best Supporting a couple of years back. Of course my private fantasy is that Darcy, oops, I mean Colin Firth, will win and accept in dripping wet clothes, including the all important white shirt.

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

I definitely reckon Christoph Waltz. He was awesome. And I can't see Inglourious Basterds picking up anything except one or two technical awards at best, so this will be the show of love for Tarantino.

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

I'd gone for Sandra until reading Bel's point that Meryl hasn't won in more than 20 years...

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

This for me is the one certainty. It has to be Mo'Nique. Not only is it the most talked about film performance of the year, but it's one of the best supporting performances I've ever seen, full stop.

Animated Feature Film

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

Up. Definitely Up.

Art Direction

• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Hmmm... have only seen Sherlock Holmes from this set. Am going out on a limb to say Avatar...

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

I never get Cinematography right, but maybe this year...

Costume Design

• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

*insert grumble about Bright Star being overlooked in every other category*

Directing

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

Kathryn Bigelow deserves it, and I really can't see them having the audacity to not break the historical drought for woman filmmakers when they're handed the opportunity to do it via the same sort of war film that has won for men time and time again.

Documentary (Feature)

I'm copy and pasting from Bel's post so don't have the noms, but from memory The Cove is nominated and it is my choice.

Documentary (Short Subject)

No idea.

Film Editing

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

I'm going for this one based on the superb tension of the film which is a lot to do with the editing... maybe?

Foreign Language Film

• “Ajami” Israel
• “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
• “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
• “Un Prophète” France
• “The White Ribbon” Germany

(Disclaimer: even though I hate French cinema)

Makeup

• “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

??

Music (Original Score)

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

Hmm no idea

Music (Original Song)

• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by c and T Bone Burnett

Based on seeing the song in Bel's post. Reminds me of the wonderful song (Falling Slowly - one of my all-time favourite songs) from Once that came in and blew the big commercial "made to be number one hits and win Oscars, not actually to advance the film" songs and the bloated celebrity performances of them out of the water with their authenticity and visceral appeal.

Best Picture

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Oooooh I don't know!! In the past it has generally gone to the same winner of Best Director, but actually in the past decade or so there have been several anomalies. Um um um... um... I have a little theory that Precious could sneak in based on the new voting methods, but post- Avatar winning the Best Drama Golden Globe I think there will be a reactionary movement in support of The Hurt Locker.

Short Film (Animated)

No idea.

Short Film (Live Action)

As above.

Sound Editing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Um... I think it was one of the Oscar-nominated gaffer folks from King Kong who told us the difference whilst we were hanging out in the room full of King Kong sound effects props (like the old washing machine they used to make the boat creaks). Whilst I remember the person and the place I can't remember the actual difference thing... Is it that the missing is all about the layers of sound, and the editing... no wait, that would be editing... um... *googles* Aha, I was on the right track - mixing is the actual layering of the sounds together - like volumes etc - and editing is the creation of the actual sounds.

Sound Mixing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

I have no reasoning to back up this choice beyond loving the sound of his baseball bat hitting the tunnel as he slowly emerges...

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

I'm saying Avatar because it is Weta right? So this would be another Kiwiland Oscar...

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

I'm torn! I can't choose! Heart says Precious, brain says An Education... oooh actually now I'm thinking Up in the Air... hmmm... no, I'm going to go with An Education. This is a fantastic category, btw. With the what-the-fuck exception of District 9.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Changed to The Hurt Locker