Because you're not a writer until you're published.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Hey Oscar!

Ok, so the nominees for this year's 82nd annual Academy Awards were revealed, and as movie buff that I am, I enjoy seeing what made the cut and what didn't, and who deserved it or not.

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Herrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - Lovely Bones
Christopher Waltz - Inglorious Bastards

Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sibide - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actress:
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
Penolope Cruz - Nine
Vera Famiga - Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious

Best Director:
James Cameron - Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Lee Daniels - Precious
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglorious Bastards

Best Picture: 10 Nominees!!! (first time in 66 y ears)
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Up in the Air
Precious
District 9
Up
The Blind Side
Inglorious Bastards
An Education
A Single Man

I'm not as up to date as I usually am when it comes to potential Oscar-nominated movies, so this year I haven't seen them all, although I have seen a good deal of it. I can't judge right away, but I can already express some sentiment I already feel when reading this list. First of all, there are clear winners, and there are also clear 'wtf' nominees. Up in the Air is being showered with too many acclaims and nominations than it should ever have. Up in the Air was essentially a bore fest. Okay, I admit there were some witty parts here and there and I thought George Clooney was decent (though not Oscar-worthy); but overall, the movie is not all that geat. If it deserved anything, it would be for Best Screenplay (which it won at the Golden Globes). It'd be a much more realistic win. Vera Famiga and Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air absolutely do not deserve a nod, at all. Not that they were bad per se, but their performances were so mundane that any other actresses can pull off. Their characters didn't require any actual Oscar-worthy performances. Bad choices as I could have easily find better supporting actresses this year (where the heck is Julianne Moore for A Single Man??!). For sure if Mo'Nique doesn't win for Precious, the Academy is seriously wack and corrupted! For Best Supporting Actor, the Oscar will easily go to Christopher Waltz for Inglorious Bastards, no doubt. He doesn't have very strong competition in the category aside for maybe Stanley Tucci for Lovely Bones (which I thought he was wonderful (his performance, not his character) as a child murderer!). As for Best Actress, anyone, and I mean, anyone but Sandra Bullock. I don't dislike her as an actress, I just thought she does not belong in that cateogry, especially for The Blind Side. I don't have a preference as whom should win; but if I had to choose, I'd choose Gabourey Sibide for Precious or Meryl Streep for Julie&Julia (a film that surprised me on all accounts). I haven't seen The Hurt Locker yet so I can't say whether the categories in which the movie and its cast are deserving, but from speculations, it might collect a lot of awards. I will deifnitely check it out sometime soon. And finally, for Best Picture, it won't be too hard as even though 5 more films have been added to the category, only really a few deserve it. Avatar, although a great movie, should not win, and probably won't. It doesn't have any Best Picture quality to it other than the revolutionary technology and...that's it. It was super entertaining, but it doesn't inspire and doesn't fulfill a higher purpose in terms of cinematography. My pick would be Precious, The Hurt Locker, and Inglorious Basterds. But the Academy will probably give it to The Hurt Locker.

So the Academy will air on March 7, so hopefully before it airs; I would have had seen them all and either cheer or boo the winners when time comes!
P.S. Someone forgot to add Kristin Stewart for New Moon.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive

More Nobodies