And the Academy Award goes to…

“This is definitely going to be one of the most anticipated Oscar telecast’s in years for many reasons.  First, there are 10 best picture nominees.  The last time that happened was in the 30’s and 40’s.  Second, there are two hosts.  The last time that happened was 1987.  Third, there will be no songs sung from the best song category.  Instead, there will be a montage of the films whose songs are nominated and how the song was incorporated into the film.  Fourth, friends of nominated Actors and Actresses are supposed to be honoring them with their nominations.  Finally, the most hotly anticipated race for best picture and best director between two very different films.  This is the first time since 1997 that one of the nominees is the top grossing film of all-time (Avatar) going up against one of the smaller grossing films (The Hurt Locker) although The Hurt Locker has been a consistent guild and critics favorite, Avatar has won the popular vote hands down.  Will Kathryn Bigelow become the first woman ever to win best director?  All eyes are on these two awards and who from the two films which boast the most nominations (9) will come home with the most statuettes.  My predictions are that Avatar goes home with most if not all of the tech awards with The Hurt Locker going home with the big prizes, although secretly Avatar is my film to win them all!!”

Here are my final predictions and (alternates) for the 82nd Academy Awards:

• Best Picture – The Hurt Locker (Avatar)
• Best Director – Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker (James Cameron – Avatar)
• Screenplay(Adapted) – Up In The Air (Precious)
• Screenplay(Original) – Inglorious Basterds (The Hurt Locker)
• Leading Actor – Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart (Colin Firth – A Single Man)
• Leading Actress – Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side (Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia)
• Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz – Inglorious Basterds
• Supporting Actress – Monique – Precious
• Animated Feature – Up
• Foreign Film – Un Prophete – France (The White Ribbon – Germany)
• Documentary Feature – The Cove (Food Inc.)
• Documentary Short – China’s Unnatural Disaster (The Last Truck)
• Short Film Animated – Logorama (A Matter of Loaf and Death)
• Short Film Live Action – The Door (Miracle Fish)
• Art Direction – Avatar
• Cinematography – Avatar (The Hurt Locker)
• Costume Design – The Young Victoria (Bright Star)
• Film Editing – The Hurt Locker (Avatar)
• Makeup – Star Trek (The Young Victoria)
• Original Score – Up (Avatar)
• Original Song – The Weary Kind – Crazy Heart
• Sound Mixing – The Hurt Locker (Avatar)
• Sound Editing – Avatar (The Hurt Locker)
• Visual Effects – Avatar

Final Thoughts: Its going to be a tough race when Avatar and The Hurt Locker are competing against each other but all of the precursors have pointed to the success of The Hurt Locker in many categories.  And because of the preferential voting system, Inglorious Basterds has been seen as a threat for best picture as well!

Academy Award Nominations 2010

“And the nominees are…Avatar and The Hurt Locker both share the most nods (9) with Inglorious Basterds just behind (8).  The best picture race produced a surprise in The Blind Side, whose lead actress was also nominated.  In the acting categories, the only real surprise is in the supporting actress category where none of the Basterds girl’s made it through.  Instead Maggie Gylennhaal and Penelope Cruz take the last few spots.  Although these are minor surprises, the supporting categories are already written and Monique and Christoph Waltz should go home with the top prize after already sweeping the guilds and critics!  The Directors matched the Director’s Guild and the competition is once again on for Cameron Bigelow showdown in both the Director and Picture race.  Screenplay nominees were safe with a surprise from The Messenger whose actor was also nominated in supporting.  In the tech categories, Avatar took hold of most of the categories although The Hurt Locker wasn’t too far behind.  The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus and Harry Potter also took some nods.  The only surprise in the sound categories is the exclusion of 2012 and District 9 over The Hurt Locker.  When you get nominated in a category that you were far from contention, you know you are a major favorite.  Avatar was excluded from the always unpredictable Best Song, so unfortunately, No Leona Lewis at the Academy Awards.  In the end, Up became the second animated film to get a best picture nod (The first was Beauty and the Beast).  Kathryn Bigelow becomes the fourth woman to be nominated for best director (And at this point, the first to win the big prize).  Meryl Streep increases her record now to 16 nominations.  Precious becomes the fifth film with a predominantly African-American cast to be nominated for best picture.  Avatar and District 9 became the 3^rd and 4^th sci-fi films to be nominated for best picture.  Notably snubbed for awards this year are (500) Days of Summer, The Hangover, The Road, This is It, and 2012!”

For the complete Academy Award nominations, visit awardsdaily.com:

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