2010 Oscar Nominee Predictions

I WANT TO CHANGE THEM!!!! After some thought, I'm going against my first predictions, which, are too predictable. The Oscars are known for surprises, and I'm going out on a limb with some of these. Last year my crazy predictions paid off --- I knew "The Reader" was in for Best Picture. So, here are my picks for the top 6 categories:

Best Picture
Avatar
District 9
An Education
The Hangover
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Star Trek
Up
Up in the Air

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow for THE HURT LOCKER
James Cameron for AVATAR
Neill Blomkamp for DISTRICT 9
Jason Reitman for UP IN THE AIR
Quentin Tarantino for INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

Best Actor
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

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock in THE BLIND SIDE
Carey Mulligan in AN EDUCATION
Zoe Saldana in AVATAR
Gabourey Sidibe in PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE
Meryl Streep in JULIE & JULIA

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson in THE MESSENGER
Anthony Mackie in THE HURT LOCKER
Christopher Plummer in THE LAST STATION
Stanley Tucci in THE LOVELY BONES
Christoph Waltz in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

Best Supporting Actress

Vera Farmiga in UP IN THE AIR

Anna Kendrick in UP IN TE AIR

Diane Kruger in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

Melanie Laurent in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

Mo'Nique in PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE

August in December

Funny People
Starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, and Jason Schwartzman

It's funny, it's sad, and it has excellent performances by Sandler, Rogen, and Mann, but this Apatow dramedy is just like every other Apatow film - too freaking long!

Grade: B


(500) Days of Summer
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel

Some indie films feel indie, probably because they're more indie than others, but I don't really know. "(500) Days of Sumemr" creates a world where the audience knows the ending, knows the heartbreak's looming in the future, and still we hope for the lead man. It's an indie that can stand on its own feet and feel like a high-class film. The point of view is perfect, allowing us not to see the enitre picture at once, and the ending is hilariously perfect. Also, I knew he was going to start a song-and-dance routine!

Grade: A-


District 9
Starring Sharlto Copley

The thing about most sci-fi-alien-attacks-earth movies is that most of them never let you care. "District 9", on the other hand, presents us with a likeable, unknown actor named Sharlto Copley as the shit-on protagonist who undergoes changes that defy the usual character transformations (talking psychological/emotional here), and break into mutating characters physically without losing the character drama that is "District 9".

Grade: B+



Inglorious Basterds
Starring Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, and Diane Kruger

Tarantino at his best! When screenwriting books and blogs and guidelines tell you NOT to keep your characters in the same scene for too long, they should have a meeting with Quentin. It felt like a play but a kick-some-Nazi-ass one. The screenplay created a sense of entertainment, of old-fashioned Hollywood, like something in between "Casablanca" and "Taxi Driver". "Inglorious Basterds" glues you to your seat, makes you sweat, nervous, and jealous that Pitt and his Nazi-killing thugs are having so much fun. Watch out Oscar, here comes Christoph Waltz - the best villain since Anton Chigurh.

Grade: A