Saturday, February 26, 2011

In which I give my picks for Oscars 2011

VS


Best Motion Picture of the Year
Nominees:
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
It’s always nice, in these days of ten nominees, that the Academy members haven’t lost their minds and included one of the Twilight movies. This award will be fought out between The Social Network and The King’s Speech, and though I wouldn’t be disappointed with either winning, and I still don’t think it’s a lock, it’s looking like the King’s Speech will edge out a win. I’m picking the Social Network as my “should” win because it really blew me away. Darkest of dark chances that Inception will take everyone by surprise and get the Golden Dude.

Who should win: The Social Network
Who will win: The King’s Speech

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees:
Javier Bardem for Biutiful
Jeff Bridges for True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network
Colin Firth for The King's Speech
James Franco for 127 Hours
I am so gunning for Colin Firth on this one. He gets points from last year’s A Single Man, but honestly I think his performance in The King’s Speech stands on its own, and then some. There’s that accent, for one thing, and the way each word sticks painfully in his throat, the panic rising as the pause between words gets longer and longer…good lord. Possible upsets with Bridges and an outside chance for Jesse Eisenberg, who does a wonderful job in The Social Network, but I really think this is finally Firth’s. Hurrah!

Who should win: Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech”
Who will win: Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Nominees:
Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman for Black Swan
Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine
Both Nicole Kidman and Michelle Williams pulled out beautifully real and draining performances in their respective movies. While Annette Bening is being touted as a possible upset, I really don’t think it was in any way an outstanding performance. Lawrence is by all accounts marvellous, but she’ll be going the Gabourey Sidibe route. This is Portman’s to win, and despite not being able to sit through Black Swan (apparently I didn’t even make it to the worst bits) it fits for her win.

Who should win: Natalie Portman – “Black Swan”
Who will win: Natalie Portman – “Black Swan”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominees:
Christian Bale for The Fighter
John Hawkes for Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner for The Town
Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech
Mark Ruffalo just doesn’t deserve this one. It’s not a particularly outstanding performance, in a not particularly outstanding movie. The real fight is between Bale and Rush, and even then Bale has a massive head start. While I love Mr Rush in just about anything (he was still the best thing about Mystery Men) I think Bale deserves this.
Who should win: Christian Bale – “The Fighter”
Who will win: Christian Bale – “The Fighter”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominees:
Amy Adams for The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech
Melissa Leo for The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit
Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom
I’m so proud of Jacki Weaver – for an Australian actress in an Australian film to be noticed by the Oscars, it’s got to be a roundhouse-kick-to-the-head kind of performance. So I kind of hope that she pulls a Tilda Swinton and surprises everyone. Other than that…Melissa Leo is the most likely to win, but little Hailee Steinfeld is storming up a strong chance of upsetting, largely, I assume, due to the shock everyone experienced by not being annoyed out of their minds by a small child in a western. An extremely strong bunch of women.

Who should win: Hailee Steinfeld – “True Grit”
Who will win: Melissa Leo – “The Fighter”

Best Achievement in Directing
Nominees:
Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for True Grit
David Fincher for The Social Network
Tom Hooper for The King's Speech
David O. Russell for The Fighter
With the King’s Speech gaining momentum as the awards draw closer, I’m going to bet that they split the vote and give Director to David Fincher. He’s a quality director and though there seems to be a lot of love for the Coens in Hollywood, he did a fantastic job on the Social Network. As someone who liked both films just about equally, I’d be quite happy for the latter to get its due recognition.

Who should win: David Fincher – “The Social Network”
Who will win: David Fincher – “The Social Network”

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Nominees:
Another Year: Mike Leigh
The Fighter: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Keith Dorrington
Inception: Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right: Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
The King's Speech: David Seidler
I thought for a while that Inception might just get this, but the fantasy aspect of the film plays against it. The Academy doesn’t tend to class fantasy writing as “proper writing”, which is a shame, but there it is. Look at Fellowship of the Ring. Sigh. So, then. If we’re dismissing an amazing concept then it’s going to be The King’s Speech, which in itself is a wonderfully written screenplay, and thoroughly deserving.

Who should win: David Seidler – “The King’s Speech”
Who will win: David Seidler – “The King’s Speech”

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Nominees:
127 Hours: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network: Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3: Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
True Grit: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Winter's Bone: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
How I love Aaron Sorkin. Sure, he’s been known to plagiarise his own work shamelessly in the past (like, whole sentences), but the dialogue in the Social Network is all new and it’s fantastic. The elements of this story really are Shakespearean – it’s not a film about Facebook, it’s about greed, betrayal, envy, genius, ambition, twins, love, friendship… Grab yourself a ghost and some kids baked in a pie and you’ve got yourself a party.

Who should win: Aaron Sorkin – “The Social Network”
Who will win: Aaron Sorkin – “The Social Network”

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Nominees:
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3
Confession: I cried during Toy Story 3, and not just once. This trilogy of stories manages to get to that little kid inside all of us, and it’s done so without ever losing that attention to detail and universal sense of humour. I feel all this despite the three thirty-somethings sitting behind me in the theatre talking about how hot Buzz Lightyear was. Score, Pixar, score.

Who should win: Toy Story
Who will win: Toy Story

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Nominees:
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Outside the Law (Algeria)
It pains me to go against my ancestors, but I’ve seen a bit of Dogtooth and it’s freaking disturbing. Dudes. Therapy. I’m tipping In A Better World, with no prior knowledge.

Who should win: In A Better World
Who will win: In A Better World

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Nominees:
Black Swan: Matthew Libatique
Inception: Wally Pfister
The King's Speech: Danny Cohen
The Social Network: Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit: Roger Deakins
Come on, Roger Deakins. It’s totally your year. Nine goddamn nominations and some frankly stunning cinematography. Otherwise I’d go for either Jeff Cronenweth or Wally Pfister, but I really think it’s about time the Academy threw Deakins a bone. How many more Coen brothers films does he have to shoot?

Who should win: Roger Deakins – “True Grit”
Who will win: Roger Deakins – “True Grit”

Best Achievement in Editing
Nominees:
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Editing awards like boxing movies. This bugs me, but probably mostly because I have issues with boxing as a spectator sport. And so! Once again my inability to sit through Black Swan limits my ability to comment there, but what I saw looked pretty impressive, given the editing required when filming ballet from anywhere but the audience. The Social Network also has some stellar work, and I think I’ll be opting for it to take out the others.

Who should win: The Social Network
Who will win: The Social Network

Best Achievement in Art Direction
Nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit
Ah, Harry Potter. How I want you to win an Oscar. Not going to happen this year, however (though I’d love for them to prove me wrong), and I’m calling this a race between Alice in Wonderland and Inception. I’m going for Inception.

Who should win: Inception
Who will win: Inception

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Nominees:
Alice in Wonderland: Colleen Atwood
I Am Love: Antonella Cannarozzi
The King's Speech: Jenny Beavan
The Tempest: Sandy Powell
True Grit: Mary Zophres
Sandy Powell is one of the biggest guns in the costume designing world, so you can never really count her out. Having said that, Colleen Atwood is a worthy opponent (and she won the BAFTA) and her costumes really informed each character in Alice in Wonderland. The Academy’s love of period drama means The King’s Speech is the other major contender.

Who should win: Colleen Atwood – “Alice in Wonderland”
Who will win: Jenny Beavan – “The King’s Speech”

Best Achievement in Makeup
Nominees:
Barney's Version: Adrien Morot
The Way Back: Edouard F. Henriques, Greg Funk, Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman: Rick Baker, Dave Elsey
Explain to me how Alice In Wonderland gets a Costume nod but not a Makeup one? Rick Baker’s name carries so much cred with it that my vote automatically inches in his direction.

Who should win: The Wolfman
Who will win: The Wolfman

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Nominees:
127 Hours: A.R. Rahman
How to Train Your Dragon: John Powell
Inception: Hans Zimmer
The King's Speech: Alexandre Desplat
The Social Network: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Wanna know something cool? I saw a concert at Albert Hall in London last year where a bunch of fantastic film composers conducted their best-known pieces with the London Phil. And while that’s cool in itself, one of those pieces was John Powell’s How To Train Your Dragon, and he was soooooo excited. Whee! Also the music was great fun, so part of me wants to see him win, but I think the smart money is with The Social Network’s trippy scoring. Also the guy’s name is Atticus, and I think that deserves an award. The King’s Speech is strong competition.

Who should win: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – “The Social Network”
Who will win: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – “The Social Network”

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Nominees:
127 Hours: A.R. Rahman, Rollo Armstrong, Dido("If I Rise")
Country Strong: Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges("Coming Home")
Tangled: Alan Menken, Glenn Slater("I See the Light")
Toy Story 3: Randy Newman("We Belong Together")
Oh lord. He’s back. Randy Newman and his bloody Song. Eugh. (If you haven’t heard my rants on this subject, you’re obviously new. Email me. We’ll talk.) This category has gone rogue so many times it’s difficult to predict (see Hustle and Flow’s win for “It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp”…I mean, seriously). I could pick Toy Story 3, but I’m not gonna. It’s a matter of principles. I’m going for Menken’s reputation. I didn’t love the song from Tangled, but then, as noted, the wrong song has won here more than once.

Who should win: A. R. Rahman, Rollo Armstrong, Dido – “If I Rise, from 127 Hours
Who will win: Alan Menken, Glenn Slater – “I See the Light”, from Tangled

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Nominees:
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit
What do fantasy films do when they can’t win the creative awards? They win the technical awards, that’s what. So this I’m giving to Inception, with a possible upset from The King’s Speech.

Who should win: The King’s Speech
Who will win: Inception

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Nominees:
Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable
I’m going with Inception again, but I’ve been wrong before in these categories. I also believe that, because sound editing is pretty much all there is in an animated film, more animated movies should win this category.

Who should win: Toy Story 3
Who will win: Inception

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2
Hello again, Mr Potter! Sit down, relax, you’re not going anywhere. The team from Inception, however, should get their speeches ready. To those who believe Alice in Wonderland should win, I say: Paris folding in on itself. Ba-dom dom.

Who should win: Inception
Who will win: Inception

Best Documentary, Features
Nominees:
Exit Through the Gift Shop
GasLand
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land
What do I really know about this – no, I haven’t as yet seen any of them. I hear great things about Restrepo, but both previous award ceremonies and the word on the street gives this to Inside Job.

Who should win: Exit Through the Gift Shop (because it’s BANKSY)
Who will win: Inside Job

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Nominees:
Killing in the Name




Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang
Even less known about this category. Eenie, meenie, mynee, mo…

Who should win: Killing in the Name
Who will win: Strangers No More

Best Short Film, Animated
Nominees:
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let's Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, a Journey Diary
I loved “Day & Night”, as I love most Pixar shorts. A fantastic mixture of 3D and 2D animation, with a sweet little story. I think the recent proliferation of the Gruffalo (as witnessed, non-plussed, in children’s book-and-toystores), may upset my plans. Basically anything but Madagascar.

Who should win: Day & Night
Who will win: The Gruffalo

Best Short Film, Live Action
Nominees:
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143
Catch a tiger by the toe….

In which the OBlogs are a bit scarce this year

Alternative Oscars haven't been around for a few years. A combination of dangerously low energy levels and lack of time have contributed to this being the only OBlog I've managed to churn out this year. Anyway, here they are.

Best performance by an inanimate object:
The boulder (127 Hours) – It's pretty big....I guess. Not as big as I was expecting, although I suppose it did the job…
The horcrux (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1) – almost drowns our hero and drives Ron out of the trio. It’s a lot of work for a bit of metal.
The spinning top (Inception) – never has such a small object sparked such a round of debate
The microphone (The King’s Speech) – managed to make it look looming and intimidating
The Harvard rule book (The Social Network) – ultimately useless, but it tries its honourable best
Rooster’s eye patch (True Grit) – he is WEARING that eye patch

Fictional location you’d most like to spend an afternoon:
The Mad Hatter’s tea party (Alice in Wonderland) – a little uncomfortable, maybe, and you’d have to change your seats every now and then, but you’d never be bored
The Future Room (Blue Valentine) – not, it turns out, all that romantic, but perhaps the future just isn’t like that
The tent (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1) – perhaps a bit short on entertainment, and a bit high on danger, but the company and locations would be pretty cool
Ken’s dressing room (Toy Story 3) – be honest, you’re dying to check out the rest of this wardrobe, this would be the most fun you’d have in an afternoon

Best one-liner:
“……..Timing is not my strong suit.” (The King’s Speech)
“I’m six foot five, 220 pounds, and there’s two of me” (The Social Network)
“No one appreciates clothes here, Barbie. No one!” – (Toy Story 3)

Transport of choice:
On pointe (Black Swan) – ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!
Your own small plane (The King’s Speech) – despite the inherent coolness of flying your own plane, I suspect my air sickness would limit any cool points
Long row boats (The Social Network) – put it this way, as long as you were in charge of steering, it’s a nice way to get around
Horses (True Grit) – I’m willing to accept that not everyone likes horses as much as me, even though I’m allergic…though I don’t suppose constant sneezing and antihistamines would fit in well in the old west. Still, considering the alternatives…

Best meal in a motion picture:
Urine and chocolate bars (127 Hours) – um…no.
“Eat me” cake and tea (Alice in Wonderland) – so long as you find the pot of tea without a dormouse in it
Nothing at all (Black Swan) – impossible. Utterly impossible.
Wine (The Kids Are All Right) – Annette Bening is a mean drunk
Vodka and Viagra (Love and Other Drugs) – hardly sustaining on a long-term basis…and now I’m regretting my choice of words

Beer and pizza (The Social Network) – not the healthiest of diets, but apparently it didn’t stunt anyone’s mental capabilities


Picks up next!