The announcement is less than a week away and remember that this year the list of nominees for Best Picture have grown to TEN.
In your predictions, please indicate the five that you think would have been nominated without the rule change, followed by the additional five.
Ready? GO!
Without The Rule Change:
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
Up In The Air
Hurt Locker
Precious
Add-Ons:
Nine
Up
The Lovely Bones (a gesture for Jackson)
A Single Man
A Serious Man
PS The 10 Nominee Change is the nail in the coffin of the Oscars. Its such a red flag that the Oscars have NOTHING to do with art or achievement but its a marketing tool. If they thought folks tuned out before, just wait.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jeff Bridges, CRAZY HEART
George Clooney, UP IN THE AIR
Colin Firth, A SINGLE MAN
Morgan Freeman, INVICTUS
Tobey Maguire, BROTHERS
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
WOODY HARRELSON, THE MESSENGER
Christopher Plummer, THE LAST STATION
Peter Saarsgard, AN EDUCATION
Stanley Tucci, THE LOVELY BONES
Christoph Waltz, INGLORIOUS BASTARDS
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Sandra Bullock, THE BLIND SIDE
Helen Mirren, THE LAST STATION
Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION
Gabourey Sidibe, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE
Meryl Streep, JULIE & JULIA
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Penelope Cruz, NINE
Anna Kendrick, UP IN THE AIR
Diane Kruger, INGLORIOUS BASTARDS
Julianne Moore, A SINGLE MAN
Mo'Nique, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
CORALINE
THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX
THE PRINCESS & THE FROG
DIRECTING
James Cameron, AVATAR
Lee Daniels, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE
Kathryn Bigelow, THE HURT LOCKER
Jason Reitman, UP IN THE AIR
Quentin Tarantino, INGLORIOUS BASTARDS
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
THE COVE
FOOD, INC.
EVERY LITTLE STEP (probably not but I hope!!)
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS
UNDER OUR SKIN
MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE
AVATAR
THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX
THE INFORMANT!
STAR TREK
UP
MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG
"I See You," AVATAR
"The Weary Kind," CRAZY HEART
“Cinema Italiano," NINE
"Almost There," THE PRINCESS & THE FROG
“Down in New Orleans," THE PRINCESS & THE FROG
BEST PICTURE
AVATAR
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLORIOUS BASTARDS
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE
UP IN THE AIR
AN EDUCATION
INVICTUS
A SERIOUS MAN
A SINGLE MAN
UP
Capn, I was just reading an article that An Education will most likely not get nominated for much as the studio put absolutely no money into marketing the film.
I honestly didn't think Carey Mulligan was that great in An Education. She's a decent actress but not Oscar-worthy yet.
Also, I thought Melanie Laurent was better than Diane Kruger in Inglourious Basterds.
Not even going to try and think about the ten nominees for best picture. My predictions don't reflect my actual opinions.
Best Actor
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Colin Firth, A Single Man
George Clooney, Up In The Air
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Best Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique, Precious
Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air
Vera Farmiga, Up In The Air
Marion Cotillard, Nine
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Best Director
Lee Daniels, Precious
James Cameron, Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Jason Reitman, Up In The Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
Screenplay Adaptation
Up In The Air
Precious
The Last Station
Crazy Heart
Where The Wild Things Are
Original Screenplay
Inglorious Basterds
A Serious Man
The Hurt Locker
Up
(500) Days of Summer
Best Animated Feature
Up
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess & The Frog
Coraline
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
Best Documentary
Food, Inc.
Good Hair
Anvil!: The Story of Anvil
The Cove
Of Time and the City
Best Foreign-Language Film
Broken Embraces (Spain)
The White Ribbon (German)
A Prophet (France)
The Police, Adjective (Romania)
The Maid (Chile)
Updated On: 2/1/10 at 11:57 PM
The only prediction I can make at this point is that Jeff Bridges will win. Crossing fingers! Make it a triple crown, Jeff!
Since the only award that purports to be any surprise will be BEST PICTURE, I will chime in to add that I think the only way they won't give it to AVATAR will be if enough people harp about the egregious SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE over SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (read: pretentious romance vs. war movie) debacle and they give it to HURT LOCKER (or, distant 3rd) PRECIOUS. I don't see that happening.
P
The acting categories are incredibly boring.
LEAD ACTOR
Jeff Bridges, CRAZY HEART
George Clooney, UP IN THE AIR
Colin Firth, A SINGLE MAN
Morgan Freeman, INVICTUS
Jeremy Renner, THE HURT LOCKER
LEAD ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock, THE BLIND SIDE
Helen Mirren, THE LAST STATION
Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION
Gabourey Sidibe, PRECIOUS
Meryl Streep, JULIE & JULIA
Wild Card: Emily Blunt, THE YOUNG VICTORIA
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Woody Harrelson, THE MESSENGER
Alfred Molina, AN EDUCATION
Christopher Plummer, THE LAST STATION
Stanley Tucci, THE LOVELY BONES
Christoph Waltz, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
Wild Card: Matt Damon, INVICTUS
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Vera Farmina, UP IN THE AIR
Anna Kendrick, UP IN THE AIR
Diane Kruger, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
Mo'Nique, PRECIOUS
Julianne Moore, A SINGLE MAN
Wild Card: A NINE girl, Samantha Morton for THE MESSENGER
My guess for movies is:
AVATAR
DISTRICT 9
AN EDUCATION
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
INVICTUS
PRECIOUS
A SERIOUS MAN
UP
UP IN THE AIR
Wild Cards: STAR TREK, THE HANGOVER
CapnHook, this year Best Animated Feature has five slots open instead of the usual three.
I haven't really been paying attention to the new Oscar rules, but is it possible for Up to be nominated for Best Animated Movie AND Best Picture?
I don't see why not? LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON were nominated for Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film, both winning for the latter. I can see UP doing the same, being nominated for Animated Feature AND Best Picture and winning for the former, though it would be nice if something else besides Pizar won.
Originally the ANIMATED FEATURE category was to have five nominees, however I read that one of this year's animated films became ineligible after they discovered it had a premiere at a small film festival last year, thus making the films this year totaling less than 15, thus only 3 nominees again.
If UP is able to be nominated in both, then I think it will. If not, PRINCESS & THE FROG will take its slot. If there are five, then you can add PONYO and A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
Is there any chance that Joseph Gordon Levitt might get nominated for best actor? I don't even know if there has been any kind of a campaign for him, but it would be a nice surprise.
Movies like (500) Days of Summer are near sure things for a nomination in the best original screenplay category but rarely not much else.
I think y'all have strong lists.
The top 5 are def
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air
The next 5 could be any combo of the following (+my guess)
+Star Trek
+District 9
+A Serious Man
+An Education
Invictus
+Up
Julie & Julia
500 Days of Summer --- would thrill me
The Hangover --- wouldn't surprise me, sadly
I'll be shot here, but I still think Meryl's work was the best in her category this year, but because she's Meryl Streep, it will overlooked. I would otherwise give it to Mulligan. As much as I admired Sidide, I found the role reactive (for my money, it's Mo'Nique's movie -- harrowing and unforgettable.)
But again, the most memorable work was Streep's. I watched it again at home, and blown away by the range. And Jane Lynch is magnificent as her sister. Watch the scene where Julia recognizes the pain of never having children. It doesn't get much better than that. But again, Streep is assumed to be brilliant, so her brilliance is generally minimized.
I haven't seen The Blind Side, so I can't comment on Bullock. But it would seem that this could be like 2000--Julia Roberts beating the sublime performance by Ellen Burstyn. Roberts was fantastic and deserving, but Burstyn pulled out a performance worthy of Kanye West interrupting Roberts' speech.
Love Bullock, but I doubt she is more deserving than Streep's sublime, "just when you think she can't top herself she does" performance in J&J.
My heart would love to see Sidibe win for a STUNNING debut that devastated me.
Finally saw THE BLIND SIDE. Meryl Streep is definitely the best in her category. Auggie, I think that scene you mention is worthy of the Oscar in itself, it's so wonderfully played by both Streep and Tucci. Streep deserves the Oscar this year, but like Auggie said, because she's Streep, she'll be overlooked. Bullock is getting caught up in the huge success of the movie, if the film had flopped, there'd be no talk of Oscar for her.
Mulligan is great, but poor thing has lost all buzz. I still don't understand the buzz behind Gabourey Sidibe or Mo'Nique for that matter.
It's a shame JULIE & JULIA isn't getting as much recognition as it deserves. After seeing the movie when it came out and recently on DVD, I'm surprised the performances of Jane Lynch (whose section of the film is the best part of the movie) and Stanley Tucci (whose nomination for THE LOVELY BONES will be in part for his performance in this movie) aren't being remembered by award voters. They were all excellent.
The acting in JULIE & JULIA is incredible, however the film itself is m'eh.
I loved Streep in JULIE & JULIA, but her performance is supreme Oscar bait -- showy and over the top at times. Sandra's is more subtle and nuanced. Just 'cause someone isn't hysterical or doesn't have a big crying/screaming scene, doesn't make their performance less worthy. But like I've said before, Meryl has the sentiment (27 years since her last award) and Bullock has the box office ($234 million and counting).
All in all, I'd be happy with either win.
Is it too much to wish that Streep and Bullock could tie?
When they tied at the one on VH1, they kissed. Could be even more thrilling if they tied for the Oscar, which would be cool.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/08
So you're saying that if they tied at the Oscars they would get to second base?
Even I would be a lil turned on.
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