I love film. It's something that fills a gap that nothing else can. Sure, music has its enormous niche as do books but film, since I was a wee lad, is the cheese on my macaroni. The Oscars are approaching and I've seen the majority of the films nominated. I would like to see a few more before the night of the show so I can root for the most deserving film, actor, actress, etc... in my opinion. I like to see everyone all done up and react to other people of their profession. Call me a dork, but I enjoy to see who the winning person shakes hands with as they walk proudly down the aisle.
Anyway, the nominees were announced the other day so here is who I want to win what ...
Best Picture:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air
I'm just excited that District 9 got nominated for this category. It is a surprise so if that wins, I'll be pretty happy. Overall, I would like to see Inglourious take it home. This was my favorite film of the year and just might be Tarantino's best. For me, it had everything. The Hurt Locker will probably take it. I'm surprised by the number of nominations. I think they should have done this last year in which case The Dark Knight would have been up for it. I would have loved to see that win.
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)
I really want to see Crazy Heart before the Oscars and that could happen. Also, A Single Man is in my top 3 movies I really want to see at the moment. I'd heard decent things about Invictus, but have yet to see that either. That being said I think Jeremy Renner should get the win. He did a great job in this film, far better than anything I've seen him in.
Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon (Invictus)
Woody Harrelson (The Messanger)
Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
Every year there is a performance or two that just stick out above the rest. Christoph Waltz owns this. It's nice to see Woody get a nom though. I also have unfortunately not seen any of these other films.
Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)
I only saw An Education out of this bunch, but I think Carey Mulligan is who I would vote for regardless. I also can't stand Maryl Streep's voice in J&J. I don't care how close it was to the real lady.
Best Supporting Actress:
Penelope Cruz (Nine)
Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air)
Mo'Nique (Precious)
I enjoyed both of the performances in Up In The Air, but don't think they were strong enough to take it in this category. I love Maggie Gyllenhaal and think she has what it takes to win, but I have yet to see Crazy Heart. I've heard amazing things about Mo'Nique in Precious, so I bet she'll take it.
Best Director:
Avatar (James Cameron)
The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
Precious (Lee Daniels)
Up In The Air (Jason Reitman)
I feel like Kathryn Bigelow will take this since she won the DGA, but it would be nice to see Tarantino grab it.
Best Animated Feature = Up
Best Art Direction - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (hope hope hope!!!!)
Best Cinematography - Inglourious please, but I have yet to see The White Ribbon which could trump it.
Best Documentary - The Cove. I have no doubts.
Best Foreign Film - The only one I will have seen by the time the awards show kicks off is The White Ribbon, so I don't really know who will win, but I do want to see all the noms.
I hope this has been somewhat interesting. I'd like to see a short feature following a handful of directors and who ever as they vote and give their opinions on what they think deserves to be nominated and/or win.
On a side note, but still having to do with film, I watched a hilarious spoof on the blaxploitation genre of the 1970's called Black Dynamite. It's coming out on DVD either later this month or early next month. I highly recommend it.
Top 10 time travel movies:
10. Time Bandits
9. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
8. Returner
7. Army of Darkness
6. Back To The Future
5. 12 Monkeys
4. Donnie Darko
3. Back To The Future 2
2. Primer
1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
