The Envelope Please..

It's the most wonderful time of the year... no, its not Christmas again, it's OSCAR time!! Around here we really like movies, so we get pretty excited when the nominees are announced! I am hereby announcing my Oscar picks based on the movies I've seen so far. We planned to see Crazy Heart this weekend, but it didn't happen. Hopefully we'll get in a few more nominated films before the big night, but I'm too excited about it to wait any longer! Here we go..

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air” I enjoyed it, but didn't think it was anything spectacular for Clooney
• *Colin Firth in “A Single Man” a stunning film by Tom Ford, Colin plays a heartbreaking role with grace and ease.
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (didn't see it)
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” Great movie and nice job by JR, but not my #1

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus” (again, didnt see it)
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (didn't see it)
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (hope to see it before Oscar night)
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (couldnt bring myself to see this one)
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (didnt see this either!) wow, missed all of these..

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (hope to see)
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (wonderful, a close 2nd to Precious)
• *Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious” I honestly don't know how she came off of the street and played this role, it was gut wrenching and amazingly deep.
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (very fun and great movie, loved Meryl, just not enough)

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (she was great, but not award winning)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (very funny and she played that role well, probably 2nd)
• *Mo’Nique in “Precious” Do I even need to explain this choice? She killed it with this one, seriously. Just an amazing performance.

Animated Feature Film

• “Coraline” Henry Selick (fantastic film, a very close 2nd)
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson (didnt see it) :(
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements (I don't think I'll be seeing this one)
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore (no clue)
• *“Up” Pete Docter Talking DOGS for pete sake! Such a clever and adorable film.

Art Direction

• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair (Let's face it, if there's art in the title, Avatar will and should win)
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray (I hope you win!!)

Cinematography

• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore (yes, beautiful as well)
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel (didnt see)
• *“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd (I thought the camerawork really made the movie, it was very tense and beautifully done)
• “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson (sadly, didnt see)
• “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger (want to see!)

Costume Design

• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• *“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell (Stunning, hands down winner, even though I didnt see the others. I thought it should win about 5 mins into the movie though)

Directing

• “Avatar” James Cameron
• *“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow (I think she really did a wonderful job with this film, thats all) and I hope she beats her ex on this one- beat it James Cameron!
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Best Picture

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers (beautiful film, shitty story)
• “The Blind Side” Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers (haven't seen, but would like to)
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers (didnt see, hubby says no way it should be nominated)
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers (wonderful movie, my #3)
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers (my #4)
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer (my #5)
• *“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers (MY #2!!)
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

I still can't believe so many films are nominated this year. It's disappointing to have SO many nominees. I feel like it takes away from the category, but oh well. There are a lot of good choices. Here are the 5 I think SHOULD have been nominated in order from #1 to #5:


Precious
A Serious Man
An Education
Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds (purely through reviews and here-say)

There you have it, my choices. Some educated and some not! I guess we'll see how I did in a few weeks.