Oscar Predictions

Hey All

So I know all of you are as excited as I am about the Oscars tomorrow night! Here's my predictions on who's gonna win most of the awards(which isn't to be confused with who I think should actually win, cause if I had it my way Inglourious Basterds would sweep at least half the awards, with Avatar, Star Trek and District 9 cleaning up the rest):

Best Documentary - The Cove

This is hands down one of the most exciting documentaries I’ve ever seen. It's honestly like combining "Disney's Earth" with "James Bond". It exposes the world’s worst dolphin massacres, which takes place annually in Japan. Not only do the makers of this film document what’s going on, they try tirelessly, with some of the most innovative methods I’ve ever seen in a documentary, to expose this travesty to the general public, which is being kept secret by the Japanese government. It’s a gripping and engrossing film, and I’m positive that the academy will feel the same way as I do about it.

Best Original Score – Sherlock Holmes

Not only do I love this movie (I’ve watched it about a dozen times already) I also love the music. It’s a pretty odd and wonderful score that represents Holmes’ eccentricity and brilliance. It was written by Hans Zimmer, who has done way too many movie scores to mention, and has won a couple of Grammy’s, Golden Globes, and Oscars.

Best Art Direction & Best Visual Effects – Avatar

I really don’t think there will be any competition for this one. I mean the whole movie is like one giant animated piece of art. I imagine James Cameron hired an army of conceptual artists to create all of the creatures, plants, and settings in this movie. And for visual effects, do I really need to say anything? I didn’t think so.

Best Sound Editing & Best Sound Mixing – Star Trek

This award almost always goes to Sci-Fi movies because of the skill it takes to create and edit sounds for creatures and machines that don’t even exist. Although Avatar provides a bit of competition I think that the academy will recognize that Star Trek’s sound was just better and more abundant.

Best Film Editing & Best Cinematography – The Hurt Locker

Here’s where it gets into more of who I think the academy will pick rather than who I feel should win. Personally I would give editing award to District 9 and the cinematography award to Inglourious Basterds, but I have a feeling that since The Hurt Locker is going to get knocked out the top two awards, it’s going to pick up some of the smaller technical awards like these two.

Best Animated Feature – Up

Now I haven’t actually seen this movie yet, but I know it’s been getting amazing reviews, and almost everyone I’ve talked to said it was great. It’s also nominated in the Best Picture category, where it stands absolutely no chance, but I think it will easily win this category.

Best Adapted Screen Play – Up In The Air

Again here’s another one that I would not necessarily pick, but is most likely a favourite among academy members. I would probably have gone for District 9, but realistically it’s going to go to Up In The Air. It actually is a decent script, and I was impressed with the whole movie, until the very end. I personally didn’t care for the end, because it kind of left everything, for lack of a better phrase, up in the air. I mean it just ends with him in the airport staring at departure and arrival times, and he’s pretty much back to where he started at the begging of the movie. I think the academy will overlook this bad ending though, as they seem to like that kind of garbage.

Best Original Screenplay – Inglourious Basterds

I will be very surprised if Inglourious Basterds does not win this award. I mean when was the last time you saw a world war to movie where Hitler not only died, but got an entire clip of a Tommy gun in the face, and then was blown up. This movie screams originality and excellence, and since I don’t think this movie will win best picture, nor will Quentin Tarantino win best director, I think they will at least give the film the honour of this award.

Best Supporting Actress – Mo’Nique for Precious

A movie about fat black woman struggling with life really did not catch my interest, so I really didn’t care to see this movie, but Mo’Nique has been getting so much attention over this movie that she’s almost guaranteed to win. Again, I would have made a different choice, probably leaning towards either Anna Kendrick or Vera Ferminga both from Up In The Air, or even Maggie Gylenhol for Crazy Heart.

Best Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds

This is defiantly mine, and many critics, favourite performance from the entire year. Waltz owns this role, and not only gets under the skin of many of the characters in this film, but also gets under the audiences skin with his masterful performance as the Jew Hunter. He is defiantly a favourite to win this role, and I really don’t see anyone else in this category taking it from him.

Best Actress – Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia

I haven’t seen this movie, nor do I really care to, and I’m not much of a Meryl Streep fan, but many of the academy members are. I personally would have picked Sandra Bullock for the Blind Side, which i found to be an incredibly emotionally uplifting movie, and one of the best performances of Bullocks career. However, since this is Meryl Streep’s 16th nomination, and she hasn’t won an academy award since like 1982, I'm betting the academy will likely wish to honour her at least one more time. Since Bullock is younger, she will more than likely have another chance to win this down the road.

Best Actor – Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart

I finally watched this movie, and was pleasantly blown away with how much I liked it. Everyone is saying that Crazy Heart is this year’s “The Wrestler” which I think is almost a put down, since Crazy heart is so much better. Jeff Bridges gives the best and most believable performance of his entire career. It’s almost like this role was written specifically for him, because in my mind he really is Bad Blake, and I could totally see him sitting in some old country bar, belting great old country classics.

Best Director & Best Picture – James Cameron & Avatar

These two awards almost always go hand in hand, and I don’t think this year will be any exception. I do feel that this film has gotten far more hype than it deserves, and really should not be a $2.5 billion dollar grossing film, but all of the hype aside it really is a great film. It invokes all of the right emotions, and has a perfect balance of action, story, and special effects. The story might not be 100% original, however it is a great story, and is defiantly one that is culturally relevant at the moment. James Cameron devoted almost ten years of his life to this film, including creating the 3D cameras used to film the movie, which I, and I think the academy will agree, defiantly deserves the award of Best Director, and ultimately best picture.

Let me know what your guys predictions and personal picks are!

Later Alligators