Oscar's Here Again...!

[kamreadsandrecs]

So the list of nominees for the Oscars has just come out, and as is often the case when the date ticks down to Oscar season, I'm really, ridiculously excited. I know that the Golden Globes have come and gone, and of course the Grammys have just lit up the music world (well, the American music world, anyway), but nothing is really more exciting to me than the Oscars. While the Venice and the Cannes are the awards to watch for serious art films and documentaries, the Oscars are for movies with a more popular bent.

Okay, okay, so that's not quite true. There are a whole host of really good, serious films that get nominated in the Oscars, but I've always held the Venice and Cannes in higher regard than the Oscars, mostly since the Oscars is limited in scope to the American market, unlike Venice and Cannes which can lay some claim to being more global (Iranian films at the Cannes and Venice = incredibly haunting and humbling). But still, Oscars are ridiculously fun to watch.

I know it's easy to get a list of nominees, but for those who don't feel inclined to do a Google search, here's a partial list of the most interesting (personally significant, to me, anyway) nominations:

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

After watching Up, I predicted there was an enormous possibility that it would be nominated for Best Picture, and I was right! That would make it (by my reckoning, I could be wrong) the second animated film to be nominated for Best Picture (Disney's Beauty and the Beast was the first), and the first CGI-animated full-length movie to be nominated for the honor. If it wins, it will be both the first full-length animated movie and first CGI-animated full-length movie to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. I bet the people over at Pixar are gnawing on their fingernails right now, especially since they're on the very brink of making Oscar history here.

However, although I am optimistic that Up will win an Oscar, I know better than to call it a surefire thing. Of all the nominees, I'm going to lay my money on The Hurt Locker or Inglorious Basterds, with District 9 as a possible dark horse. I know Avatar is heavily favored to win, and it just might, but I just saw (rather poor, really) copies of The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds, and I've already seen District 9. I seriously think the former two could compete against the juggernaut that is Avatar, since they are fantastically-told stories with a good balance between excellent directorial skills, cinematographical storytelling, terrific scriptwriting, and acting talent. Same can easily be said of District 9, but it's not the obvious winner in this list. Still, that's why it's called a "dark horse:" no one's sure if it just might charge up that list and take the prize.

Of course, the ultimate dark horse in this list would be Up, but we'll have to see about that.

Best Screenplay (Original)
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Is it any surprise that The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds made it into the nominee list for this category? After seeing the movies, I'm not surprised at all. I've always been convinced that half of what makes a good movie is the scriptwriting, and both of those movies have fantastic stories. It absolutely tickles me that Up was also nominated for this category, since, as anyone who's seen it knows, Pixar hasn't come up with as touching a story since Finding Nemo.

Between The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds, I might have to say that The Hurt Locker leads in my estimation, but only by a very small margin. It's a harsh and gritty story, but with enough humanity in it that the grittiness and harshness makes the story even more insightful into the inhumanity of war. Inglorious Basterds tackles the same thing, but it does so a bit more slickly, without that hard, grimy "realness" that The Hurt Locker has. Still, there's something to be said about the snappy, satiric, darkly humorous take that Inglorious Basterds has on the subject of war, which makes it worthy for nomination in this category. Honestly, the lead that The Hurt Locker has in my estimations is very, very narrow, and I might change my mind at the last minute when my dad and I settle down to watch the awards show.

Best Director
Avatar - James Cameron
The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow
Inglorious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
Precious - Lee Daniels
Up in the Air - Jason Reitman

I know, I know, there are people who are saying that James Cameron is going to be a shoo-in for this category, but honestly? I want Kathryn Bigelow to win. I really, really want her to win this category. Part of it is because The Hurt Locker really is just that good a movie, but another part of it is also because she's a woman. Do you know how many women have been nominated for this category in the entire history of the Academy Awards? Four. Do you know how many women have won the award? None. I personally think that The Hurt Locker is a superb piece of directorial work, and I truly do feel that if The Hurt Locker doesn't win Best Picture, at the very least Bigelow deserves this award for her hard work.

My second bet would be Quentin Tarantino, because he really does superb work in his movies, and he's done especially well with Inglorious Basterds. Better than Kill Bill. Better than Reservoir Dogs. Better than Pulp Fiction.

Yes, I did go there.

Best Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Up is a shoo-in for this category, but it's comforting to see Disney competing with a film that does not attempt to go toe-to-toe with Pixar in the CGI department. It'll be a while until Disney can find the same storytelling capacity that it had when it brought out The Lion King, but at least they're back on the right track.

It's also ridiculously pleasing to the Neil Gaiman fan in me to see Coraline nominated for this category - an honor it certainly deserves.

What intrigues me here, though is The Secret of Kells. I've seen stills of the movie, and I do think it's beautifully drawn, but what about the story? I suspect it's going to be about the Book of Kells and its creation, what with the protagonist being a monk, but we'll have to see how the movie spins the story of the creation of one of the most beautiful illustrated books in history.

I don't really want to go into the other categories yet, particularly for Actors, Soundtrack, Song, and Cinematography. I'll be withholding my judgment until I've managed to see the other movies. Hell, I'm pretty sure my choices might change when I've seen the other nominees.

Comments

[coffeebased.livejournal.com]

LOL, I just saw this post. AFTER I talked to you.

We have to watch Hurt Locker.

[le-chatnoir.livejournal.com]

Deleted last post because I'd forgotten I'd logged-out ^^;

Hurt Locker is a definite must-see. Watching it on crappy-quality recorded-in-a-moviehouse video isn't really conducive to true enjoyment. Plus, imagine the surround-sound rocking your very bones whenever something blows up onscreen :D.

Hmmm... Would you mind me bringing Kevin and Darcy along, if ever this does come to pass?

[coffeebased.livejournal.com]

No worries! Let's drag everyone we can drag :D

[soloproject.livejournal.com]

I really wanna watch Hurt Locker again. I wouldn't mind if, say, Avatar won Best Picture but I think the Best Director award rightfully belongs to Kate Bigelow. Hurt Locker is fantastic--it's such a great representation of what the war is really like.

I want Princess and the Frog to win Best Animated but again, UP will probably win it. It would really be like the Academy to nominate Up for Best Picture and Best Animated and then give them the latter. It's all politics.

I can't believe they nominated District 9 for Best Picture. If the category was Best First Half in a Picture, it would win though LOL

Avatar was one of my favorite movies last year but people need to look past the shiny effects and admit the plot is not as well-rounded as it could have been.

I am really disappointed that 500 Days of Summer and Star Trek were snubbed this year for best picture against The Blind Side (great but not deserving of that nomination) and Precious.

[le-chatnoir.livejournal.com]

I agree that Bigelow should get that award. Hurt Locker is indeed fantastic, and incredibly human in its portrayal.

Up will certainly win Best Animated, but I've got my fingers crossed for it winning Best Picture, even if I know it won't.

Regarding District 9, I thought it was an interesting premise, really, but again, it's a dark horse, in my opinion.

I also agree that Avatar should, by dint of weak storytelling alone, not win Best Picture. Best Visual Effects, certainly, but Best Picture? I think not.

I think 500 Days of Summer was too "indie" for the Academy's tastes. And I also doubt there are many in the judging roster who look kindly upon Trekkers, or take it seriously, which is rather sad.

[soloproject.livejournal.com]

I hope ST sweeps the four categories it does have, including Visual Effects.

500 Days too indie? More indie than An Education or Precious? Maybe it's too "quirky" rather than indie, or perhaps because it's because it's already won four screenwriting awards.

[le-chatnoir.livejournal.com]

I do hope ST gets the awards it's nominated for. It's my personal dark horse for Visual Effects.

Hehe, good point on 500 Days. And it's already won 4 screenwriting awards? Which ones?

[soloproject.livejournal.com]

Can't recall what the others were, except for the Satellites. The rest are on wikipedia.