My predictions for the Oscars - Re-visited

Well, the OFFICIAL nominations are now available for this year's Oscars.

"(500) Days of Summer" was completely SNUBBED not getting ONE nomination. Shame on you Academy.

Of course the love affair that the WORLD has for James Cameron proved true for the Academy as "Avatar" produced 9 nominations, including best picture and director.

One thing is for certain, Rachel and I will be watching a few movies before the March 7th show. We have this tradition where we both watch all of the Best Picture nominees. I only have to watch "The Hurt Locker", "A Serious Man" and "An Education" while Rachel needs to check out those three films as well as "Avatar".

Here are my predictions mixed in with the actual nominations:

Best Film Editing

Me
- Avatar
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious
- (500) Days of Summer
- Up in the Air

Academy
- Avatar
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious
- District 9
- The Hurt Locker

Hey, look at me. I picked three correctly! I still think "Precious" will win this award, but "Inglourious Basterds" or "The Hurt Locker" could pull the win.


Best Original Screenplay

Me
- (500) Days of Summer
- Up
- Avatar
- District 9
- Inglourious Basterds

Academy
- The Hurt Locker
- Up
- The Messenger
- A Serious Man
- Inglourious Basterds

Here I got two right and I am sticking with "Basterds" FTW. Surprised at "A Serious Man" going up. It's A Coen Brothers movie though, so I am sure it's a great script.

NOTE: I chose District 9 in the Original Screenplay not knowing that it was actually an Adapted Screenplay. It is going up for the Oscar so I win.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Me
- Up in the Air
- The Lovely Bones
- Precious
- Where the Wild Things Are
- Watchmen

Academy
- Up in the Air
- An Education
- Precious
- In the Loop
- District 9

I am still going to go with Precious winning in this category but I was VERY surprised to see the Academy leave out "Where the Wild Things Are". Too smart of a movie for them I guess.

Best Supporting Actress

Me
- Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
- Mo'Nique, "Precious"
- Diane Kruger, "Inglourious Basterds"
- Paula Patton, "Precious"
- Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"

Academy
- Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
- Mo'Nique, "Precious"
- Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
- Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
- Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"

I got three here as well. There is no question that Mo'Nique will win this award. No question at all. It's unfortunate because I liked Anna Kendrick's performance a lot.

Best Supporting Actor

Me
- Mark Wahlberg, "The Lovely Bones"
- Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
- Stanley Tucci "The Lovely Bones"
- Geoffrey Arrend, "(500) Days of Summer"
- Zach Galifianakis, "The Hangover"

Academy
- Matt Damon, "Invictus"
- Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
- Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
- Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
- Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"

Only got two here. It would be something if Christoph Waltz did not walk away with the Oscar.

Best Actress

Me
- Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
- Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"
- Amy Adams, "Julie & Julia"
- Alison Lohman, "Drag Me To Hell"
- Saoirse Ronan, "The Lovely Bones"

Academy
- Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
- Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"
- Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
- Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"
- Carey Mulligan, "An Education"

Only two here as well. Still think Gabourey Sidibe gets the win. The Academy LOVES Meryl Streep though, and I am not diminishing her work in "Julie & Julia", but in my opinion her performance was more of an imitation than acting. It's possible that because the person she was portraying, Julia Childs, is often imitated. Ah well.

Best Actor

Me
- George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
- Max Records, "Where the Wild Things Are"
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "(500) Days of Summer"
- Adam Sandler, "Funny People"
- Robert Downey Jr., "Sherlock Holmes"

Academy
- George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
- Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
- Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
- Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
- Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Wow, I only picked one correct here. I have only actually seen one of these five performances, but from what I have heard Jeff Bridges is pretty good in "Crazy Heart". Good for Jeremy Renner though.

Best Director

Me
- Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
- Spike Jonze, "Where the Wild Things Are"
- Marc Webb, "(500) Days of Summer"
- J.J. Abrams, "Star Trek"
- Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

Academy
- Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
- Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
- Lee Daniels, "Precious"
- James Cameron, "Avatar"
- Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

I only chose two correctly here, and it is highly unfortunate for Tarantino that James Cameron (loved by everyone EVERYWHERE) will win this award. I would be VERY surprised if someone else walked away with the Oscar here.

Best Film

Me
- Inglourious Basterds
- Up in the Air
- (500) Days of Summer
- Avatar
- Precious

Academy
- Inglourious Basterds
- Up in the Air
- District 9
- Avatar
- Precious
- A Serious Man
- An Education
- The Blind Side
- The Hurt Locker
- Up

I messed up and only chose 5 movies in a category that the Academy expanded to ten movies this year. "Avatar" is going to win, hands down. It's unfortunate that the competition this year is not that great as this award is really only a four movie race between "Basterds", "Precious", "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar".

NOTE: While I did enjooy "The Blind Side" and "District 9", they have no business going up for Best Film in my opinion. I know that's the point of expanding the category, to give other films some recognition. It's almost laughable though to put "The Blind Side" up against "Precious".