My predictions for the Oscars

Tomorrow is February 2nd, 2010. Three things happen tomorrow that are major.

1) At 7 pm tomorrow, the Washington Capitals go into Boston to face the Bruins. The Capitals, winnners of 10 in a row, will try and do something that no other Capital team has ever done... win 11 games in a row.

2) At 8 pm the final season of Lost begins. The first hour is a recap of the first five seasons, and then at 9 pm the two hour premiere. Cannot wait.

3) Earlier tomorrow morning (8:30 am to be exact) the Oscar nominations will be released. Why they do it SOO early is beyond me (8:30 am Eastern time, so 5:30 am Western time). Anyway, Rachel and I are very excited as Oscar night is "the best night of the year" according to Rachel.

I thought I would take my own personal stab at the nominations and even pick winners before the official list is released tomorrow. Keep in mind that I did NOT see some of the movies that will probably be nominated (yet) so I will only do this from the movies I have seen (except where noted). Here goes (my predictions for the win will be in bold):

Best Film Editing
- Avatar
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious
- (500) Days of Summer
- Up in the Air

I think that "Inglourious Basterds" had some very good film editing (especially the shootout scene in the pub). "(500) Days of Summer" also was a standout here as well. "Avatar" is almost a given for a nomination as James Cameron will get EVERY nomination (and probably will win) for any visual award. My pick for "Precious" is a special pick. The editing was very well done, and helped the subpar direction (in my opinion). Key scenes were all of the dream sequences, and especially some of the scenes with Mo'Nique. Helped the movie along, and made it that much more "real".

Best Original Screenplay
- (500) Days of Summer
- Up (Haven't seen it, but I know it will be nominated)
- Avatar
- District 9
- Inglourious Basterds

All were good movies, but Quentin Tarantino should pick up another Original Screenplay Oscar for his work on "Basterds". Great dialogue drives this film and never once was I bored throughout it's 2.5 plus hours.

Best Adapted Screenplay
- Up in the Air
- The Lovely Bones
- Precious
- Where the Wild Things Are
- Watchmen

I would love to see "Where the Wild Things Are" get a nomination and the win, but Precious is this years "Slumdog Millionaire" and will surprise.

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

No contest here for Mo'Nique in the best performance of the year.

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

Also no contest. Cristoph Waltz was haunting as "The Jew Hunter". He'll be walking away with the Oscar. Wahlberg once again showed his talents as the dad who would stop at NOTHING to find his daughters murderer. Zach Galifianakis was spot on in "The Hangover". Tucci's performance actually scared me, which it was supposed to do, so he will get a nomination.

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

Like I said, "Precious" will be this years "Slumdog" and I think Gabourey Sidibe is going to be this years Jennifer Hudson. Props go to Alison Lohman, who played a very believable "damsel in distress" in the horror film "Drag Me To Hell". Saoraise Ronan was also very good in "The Lovely Bones", and should get a nomination in my opinion.

Best Actor
- 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"

More than likely the Academy will go with George Clooney, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance was very believable. Something about his chemistry with Zoeey Deschanel. Max Records turned in an unbelievable performance as well, but unfortunately will not be recognized by the Academy.

Best Director
- 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"

Quentin SHOULD win this award as kind of a career achievement. I left out the direcor of "Precious" as there were some key moments in that film where the direction was lacking (in my opinion). Unfortunately that director will probably win.

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

I don't know why, but at this point the best film I saw all year was "(500) Days of Summer". I guess it has something to do with the acting (which was great), the direction (equally great), and the music. I especially loved the scene when Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character is walking to work and singing with all of the people. Something about this film just struck me. "Precious" and "Inglourious Basterds" are very close, but I know I will turn some heads by thinking "(500) Days of Summer" was the best film in 2009.