Best Picture

THE SOCIAL NETWORK
THE KING’S SPEECH
BLACK SWAN
INCEPTION
TOY STORY 3
TRUE GRIT
THE FIGHTER
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
WINTER’S BONE
127 HOURS

10 for 10
Perfection. I thought The Town might’ve snuck in there at the last minute, but I stuck to my gut and 127 Hours prevailed in that final spot I was leery about. Right now, my favorite film of 2010 The Social Network looks like an unstoppable force, but we’ll see how things pan out in the coming month.

Best Director

DAVID FINCHER, The Social Network
DARREN ARONOFSKY, Black Swan
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, Inception JOEL AND ETHAN COEN, True Grit
TOM HOOPER, The King’s Speech
DAVID O. RUSSELL, The Fighter

4 for 5
Wow, Christopher Nolan snubbed again. I mean, personally I would have gone with Joel and Ethan Coen for True Grit, too, but I thought the Academy might make up a little for not giving him a Dark Knight nod. Again, almost everything Social Network is brimming with confidence right now, so David Fincher is easily the frontrunner.

Best Actor

COLIN FIRTH, The King’s Speech
JAMES FRANCO, 127 Hours
JESSE EINSBERG, The Social Network
JEFF BRIDGES, True Grit
ROBERT DUVALL, Get Low JAVIER BARDEM, Biutiful

4 for 5
Ah, hell. That’s why you have to stick with your gut! I had Javier Bardem in that fifth spot until the 11th hour and then switched it back to Robert Duvall. I feel sorry for Ryan Gosling for not getting the nod for Blue Valentine since Michelle Williams got hers. Those two would not have worked without each other. Nevertheless, it’s Colin Firth’s to lose.

Best Actress

NATALIE PORTMAN, Black Swan
ANNETTE BENING, The Kids Are All Right
NICOLE KIDMAN, Rabbit Hole
JENNIFER LAWRENCE, Winter’s Bone
MICHELLE WILLIAMS, Blue Valentine

5 for 5
Perfection. This was probably one of the easier categories to predict, so I won’t pat myself on the back too much. Right now it’s a two woman race between Natalie Portman and Annette Bening.

Best Supporting Actor

CHRISTIAN BALE, The Fighter
GEOFFREY RUSH, The King’s Speech
MARK RUFFALO, The Kids Are All Right
JOHN HAWKES, Winter’s Bone
ANDREW GARFIELD, The Social Network JEREMY RENNER, The Town

4 for 5
Meh. Jeremy Renner is deserving, yes. I’m more disappointed none of the Social Network supporting boys (Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, Justin Timberlake) got more love. This category is lead slightly by Christian Bale, but anyone can win it right now.

Best Supporting Actress

MELISSA LEO, The Fighter
HAILEE STEINFELD, True Grit
HELENA BONHAM CARTER, The King’s Speech
JACKIE WEAVER, Animal Kingdom
AMY ADAMS, The Fighter

5 for 5
Perfection. I loved Black Swan, but Mila Kunis didn’t deserve the nod this year, so I’m glad she didn’t get it. Everyone on this list looks solid. It’s anyone’s statue at this point. What I would love to see is Amy Adams and Melissa Leo split their votes and Hailee Steinfeld come out victorious. That little girl was amazing.

Best Original Screenplay

The Kids Are All Right
Inception
The King’s Speech
Black Swan Another Year
The Fighter

4 for 5
The Academy loves Mike Leigh. Should have seen this one coming. Maybe the Academy makes it up to Christopher Nolan for leaving him out of the director’s category and gives him the win here for his complex script? We won’t hold our breath. Right now it’s anyone’s prize.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
127 Hours

5 for 5
Perfection. There is no way screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (“The Social Network”) loses this (and I’m not just saying that because it was my favorite movie last year).

Animated Feature

Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist

3 for 3
Perfection. I really wish they would have nominated five animated features like they did last year. But in the end does it really matter? They should have just nominated Toy Story 3 since there is no way it’s not going home as the Best Animated Feature of the year especially with the Best Picture nod.

Art Direction

The King’s Speech
Inception
True Grit
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

4 for 5
Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillian (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1) were nominated before for two other Harry Potter movies, so this isn’t a big surprise. They both won the Oscar in this category for The English Patient back in 1997. Craig has received a total of eight nominations for his art direction and has won three (The English Patient, Gandi and Dangerous Liaisons).

Cinematography

True Grit
Inception
127 Hours The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Black Swan

4 for 5
I guess there’s not enough sweeping cinematography when you’re stuck in a hole in the ground.

Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland
True Grit
The King’s Speech
Burlesque The Tempest
Black Swan I Am Love

3 for 5
I should have known Sandy Powell (The Tempest) who has been nominated eight times before this (and won 3 times) would have gotten another nod. I don’t hold myself accountable for overlooking I Am Love, however. That pick came out of nowhere.

Editing
  
The Social Network
Inception 127 Hours
The King’s Speech
Black Swan
The Fighter

4 for 5
Wow, I really thought Inception was the only film on this list that could’ve given The Social Network a good fight in this category. Nevertheless, all the films are worthy of nomination.

Make Up

Alice in Wonderland Barney’s Version
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 The Way Back
The Wolfman

1 for 3
I haven’t seen either Barney’s Version or The Way Back so I can’t say if the make-up is amazing. The only reason I went with The Wolfman is because Rick Baker is a genius, but even then I thought there was too much CGI.  Anyway, surprises, yes, but nothing I’ll lose sleep over.

Visual Effects

Inception
TRON: Legacy Hereafter
Iron Man 2
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

4 for 5
After all that talk from everyone about TRON: Legacy being the most visually-stunning movie they’ve seen all year and then it doesn’t even make the cut? And to make matters worse, it loses its spot to a drama with only one really big special effects scene? Still, I have to admit, that tsunami in Hereafter was pretty freaking sweet.

Original Score

The Social Network
Inception
The King’s Speech
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 How to Train Your Dragon
127 Hours

4 for 5
Congratulations John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon). You won’t pull out the upset, but at least your there. This is either going to Social Network, Inception or King’s Speech right now.

Original Song

“Shine” from “Waiting for Superman” “Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled”
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from “Burlesque” N/A
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours”

3 for 4
Now this is interesting. The Academy could have nominated five but they decided only to nominate four. Sorry Cher and John Legend. Guess there is a mandatory country song that has to be picked every year now. Note to the Academy: Just give the Oscar to Tangled and save us from having to watch all four songs performed (especially if one of those performers is Gwyneth Paltrow).

Sound Editing

Inception
127 Hours Unstoppable
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit

4 for 5
Runaway trains beat breaking bones.

Sound Mixing

Inception
127 Hours The King’s Speech
Toy Story 3 Salt
TRON: Legacy The Social Network
True Grit

2 for 5
Eeesh, I need to take some sound mixing classes.

Documentary Feature

Inside Job
Waiting for Superman Waste Land
The Tillman Story Gasland
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Restrepo

3 for 5
There’s going to be some disappointed people out there because of the Waiting for Superman snub. I haven’t seen Gasland or Waste Land, so I better get on the ball ASAP. Restrepo was solid, but not great. Exit Through the Gift Shop was great, but I’m still not convinced it’s a documentary. If you’re going to nominate Gift Shop, then why not Catfish? And Inside Job…it’s one of those talking head documentaries that gives so much interesting information, but left me cold at the end. And it’s probably going to win.

Foreign Language

Biutiful
Even the Rain Dogtooth
In a Better World
Life Above All Outside the Law
Incendies

3 for 5
Biutiful is overrated. The only other film I’ve seen on this list is Dogtooth, which is beyond bizarre. I liked it a lot, but it’s not for everyone.

Animated Short

The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger Let’s Pollute
Day & Night
Coyote Falls The Lost Thing
The Gruffalo
Urs Madagascar, a Journey Diary

2 for 5
The only thing on this list I’ve seen is Day & Night and that’s because it came out as the opener for Toy Story 3. Yes, it’s Pixar, so that makes it the frontrunner for now. Now, I must search out the rest.

Documentary Short

Born Sweet Poster Girl
Killing in the Name
One Thousand Pictures Strangers No More
The Warriors of Qiugang
Living for 32 Sun Come Up

2 for 5
This was a crapshoot. I just guessed based on the synopsis.

Live-Action Short

Ana’s Playground Na Wewe
The Confession
Wish 143
The Crush
The Six Dollar Fifty Man God of Love

3 for 5
This was a crapshoot. I just guessed based on the synopsis.

Total: 90/120 correct for 75%

One Response

  1. darren aronofsky and david o russell shouldnt b nominated. when they name best director its based on how many nominees a best picture film gets since there are 10 slots. black swan only had 4 noms not including director, and inception had eight. also, 127 hours and the fighter wre tied in moms if u dont count o russell. just sayin, im a little angry

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