Earlier today, the nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced. As promised the countdown here continues, I’ve seen The Hurt Locker. The Last Station and Crazy Heart might be in mix this weekend. But I’m confident I can handicap the Academy’s choices this year. The lovely and talented Holly Comesoftly might dispute some of my picks and reasoning. But that’s why we’re here… to entertain and discuss.
I’ve listed each nominee along with their number of previous nominations and wins, where applicable. Let’s dive in to the acting categories.
Actor in a Leading Role
| * Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” | previous noms 4/ wins 0 |
| * George Clooney in “Up in the Air” | previous noms 2/ wins 1 |
| * Colin Firth in “A Single Man” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” | previous noms 4/ wins 1 |
| * Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
* Who wins? Jeff Bridges
* Who should win? Jeremy Renner
* Why? I haven’t seen Crazy Heart yet, but I think that Jeff Bridges gets his Oscar here on the fifth try. He’s playing a broken down musician, the Academy likes broken characters. Clooney is multi-talented, he already has one Oscar for acting (Syriana), and past nominations for directing and screenplay (Good Night and Good Luck). Morgan Freeman already has an Oscar, plus there is no heat on Invictus. Colin Firth, this is his first time at the dance, hopefully his countrymen will show him some love and give him the BAFTA. Jeremy Renner is at a disadvantage with no previous nominations and Jeff Bridges is “due”.
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
Actor in a Supporting Role
| * Matt Damon in “Invictus” | previous noms 1/ wins 0 |
| * Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” | previous noms 1/ wins 0 |
| * Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
* Who wins? Christoph Waltz
* Who should win? Christoph Waltz
* Why? I get the feeling that the Academy goes commercial and gives Inglourious Basterds the only big award its going to get. Christoph Waltz makes the movie worthwhile. The others were all small releases and I can’t see anybody shouting from the mountain tops about them.
Actress in a Leading Role
| * Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” | previous noms 3/ wins 1 |
| * Carey Mulligan in “An Education” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” | previous noms 15/ wins 2 |
* Who wins? Sandra Bullock
* Who should win? Gabourey Sidibe
* Why? Sandra Bullock wins by default. Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan cancel each other out as relative newcomers. Steep takes herself out of the running since this isn’t even her best work. Helen Mirren already has an Oscar and The Last Station is an arthouse film. The Academy goes with sizzle, ups their ratings, and goes with the “feel good” role to appeal to Middle America– even though The Blind Side takes tremendous liberties with its source material.
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Actress in a Supporting Role
| * Penélope Cruz in “Nine” | previous noms 2/ wins 1 |
| * Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * Mo’Nique in “Precious” | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
* Who wins? Mo’Nique
* Who should win? Mo’Nique
* Why? Everyone here is a first time nominee with the exception of Cruz. As great as Cruz is, Nine was panned. So look at the roles, nobody is playing a disabled person (see Tropic Thunder for further explanation), then you go to the other “money” role– playing evil. Mo’Nique won the SAG award. So its Mo’Nique.
Directing
| * “Avatar” James Cameron | previous noms 1/ wins 1 |
| * “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino | previous noms 1/ wins 0 |
| * “Precious” Lee Daniels | previous noms 0/ wins 0 |
| * “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman | previous noms 1/ wins 0 |
* Who wins? Kathryn Bigelow
* Who should win? Kathryn Bigelow
* Why? Lee Daniels and Jason Reitman thank you for playing, you’re not winning this award. Quentin this isn’t your year either, you got a nomination for Pulp Fiction back in 1994– that was a better film than Bastards. Is Avatar really an achievement, outside of its technical prowess? None of the actors in Avatar were up in the acting categories. No nomination for screenplay. This is what James Cameron does best, big budget action flicks that exceed the boundaries of film-making technology. Avatar is in his wheelhouse. His ex-wife on the other hand… her resume includes an eclectic mix Near Dark, Point Break, and Strange Days– no chick flicks here. The Hurt Locker is an achievement as a near perfect war film.
Best Picture
* “Avatar”
* “The Blind Side”
* “District 9”
* “An Education”
* “The Hurt Locker”
* “Inglourious Basterds”
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
* “A Serious Man”
* “Up”
* “Up in the Air”
* Who wins? The Hurt Locker
* Who should win? The Hurt Locker
* Why? Yes, the Academy went back to having ten films in the Best Picture category, but there are still five nominees for Best Director. So we can infer that there are still only five real contenders on this list. The last time they split on Director and Best Film was 1995 when Ang Lee won for Brokeback Mountain and Crash took Best Picture. They could do that again and make Avatar Best Film, but it would be a complete slap in face to Kathryn Bigelow.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
* “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
* “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
* “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
* “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
* Who wins? Up in the Air
* Who should win? In the Loop
* Why? Its what the Academy does when it wants to reward young talent, but is reluctant to give them a big award (Tarantino won in ’94 for Pulp Fiction). So Jason Reitman will probably go home with a statuette. In the Loop of all these films IMO is the best, for topicality and for sheer wit in use of profanity.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
* “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
* “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
* “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
* “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
* “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
* Who wins? The Hurt Locker
* Who should win? A Serious Man
* Why? If The Hurt Locker gets screwed out of Best Director and/or Best Picture, then it will be a lock for Screenplay. Tarantino already has an Oscar in this category. Up could get some love here, since it will win for Best Animated Feature. No way, no how Up wins Best Picture. The Coen Brothers already have two Oscars in this category. But, A Serious Man is a screenplay that is deeply introspective and asks the big questions about life and death.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know! Spammers don’t bother, film lovers opinions on the Oscars ONLY!
Follow Sarcastic Bite on Twitter 
I have to agree with you across the board. That doesn’t mean I won’t be pissed off when Jeff Bridges wins. The four nominations don’t sound quite as impressive to me when you take into account that three of them were over 25 years ago. They were for a guy trying to get laid in Last Picture Show, a young ne’er-do-well (according to Wikipedia) in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, and an alien/dead guy in Starman. I think they must have been slim years.
For the record, I will also be pissed if James Cameron wins anything. You can’t award an Oscar for best picture or director for what is basically a 3-D, video game version of FernGully. Oh, and I especially don’t want to hear him quote his own movie like the last time. If the quotes from IMDB are the best you’ve got here are some possibilities:
“Everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world, and in here is the dream.”
“You should see your faces!”
“It seems diplomacy has failed.”
“You are not in Kansas anymore, you are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen, respect that fact every second of every day.”
“That’s how they do it, make them the enemy so you’re justified in taking from them.”
My personal favorite is..
“Neytiri calls me skxawng. It means ‘moron.’”