Although I have yet to engulf myself in full-fledged Oscar blogging, make no mistake that it will be (one of) the primary perspectives of this site. This season, however, is leaving me with a rather murky, putrid taste in my metaphoric mouth, due to numerous dirty tactics and, frankly, janked directions.
I probably would have contributed a little more, but I am ever so (retardedly) fearful of jinxing my ONE Oscar hope for this season: Kathryn Bigelow making history by becoming the first female to win the Best Director Oscar. EVER. Sigh....Screw me over in any other category, but please let that one take place.
I won't be greedy (although her film deserves the main prize as well, but I digress).
Nevertheless, it's always fun to predict. Except, well, I won't. Instead, I'd prefer to share with you how a ballot would look if I were an Academy member. This eschews most "typical 'Oscar films'", in favor of a range of productions, from the obscure indies (
The Vicious Kind) to the exceptional mainstream/"popcorn flicks" (
Star Trek). I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to critique my list and share your own as well!
BEST PICTURE(500) Days of Summer
The Class
District 9
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Moon
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up in the Air
The Vicious KindBEST DIRECTORKathryn Bigelow, The Hurt LockerNeill Blomkamp,
District 9Laurent Cantet,
The ClassEthan Coen & Joel Coen,
A Serious ManQuentin Tarantino,
Inglourious BasterdsBEST ACTORSharlto Copley,
District 9Colin Firth,
A Single ManJeremy Renner,
The Hurt LockerAdam Scott, The Vicious KindMichael Stuhlbarg,
A Serious ManBEST ACTRESSMélanie Laurent,
Inglourious BasterdsCarey Mulligan,
An EducationMaya Rudolph,
Away We GoMeryl Streep,
Julie & JuliaTilda Swinton, JuliaBEST SUPPORTING ACTORRupert Friend,
ChériBrian Geraghty,
The Hurt LockerWoody Harrelson,
The MessengerAnthony Mackie,
The Hurt LockerChristoph Waltz, Inglourious BasterdsBEST SUPPORTING ACTRESSVera Farmiga,
Up in the AirMo'Nique,
PreciousSamantha Morton, The MessengerPaula Patton,
PreciousRosamund Pike,
An EducationBEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAYThe Class (François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, & Laurent Cantet)
District 9 (Neill Blompkamp & Terri Tatchell)
An Education (Nick Hornby)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach)
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY(500) Days of Summer (Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber)
The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)
The Messenger (Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman)
A Serious Man (Ethan Coen & Joel Coen)The Vicious Kind (Lee Toland Krieger)
So, there you have it. Best Actor was the toughest category; forcing myself to omit Sam Rockwell (
Moon), Ben Foster (
The Messenger), and even Joseph Gordon-Levitt (
(500) Days of Summer) was incredibly tough, but that's why in my own personal awards, I have ten nominees in EVERY category.
Yeah....I'm that dorky.