My Oscar Picks

So, the night is upon us!!! I haven't had the chance to review the remaining films, so I shall do that at a later date. For now, I will tell you my picks!!! (My pick in each category is in green.)

Actor in a Leading Role (Don't really have a pick here, but if I had to choose a fave...)
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (By a landslide, for me)
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Give this woman a second trophy for that last scene alone.)

Animated Feature Film
“Coraline” Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
“Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction
“Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography
“Avatar” Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design
“Bright Star” Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Directing
“Avatar” James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Film Editing
“Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9” Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Makeup
“Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score) (Three way tie, for me)
“Avatar” James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
“Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture
“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Blind Side” Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers
“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers
“Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
“Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
“Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Sound Editing
“Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing
“Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects
“Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Two way tie)
“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

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

So, there you have it. I am baffled that so many people are obsessed with The Hurt Locker. It was completely lost on me. Oh well. We probably already know how this is going to end, but those are my choices!

And now, I'm off to ponder the biggest mystery of the night: What will Kristen Stewart wear?

Film #19- Fantastic Mr. Fox

I must begin by saying that claymation usually freaks me out. That said, I really enjoyed this film. It was smart and witty, and it had a realistic element to it. Not to mention, how can you not love a George Clooney film? It's impossible.

My friend, Melissa, learned and often uses her favorite new phrase, "Cluster cuss," from this film, and now I can see why she saw it twice. It was definitely entertaining, funny, and charming.

The dead rat scene kind of got to me, though.

Score: A-

Film #18-- Brothers

Now this, my friends, is how you do a war movie. It's not about showing us two solid hours of battle and gore. It's about letting us in on the moments before, during, and after battle-- that's what makes for a quality piece of entertainment.

The film's leads, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, and Natalie Portman, each gave flawless performances. But the standout performance in this film belongs to ten year old, Bailee Madison, who stole my heart as the oldest daughter of Sam and Grace Cahill (Maguire and Portman).

Score: A-

Film #17- Up

*Sob* First of all, I have to say that The Notebook has nothing on Up! I was near sobbing just ten minutes into it. I'm such a sucker for a good "kids who grew up as best friends and then got married" story. I lost a little interest during the action. I'm not much for long action sequences. But, I lurved all of the parts pertaining to the love story. *Sob*

Score: A-

Film #16- The Informant

The Informant took me by surprise, though not necessarily in a good way. My film reactions are almost always rooted in my expectations going into the film, and what I expected to see when watching The Informant was a traditional-- even slapstick, perhaps-- comedy. What I got was a quirky comedy with asides that had very little to do with the wandering story. Alas, the asides were also my favorite part of the film, and the nature of Matt Damon's character absolutely demanded that the story wander like the lies that he told.

Final verdict: I liked it okay, though it could have been trimmed by at least twenty minutes. It was funny at times, and it was very unique. I always enjoy a performance by Matt Damon, who is most definitely one of the most versatile actors of our time.

But, would I ever want to sit through it again? No way.

Score: B-

Film #15- In the Loop

Perhaps my favorite find of this Oscar season is the little known jewel of a quirky comedy, In the Loop. For anyone wondering whatever happened to the little girl from My Girl, I found her! She's woman-sized now, but she's every bit as funny and endearing as ever in this witty ensemble piece about the inner workings of the lesser known branches of the government, both U.S. and U.K. To my surprise, James Gandolfini also popped up as a military General in the film, and as I've recently become a fan since seeing him in Welcome to the Rileys, I was quite thrilled with this little bonus.

Score: A

Film #14- The Princess and The Frog

Just when I thought I might have outgrown a good old fashioned antimated musical, Disney pulls me right back in with The Princess and the Frog. I loved the characters, I loved the setting, and I loved the REALISTIC Southern accents. As always, the music was upbeat and fun, and as with any good Disney musical, there was a super cute, lovey-dovey romance at the heart of the story. My only issue was that I wanted it to last a little longer.

Score: A-

Film #13- 500 Days of Summer

I loved this film. It was quirky and unusual, and I did get lost from time to time. But ultimately, you can't get too lost as we all know how the relationship between Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Tom and Zooey Deschanel's Summer is going to end. How clever, though, was the name of the new girl in Tom's life?

Great performances, fun story, and singing by the films leads equals storytelling at its best.

Score: A

Film #12- Bright Star

Bright Star was yet another slow British period piece. It was at least half an hour too long in my opinion. The romance between flat-haired diva, Abbie Cornish, and the waify poet she was fawning over was comical. Not only was there no chemistry between the two, but Abbie's stoic acting failed to show any difference between her character's usual shrewd attitude and the moderately submissive demeanor of a woman in love.

I did, however, enjoy that Abbie's character was into fashion design, a personal hobby of mine.

Score: C-

Film #11- The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria was the one British period piece that I actually found entertaining this year. It was well written, well acted, and the pace was spot on.

Emily Blunt's portrayal of Victoria was perfect as she took us through the issues faced by a young, inexperienced queen. At times, I felt the need to rally behind her, and others, I wanted to offer her a hug.

Ultimately, it was the arrival of Prince Albert that made this film what it was. The chemistry between Albert and Victoria was very palpable.

FAVORITE SCENE: Albert shields Victoria from gunfire during a parade, taking the bullet himself. Later, when the doctor releases him into Victoria's care, she learns that Albert's love for her is much more important than anything offered by the crown.

Score: A

Film #10- It's Complicated

It's Complicated is a well-written, realistic story involving the strife of divorce and the difficulty in moving on. Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin were both hilarious and touching.

Surprisingly, the funniest moments in the film didn't come from any of the leads. Rather, they belonged to John Krasinski, whose portrayal of Meryl and Alec's future son-in-law, Harley, gave an insightfully hysterical account of the love triangle from the vantage point of an impartial third party.

In spite of the delicious story, the masses don't appreciate an open ending. This made for a fair share of groans as the credits rolled.

Score: A-

Film #9- The Lovely Bones

I read tons of early reviews that lambasted this film, claiming that it was a wretched adaptation of the book. Naturally, I read the book before seeing the movie so that I could draw my own conclusions, and what I found was that I completely disagreed with most of the critics.

Despite the fact that I already knew what was coming, I found myself on the literal edge of my seat during the entire film. The two scenes that made me the jumpiest were the bathtub scene with Mr. Harvey and the scene in which Mr. Harvey chases Lindsey out of his house. If Stanley Tucci doesn't win an Oscar for this role, they're clearly rigged.

Score: A

Film #8- District 9

Ugh. Where do I begin? The only worthwhile thing about this movie is that the concept is very fresh. Other than that, I found the film to be long, hard to follow, and unresolved.

Score: D

Film #7- The Blind Side

What's not to like about The Blind Side? If you claim not to like this film, you're either heartless, lying, or so jaded that you need to check your ego at the door.

Sandra Bullock, as usual, pulls out a stellar performance, as does the rest of the cast. The story was funny, touching, and hopeful, and I especially loved the photos of the real Tuohy family during the credits.

Score: A+

Film #6- Julie and Julia

I really enjoyed this film, though I expected it to be a bit trite. In actuality, I found it to be fairly well written and acted. There was, however, one hole in the story which was never explained. Towards the end of the film, we learn that Julia Child doesn't like Julie's blog, but we never learn why. I suppose that this is how it went down in real life, but I'd like to have seen that question resolved in the film. All-in-all, I found it otherwise entertaining.

Score: A-

Film #5- An Education

Despite the fact that I usually love a good British period piece, I wasn't terribly moved by this film. Sure, I can appreciate the moral that girls should make themselves the best they can be without relying on the support of anyone else. But there was something off about the pace of the film. It felt slow. Ultimately, I'd give this film a big, fat "Meh."

Score: B-

Film #4- Precious

Precious was about as hardcore as I had imagined that it would be-- What a powerful, honest story! The performances were key to the success of this film. I was particularly moved by Monique, and I admit that she deserves the statue in spite of my adoration of the ingeniously talented Anna Kendrick.

Score- A

Film #3- The Hurt Locker

I thought that I would really like this film. I was wrong. Sure, I can give the film it's dues for being an accurate representation of our troops overseas, in this case, a special bomb unit designed to disable homemade explosive devices before they have the opportunity to cause mass injury or death. And I give props for the fact that this war movie was directed by a woman. Other than that, I felt like this film was about 75 minutes too long.

Grade: C-

Film #2- Avatar

You should know that I didn't expect to like Avatar. I'm not into aliens, except the ones from Roswell, and new age animation creeps me out. But, since the film was getting so much hype, I trekked to the theatre, shoved on my 3D glasses, and prepared for a second coming of The Polar Express.

To my shock and awe, however, I found the film to be a beautiful, well crafted story with incredible emotional moments. That said, yes, it did remind me of Fern Gully, but I loved Fern Gully, so I didn't mind the resemblances.

Score- A-

Film #1- Up In the Air

So far this award season, my own personal front runner is Up in the Air.

WHY I LIKED IT: What's not to like? It has a stellar cast in George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick-- emphasis on Anna Kendrick. Anna has the most fun manner of speech-- this quick witted understated humor which is usually reserved for British comedy. My favorite parts of the film included her.

Favorite Scene: The lead trio is at a party-- a technology convention party that they snuck into by taking uncollected name tags from the check-in table. After a few hours of hard partying with the techies, George looks at Vera and says, "Where is she?" Turns out that she (Anna) is actively participating in a rousing round of drunken karaoke.

Score- A

A Few Reviews

I'm not really feeling any long, philosophical review right now, so I'll keep these short, sweet, and to the point... Okay, fine. If you're dead set on a long one, I'll toss out my review of my own personal Sundance TwentyTen favorite, Welcome to the Rileys.

It has taken me a few days to wrap my head around this film-- not because I didn't get it or because I didn't know whether I liked it, but because I needed time to figure something out. Namely, I needed to find the root of my attachment to this film before I could understand why I was so touched by it.

No, I've never been an orphan or a stripper, and I've also never lost a child. These are the broad plot points that we already knew long before Sundance. But, I have been a little girl, and I have known people who have become lost within their own lives, and these are the more important underlying themes of "Welcome to the Rileys."

There have been and will continue to be people who pick the story apart, saying that this part should be longer, or that part should be eliminated altogether. Those people are wrong. I usually buy into the whole, "everyone is entitled to their own opinions" malarkey, but not in this case.

"The beginning seems to drag," says one reviewer. I suppose that life would seemingly drag if you were twenty-nine years into a marriage to an agoraphobic Stepford who blames herself for the death of your fifteen-year-old daughter. And if that house-bound wife passed the hours until death by pre-purchasing your headstones and longingly painting the mailbox at the end of the drive, you might find that your only solace was in your standing Thursday night affair with a friendly waitress at the Pancake House. And if you arrived one Thursday to find that your friendly waitress, just like your fifteen-year-old daughter, had been taken from you all too soon, you might then say that your life, and thus, the first twenty minutes of a film about your life, might seem to drag.

On a long-standing business trip to New Orleans, our aforementioned husband, Doug Riley, finds himself lost in the thoughtless squabbles of a regional plumbing convention. As exciting as the mindless talk of sprinkler repossession may be, Doug needs a break. A walk down the green-lit streets of New Orleans leads him to a sparsely marked doorway-- a doorway that might very well belong at the front of a suburban house. But the faraway beat of a dance tune from deep within leads Doug past the two flickering sconces into the underbelly of the seedy establishment. It is here that our hearts break.

Deep in his own thoughts, Doug's pen scratches against a note pad. Perhaps he is already making notes for a change of life, or maybe he is simply trying to organize his jumbled thoughts. But before he cane finish, the music shifts. Suddenly, there is the tap, tap, tap of a white platform on his table. Doug lifts his head to find the face at the opposite end of the intrusion. The face is lovely-- or it might be if not for the inch of black eyeliner attempting to hide the sad soul beneath a set of sunken eyes. The pair exchanges pleasantries, and even though young Mallory claims to be "real good," we know otherwise.

I won't go any further into the plot of the film-- it's something that everyone needs to witness for themselves. What I will say, however, is that these actors-- James Gandolfini, Melissa Leo, and the incomparable Kristen Stewart-- will touch you in a way that you may not have expected.

You might find that, what you thought was the tale of a couple and their run-in with a stripper, is actually the story of three corpses-- lifeless bodies in need of rescue. These three characters work together like a forgiving mother, gluing back together the pieces of their tattered lives, though never fully closing the gaps of the original break lines.

Will you leave the theatre satisfied? No. Nothing in life is ever finished, and this tale is no exception. What you will find is that the story will leave the characters much further from the end of their tale than where they all began. And that, my friends, you will find satisfying.

More to come,

Laura

The List

In case you're wondering which films are on my Pre-Oscar list, here they are:

*UP IN THE AIR
*AVATAR
*THE HURT LOCKER
*PRECIOUS
*Inglorious Basterds
*Invictus
*AN EDUCATION
*UP
*A Serious Man
*The Messenger
*JULIE & JULIA
*A Single Man
*Crazy Heart
*THE BLIND SIDE
*The Last Station
*Nine
*Star Trek
*DISTRICT 9
*Fantastic Mr. Fox
*THE LOVELY BONES
*500 DAYS OF SUMMER
*IT'S COMPLICATED
*THE YOUNG VICTORIA
*BRIGHT STAR
*THE INFORMANT
*Coraline
*The Secret of Kells
*THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
*IN THE LOOP
*Brothers


The films in all caps are the ones I've seen so far. :) Reviews to begin shortly. Stay tuned!

~L

The Oscar Race is On

One of my "Ten in Ten" New Year's resolutions was to see ten new films a month. To kick off this feat, I decided to take it a step further and see all 25 of the films on Entertainment Weekly's "Films to See Before Oscar Night" list as well as any of the other major Oscar contenders. The total comes to 30 films.

The Oscars are March 7th, and today is February 10th. So far, I've seen 14 of the required films (though I have started on next year's race already. I saw a couple of great films at Sundance, but I'll save that post for later.) With 18 films left to go in just over 24 days, I definitely have to pace myself if I want to accomplish the entire list in time to make my winner selections before the big show.

I will be posting my thoughts on the films over the next few days-- important things such as my unending annoyance with Abbie Cornish's flat hair in Bright Star. So, be sure to check back often as I pick my own favorites for the Golden Statues.

Peace for now,
~L