February 22, 2010

The Milkman’s Son

By Tracy C. Baker

Moovies ‘10 #137

Welcome to the year of 10, yes 10, Nominees! I don’t know if this is good or not. After all, were there really 10 worthy pictures this year? When I see the list I think not. I mean “Avatar?” REALLY? Best Special Effects maybe, but the movie itself is not that good…and the 3-D glasses gave me a screaming headache. It’s the same with “Inglorious Basterds” - a decent film and deserving of a couple individual performance nominees, but overall, not a Best Picture.

I guess if you have to pick 10 nominees, you have to take the good with the mediocre.

Anyway, it is time once again for the 14^th annual…

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY…(or the Kodak Theater, whichever comes first)

Due to some early DVD releases Winnie and I have been able to see 8 of the 10 nominees this year. As such, I think I can safely bet on who will win and who should win this year.

Best Picture

Avatar (otherwise known as Dances With Wolves in a Galaxy Far, Far Away)

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglorious Basterds

Precious

A Serious Man

Up

Up In The Air

First it should be noted that we have not seen The Blind Side or An Education. Would have liked to seen both, but An Education never made it to the mainstream theaters and The Blind Side wasn’t high on our list. That said, I believe there is only one choice and that is The Hurt Locker. This film about a bomb squad in Iraq is fantastic. Well written, well acted and fully realized. In some parts, you would swear you were watching a Documentary. If it doesn’t win, I’ll scream bloody murder!

Up is the favorite as animated film and really shouldn’t be here. In any other year, Up In The Air may have had a chance as it is a very good film. Precious, while deserving is too depressing for the Academy members. District 9 was a great parable about South Africa, but really shouldn’t be here.

Leading Actor

Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart

George Clooney – Up In The Air

Colin Firth – A Single Man

Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

Haven’t seen Crazy Heart or A Single Man, so can’t really comment on the films. However, odds are pointing toward Jeff Bridges as the winner. If I were to pick from the films I saw it would definitely be Jeremy Renner for the Hurt Locker.

Leading Actress

Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side

Helen Mirren – The Last Station

Carey Mulligan – An Education

Gabourey Sidibe – Precious

Meryl Streep – Julie and Julia

This category is always hard to predict. I haven’t seen three of the films, but the hype is that all the performances were deserving of a nod. The odds say it is between Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock. Since Sandra doesn’t have an Oscar yet, she may just be the favorite. Watch out for Carey Mulligan as the Dark Horse.

Supporting Actor

Matt Damon – Invictus

Woody Harrelson – The Messenger

Christopher Plummer – The Last Station

Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones

Christoph Waltz – Inglorious Basterds

As I understand it, Christoph Waltz is the favored one in this category. He was the best thing about Inglorious Basterds. Stanley Tucci has also gotten a lot of buzz for his performance in The Lovely Bones. Waltz won the SAG award, so I will go with him.

Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz – Nine

Vera Farminga – Up In The Air

Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart

Anna Kendrick – Up In The Air

Monique - Precious

Two very good performances by Vera Farminga and Anna Kendrick in Up In The Air will, sadly, cancel each other out leaving Monique as the front runner. Maggie Gyllenhaal may sneak in though.

Director

I think this is a case where you cannot separate the film from the director. Therefore, I am betting on Kathryn Bigelow for the Hurt Locker.

Foreign Language Film – This category is so frustrating. We have seen so many wonderful Foreign Films this year, yet not one was nominated. Seems like you always have to wait a year to see what was nominated and what won.

So let’s all go out to the lobby, get some 7-UP and enjoy the Oscars for what they are – an excuse to vegetate on the couch and throw out snarky comments about the presenters!

Fini

Tracy

Copyright 2010, Tracy C. Baker, The Milkman's Son