Oscar nominations, predictions and expectations 2011

Just some quick thoughts around this years nominees
(There are definitely some spelling mistakes)

From previous years:
n = previous nominations (that were not wins)
w = previous wins

Best motion picture of the year:
Black Swan
Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin
The Fighter
David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg (1n)
Inception
Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan (1n)
The Kids are All Right
Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray
The King's Speech
Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin
127 Hours
Christian Colson (1w), Danny Boyle (1w) and John Smithson
The Social Network
Scott Rudin (1w,1n), Dana Brunetti, Michael de Luca and Caén Chaffin (1n)
Toy Story 3
Darla K Anderson
True Grit
Scott Rudin (1w,1n), Ethan Coen (4w,6n) and Joel Coen (4w,6n)
Winter's Bone
Anne Rosellini and Alex Madigan-Yorkin

There are so many strong nominations this year, and the only movie I haven't seen is Toy Story 3. I enjoyed all of the movies, buy my favorites are Winter's Bone, 127 Hours, The King's Speech and the Black Swan. I have to root for The King's Speech though!

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Javier Bardem (1w,1n) - Biutiful
Jeff Bridges (1w,4n) - True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth (1n) - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours

I dont think there is any doubt that Colin Firth will receive the oscar, but there are some other strong nominees as well. I wished I could have seen Biutiful, because I do think Javier did a strong performance in that one. Jeff Bridges is good as aways, but for me it was not to memorable. James Franco may be my favorite, but I do think that Colin deserves it more. I thouhgt he should have won for A Single Man last year.

Perfromance by an actor in a supporting role
Christian Bale - The Fighter
John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner (1n) - The Town
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids are All Right
Geoffrey Rush (1w,2n) - The King's Speech

Besides Jeremy Renner (which I though made a forgettable performance), there are some good nominees in here. I did like Mark Ruffalos performance, but I don't think it was oscar worthy. I do think John Hawkes played his part perfectly. My heart warmed for the guy, besides some awfull characteristics. My favourite is Geoffrey Rush, but i do think Christian Bale will win for The Fighter. The committee loves an actor who transformes himself in a way like that.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Anette Bening (3n) - The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman (1w,1n) - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman (1n) - Black Swan
Michelle Williams (1n) - Blue Valentine

All of them are wonderfull actresses, but I don't think there is any surprise if Natalie Portman receives the award. I do think she deserves it, but there are some lovely performances that I do think deserves some appreciation as well. My favorite is Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine, who actually made me cry, but Jennifer Lawrence do deserve all the praise she can get.

Performance by and acress in a supporting role
Amy Adams (2n) - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter (1n) - The King's Speech
Melissa Leo (1n) - The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Jackie Weaver - Animal Kingdom

I do not really have any favorites out of these, but I do think Melissa Leo is going to win though. The others did a good job as well, and I think it was nice to see Helena Bonham Carter in a role like this (not so over the top as her Harry Potter and Tim Burton roles). Other than that, I can mention that I haven't seen Animal Kingdom.

Best animated feauture film of the year
How to Train Your Dragon
Chris Sanders (1n) and Dean DeBlois
Toy Story 3
Lee Unkrich
The Illusionist
Sylvain Chomet (3n)

I have only seen How to Train Your Dragon, but I'm still rooting for the Illusionist. I really want to see it! I guess Tor Story 3 will win though, because it has a few nominations, and I don't think it will win any of the other categories. It is still a difficult choice though, because I do think How to Train Your Dragon has gotten alot of praise as well. Still rooting for the french though!

Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Robert Stromberg (production design) (1w,1n) and Karen O'Hare (set decoration) (1n)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1
Stuart Craig (production design) (3w,5n) and Stephenie McMillan (set decoration) (1w,2n)
Inception
Guy Hendrix (production design), Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (set decoration)
The King's Speech
Eve Stewart (production design) (1n) and Judy Farr (set decoration)
True Grit
Jess Gonchor (production design) and Nancy Haigh (set decoration) (1w,4n)

I'm not sure about this one, because I do think each of these movies deserves to win when it comes to art direction. They are all so different, but I would like Harry Potter to win (I actually thing it should have been nominated for cinematography), or The King's Speech, but I wouldn't mind any of the other movies to win either.

Achievement in Cinematography
Black Swan
Matthew Libatique
Inception
Wally Pfister (3n)
The King's Speech
Danny Cohen
The Social Network
Jeff Croneweth
True Grit
Roger Deakins (8n)

Black Swan is the first movie that comes to mind here, but when I'm thinking about it some more, I loved the cinematography in all of these movies (that is actually one of the few things I liked in The Social Network). I do think Black Swan will win though (and it really deserves it), but would like for The King's Speech or True Grit to win.

Achievement in costume design
Alice in Wonderland
Colleen Atwood (2w,6n)
I am Love
Antonella Cannarozzi
The King's Speech
Jenny Beavan (1w,7n)
The Tempest
Sandy Powell (3w,5n)
True Grit
Mary Zophres

I love costumes, and there are some intresting choices here. I do think I am Love should win (it was robbed for a nominee in best foreign movie), buy I do love the costumes in True Grit and The King's Speech as well. I love the blue suit Geoffry Rush is wearing!

Achievement in directing
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky
The Fighter
David O Russell
The King's Speech
Tom Hooper
The Social Network
David Fincher (1n)
True Grit
Joel Coen (4w,6n) and Ethan Coen (4w,6n)

I do think David Fincher will receive this award, but there are so many good directors here. I'm rooting for Darren Aronofsky!

Achievement in film editing
Black Swan
Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter
Pamela Martin
The King's Speech
Tariw Anwar (1n)
127 Hours
Jon Harris
The Social Network
Angus Wall (1n) and Kirk Baxtor (1n)

It is difficult to predict who is going to win, but I do hope Black Swan or 127 Hours will win this category.

Best foreign language film of the year
Biutiful
Mexico (7n)
Dogtooth
Greece (4n)
In a Better World
Denmark (2w,5n)
Incendies
Canada (1w,3n)
Outside the Law
Algeria (1w,3n)

I wish I could have seen more of these movies, but I have only seen Dogtooth and I really enjoyed it. I do think In a Better World will recieve the award though.

Achievement in music written for motion picture (original score)
How to Train Your Dragon
John Powell
Inception
Hans Zimmer (1w,7n)
The King's Speech
Alexandre Desplat (3n)
127 Hours
A.R.Rahman (2w,1n)
The Social Network
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

So many great scores to choose from! My least favourite is The Social Network soundtrack, but I'm afraid it will win (after it won the golden globes). Even though John Powell has made a great soundtrack for How to Train Your Dragon (I always love some celtic/irish elements), Zimmer, Rahman and Zimmer are still three of my favorite composers. I do think Alexandre Desplat deserves it the most though.

Achievement in music written for motion picture (original song)
Country Strong
"Coming Home" - music and lyrics by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
Tangled
"I See the Light" - music by Alen Menken (8w,10n); lyrics by Glenn Slater
127 Hours
"If I Rise" - music by R.H.Rahman (2w,1n); lyrics by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
Toy Story 3
"We Belong Together" - music and lyrics by Randy Newman (1w,18n)

I do think that Toy Story or Tangled will win this award, but I do hope 127 will win.

Achievement in sound editing
Inception
Richard King (2w,1n)
Toy Story 3
Tom Myers (2n) and Michael Silvers (1w,4n)
Tron: Legacy
Gwendolyn Yates (1n) Whittle and Addison Teague
True Grit
Skip Lievsay (2n) and Craig Berkey (1n)
Unstoppable
Mark P Stoeckinger (2n)

Difficult category, but I do think Inception stands out in this one.

Achievement in sound mixing
Inception
Lora Hirschberg (1n), Gary A Rizzo (2n) and Ed Novick (2n)
The King's Speech
Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley (1n)
Salt
Jeffrey J Haboush (1n), Greg P Russell (13n), Scott Millan (4w,3n) and William Sarokin
The Social Network
Ren Klyce (2n), David Parker (2w,3n), Michael Semanick (2w,5n) and Mark Weinagarter (1n)
True Grit
Skip Lievsay (2n), Craig Berkey (1n), Greg Orloff (1w,1n) and Peter F Kurland (2n)

This is also a difficult category to pick a favourite, but I do think that Inception stands out in this category as well.

Achievement in visual effects
Alice in Wonderland
Ken Ralston (5w,2n), David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1
Tim Burke (1w,1n), John Richardson (1w,3n), Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter
Michael Owens, Brayn Grill, Stephan Trojansky and Joe Farrell
Inception
Paul Franklin (1n), Chris Corbould (1n), Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2
Janek Sirrs (1w), Ben Snow (3n), Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick (3n)

I do think Inception deserves this!

Adapted screenplay
127 Hours
Danny Boyle (1w) and Simon Beaufoy (1w,1n)
The Social Network
Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3
Michael Arndt (1w); story by John Lasseter (1w,4n), Andrew Stanton (2w,3n) and Lee Unkrich
True Grit
Joel Coen (4w,6n) and Ethan Coen (4w,6n)
Winter's Bone
Debra Granik and Anna Rosellini

So many to choose from, but my least favorites are The Social Network and Toy Story 3. I do think The Social Network will win though (especially if it is not winning best movie), but I do hope that Winter's Bone would recieve the award. I wouldn't mind True Grit or 127 Hours either, though.

Original screenplay
Another Year
Mike Leigh (6n)
The Fighter
Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy; story by Keith Dorrington, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson
Inception
Christopher Nolan (1n)
The Kids Are All Right
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg
The King's Speech
David Seidler

I haven't seen Another Year, but besides that: this is a difficult choice. I would like Inception to win, because it is original, but I don't think it is an oscar kind of movie. I wouldn't mind any of the other three receiving an award though. Maybe The Kids Are All Right should recieve this one if it is not receiving any other award.


I have left out best documentary feature, best documentary short subject, best animated short film, best live action short film and achievement in makeup, simply beacause I have seen too little to have an oppinion about it.