Oscars

The Oscars are this weekend. Here's my will win/should win:

Best Motion Picture of the Year:
"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"


Will win: Avatar
Should win: The Hurt Locker


Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Morgan Freeman - "Invictus"
Jeff Bridges - "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney - "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth - "A Single Man"
Jeremy Renner - "The Hurt Locker"

Will win: Jeff Bridges
Should win: Colin Firth


Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Meryl Streep - "Julie & Julia"
Sandra Bullock - "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren - "The Last Station"
Gabourey Sidibe - "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire"
Carey Mulligan - "An Education"

Will win: Carey Mulligan (this is my big upset pick)
Should win: Gabby Sidibe (the acting was the only good thing about PRECIOUS)


Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Christoph Waltz - "Inglourious Basterds"
Christopher Plummer - "The Last Station"
Matt Damon - "Invictus"
Stanley Tucci - "The Lovely Bones"
Woody Harrelson - "The Messengers"

Will win: Christoph Waltz
Should win: Christoph Waltz


Performance by Actress in a Supporting Role:
Penelope Cruz - "Nine"
Vera Farmiga - "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal - "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick - "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique - "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire"

Will win: Mo'Nique
Should win: none of these.
PS: This category is a complete fuck-up.  They chose wrong and wronger on these nominees.


Achievement in Directing:
James Cameron - "Avatar"
(Kathryn Bigelow - "The Hurt Locker"
Quentin Tarantino - "Inglourious Basterds"
Jason Reitman - "Up in the Air"
Lee Daniels - "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire"

Will win: Katheryn Bigelow
Should win: Katheryn Bigelow


Adapted Screenplay:
"District 9" by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
"An Education" by Nick Hornby
"Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire" by Geoffrey Fletcher
"Up in the Air" by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
"In the Loop" by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin and Tony Roche


Will win: Up in the Air
Should win: Up in the Air


Original Screenplay:
"The Hurt Locker" by Mark Boal
"Inglourious Basterds" by Quentin Tarantino
"A Serious Man" by Joel and Ethan Coen
"Up" by Pete Docter and Bob Petersen
"The Messenger" by Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman

Will win: Inglourious Basterds
Should win: Inglourious Basterds

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year:
"Up" - Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
"The Princess and the Frog" - Ron Clements and John Musker
"Coraline" - Henry Selick
"The Fantastic Mr Fox" - Wes Anderson
"The Secret of Kells" - Tomm Moore

Will win: Up
Should win: Up or Fantastic Mr. Fox


Best Documentary Feature:
"Burma VJ" - Anders Ostergaard and Lise Lense-Moller
"The Cove" - Nominees to be determined
"Food, Inc." - Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers" - Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
"Which Way Home" - Rebecca Cammisa

Will win: The Cove
Should win: Not Food, Inc.


Best Foreign Language Film of the Year:
"Ajami" - Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, Israel
"A Prophet" - Jacques Audiard, France
"The Secret of Her Eyes" - Juan Jose Campanella, Argentina
"The White Ribbon" - Michael Haneke, Germany
"The Milk of Sorrow" - Claudia Llosa, Peru

Will win: The White Ribbon
Should win: A Prophet

Achievement in 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

Will win: Avatar
Should win: A Single Man


Achievement in 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

Will win: Avatar/Fiore
Should win: The White Ribbon/Berger


Achievement in 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

Will win: Coco
Should win: A Single Man


Achievement in 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

Will win: Hurt Locker
Should win: Hurt Locker


Achievement in 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

Will win: Young Vic
Should win: Young Vic


Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score):
"Avatar" - James Horner
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" - Alexandre Desplat
"The Hurt Locker" - Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
"Sherlock Holmes" - Hans Zimmer
"Up" - Michael Giacchino

Will win: Avatar
Should win: Fan Fox


Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (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

Will win: Crazy Heart
Should win: Crazy Heart


Achievement in 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

Will win: Avatar
Should win: Star Trek


Achievement in 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

Will win: Avatar
Should win: Star Trek


Achievement in 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

Will win: Avatar
Should win: Avatar


Best Documentary Short Subject:
"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province" - Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner" - Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant" - Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
"Music by Prudence" - Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
"Rabbit a la Berlin" - Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Best Animated Short Film:
"French Roast" - Fabrice O. Joubert
"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" - Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell
"The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)" - Javier Recio Gracia
"Logorama" - Nicolas Schmerkin
"A Matter of Loaf and Death" - Nick Park

Best Live Action Short Film:
"The Door" - Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
"Instead of Abracadabra" - Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellstrom
"Kavi" - Gregg Helvey
"Miracle Fish" - Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
"The New Tenants" - Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson 

Don't know any of these.  Don't care.