I'm not thrilled that they've gone back to 10 best picture nominees. I feel like some movies made the cut only because they needed one or two more (The Kids Are All Right?? Really?). I hated Inception and did not see Toy Story 3 or Winter's Bone (both are coming via Netflix). The Social Network and 127 Hours were good movies, but not best picture winners. That leaves me with True Grit, The Fighter, Black Swan, and The King's Speech. Out of these four, Black Swan and The King's Speech were my favorites. I'm guessing that Black Swan will be too dark for the Academy to pick.
LEADING ACTOR - Colin Firth
I did not see Biutiful, for which Javier Bardem is nominated, but I've seen all the other ones. Jesse Eisenberg plays a more ballsy character than he played in Zombieland, but it's not really a stretch. Jeff Bridges, once again, plays a drunk. Me thinks he needs to branch out and that he will not receive the Oscar nod two years in a row. James Franco was good, and while I think he's a good actor, I don't think this challenged him all that much. My vote goes to uber hottie, Colin Firth.
SUPPORTING ACTOR - Christian Bale
Time and time again, Christian Bale shows us how good of an actor he truly is. Rent The Machinist and tell me he's not dedicated. Once again, he becomes the role and does a terrific job, as realized at the end of The Fighter when you see the actual person he's portraying. Jeremy Renner does a nice job, but he's just another hothead character. Mark Ruffalo is okay, but I've seen him do better with more challenging roles. Geoffrey Rush would be my second pick. You can't go wrong with Rush.
LEADING ACTRESS - Natalie Portman
Okay, so I haven't seen Rabbit Hole or Winter's Bone so I have to go with one of my favorite movies of the year. I thought Natalie Portman did a phenomenal job with not only a physically demanding role, but also a psychologically demanding role. I've already poo-poo'd The Kids Are All Right so I'm not rooting for Annette Benning, although she did make you hate her character. Michelle Williams also did a decent job in a super depressing movie, Blue Valentine, but the role was nowhere near as demanding as the one in Black Swan.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Hailee Steinfeld
This girl was amazing! She's 15 and delivered her lines with perfect facial expressions that not only showed that she was a tough cookie, but also revealed her characters age at times. Her toughest competition is Melissa Leo who plays Alice in The Fighter. I didn't think Amy Adams did much in the movie, same with Helena Bonham Carter. I did not see Animal Kingdom.
DIRECTING & CINEMATOGRAPHY - True Grit
I love me some Coen brothers. I was sitting in the theater and I was completely enveloped in the movie.
And a few others...
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Waste Land
I only saw this one documentary, but it was one of my favorite movies of the year. I hope it wins.
ORIGINAL SCORE - 127 Hours
It's the music that I remember the most from the movie. It's actually the music in the trailer that made me want to go see the movie.
ORIGINAL SONG - "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3
I picked this one because I very much enjoy anything that Randy Newman does.
ANIMATED SHORT - Let's Pollute
I really liked Day & Night, The Gruffalo, and Let's Pollute. I'd be happy if any of those three won. I fell asleep during The Lost Thing and was not interested in Madagascar, carnet de voyage in the slightest.
VISUAL EFFECTS - Inception
Okay, Inception can win this one. But that's the only one (that I care about) that it can win!
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - True Grit
I'm not sure about this one. It could also go to 127 Hours or The Social Network.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Inception or The King's Speech
Okay, it can win this one too. I mean, it was pretty darn original. Boring to me, but original none the less. A dream within a dream, you say? I also think The King's Speech is equally able to take home the Oscar. I wouldn't mind if The Fighter won either.
So... I tried to see about 27 movies in as many days. I saw 10 movies + the Animated Shorts in about 24 days. I'm a little upset that I didn't see more, but back issues (sitting in a movie theater seat all day sucks on my back) and lack of time worked against me. I'm aiming to watch all of the movies on my list by the end of March. I have 21 nominated movies left to watch - two foreign films do not come out until April and five others have yet to make the jump to DVD - making the total to watch, about 14 in one month. Totally do-able.
Now - I will finally get to watch Gnomeo and Juliet and not feel guilty because I should be watching an Oscar-nominated film!
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