Andrew McMurtry2010’s 82nd Annual Oscar Nominations
2010 has been a year which has produced some actual competition for the major awards for the first time in several years. We all knew that Slumdog Millionaire had it in the bag before last years ceremony but this year is less easy to pick. Whether we have the sheer originality of “District 9” and “Inglourious Basterds” or the gloss and spectacle of “Avatar” and “Up”, the grittiness of “The Hurt Locker” or wit of “Up in the Air”, there are plenty of films and dazzling performances in all nominated movies that make this a truly unique and wonderful year in movies. Here are the nominees:
Actor in a Leading Role
•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”
ScreenBest Pick: Jeff Bridges has to win, and not because of his four previous nominations and him being a stalwart in cinema for so long. His performance as Bad Blake in “Crazy Heart” is brilliant and by far the best I have seen this year.
•Matt Damon in “Invictus”
•Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
•Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
•Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
•Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
ScreenBest Pick: Christoph Waltz was brilliant in “Inglourious Basterds” and should win but then again he may find some resistance from Woody Harrelson, Matt Damon and Stanley Tucci or so I think.
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”
ScreenBest Pick: Could be a difficult one to pick. Meryl Streep was great as Julia Child but Carey Mulligan has garnered great acclaim for “An Education” and Sandra Bullock is riding high on the back of her Golden Globe win.
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”
ScreenBest Pick: Mo’Nique seems to be the frontrunner for “Precious” but Anna Kendrick’s breakout role in “Up in the Air” and Maggie Gyllenhaal was brilliant in “Crazy Heart”.
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
ScreenBest Pick: “Up” will win and by a long, long way.
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
ScreenBest Pick: Kathryn Bigelow has all the hype running into the Oscars and should win for “The Hurt Locker” but her ex-husband James Cameron for “Avatar” and Tarantino could also be seriously in the hunt.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
•“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
ScreenBest Pick: “Up in the Air” was exquisitely written and should win although “District 9” was a brilliant screenplay as well.
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
ScreenBest Pick: I feel “Inglourious Basterds” should win from “The Hurt Locker”
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
ScreenBest Pick: Tough call and I would’ve gone “Crazy Heart” had it been there, “The Hurt Locker” should take it. If “Avatar” wins it will be incredibly disappointing. “Avatar” was good but unoriginal and overrated, and it seems to only be a two horse race judging by the hype that’s reaching Australia.
And the rest:
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
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
Documentary (Feature)
•“Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
•“The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
•“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
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 à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra
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
Foreign Language Film
•“Ajami” Israel
•“The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)” Peru
•“A Prophet (Un Prophète)” France
•“The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina
•“The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)” Germany
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)
•“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
Short Film (Animated)
•“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
Short Film (Live Action)
•“The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
•“Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
•“Kavi” Gregg Helvey
•“Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
•“The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
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
The Ceremony will take place on Sunday the 7th of March, which means it will be shown on the 8th in Australia.
