Oscars, Oscars, Oscars 2010!

WHAT'S EDGY? AND INVENTIVE? Without bluntly saying it? King's Speech.

The Academy Awards are only a few weeks away. Here's my annual picks as usual. Listed from least important to most important and sub-genred by yours truly! Red means clear winner, Grey is dark horse. And for shits kicks and giggles, Blue will be what I think has a distinct quality, but won't win. You know the deal.

Films Categories: Don't Qualify for Best Picture

Short Film (Animated)

“Day & Night,” “The Gruffalo,” “Let's Pollute,” “The Lost Thing,” “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”
... Right.

Short Film (Live Action)

“The Confession,” “The Crush,” “God of Love,” “Na Wewe,” “Wish 143”
... What?

Documentary (Feature)

“Exit through the Gift Shop,” “Gasland,” “Inside Job,” “Restrepo,” “Waste Land”
War in the Middle East. Enough said.

Documentary (Short Subject)

“Killing in the Name,” “Poster Girl,” “Strangers No More,” “Sun Come Up,” “The Warriors of Qiugang”
Nope.

Foreign Language Film

“Biutiful” Mexico, “Dogtooth” Greece, “In a Better World” Denmark, “Incendies” Canada, “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria
Denmark has some amazing quality stuff. Biutiful has Javier Bardem. This is a toss up.

Animated Feature Film

“How to Train Your Dragon,” “The Illusionist,” “Toy Story 3”
It's Toy Story. It's animated. It's Toy Story. I'm pretty sure everyone cried like a baby when they saw this. How could it not win? I'm pretty sure the only reason why Despicable Me wasn't nominated was to give TS3 a clear path, because the more I watch it, the more wonderful it is.

How To Not Make Actors Look Like Themselves
Costume Design

“Alice in Wonderland,” “I Am Love,” “The King's Speech,” “The Tempest,” “True Grit”

True Grit and King's Speech are the two true contenders here, due to their dedication to history and detail. I'd be surprised if Alice or Tempest took it; but since Tim Burton's stuff is wacky and Julie Taymour is always on some sort of drug, Academy voters might be inclined to go for something a little more avant garde and Gaga- EDGY and INVENTIVE. However, Grit's fantastic use of accurate history fashion will really help it here.

Makeup

“Barney's Version,” “The Way Back,” “The Wolfman”
... I've seen Wolfman. It was terrible. This category is a joke this year.

Wait, what? We're in a film? Let's put on our 3-d glasses!
Sound Editing

“Inception,” “Toy Story 3,” “Tron: Legacy,” “True Grit,” “Unstoppable”
Inception or Toy Story 3. Really think Inception is this year's big blockbuster that Oscar voters love- hence all the nominations. Maybe Tron will win, because those motorcycles were cool.

Sound Mixing

“Inception,” “The King's Speech,” “Salt,” “The Social Network,” “True Grit”
Very Hitchcock and kooky uses of sound- quite EDGY and INVENTIVE- but more so clever and unique rather than IN YOUR FACE like Black Swan. Particularly love when Bertie puts the headphones on with the fade in and out of music.

Visual Effects

“Alice in Wonderland,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,” “Hereafter,” “Inception,” “Iron Man 2”
Because you can't count Tim Burton out of anything visual. There's nothing special about HP that the other HPs didn't do- so it won't. But Inception- They built their set. Little use of CGI compared to the others. Revolving hallway. Shoo-in.

Art Direction

“Alice in Wonderland,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,” “Inception,” “The King's Speech,” “True Grit”
Just in case they feel like not screwing over Tim Burton this year. I would say King's Speech, but it's just what's in England. Pwah. I love HP- looks exactly how I imagined it- but they won't distinguish this from the others. That would just be wrong. I would say that in this case, the visual effects go completely hand in hand with the art direction- Aside from Alice, there's nothing that truly uses CGI as a tool except for backing purposes.

Are We Off By A Millisecond?
Film Editing

“Black Swan,” “The Fighter,” “The King's Speech,” “127 Hours,” “The Social Network”
Because one is fighting and one is coding. On a more serious note, the King's Speech had some really stark shots that were simple, yet shocking and emotionally impacting. Black Swan had some as well, but its visuals were ruined by its attempts to make statements. Wouldn't be surprised/upset to see any of these win, but I'm going to gun for King's Speech. Because of one word: MONTAGE. Plus, they gurgled in it. Confused as to why Inception was not nominated, but whatever.

Cinematography

“Black Swan,” “Inception,” “The King's Speech,” “The Social Network,” “True Grit”
I mean, they had all those profile pictures to refer back to. If Inception really wanted to make an impact in this area, they would have cleverly found a really subtle way to distinguish the dreams and reality but that probably would have ruined the ending ("Is this real life!? RAAAWRRR.") Black Swan might walk away with this because of its INVENTIVE and SYMBOLIC and horrible IN YOUR FACE use of black and white (Oh my God! So creative! AND EDGY!). But for a simpler technique that should really be appreciated more, I'd say King's Speech.

That Stuff In The Background
Music (Original Score)

“How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell, “Inception” Hans Zimmer, “The King's Speech” Alexandre Desplat, “127 Hours” A.R. Rahman, “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Desplat had a really enjoyable modern take on a typically classical, symphonic score; however, Reznor/Ross had a really amazing score for TSN; incorporation of both a classic film score as well as the technological side of things- very NIN, Fragile-esque. Love the synthesizers. I do love Zimmer (of course) and his references back to Edith Piaf is heaven for me. Thematically, both matched their pieces; however, I think Reznor deserves some recognition for his work outside NIN, in seeing that he is a truly talented musician and composer. And Zimmer, as much as I love him, pulled a James Horner and recycled Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor for this one. :( Step aside, sir.

Music (Original Song)

“Coming Home” from “Country Strong,” “I See the Light” from “Tangled,” “If I Rise” from “127 Hours,” “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3"
I love Menken, but everyone is on a Gwenyth Paltrow kick and only Cee-Lo and Glee know why.

"We All Want To Be Meryl Streep"
Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale in “The Fighter,” John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone,” Jeremy Renner in “The Town,” Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right,” Geoffrey Rush in “The King's Speech”
Renner = Space Filler. I LOVE that Hawkes is nomnated- it's about time he got some real, fleshy characters to play because he is so talented; that's enough for me right now. Everyone is ooh-ing and ah-ing over Bale; since he's so often not recognized, he will win; but Ruffalo is very popular in the cult, artsy community and Rush has a reputation behind him. That may propel one of them to win, but I doubt it.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams in “The Fighter,” Helena Bonham Carter in “The King's Speech,” Melissa Leo in “The Fighter,” Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit,” Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”
Steinfeld is superb in True Grit- she'll have more chances, but it would be great if she won here. Wouldn't be surprised if she stole it. Leo has won numerous awards and will win this one out; Amy Adams is getting HUGE and will win one someday. Bonham Carter should have been nominated for so many other things. She's going to be just like her husband and get overlooked for everything she does. It's great that she's getting recognized for her smaller, more subtle works when she's not yelling at Edward Norton or Johnny Depp, because people expect her to be crazy. Not that big of a shock.

Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem in “Biutiful,” Jeff Bridges in “True Grit,” Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network,” Colin Firth in “The King's Speech,” James Franco in “127 Hours”

If he doesn't win, I'm rioting. He is incredibly talented and they just can't ignore this without getting truckloads of backlash if he doesn't. I can't wait to see him make his speech. (Har har.)

Actress in a Leading Role

Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right,” Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole,” Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone,” Natalie Portman in “Black Swan,” Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”
What award hasn't Portman won? It's strange, because I've seen most, if not all her work and I really don't think she's all that fantastic and I believe Mila Kunis far outshone her, but whatever. Whenever she's on the verge of tears, I can't get Padme and the words "cheesy" and "overacting" out of my head. Bening has been nominated four times without a win, so I wouldn't be surprised if she finally stole this. (She won't win but Nicole Kidman? Le sigh. Back to where she was. So happy!)

Compensation for Not Winning Best Picture. Jessica Alba's Worst Nightmare.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“127 Hours,” “The Social Network,” “Toy Story 3,” “True Grit,” “Winter's Bone”
There's no way Sorkin can't win this. As much as I disliked TSN, the script was very tight and well polished, as well as HIP and COOL. And EDGY. Who doesn't want to talk like Jesse Eisenberg aftter seeing this? Unless voters decide to reward the legacy of TS3. Which I would love.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“Another Year,” “The Fighter,” “Inception,” “The Kids Are All Right,” “The King's Speech”
KAAR might win as compensation for not winning Best Picture and it is quite witty; same for Inception, however the script was mehh, not that strong. I expect that the King's Speech will snatch this one up.

Important Stuff.
Directing

“Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky, “The Fighter” David O. Russell, “The King's Speech” Tom Hooper, “The Social Network” David Fincher, “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Fincher is just an amazing director. He did a great job with TSN. Aronofsky might pull this one out, but hype for Black Swan has died down. Hooper might get this one as well; however, he's not as tenured or reputable. It falls on Fincher. This is the closest Fight Club will get to being recognized. I'll take it.

Best Picture

“Black Swan,” “The Fighter,” “Inception,” “The Kids Are All Right,” “The King's Speech,” “127 Hours,” “The Social Network,” “Toy Story 3,” “True Grit,” “Winter's Bone"
Yeah, I'm going out on a limb to predict a split this year.  I'm really excited for King's Speech. British cinema really deserves to get recognized and rewarded, as it is so much more well made and thought out; they just care more about their films. They don't give us crap like Transformers. They don't have people like the Weinsteins or a Bruckheimer running the show. It's an incredible well paced, well thought out piece of work; beautifully laid out and intricate. Fincher deserves to be recognized; but TSN does not, even though it is relevant to this generation has has some really HIP moments. As I said before, Black Swan is losing a lot of its previous hype- it's also hurt by the fact that it's not nominated for Best Screenplay. And it's not as well rounded as TSN or King's Speech. As much as I love Inception, it's also not as well balanced and will not win, simply due for the fact that Chris Nolan is not recognized- the two usually go hand in hand. This year in general is really good for nominees.

Next Up: How Black Hawk Down Got Screwed Over In Every Way Possible.