Oscar Picks 2010

The great thing about being a movie critic is that you’re never wrong. A movie is good precisely because you think it is. It is bad for the same reason. People may disagree but they are always wrong to suggest you liked something you disliked or disliked something you liked.

Given that reasoning, the Academy, though always reasonably close, is wrong on a consistent basis. Thus, when I pick my Oscars I don’t particularly care to choose amongst the nominees. In other words, I do what I want. Neener neener. Bold indicates a winner.

I haven’t seen any of the Documentary or Live Action Shorts so I won’t bother saying which one I like best.

Animated Short

Day & Night by Teddy Newton from Pixar

I only saw one animated short this year but it was certainly good enough.

Original Song

???

Oddly enough, even though I saw both 127 Hours and Toy Story 3, I don’t remember the nominated songs from either of them. This has always been a throwaway category. Unfortunate because it would be nice to here some good music for a change performed at the Oscars themselves. 

Original Score

Inception

The Social Network

Trent Reznor’s “Hand Covers Bruise,” though simple was the year’s most memorable theme. Of course, “Black Swan” had the best score, but that doesn’t count because Tchiakovsky composed it over a 100 years ago.

Sound Mixing

The Social Network

What is Sound Mixing? I confess I don't know exactly how to notice it within a movie. But there was a good amount of talk about the club scene in “The Social Network.” Apparently the way the two people talking seemed to realistically hear each other in a nightclub was movie magic. 

Sound Editing

Inception

Same level of confusion here, but the consensus seems to think that the difference between the noises in all the dream levels was an exemplary use of this. Was it?

Makeup

127 Hours

Alice and Wonderland

The Wolfman

It sure looked realistic to me when James Franco hacked off his arm.

Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland

Black Swan

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

No real contest here. A Tim Burton movie will win this category for the zillionth time. Honorable Mentions go to the Black Swan Costume and Lisbeth Salander’s Gothic attire.

Art Direction

Alice in Wonderland

Black Swan

Inception

MicMacs

True Grit

Again, the best thing about a Tim Burton movie is the visuals. They make the movie worth seeing even if it is a completely misguided interpretation of one of my favorite books.

Visual Effects

Alice in Wonderland

Inception

Iron Man 2

TRON: Legacy
Shutter Island

Plenty of movies blow up buildings. Inception designed great architecture, folded it onto itself, and then blew it up. That’s what separates the men from the boys. I did not see Harry Potter or Hereafter.

Animated Feature

Toy Story 3

It’s an insult to Pixar for this category to even exist. As if it was sitting at the kiddies table or something. Oh well, maybe yet another Oscar will cheer them up. I did not see any other animated movies this year.

Best Documentary Feature

Casino Jack and the United States of Money

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Inside Job

Restrepo

“Exit Through the Gift Shop” is a cool movie to see. “Inside Job” needs to be seen.

Foreign Film

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

MicMacs

I didn’t see any of the nominated foreign films but I have trouble imagining any of them being better than “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” That omission of that movie is one of the biggest snubs of the year.

Best Film Editing
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
The Social Network
Shutter Island

The Social Network cut between two deposition hearings and a main storyline told from several Points of View. Were you ever confused? That's good editing.

Cinematography

127 Hours

Black Swan

Inception

The Social Network

True Grit (Roger Deakins)

I will be thrilled if Roger Deakins wins his first Oscar for “True Grit.” It is a great looking movie and an Oscar for that man is way overdue. This is his 9^th nomination. He has yet to win.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams (“The Fighter”)

Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech”)

Anne Hathaway (“Alice in Wonderland”)

Mila Kunis (“Black Swan”)

Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”)

This is decidedly a weak category with no clear deserving winner. I’ve chosen Amy Adams because she has done great work in the past and the good job she did here looked like nothing she had done in the past. I am not of the opinion that Hailee Steinfeld was an actress in a supporting role.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale (“The Fighter”)

Jeff Bridges (“True Grit”)

Rob Corddry (“Hot Tub Time Machine”)

James Marsden (“Death at a Funeral”)

Justin Timberlake (“The Social Network”)

Christian Bale should be getting his much-deserved Oscar this year. For those of us who thought he was incredible in “American Psycho” over a decade ago, it has been a long wait. And yes, I do think it is commendable that James Marsden spent half a movie freaking out on LSD buck-naked on a roof during a funeral. That was hilarious. Same goes with Rob Corddry. He gave the 2010's Best Comedic performance in what somehow turned out to be 2010's Best Comedy, “Hot Tub Time Machine.” They are definitely more deserving than Geoffrey Rush, who I believe did better work as a pirate. (Not that he was bad in “The King’s Speech.” I just really liked him as a pirate.)

Actress in a Leading Role

Dakota Fanning (“The Runaways”)

Natalie Portman (“Black Swan”)

Noomi Rapace (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”)

Noomi Rapace (“The Girl who Played with Fire”)

Michelle Williams (“Blue Valentine”)

I honestly thought it would be impossible to witness a better performance than Noomi Rapace gave in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” this year, but pleasantly surprised I was. Natalie Portman gets the top prize by a nose simply because she had to learn ballet to create the role, which by the looks of the movie is not the easiest art form to master. Unfortunately I never saw Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone.” I’m not too disappointed I didn’t see Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole.”

Actor in a Leading Role

Jim Carrey (“I Love You, Phillip Morris”)

Leonardo Dicaprio (“Shutter Island”)

Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”)

James Franco (“127 Hours”)

Ryan Reynolds (“Buried”)

Okay, I enjoy Oscar bait like everyone else. Colin Firth gets the top prize. Just as important though is the number of snubs in this category. For instance Jim Carrey was completely forgotten again. Something should be said of roles that only one person in the entire world can pull off. You tell me who else could have done a better job in “I love You, Phillip Morris,” or for that matter “Dumb and Dumber,” “The Mask,” “Man on the Moon,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” or even “Lemony Snicket.” Whatever Academy. Also I bet if Shutter Island came out in December instead of February than Dicaprio would have been nominated. Of course, the toughest role of the year belonged to Ryan Reynolds. People probably noticed him for the first time this year. Watch out if he ever gets another Awards-worthy role in the future.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

127 Hours (Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg)

The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)

Shutter Island (Laeta Kalogridis)

Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt)

This is an easy one. Aaron Sorkin made the real life geniuses sound like geniuses. You would have to be some sort of genius to pull that off. I’m not sure exactly what Toy Story 3 was adapting but hey if they want to put it in this category that’s their business.

Best Original Screenplay

Black Swan (Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John J. McLaughlin)

Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne, Joey Curtis)

Inception (Christopher Nolan)

Inside Job (Chad Beck, Adam Bolt)

The King’s Speech (David Seidler)

A tough choice here, made even more so because of the very different stories in “Blue Valentine” and “Inception.” Still “Inception” may have had a very good screenplay but still, that isn’t the movie's best feature. Whereas “Blue Valentine” derives its power from the almost poetic parallel storylines of an early romance and a breaking marriage. You normally wouldn't think of documentaries as having screenplays but what else would you call the clear and comprehensive explanation of a massive financial disaster. This is what “Inside Job” achieves.

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”)

Derek Cianfrance (“Blue Valentine”)

David Fincher (“The Social Network”)

Christopher Nolan (“Inception”)

Martin Scorsese (“Shutter Island”)

Far and away, Christopher Nolan is the most deserving of the Oscar. His absence in the category is indeed the snub of the year. The Academy has a hole in its head.

Best Picture

127 Hours

Black Swan

Blue Valentine

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Inception

The King’s Speech

Shutter Island

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

It may be true that “The King’s Speech” is a good movie but my main beef with that movie is that it could have been the Best Picture Winner like fifty years ago. Something like “The Social Network,” a movie just as good could only have been made now or sometime in the future. It defines a year. The Academy really has to get over its Nazi thing.

Unfortunately nobody thinks “Inception” will win. That’s okay. Neither did “Citizen Kane,” or “Apocalypse Now” or “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” A movie like “Inception” suffers come awards season because the sheer originality of it makes it hard to compare or judge. You can watch “The King’s Speech,” and easily see how well it correctly complements all our knowledge of World War II, the English Monarchy, and Speaking Disabilities. How do you judge “Inception?” What will you compare it too? Did it get “Extraction” or “Inception” correct? If you could build dreams, would that be what it should be like? There really has been nothing quite like this movie before. Anyway it was the movie experience of the year for me. I didn’t think I was going to see a better movie this year than “Inception.” I didn’t.

Having said that, I believe there were three must see movies that came out this year: “Inception,” “Black Swan,” and “The Social Network.” Have fun with those. I’ll see you next year at the movies.  

There isn't a category for Best Scene of the year, but this was mine from "Shutter Island."