For the record, we (I) hate calling them the 2010 Oscar awards. They’re for the films that came out in 2009. So in 10 years from now when you’re asking who won the 2010 Oscars, you’re probably going to be thinking about the films that came out in 2010, not 2009. Just sayin’.
We didn’t do predictions for this year’s 82 Annual Academy Awards because many of them seemed obvious and set and stone and as everyone expected, James Cameron’s “Avatar,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” Jason Reitman’s “Up In The Air,” Lee Daniels’ “Precious” and Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” all scored Best Director and Best Picture nods for their respective films. “Avatar” and somewhat surprisingly, “The Hurt Locker” lead the nominations with 9 slots each. Trailing these two polar opposite films which seem to be poised to showdown at the Oscars (and the directors are ex-husband and wife to make it that much more fun), were “Inglourious Basterds,” with 8 nominations, and “Up In The Air” and “Precious’ with 6 nominations each. The five aforementioned films should be seen as the real Oscar 5 with the others sort of filling out the newly added, additional five Best Picture slots (i.e. it’s pretty to have them there, but they have zero shot at winning).
However, in big surprises, “The Blind Side” took a Best Picture nomination that caught everyone off guard, Matt Damon scored a nomination for his supporting role in “Invictus.” The big snubs seemed to be “Invictus” and “Star Trek” but we’ll get into those in a bit.
BEST PICTURE
“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
“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
BEST DIRECTOR
“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
BEST ACTOR
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”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
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”
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
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”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
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”
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“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
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” 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
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
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” – Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow” – Peru
“Un Prophète”- France
“The White Ribbon” – 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
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
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
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
In case you missed it this morning. Notice how they say the “2009 nominees”! It’s not the 2010 Oscars for crying out loud!
You think with 10 spots, one would go to Bright Star.
I agree, I'm a little bit shocked to see 'The Blind Side' on there, but then again, it was one of the highest grossing films of the years and many people did like it so I guess its not that shocking. More shocking is 'Avatar' for Best Original Screenplay over '(500) Days of Summer'. Seriously? Visually 'Avatar' is amazing but story-wise, I don't think so. I was one of the few who actually liked 'Nine'. And though I love Penélope Cruz, I would've loved to see Julianne Moore in that slot over her, but I'm loving Maggie Gyllenhaal on that list. All-in-all, pretty much what I had expected. Would've loved it if 'The Hangover' got nominated for something though.
Avatar didn't get an Original Screenplay nomination
The Hurt Locker getting nominated for Best Score is the one ridiculous nomination I still can’t justify in my head. I mean, the violin dirges added tension to the scenes, but nothing special comes to mind at all. The only music I remembered was the below-average Ministry tracks from their second-to-last album.
A Single Man wins Best Score in my book. Like someone said, the Academy’s gaga over THL, so it’s getting the Slumdog treatment (“What’s that category again? Nominate it! Did the movie have sound in it? Then nominate it for both categories! Give it TEN!!”). I know it's not that simple, but that' how it looks.
Where The Wild Things Are not being nominated for Visual Effects is bullshit.
That's right, I meant 'A Serious Man' not 'Avatar' my bad. But seriously, I did not like 'A Serious Man' at all.
Yeah, I totally get confusing A Serious Man with Avatar. Happens to me all the time…
How does "Avatar" get an Oscar nom and not "The Dark Knight". Oh wait, 3D. I forgot.
Let's just put it simply: the Oscars are now at the level of the grammy awards. Both totally and utterly irrelevant award ceremonies.
No love for the score of The Cove? Shame.
"How does does "Avatar" get an oscar nom and not "The Dark Knight"?" Um, possibly by possessing a modicum of story-telling, pacing, a coherant plot, and a political ideology that isn't so muddled it winds up being bascially an uber-right wing apologia for the Bush era. By being a vastly better film, basically.
tristan, please make your argument for why TDK is an apologia for the bush era/conservatism. then i will absolutely dismantle that argument.
also, avatar has a blatant political slant, yet somehow it's forgivable because . . . you agree w/ it?
The fact that The Dark Knight is an "uber-right wing apologia for the Bush era" is probably what makes it so fascinating and worthy of discussion! I love that about the movie, it really toys with warring ideologies from within the genre, which is a pretty unprecedented thing in the "superpowered people punch each other genre" – rather the film take an unpopular stance (which I strongly disagree with, though it truthfully lies at the heart of the superhero fantasy) that a hypocritical one like Avatar. Cameron's bloated "masterpiece," meanwhile, was a green version of "Sky Captain."
Also, guys, this Blind Side practical joke has gone too far. Shut it down.
Good for Hurt Locker, it deserves it. Hopefully Bigelow wins, we need a female to finally win this.
– Jake Yenor
Hey aaron. Dark Knight winds up as a Bush apologia because:
a) the Joker is depicted as a completely motiveless threat; hence he replicates the neocon conception of terrorism as arising solely out of a hatred of our way of life.
b) Batman is clearly signposted as replicating Bush era policy (rendition, torture) in ways that are as obvious and heavy handed as anything in Avatar.
c) at the end of the movie, Batman's methods, despite some perfuctionary handwringing from both the elderly platitude dispensers (Caine and Freeman), bascially saves the city. In the final scene, basically Batman has to become a criminal – because only he can take the tough decisions necessary to protect the city – just like GW. I honestly don't think chris nolan is a right winger, or intended the movie to come out this way – he just makes a god awful muddle out of the movies politics.
Gabe – I think Avatar's politics is simplistic, heavy-handed, propagandised – but i don't understand how you manifest them as hypocritical. Plus, I'm not sure why far-right shadings make Dark Knight interesting, but Avatar's far-left shadings constitute another reason to dislike the movie.
Why the fuck did they not read out the directors names for best Foreign Language Film?????????? Everyone else got their name read out, just not the foreigners!! Would it have been so fucking difficult to learn how to pronounce a few peoples names?
jesus cunting christ!!
I've really tried to stay mute on this subject, but seeing as how this has gone off into a whole bash-TDK event, I fear I must interject. The movie is most definitely not an "apologia" for Bush-era politics. Even if it were, the fact remains that it was a great movie and was snubbed at the Oscars because it was a comic book movie. I am probably the only person on the planet who has not seen Avatar, but based on what I've heard, even from those who loved it, it does seem a bit odd that a movie based heavily on visual stimulus can receive Oscar nods, and not something that was as groundbreaking as TDK.
Comparing the Joker to Islamic fundamentalist is completely retarded. He doesn't do the things he does because he hates our society, he merely makes an observations of out "pointless" lives to rattle those interrogating him. His only motivation is to incite chaos, or as it was PLAINLY stated in the movie "to watch the world burn." He has no real back story, nor any tangible motivation. That is what makes him a threat.
Now, the ending you refer to, from a simplistic perspective, yes, seems to condone Bush era "Patriot Act" politics. I'd say you simply read too far into it. The ending of the movie is simply the Joker's manipulation of Batman's morals. It is only meant to illustrate that even when Batman does do these things, which he recognizes as wrong, the Joker is still in control. In the end, Nolan leaves that section of the film in the way Alan Moore leaves Watchmen (more aligned with the actual comic and not the movie). We have these paths presented in front of us, and the audience should debate with themselves: Was it right or wrong?
To the Playlist: Sorry for this long-winded tangent, but this douche's comment just pissed me off.
Tristan, Avatar is hypocritical because it's enemies are wasteful environmental actions and the industrial military complex. Meanwhile, it's the most expensive movie in history and, like all Cameron films, it fetishizes the military and its equipment to a ludicrous degree.
Also, Max, I will go on the contrary and say you aren't thinking enough about the film. It's not explicit in its defense of Bush, merely the questionable tactics needed to wage a semantic, philosophical war not unlike the quagmire we are currently involved in. Of course, yes, the question as to whether it's an apologia or not is certainly valid – one could say the movie is stringently anti-Batman, which I would agree with given his line about the updated survellience at the film's end, "Beautiful, isn't it?" To me, that's the key to the character's philosophy, that he's so far gone that any good he does in invalidated by his avoidance of our own laws.
To get this conversation back on track, Sandra Bullock is a cunt.
this one's for gabe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8cO28MCflU