Best Picture:
Prediction- The King Speech (As much as it hurts me to admit)
My Vote- The Social Network
-A few months ago it looked like The Social Network was the hands down favorite, but The King's Speech seems to have surged ahead. As much as I liked The King's Speech I really feel that it pales in comparison to The Social Network especially in terms of a defining movie of the year. There is a good British royalty movie every 3-5 years, but The Social Network would be a unique and deserving representative for the current year/generation. Not to mention that I think it was by far the best movie of the year regardless.
Best Director:
Prediction- David Fincher (The Social Network)
My Vote- David Fincher (The Social Network)
- This is the big category that I think The Social Network has in the bag. Simply put Hooper (The King's Speech) doesn't have the success and track record to win this award just yet, while Fincher has the respect, goodwill and career to back him up (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) . This will be his night.
Best Actor:
Prediction- Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
My Vote- Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Note- Did not see Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
- This category is not close. Firth deserves it for his performance and his track record. Sorry James Franco (127 Hours) you will have to live with the nomination and hosting the awards.
Best Actress:
Prediction- Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
My Vote- Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
- The only thing standing in the way for Ms. Portman might be the sympathy vote for Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) who has 3 previous nominations without a win. Simply put Portman had the more difficult role and provided he better performance.
Best Supporting Actor:
Prediction- Christian Bale (The Fighter)
My Vote- Christian Bale (The Fighter)
- There seems to be a trend with the acting awards this year in that there is not much debate on who should win. Just when you were starting to doubt whether Bale could still act (lets face it his turn as Batman and his role in Terminator were starting to cast some doubts), he delivers one of the best supporting turns in years.
Best Supporting Actress:
Prediction- Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
My Vote- Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
- Finally a category that is not set in stone. To be completely honest any of the 5 nominees could win this award. I think it is ridiculous that Steinfeld is nominated in this category, but the fact that she is, could mean she will win it. Helena Bohnam Carter was easily the weak link in the King's Speech but the sheer popularity of the movie could pull her in, especially if Leo and Amy Adams split votes since they are in the same movie. Weaver (Animal Kingdom) gave one of the better performances, but that fact that most people have not heard of let alone seen her movie will hurt. All that to say that all bets are off in this category, but my vote would be for Leo and my gut is telling me that whose name will be called.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Prediction- Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
My Vote- Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
- No brainer, the quick, witty dialogue is the life blood of the movie and the credit for that lies mostly on the brilliant screenplay by Sorkin.
Best Original Screenplay:
Prediction- David Seidler (The King's Speech)
My Vote- Christopher Nolan (Inception)
Note- Did not see Mike Leigh (Another Year)
- A nice coincidence that the two heavyweights were in different writing categories so both of them get to notch a big win before the big announcement for Best Picture. I think it is a foregone conclusion that The King's Speech will win this one, but in my opinion the movie was carried on its acting and technical brilliance, not writing. If you want to find the most brilliant piece of original writing this year you should look no further than Nolan's mind bending masterpiece Inception.
Best Art Direction:
Prediction- The King's Speech
My Vote-Black Swan (not nominated)
-Period pieces always lend themselves well to this category as well as Costume. With that being it is ridiculous that Black Swan was not even nominated, especially over Harry Potter and one of the worst movies I saw all year Alice in Wonderland. Black Swan was a technical masterpiece and by far the most artistic movie I saw this year.
Best Cinematography:
Prediction-True Grit
My Vote- Black Swan
- True Grit had 10 nominations and this will probably be its lone representative win. I have no beef with it winning here as the cinematography was probably its most notable feature (It was also shot about 30 min. from where I live). Like I said in the category before Black Swan was the best technical movie I saw this year, and its great use of shadow and colors were enough for it to get my vote.
Best Costume Design:
Prediction- The King's Speech
My Vote- The King's Speech
Note- Did not see The Tempest or I Am Love
- Not my area of expertise but when in doubt always go for the period British royalty film in this category.
Best Film Editing:
Prediction- The Social Network
My Vote- The Social Network
- If Best Picture is the war, then Best Editing is the keynote battle. With The King's Speech winning Actor and Original Screenplay, and The Social Network winning Director and Adapted Screenplay (hypothetically), the battle line for the odds on favorite will be decided right here. The King's Speech could lose this category and still pull out a win (especially if it steals a win in Supporting Actor or Supporting Actress), but in order for The Social Network to win Best Picture it must prevail in this category (The winner of Best Editing has gone on to win Best Picture 6 of the last 8 years).
Best Makeup:
Prediction- The Wolf Man
My Vote- The Way Back
Note- Did not see The Wolf Man or Barney's Version
-This is a strange category this year in that The Wolf Man was widely regarded as one of the worst movies of the year but seems to be the favorite for this award in large part due to it going up against two movies that most people have not seen (Barney's Version has still not been wide released, and The Way Back, one of my top 10, was pulled before its wide release .)
Best Original Score:
Prediction- The King's Speech
My Vote- Inception
Note- Did not see How to Train Your Dragon
-Another category that I am not that adept at, but I tend to favor the more epic and/or fast paced score as opposed to the more mellow and emotional. The King's Speech definitely had a very nice score, but Inception's really got your blood flowing.
Best Song:
Prediction- "We Belong Together" (Toy Story 3)
My Vote- "We Belong Together" (Toy Story 3)
Note- Did not see Tangled or Country Strong
-This category will be the perfect way to give Toy Story 3 an extra award.
Best Sound Mixing:
Prediction- Inception
My Vote- Inception
Note- Did not see Salt
- These next three categories will be the victory for Inception. The movie was more than an action movie but it will have to live with a sweep of the action movie categories.
Best Sound Editing:
Prediction- Inception
My Vote- Inception
-Ditto
Best Visual Effects:
Prediction- Inception
My Vote- Inception
Note- Did not see Hereafter
-This is the category that most represented the brilliance of Inception as far as technical work is concerned.
Best Animated Feature:
Prediction- Toy Story 3
My Vote- Toy Story 3
Note- Did not see The Illusionist or How to Train Your Dragon
-Notch another award for Pixar.
Best Foreign Language Film:
Prediction- Biutiful (Mexico)
My Vote- Have not gotten to see any of them yet.
Best Documentary:
Prediction- Exit Through the Gift Shop
My Vote- Have not seen any of these either yet.
Best Live Action, Animated and Documentary Short:
Prediction- God of Love, Day and Night, Poster Girl
My Vote- Don't know/Don't Care
- I did see Day and Night (it was the short before Toy Story 3) and it was kinda cool so i'll stick with that one, the other two are complete guesses based on reading their synopses.
Final Tally:
The King's Speech- 6 wins
The Social Network- 3 wins
Inception- 3 wins
Toy Story 3 - 2 wins
The Fighter- 2 wins
Black Swan- 1 win
True Grit- 1 win
The Wolf Man- 1 win
Biutiful- 1 win
Exit Through the Gift Shop- 1 win
