the 83rd annual Academy Awards

[spentnights]

The event I've been waiting an entire year is almost upon us - the Oscars. I wait impatiently every year for this event to come, and now it's exactly one month away. Now, the nominations finally came out a few days ago; and except for a few people who I think were brutally snubbed (Andrew Garfield, anyone?) by the Academy, I must say that I am overall fairly pleased.

Before I get into my thoughts on this year's nominations, I have to say that I do not agree with the choice of hosts. Anne Hathaway and James Franco, really? I do love them both very much, but I usually like to see actual comedians hosting. Sure, both Anne and James can be really funny, but it's just a weird choice.

(My vote is still for Ricky Gervais to host. But that would never happen because Hollywood's a bitch to him just because he tells the truth in a blunt, hilarious way that they're too pretentious too appreciate. Just one more reason why the Brits are better.)

But anyway, here you have it: my thoughts and opinions: 
*[what I think will win = underlined & what I want to win = italicized]
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”

I was blown away by that film in its entirety, but Colin's performance was mesmerizing. This is an incredibly tough category, I think, because all of the nominated performances were spectacular. But I think Colin's performance really sticks out. If he doesn't win, I might have a brain aneurysm. However, Javier looks brilliant in Biutiful, so he did win I wouldn't be that disappointed. But no one else! (Sorry James. You got the host role, you can't have both!) (Oh, and also, where is Ryan Gosling's nom? BRUTALLY AND UNFAIRLY SNUBBED!)

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”

Once again, a tough category. I don't even know who will take this one, but I'm going to guess and say Bale since he won the Golden Globe and I've been told by friends who've seen the film that his role is amazing. However, I would be thrilled with every one of these actors winning. Geoffrey's performance was amazing, as was Jeremy's (he was my favourite part of that film). And Mark, oh Mark - he owns my heart and I adore him. I haven't seen Winter's Bone yet, but Hawkes looks brilliant in it. (Just like Ryan in the previous category, where is Andrew Garfield? This snub is just wrong.)

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”

If Natalie doesn't win, I give up. Although every one else was amazing in their roles (especially Michelle in my opinion), Natalie took it to an entirely different level.

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”

Leo was brilliant, she's the head contender. There's no much else to say, except kudos to Hailee getting a nom - she really deserves it. And I'm one hundred percent in love with Helena's performance, so I would love to see her win.

Animated Feature Film

• “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
• “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

I can't really see anything beating it, nor do I want to.

Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland” - Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” - Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Inception” - Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “The King's Speech” - Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
• “True Grit” - Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

This is a tough one, since all deserve it in my opinion. I have to go with The King's Speech though because the entire time I was watching it, I couldn't get enough of how beautiful it was. That being said, in all likelihood Inception will win and I will cry.

Cinematography

• “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
• “Inception” Wally Pfister
• “The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
• “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
• “True Grit” Roger Deakins

Er, another tough one. But I'm hoping for Black Swan because it was gorgeous. The whole time watching it, I was in awe. However, I think it will go to The Social Network, which I'm not entirely upset about because that was also a stunning film.

Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King's Speech” Jenny Beavan
• “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” Mary Zophres

All of these costumes were gorgeous! I don't even know which to choose, so I'm going with my favourite film once again.

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

So difficult! Damn, this year's awards are so tough. I'm honestly torn between them all, but I think I'll have to give Aronosky this one. Or Fincher. Or Hooper... Damn.

Documentary (Feature)

• “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
• “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

I mostly picked this one because I love me some Bansky, but all of these look amazing.

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “Killing in the Name” Nominees to be determined
• “Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
• “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
• “Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
• “The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Another tough choice - in all honesty, I'm not sure which one of these will win and I don't really care because they all deserve it.

Film Editing

• “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
• “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
• “The King's Speech” Tariq Anwar
• “127 Hours” Jon Harris
• “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

There's honestly so many wonderful nominated films, but I really think Black Swan deserves this one. It exceeded beyond comparison in this category.

Foreign Language Film

• “Biutiful” Mexico
• “Dogtooth” Greece
• “In a Better World” Denmark
• “Incendies” Canada
• “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

THIS FILM. I can't even, it's so wonderful and deserves it.

Makeup

• “Barney's Version” Adrien Morot
• “The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Who knows with this one?

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

Inception can beat it, The Social Network ruled in this category. Take that!

Music (Original Song)

• “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
• “I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
• “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
• “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

I really, really, really want this one to win, okay? This category's also kind of a toss-up.

Best Picture

• “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• “The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• “Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

THE TOUGHEST CATEGORY. Honestly, all of these films were brilliant! I cannot choose between Black Swan, The King's Speech, and The Social Network. I really can't! Those were the three most outstanding films I saw of the year. I also think that those are the top three contenders. That being said, it'll probably go to The Social Network.

Short Film (Animated)

• “Day & Night” Teddy Newton
• “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• “Let's Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
• “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
• “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois

Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Confession” Tanel Toom
• “The Crush” Michael Creagh
• “God of Love” Luke Matheny
• “Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
• “Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing

• “Inception” Richard King
• “Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
• “Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
• “Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing

• “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
• “The King's Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
• “Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
• “The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Fuck them, The King's Speech pwned all in my opinion. Snaps to The Social Network and True Grit, though.

Visual Effects

• “Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• “Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
• “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
• “Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

This one just seems like the front-runner, so whatevs.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Everything about that film's screenplay is perfection. However, it is up against some tough competitors, so my fingers are crossed.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• “The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

I'm honestly torn between the last two. Both were so amazing! I might have to give it to The King's Speech though because like I said, it's my favourite.

--

The wait is already becoming unbearable, gah. Only one more month!