Notes: This is a fairly weak category right now too but I honestly wouldn’t mind if Levitt ended up my #1 this year. Oddly, this should eventually be a pretty great year for Best Actor with Clooney, Firth and Bridges in a good three-way race. There’s also Morgan Freeman and possibly Daniel Day-Lewis in the mix. Right now, I'm giving my win to Levitt (plus he's been underappreciated in the past) though as of now, I don't think any of my nominees are actually getting in come Oscar time. Renner probably has the best chance.
Best Actress
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Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabby Sidibe, Precious
Abbie Cornish, Bright Star
Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
Notes: This is actually probably the strongest of the categories right now in terms of the current line-up. I’m pretty sure Streep, Mulligan and Sidibe are locked for nominations. I’d love for Cornish to get in too but I think she’ll get ousted by Helen Mirren (playing a long-suffering wife who has a plate smashing scene) and Marion Cotillard (playing a long-suffering wife who sings and dances). Or even Saiorse Ronan (playing a murdered teenager). I'm torn between Mulligan and Sidibe though-- can't choose cause the performances are so different but equally effective. They're both also such sweet and adorable people in interviews.
Best Supporting Actress
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Rosamund Pike, An Education
Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds
Paula Patton, Precious
Monique, Precious
Notes: This is definitely the year for internal competition in the best supporting actress category (Up in the Air and Nine are both possible double nominees too). Personally, I think Monique has this race pretty much locked up although both Inglourious Basterds women were awesome (but apparently Laurent might be campaigning lead now...) and Penelope Cruz is said to be spectacular in Nine. However at this point, I'd give the win to Monique for the welfare office scene that's going to be hard to top.
Best Supporting Actor
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Alfred Molina, An Education
Stanley Tucci, Julie and Julia
Brad Pitt, Inglourious Basterds
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Zachary Quinto, Star Trek
Notes: This is far and away the easiest win to decide. Waltz is running away with this award unless something major happens and I don't think Matt Damon looks that good in Invictus. The rest of the list gets pretty meh but I really can’t imagine anyone topping Christoph Waltz this year. I wasn’t a big fan of Julie and Julia but Tucci was fairly memorable. I felt the women really made An Education but Molina gave a good performance. Also, Quinto in Star Trek for supporting may be a bit of category fraud (he’s probably like the co-lead) but I need to fill spots and most people seem to be putting him in supporting. Brad is also a little questionable in supporting but I needed to fill spots here more than in Best Actor. Overall, it's looking to be a rather tepid year for Supporting Actor. One REALLY great performance (Waltz) and the rest not terribly special.
Other Categories
Best Original Screenplay:
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Scott Neustadler and Michael H. Webber, (500) Days of Summer
Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, Up
Jane Campion, Bright Star
Greg Mottola, Adventureland
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Scott Burns, The Informant!
Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek
Nick Hornby, An Education
Best Original Score:
Michael Giacchino, Up
Michael Giacchino, Star Trek
Alexandre Desplat, Julie and Julia
Nicholas Hooper, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Best Art Direction:
Bright Star
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Best Costume Design:
The Young Victoria
Bright Star
Cheri
Inglourious Basterds
Public Enemies
Anyways, that's all for the categories. I don't have a good sense of the hardcore tech ones or the short films. I desperately need 'Nine'', 'Up in the Air', 'A Single Man', 'The Last Station' and 'The Lovely Bones' to come out already.
Also, totally random comment-- anyone else notice there's a lot of "nine" movies this year? District 9, 9 (the number) and Nine (spelled out). There's also A Serious Man and A Single Man. It could be a confusing Oscar season...
Thoughts?
Previous Picspams:
Tom and Summer, 500 Days of Summer Carl and Ellie, Up Spock and Uhura, Star Trek Victoria and Albert, The Young Victoria The Cast of Rob Marshall's 'Nine' Memorable Dresses in Film Derek-Meredith-Addison Triangle, Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Fashion
Inglourious Basterds: Operation Kino Dresses Inglourious Basterd: Christoph Waltz as Colonel Landa (aka The Jew Hunter) NO Hot Linking Please!