Oscar Preview

The Academy awards are in three days and I just wanted to give a quick rundown of who I would vote and who I think will win.

Best Picture - This is a race between The Hurt Locker and Avatar. It's the first time in a long time that there wasn't a nearly sure thing heading in to Oscar night, probably since Brokeback Mountain vs Crash. Inglourious Basterds even has an outside chance after getting the top SAG award. But the favorite here, and the one I think will win, is Hurt Locker. With the exception of the SAG to Basterds and the GG that went to Avatar, it's won every major precursor. Avatar won't be an upset by any means, however. My vote here would go to Basterds. Yes, Avatar is more revolutionary and Locker is more socially relevant, but Basterds has the best story and the best characters with Tarantino's one of a kind flair. My favorite movie this year was actually (500) Days of Summer, but it didn't make it to the dance.

Best Director - As usual, this race mirrors the best picture race. The five nominees here represent the five movies that no doubt would have been nominated in a typical Oscar year. Right or wrong, I really think the edge here goes to Locker's Kathryn Bigelow as she would become the first woman to ever win this category. If she were a man, I think Cameron would win for Avatar. I know it's sexist in a way, but the Academy is known for handing out statues that represent a larger body of work than the film for which a nominee is currently up for. I also think that extends to any tie going to the historical factor, in this case first woman director to win. Yes, Sophia Coppola lost this category just six years ago, but she wasn't in a virtual tie, she was up against the Return of the King behemoth. I again here take the third option and would vote for Tarantino. He offers one of the most unique voices in the history of Hollywood and will be rewarded for it some day.

Best Actor - Having only seen two of the five nominees here, I have to abstain. Jeff Bridges is going to win.

Best Actress - Similar dynamic as the best picture race. The match up here is Sandra Bullock vs Meryl Streep. Bullock has the edge in all the precursors, but I really think the idea of the next All-About-Steve-esque movie carrying the tag "Oscar winner Sandra Bullock" will give voters pause. I think Streep wins in a minor upset. She's the most nominated actor ever and hasn't been rewarded in 26 years. My vote goes to newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, but only after seeing how bubbly and giggly she is in real life compared to her counterpart, Precious.

Best Supporting Actor - Inglourious Basterds's Christopher Waltz will make it three villains in a row in the category following Javier Bardem and Heath Ledger. Possible upset is Christopher Plummer as the Academy does like to reward veterans here. My vote is Waltz.

Best Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique. Hands down, no contest, surest bet of the evening. Up is more likely to lose the animated film category than Mo'Nique is to lose here. And she absolutely deserves it. The most emotionally wrenching scene of this entire film year is her climatic confession in Precious.

Original Screenplay - Tough to call. The favorite here is probably Hurt Locker as the best picture winner typically adds a screenplay win. But in a tight year, enough people may choose to reward Tarantino here or even the Pixar geniuses for Up. I'm going to play it safe and say it's Hurt Locker's night all around. My vote, yet again, is to Tarantino, though I'd be seriously tempted to angrily write-in (500) Days of Summer.

Adapted Screenplay - I think Up in the Air wins here because the Academy is ready to reward Jason Reitman who is proving to be the best young filmmaker in the business. It'd probably get my vote too.

I'm going to pass on the minor categories and just see what happens Sunday, after which I think I'll rewatch (500) Days of Summer.

Top 10 Movies of 2009

Oscar ballots are due today (for those who actually get to vote), so even though I haven't seen a few contenders, I figured I'd throw out my top ten of the year as if I had to submit them today.

10. District 9 - Realistic, thought-provoking alien movie. Great look into the human condition.

9. Public Enemies - Nothing we haven't seen before story-wise, but a very well done movie by Michael Mann, staring the always-great Johnny Depp.

8. Avatar - I liked it, I really did. But story and characters matter more to me than anything. So, yes, Avatar is an absolute game changer in the movie world for it's visuals, but everything else was only good, not great.

7. Precious - This is this year's tear-jerker and it deserves to win not only best supporting actress (which it is favored to) but also best lead actress.

6. Star Trek - I rewatched this on DVD and, yes, it's that good. I know it probably won't get the best picture nomination, but I'd love to see it score an adapted screenplay nomination.

5. Up in the Air - One of those movies you could watch over and over again. Jason Reitman seems to have developed a knack for that rather quickly. It's probably not ambitious enough to win best picture and it didn't pull me in enough to rank any higher on my list, but I really like it.

4. Zombieland - I'm surprised this hasn't been getting more buzz. This is a better, more original comedy than The Hangover. It's not even about the zombies. It's about unique characters, who happened to have survived a zombie apocalypse. It's a character comedy, posing as a spoof. Sorry, Shaun of the Dead, you are no longer the best zombie-comedy.

3. The Hurt Locker - In all honesty, this is probably the movie that "should" win best picture. It's gritty, compelling, and reaches a wide range of movie goers. It also has a very strong chance of providing the first best director win to a female director. Though the Golden Globes showed Avatar may be another Titanic for James Cameron.

2. Inglourious Basterds - Tarantino - genius - 'nuff said.

1. (500) Days of Summer - Like Zombieland, I can't believe this show isn't being elevated as a serious contender this awards season. Original, funny, heartfelt, superbly acted, wonderfully written, (500) Days of Summer is the best movie of 2009.

Up in the Air

Jason Reitman is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. He's made just three movies, but is now batting a thousand. Up in the Air is well written and flawlessly acted. The story is inspiring, though it is a little predictable which hurts it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it would not get my vote for best picture this year which I mention as it is considered one of the front-runners.

Avatar

Unlike anything you've ever seen, Avatar is visually stunning from beginning to end. The story is solid, but nothing groundbreaking. My brother pointed out that it is strikingly similar to Dances with Wolves (though it's probably even more like The Last Samurai).

I watched the 3-D version, but actually think I would have preferred the 2-D version simply because the novelty of the 3-D quickly wore off and I got tired of the darned glasses.

I hate to completely dismiss it because it was really cool, but there's a reason most critics I've seen have left it out of their top ten movies of the year - it's basically like watching a 3-hour video game trailer.

Precious

Give Mo'Nique the Oscar.

While Precious is not the downer it appears to be on the surface, there are some very dark elements. We follow Precious through her life where all odds are stacked against her while she dreams frivolously of beautiful things both she and you as the viewer know are never going to happen.

It's powerful stuff and realistically presented. The antagonist is her demon of a mother played by Mo'Nique. At the end (don't worry, not a spoiler) as she is explaining her life to a social worker, Mo'Nique absolutely steals the entire show and leaves you numb with horror and grief. But, again, don't worry - Precious is the light.

An Education

What if someone offered you a shortcut to everything you ever wanted? What if your friends and family supported your abandonment of the original path in favor of the short cut? Could you say no?

In An Education, Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is the top student in her class with dreams of going to Oxford to study English. She adores the finer, sophisticated thing in life and has, by and large, been isolated from them. When she meets the older, worldly David, he not only offers her these things, but wins over her parents in the process.

The film is called An Education because Jenny learns a lot. She learns about life, love, people, expectations, morality, beauty, and how to put it all in perspective.

Overall, a solid, intriguing film. The script is simple yet very well constructed. The acting is understated, but sincere, giving the whole thing a realistic feel. Not a best picture contender in my opinion, but definitely one that will garner some attention.

Where the Wild Things Are

This movie is great to look at, but not to watch. The Wild Things and their world are very well done and shot nicely. Unfortunately that's the extent of the positive things I can say about this movie. It's not that it's that bad, it's just not that good. The acting is adequate. The biggest problem is the script. Nothing happens. Max runs away, finds the Wild Things, hangs out with them for awhile, the end. To get away with something like this, you have to have very strong character development, so that even though the plot is secondary, the audience is still engaged. Cool scenery was not enough to hold my attention.

I was bored.