Twelve Hours Before Oscar, A Final Prediction

It has been relentless. Whether this is a sign of an upswing from the GFC or a scattering of “feel-good” news because of it, the Oscars speculation this year has been so dominant in mainstream news as to be ridiculous – and, unfortunately, antithetical to the fun of the Oscars ceremony itself – because sooo many of the Awards now seem pre-determined.

Soo… here we go… the films and people that feel like they’re going to win. (These are NOT Filmmafia’s preferred choices: those will follow each category IE The first shown will be Filmmafia’s prediction for the likely winner, followed by who we think should win, but in many cases probably won’t).

BEST PICTURE:

THE HURT LOCKER

(INGLORIOUS BASTERDS)

BEST DIRECTOR:

KATHRYN BIGELOW

(QUENTIN TARANTINO)

BEST ACTRESS:

SANDRA BULLOCK

(GABOURE SIDIBE)

BEST ACTOR:

JEFF BRIDGES

(VIGGO MORTENSEN – NOT NOMINATED – THE ROAD)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

MO’NIQUE

(MO’NIQUE)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

CHRISTOPH WALTZ

(CHRISTOPH WALTZ)

BEST SCREENPLAY – ADAPTED:

UP IN THE AIR

(AN EDUCATION)

BEST SCREENPLAY ORIGINAL:

THE HUST LOCKER

(INGLORIOUS BASTERDS)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

THE WHITE RIBBON

(THE WHITE RIBBON)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

THE COVE

(THE COVE)

BEST EDITING:

THE HURT LOCKER

(THE HURT LOCKER)

BEST SOUND EDITING:

AVATAR

(AVATAR)

BEST SOUND MIXING:

THE HURT LOCKER

(THE HURT LOCKER)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

THE YOUNG VICTORIA

(UNKNOWN DUE TO NOT SEEING ALL FILMS)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

AVATAR

(AVATAR)

In this, my final post before the Oscars, I have to say that AN EDUCATION and PRECIOUS were truly stand-out films this year, as was THE ROAD (which received no nominations whatsoever). UP IN THE AIR was an extremely enjoyable film, and solidified my thinking that Jason Reitman is my absolute favourite director of the moment – all three of his films – the other two being THANK YOU FOR SMOKING and JUNO – have been exceptional, smart, and witty. They don’t pander. George Clooney was exceptional in that film, as was Anna Kendrick.

THE HURT LOCKER and AVATAR – the two “jostling it out” for all the awards – are very different, but, really, are they? The better film – and the one that will probably sweep the awards – is THE HURT LOCKER. It’s a film for our times, made by a female director, and it looks at the war we’re all dealing with askew – from a different viewpoint – that not of the soldier wounded but the soldier either emboldened or made plain crazy. It is a brave film.

But if I was giving out the awards, and I was the judge… Mr. Tarentino would be stepping up to my plate. INGLORIOUS BASTERDS was phenomenally entertaining, and it gets my vote for Film of the Year, followed by THE COVE (which will win Best Documentary), A PROPHET and THE WHITE RIBBON – puth those two have to decide amongst themselves which one will win Best Foreign Language Film. I can’t choose because they are both impeccable films.

It was a great year for movies. Enjoy the Oscars.