Sunday, March 7, 2010

Obligatory Oscar Prediction Post

I apologize (mostly to myself, for letting myself down) for not posting in awhile. I'm going to make a greater effort to keep posting in the future. Since every relevant pop culture blog in the world includes an Oscar prediction post, I decided that sharing my predictions would be a great opportunity to mark my comeback to the blogosphere.

Unfortunately, in the past few years, I've discovered that the Oscars bore me. This is most likely the result of my growing love for television, which coincides with my increasing lack of interest in film. But I also find them boring due their sheer predictability (of course, I may eat these words in the morning). Since the Oscars come at the end of the awards season, it's really not much of a surprise to see the winners walk onstage to accept their Academy Award. And the Academy itself has made it easy to guess the results based on obvious voting patterns created throughout the years. Nevertheless, I will still be watching the Oscars tonight, just as I have for as long as I can remember.

So without further ado, my 2010 Oscar Predictions:

Best Picture:
The Hurt Locker
When it comes to the Oscars, art house snob trumps visually dazzling blockbuster.
Possible Upsets - Avatar or even Inglourious Basterds

Best Director:
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Say hello the first female Academy Award-winning director.

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Possible Upsets - Any of the other ladies but most likely Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress:
Mo'Nique, Precious
The supporting categories are such locks, it's not even funny.

Original Screenplay:
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Possible Upset - Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker

Adapted Screenplay:
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Animated Feature:
Up
Fantastic Mr. Fox was a better film. Yeah. I said it.

And now for the lesser categories, which I make no guarantees that my predictions will be anywhere near correct...

Documentary Feature:
The Cove

Documentary Short:
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant

Foreign Language Film:
The White Ribbon - Germany

Cinematography:
Avatar

Art Direction:
Avatar

Animated Short Film:
A Matter of Loaf and Death

Live Action Short Film:
The New Tenants

Visual Effects:
Avatar

Costume Design:
The Young Victoria

Film Editing:
The Hurt Locker

Sound Mixing:
Avatar

Sound Editing:
Avatar

Original Score:
Up
Fun Fact: Michael Giacchino, who composed the score for Up, also composed the score for Lost!

Original Song:
"The Weary Kind" - Crazy Heart

Makeup:
Star Trek

There you have it. I'm not making any promises, but I did go six for six in the major categories last year, and I'm pretty confident in my picks this year as well. But the only guarantee I can make tonight, is that once the show is over, I will be heading over to HBOgo.com to watch the season four finale of Big Love. Enjoy!

Currently watching:
Dexter Season 1
Episode 5: Love American Style