Best Animated Feature Film Of The Year
The Nominees are:
Coraline (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Princess And The Frog (2009)
The Secret of Kells (2009)
Up (2009)
Surprisingly there have been alot of wonderful and greatly-made animated films in the past year (and I'm surprised Cloudly With A Chance Of Meatballs didn't make the cut), with a few that was disappointing (Ponyo) and very atrocious (Planet 51 and Avatar... Ha, kidding! Not kidding for Planet 51). Coraline was pretty creepy and The Princess And The Frog was an excellent return to the traditional Disney nostalgia. I haven't seen Secret of Kells and I would like to see it, as it looks pretty gorgeous to look at. Fantastic Mr. Fox is downright Wes Anderson: his style, his characters, his cinematography, with only a group of people including me can only love this film. But of course, come on.. Up is brilliant. Even if its becoming like a broken record, you can't deny the brilliance and wistfulness of Pixar. Even though most animated films are now getting close to Pixar quality, this is still Pixar's year.
My pick: Up
Best Achievements in Visual Effects
The Nominees are:
Avatar (2009)
District 9 (2009)
Star Trek (2009)
I'm very surprised that Star Trek is up there and it is deserving of that spot. Though Avatar does bring out very impressive visuals with a giant budget, I'm more impressed of the visuals of District 9 as they were able to create such great designs, characters and exterior with such a low budget. The Prawns have much better and sympathetic character designs than the Na'vis. Though I would have to give Avatar that much slack. I don't know which to choose so...
My pick: Either District 9 or Avatar
Best Achievements in Music Written For Motion Pictures, Original Score
The Nominees are:
Avatar (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Up (2009)
Only four out of five nominees (including Avatar) have music scores that isn't overwhelming or considered important to enhance the movie. James Horner have been making great scores for James Cameron's film like Aliens and Titanic, which proved to be great, but this one film, Avatar, is where his music didn't shine through. The only film out of these that has the music so greatly complement the film is Up. You have to think about that four minute sequence where the story is told with only the visuals and the music.
My pick: Up
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
The Nominees are:
Penelope Cruz for Nine (2009)
Vera Farmiga for Up In The Air (2009)
Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart (2009)
Anna Kendrick for Up In The Air (2009)
Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Penelope Cruz was the most impressive among the cast in the disappointingly Nine and damn... is she so ever hot and gorgeous. Famiga and Kendrick from Up In The Air were also gorgeous and they both did a wonderful performance, while Gyllenhaal just did a fine job. Now for Mo'Nique... I never liked her and any of her comedic acts. She was never a good comedian, nor being good at being funny. But she's very good at being scary. And to be someone to be completely despised and hateful, going the opposite of what she was before, is REALLY impressive.
My pick: Mo'Nique
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
The Nominees are:
Matt Damon for Invictus (2009)
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger (2009)
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station (2009)
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones (2009)
Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Matt Damon (Mattt DAY-MON... sorry can't help it) was pretty standard in Invictus, while both Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci gave such great performances in their own movies, especially for Tucci being so damn creepy. But Christoph Waltz is the landslide winner. His role in Inglourious Basterds is just so deliciously evil. You despise him yet you can't look away from him.
My pick: Christoph Waltz
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
The Nominees are:
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (2009)
Helen Mirren for The Last Station (2009)
Carey Mulligan for An Education (2009)
Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia (2009)
I'll tell you I haven't seen The Last Station or An Education, so I wouldn't know from the perfromance from Mirren and Mulligan. Though I have heard that Mulligan's performance is something to look out. But I can say that Sandra Bullock's was not entirely special. I wouldn't know if the blandness of the film, The Blind Side also affected her performance or its just that really is nothing special except she did a poor man's version of Erin Brockovich. Gabourey was a little short of giving an outstanding and inspiring performance, but was indeed impressive. Meryl is always there in the nominees every year and you can always see why. She is just outstanding as the wistful Julia Child.
My pick: Either Meryl Streep or Gabourey Sidibe
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
The Nominees are:
Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart (2009)
George Clooney for Up In The Air (2009)
Colin Firth for A Single Man (2009)
Morgan Freeman for Invictus (2009)
Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker (2008)
Like the lineup for Best Leading Actress, there is not one that was totally outstanding and most were just fine. George Clooney, while he was actually great, (admittedly) was just being George Clooney and Morgan Freeman was pretty much ok in the film. The two that were kind of impressive by me were Jeff Bridges and Jeremy Renner, as they made me believe that one is really a struggling country singer and the other is an uncontrollable bomb expert respectfully. So again...
My pick: Either Jeff Bridges or Jeremy Renner
Best Achievements in Directing
The Nominees are:
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)
James Cameron for Avatar (2009)
Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Jason Reitman for Up In The Air (2009)
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (2009)
The Academy Awards are now about the battle between an ex-wife and an ex-husband, Bigelow and Cameron as they are the frontrunners for most of the award categories. Reitman did also an outstanding job too, while Daniels and Tarantino(unexpectedly) did a passable job. One can argue that Cameron brought the biggest high-end technology to create the best visuals to the screen only to enhance a story that is not only predictable, but written downright piss-poor. While Bigelow gave us a wild ride through the eyes of three soldiers who's occupation can kill them any moment. So I ask which is the best director, the one that heavily relies on technology to get his best results or the one that made an entirely great film without relying any form of CG technology?
My pick: Kathryn Bigelow
Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Nominees are:
Avatar (2009)
The Blind Side (2009)
District 9 (2009)
An Education (2009)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
A Serious Man (2009)
Up (2009)
Up In The Air (2009)
This year is different because there are now ten nominees for Best Pictures. Geez I wonder what would cause to make such change... (*cough* Dark Knight *cough*). So this would make a hard decision for me. Two films that don't really deserves those spots are The Blind Side and A Serious Man. I mean The Blind Side was just bland and completely trite and A Serious Man was just boring. Inglourious Basterds and Precious were just average and Up In The Air was good, close to great. The films that really blew me away were Up, District 9 and The Hurt Locker. And no, Avatar didn't blow me away, not even with all of its CG visuals. I'm not the kind of guy that gets sway by just CG visuals. If the story was just passable and provide decent performances, then this film would be deserved the nominated spot. But no, the story was badly written and the performances were ranged from poor to embarrassing. While I would like to see Up or District 9 winning, I would have to think like the Academy and have to choose The Hurt Locker for Best Picture. Either of those three and I would have my faith on the Academy restored. But my single choice is...
My pick: The Hurt Locker
And those are my choices. What would be yours?
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