OSCAR Watch

Woo hoo! The OSCAR nominations were announced this morning.  As I predicted in this September 9th post, Christoph Waltz was nominated for his supporting role in "Inglourious Basterds" and, much to my delight, "Basterds" was also nominated for best picture and original screenplay AND Quentin Tarantino for best director.  Also, as I predicted in this December 3rd post, Helen Mirren picked up a nomination for best actress in "The Last Station" and George Clooney and Anna Kendrick for "Up in the Air."  I was glad to see Stanley Tucci nominated (best supporting actor) for his creepy turn in "The Lovely Bones."  I know my friend Ryan (Wordsmithonia) is probably thrilled that "Precious" and "The Hurt Locker" received their share of nominations.

Here is the list of nominations:

Best Picture
"Avatar"
"The Blind Side"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
"A Serious Man"

"Up"

"Up in the Air"

Actor in a Leading Role

Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart"

George Clooney for "Up in the Air"

Colin Firth for "A Single Man"

Morgan Freeman for "Invictus"

Jeremy Renner for "The Hurt Locker"

Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren for "The Last Station"

Carey Mulligan for "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep for "Julie and Julia"

Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon for "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson for "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer for "The Last Station"
Staney Tucci for "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz for "Inglourious Basterds"

Actress in a Supporting Role

Penelope Cruz for "Nine"
Vera Farmiga for "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal for "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick for "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Best Director
James Cameron for "Avatar"

Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker"
Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds"
Lee Daniels for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air"

Best Original Screenplay
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"The Messenger"

"A Serious Man"
"Up"

Best Adapted Screenplay
"District 9"
"An Education"
"In the Loop"
"Precious"
"Up in the Air"

Best Animated Film
"Coraline"

"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"The Princess and the Frog"
"The Secret of Kells"
"Up"

Read the rest of the list here.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

OSCAR Watch

Almost as strong as my love for books is my love for movies...almost! One of my favorite things about the movies is the Academy Awards...the OSCARS.  I look forward every year to that 3-4 hour broadcast that is the defining moment of anyone in the movie business.  I start watching early on for great movies and performances that I believe have a chance for OSCAR glory.  Case in point...Summer 1995, my boyfriend (now my husband) and I saw Braveheart for the first time.  As we were leaving the theater, I remarked to him, "This movie should be nominated for a best picture OSCAR."  Fast forward to March 1996--Braveheart goes on to win two of the highest OSCAR honors...Best Picture and Best Director, Mel Gibson.  Of course, those who know me know that Braveheart is my favorite movie of all time so naturally I would use it as an example, but you get my point.  I enjoy making OSCAR predictions!

My first prediction of the year involves Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.  This was a great movie and while I believe that it might have a chance for a nom in the best picture category--especially since the number of noms in that category has expanded from 5 to 10 this year--and also a best director nom for Tarantino, the stand out in this film is Austrian actor Christoph Waltz.

    

Waltz's portrayal of Nazi colonel Hans Landa, or "The Jew Hunter" as he is nicknamed in the film, is absolutely brilliant.  He won the 2009 best actor prize in Cannes and it's easy to see why.  This is the Nazi that you would be truly afraid of...ambiguously polite and magnetic, but subtlety evil and cruel.  It is his well-acted part that grounds Inglourious Basterds and makes it a far better film than it would have been without him.  It will be a great travesty if Waltz does not receive a nomination in the best supporting actor category.  If you are not a fan of Tarantino, the movie is worth seeing just to see the genius acting of Christoph Waltz.  If you are a Tarantino fan, then this is a movie of his you should not miss and Waltz's portrayal is just an added bonus.

So this is my first OSCAR watch of the year.  Let's see how it plays out in the coming months.  More OSCAR watch posts coming soon... 

See you at the movies!