I’m so excited for the Oscars tomorrow morning. I think I’ve found a website that should allow me to stream the awards show and I have to day off work. Me, my cup of tea, and my bowl of oatmeal will be parked on the couch at 9 am to watch famous people receive arbitrary awards. But I happen to think art and storytelling are very important. I love film, and I’ve seen a fairly good sample of the films this year, including all ten of the best picture nominees. Here’s what I hope happens.
Best Actor– I’m still hoping to see Javier Bardem in Biutiful, and even though all the performances were great, my heart goes out to Colin Firth in The King’s Speech.
Best Supporting Actor– I know a lot of people are saying Christian Bale, and he was terrific, but I absolutely love Geoffrey Rush in just about anything, and he was brilliant once again in The King’s Speech.
Best Actress– I wasn’t impressed with Nicole Kidman, but loved everyone else. I’m guessing it will go to Natalie Portman, but secretly wishing for Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine. She gave a completely real and heart-wrenching performance. So painful. So brilliant.
Best Supporting Actress– It’s pretty obvious that Hailee Steinfeld was the lead and not a supporting character in True Grit. Nevertheless she was fantastic. If she hadn’t been miscategorized, I’d give my vote to Amy Adams. I always thought of her as soft until I saw her in The Fighter. It changed my mind about her as an actress.
Animated Feature– Toy Story 3, obviously. By the way, if you didn’t see The Secret of Kells from last year, take the time to watch it. It is mesmerizing.
Art Direction– Alice in Wonderland wasn’t a particularly fantastic story, but it was certainly beautiful to behold. Though I wouldn’t be disappointed with an award for True Grit. Sorry Deathly Hallows. Wish they could have entered The Tale of the Three Brothers in the animated short category.
Cinematography– I don’t know much about this category, but I’m going to go with Inception or True Grit.
Costume Design– Again I say Alice in Wonderland was a true spectacle.
Directing– I love the Coen brothers and would not be sad to see them win for True Grit. However, a win for The Social Network or The King’s Speech wouldn’t be disappointing either. I’m glad I’m not the one who has to choose.
Documentary– Of the three films I saw, I enjoyed Gasland the most. If Banksy wins for Exit Through the Gift Shop, I’ll be pissed. I still really want to see Waste Land.
Film Editing– I think this one is going to The Social Network. Remember how fast paced and interwoven it was? Magic.
Foreign Language Film– I was only able to see one film in this category. If you like being weirded out by a film, don’t miss Dogtooth. WTF!!!
Makeup– I only saw The Wolfman. The movie got a little stupid towards the end, but the werewolves looked pretty damn awesome.
Original Score/Song– I honestly don’t remember the scores from any of these films. It usually takes a couple of watches for me to be able to appreciate those kinds of details. I confess, I have quite a few film scores in my iTunes library. I’m that kind of nerd. I also didn’t really notice any of the original songs. I groaned every time they started singing in Tangled, but I didn’t really enjoy that movie anyway. I hope Country Strong doesn’t win. I DO NOT want to watch that movie.
Best Picture– I loved every single one of these films, but I think the one that moved me the most had to be The King’s Speech. It wasn’t ground-breaking or avant garde. It was classical. It was beautiful storytelling. It was inspiring. It made me happy. It improved my life. That’s why it should win.
I didn’t get to see any of the short films. I bet they were cool.
Sound editing/mixing– Every year they explain the difference between these two and I always have a hard time remembering. I don’t really know what qualifies, but I’m going to guess Inception and The Social Network.
Visual Effects– Inception. Easy. Wow, that was a cool film to look at and try to wrap your head around.
Adapted Screenplay– The Social Network had a great script. The dialogue was so quick and so engaging. This one better win.
Original Screenplay– This is my final vote for The King’s Speech. If you want to know how I reacted to that movie, read https://reneerendall.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/the-food-of-the-soul/
The Oscars are way cooler than the Super Bowl. Watch a film. Change your life.
On This Island 
Melissa Leo deserves best supporting in my book. Rush and Bale were both fantastic, but so was Hawke! So under appreciated! Great post. Can’t wait to watch.
I see your point about Hawke. Winter’s Bone was one of the best movies no one will ever see.