Best Picture Nominees
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech – Joe, ChrisO
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Joe’s Prediction: “The King’s Speech” by far. I am predicting it dominates the Academy Awards. Everything about it is incredible, from the brilliant cast to the beautiful cinematography. A potentially slow or boring story is given such life and humor through the wonderful script and talented actors. It’s a great blend of film as art as well as entertainment. The only real competition this has is “The Social Network.” If that wins (like it did at the Golden Globes), then I don’t even know what to say. That’s a movie based off of a fad. A well made movie, but quality-wise doesn’t compare to “The King’s Speech.”
ChrisO’s Prediction: The King’s Speech. Originally I had The Social Network down as winning but I just saw it and The King’s Speech is just a better movie and much more deserving. Right now it is obviously the frontrunner and certainly worthy of Best Picture. In more ways than one it is just a better film than the only other obvious contender. I think the academy will pick a story that follows history pretty accurately; since most people say The Social Network is entirely untrue. But this is the Oscars, anything could happen.
Who Gets Robbed? Toy Story 3. God, that movie is good. This may be the best chance any animated movie would ever have to take this category but sadly it won’t. If any company is going to do it though, Pixar will.
Best Actor Nominees
Javier Bardem: “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges: “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg: “The Social Network”
Colin Firth: “The King’s Speech” – Joe, ChrisO
James Franco: “127 Hours”
Joe’s Prediction: Colin Firth. The Academy loves when actors play real people and Firth’s performance was incredible. He was just so convincing as the stuttering king who had to deal with fear and being incredibly self-conscious about himself and his abilities as a king. Also, he worked incredibly well with Helena-Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush. James Franco is the only one I can see as being competition, but I still think Firth has got this, as great as Franco was.
ChrisO’s Prediction: Colin Firth. There is no way he is not winning this year, especially after being nominated last year. His performance was by far the best, the stuttering king was absolutely perfect, and he deserves this award more than anyone else.
Who Gets Robbed? James Franco. Colin Firth still deserves the best actor award, but if he wasn’t in the running James Franco would hands down be the winner. Sorry James, I know you’re hosting but the academy will recognizing how awesome you are some day. I am sure you will win eventually.
Best Actress Nominees
Annette Bening: “The Kid’s Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman: “The Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence: “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman: “Black Swan” – Joe, ChrisO
Michelle Williams: “Blue Valentine”
Joe’s Prediction: I’m almost positive that Natalie Portman is winning this. Not only did she star in one of 2010’s best and most entertaining films, but her performance was wonderful and showed a huge, gradual change, from an innocent, shy ballet dancer, to just about the complete opposite. Portman has won the Screen Actor’s Guild Award and The Golden Globe, so I feel like the Academy will follow suit.
ChrisO’s Prediction: Natalie Portman. The buzz off of her performance and the multiple awards she has won for it pretty much guarantee this a win. Don’t doubt on this one, Portman has got it in the bag.
Who Gets Robbed? No one, because Natalie is going to win.
Best Supporting Actor Nominees
Christian Bale: “The Fighter” – Joe, ChrisO
John Hawkes: “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner: “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo: “The Kid’s Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush: “The King’s Speech”
Joe’s Prediction: Christian Bale, literally no contest. He has won the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe Awards and he played a crack addict. Critics, the Academy, normal people, pretty much everyone eats that right up. His performance is one of the best of the year and solidifies Bale as one of the most talented actors, under the age of 40.
ChrisO’s Prediction: Christian Bale. I personally loved this movie and am pretty sad it’s not going to win much else. But Bale is going to win big. After going all out for so many roles, the academy has finally decided to recognize his acting chops. As an ex-boxer crack addict Dickey Ward, Bale was amazing. This is all his.
Who Gets Robbed? Christian Bale if he loses this award. No one else deserves this.
Best Supporting Actress Nominees
Amy Adams: “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham-Carter: “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo: “The Fighter” – Joe, ChrisO
Hailee Steinfeld: “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver: “Animal Kingdom”
Joe’s Prediction: I’m going with Melissa Leo as the matriarch in “The Fighter.” I had never heard of her before this film but she has won this award in a couple of other ceremonies so it seems like it will happen again at the Academy Awards.
ChrisO’s Prediction: Melissa Leo. All the awards and buzz point to her winning. Even if personally I preferred a couple other actresses on the list. Although admittedly, there is no real strong front runner.
Who Gets Robbed? Hailee Steinfeld surprisingly. Despite being surrounded by fantastic actors in True Grit, Hailee carried the movie. If she wins I think it would be a pleasant surprise because she played her role fantastically.
Best Director Nominees
Darren Aronofsky: “Black Swan”
Joel and Ethan Coen: “True Grit”
David Fincher: “The Social Network” - ChrisO
Tom Hooper: “The King’s Speech” - Joe
David O. Russell: “The Fighter”
Joe’s Prediction: I am assuming and hoping that Tom Hooper wins, for obvious reasons. He got incredible performances from his cast, among many other wonderful things in that film.
ChrisO’s Prediction: David Fincher. A win for him is long overdue and we all know the Oscars hate to not give awards to previous nominees. Plus, he made a movie about Facebook exciting, which takes a little skill.
Who Gets Robbed? Christopher Nolan! He still hasn’t received even a nomination for best director yet! This is ludicrous.
Best Documentary Nominees
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo – Joe, ChrisO
ChrisO’s Prediction: Restrepo is the only film on this list I have heard about and wanted to see. So I forced Joe to go along with my decision.
Best Original Screenplay Nominees
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech – Joe, ChrisO
Joe’s Prediction: “The King’s Speech” will win this unless the Academy falls for the lesbian propaganda in “The Kids Are All Right” or for the charm of Christopher Nolan.
ChrisO’s Prediction: The King’s Speech. I see very little chance of another film winning this award. Mostly because King’s Speech is going to bring home the most gold.
Best Adapted Screenplay Nominees
127 Hours
The Social Network - ChrisO
Toy Story 3 - Joe
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Joe’s Prediction: Although the four films on this list that I have seen were incredibly well written, I think it’s about time that Pixar gets honored for their consistently brilliant, charming storytelling. They are some one of the best filmmakers in the business and “Toy Story 3” was the perfect blend of humor, action, and emotion. Even though the film tread a lot of old ground, it still felt so fresh.
ChrisO’s Prediction: The Social Network. It’s a movie about Facebook. That people enjoyed. It’s about a freaking website that got nominated for best picture. Of course it’s going to win this.
Best Animated Film Nominees
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3 – Joe, ChrisO
Joe’s Prediction: They should not have even bothered nominating the other two, “Toy Story 3” is winning it. Pixar has won this award the majority of the years that it has existed, including the past three years in a row. I don’t see them breaking that track record anytime soon.
ChrisO’s Prediction: This IS Pixar’s category. Why do other movies even bother? Although, I am wondering why Tangled wasn’t nominated.
Who Gets Robbed? Toy Story 3 if it loses. Pixar may always win, but that’s because they deserve it.
Best Foreign Language Film Nominees
Biutiful – Joe, ChrisO
Dogtooth
In a Better World
Incendies
Outside the Law
Joe’s Prediction: I’ve only heard of “Biutiful,” so I will go with that one. It does look extremely good though, and I would like to rent it sometime.
ChrisO’s Prediction: “Biutiful” is the only movie on this list that had an actor nominated for an Oscar as well.
Best Cinematography Nominees
Black Swan
Inception - ChrisO
The King’s Speech – Joe
The Social Network
True Grit
Joe’s Prediction: “The King’s Speech may be the most visually stunning film that I have ever seen in theaters, at least in my top 5.
ChrisO’s Prediction: Inception. If any movie brought home the most excitement this year, it was Inception. I enjoyed every minute of its incredible shots. Even if the plot falls through with every subsequent viewing.
Best Editing Nominees
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech – Joe, ChrisO
The Social Network
Joe’s Prediction: I cannot think of a bad thing to say about “The King’s Speech” right now.
ChrisO’s Prediction: This is another hard one to determine who will win, but The King’s Speech is getting almost everything else so they might as well grab this one too.
Best Art Direction
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Inception – ChrisO
The King’s Speech - Joe
True Grit
Joe’s Prediction: The sets and anything else you see in “The King’s Speech” I would describe as stunning. However, Inception and True Grit also had beautiful art direction as well, so who knows.
ChrisO’s Prediction: Inception. Most visually stunning movie of the decade. As long as Alice
Best Costume Nominees
I Am Love
The King’s Speech – Joe, ChrisO
The Tempest
True Grit
Joe’s Prediction: Well, the Academy usually loves costumes involving England
ChrisO’s Prediction: The academy loves period dramas. And they love the costumes more. Alice
Best Make-up Nominees
Barney’s Version - Joe
The Way Back
The Wolfman - ChrisO
Joe’s Prediction: “Barney’s Version” is the only one I saw on this list. The make-up was great though, since the film took place over a few decades, requiring the characters to age realistically.
ChrisO’s Prediction: I honestly haven’t seen any of these movies but Wolfman was praised for its makeup work right from the get go, even if it was a so-so movie.
Best Original Score Nominees
127 Hours - Joe
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception - ChrisO
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Joe’s Prediction: While all of these scores were extraordinarily well done, I am going with “127 Hours” for this one. It added so much to the drama of the film, and without it something would have seriously been lacking and hindered the enjoyment of it. Plus, it’s the same composer that did the “Slumdog Millionaire” score.
ChrisO’s Prediction: Inception. Hans Zimmer is a veteran of composing and Inception had the most iconic music of 2011. Its distinctive BWAAA, while quickly annoying, is easily distinguishable. I barely noticed the other ones.
Best Original Song Nominees
127 Hours: “If I Rise”
Country Strong: “Coming Home”
Tangled: “I See the Light” – Joe, ChrisO
Toy Story 3: We Belong Together”
Joe’s Prediction: Well I honestly don’t care at all for this award this year, ever since the Academy didn’t nominate “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me,” from “Burlesque. Basically the only quality part of the entire movie and it won the Golden Globe, which we know doesn’t mean that much, but it still should have been nominated so James Franco could have dressed as Cher and Cher would join him on stage and sing this powerful, wonderful song, oozing with emotion…it would have been great. And in all honesty it’s one of the best original songs, in a musical in years. I guess I will go with “I See the Light” from “Tangled. The rest I cannot remember off the top of my head. And maybe it’s about time Disney starts winning this award again.
ChrisO’s Prediction: I See the Light from Tangled seems to be the frontrunner. Disney could win both ways with either this and We Belong Together. Doesn’t really matter to me but Tangled should win something.
Who Gets Robbed? Apparently Cher does. Of course Joe would follow her to the ends of the Earth but I assume the song couldn’t have been that bad. And James Franco dueting with Cher would be amazing.
Best Sound Mixing Nominees
Inception – Joe, ChrisO
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit
Joe’s Prediction: “Inception” had a lot going for it in generally, but more specifically regarding sound. It added greatly to the thrilling nature of this blockbuster spectacle.
ChrisO’s Prediction: Inception. Is Salt really on here?
Inception - Joe
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy - ChrisO
True Grit
Unstoppable
Joe’s Prediction: I guess “Inception.” I really have trouble differentiating between this award and the previous one, even though there is a difference.
ChrisO’s Prediction: TRON. So many things detract from TRON, but the one place it scores so many points is the sound department
Best Visual Effects Nominees
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Hereafter
Inception – Joe, ChrisO
Iron Man 2
Joe’s Prediction: As much as I loved the tsunami scene at the beginning of “Hereafter,” “Inception” had incredible visual effects all throughout the film. Nothing looked fake, which is nice because “Alice
ChrisO’s Prediction: Inception had some of the greatest effects I have ever seen. The lack of CGI crap clogging my brain makes it even more enjoyable. And the scene with the rotating hallway blew my mind. Inception wins.
And there you have it, Joe has The King's Speech winning 8 awards this year while ChrisO has it winning only 5. Make your own predictions and watch the show on the 27th!
