The official 83rd Academy Awards Nomination and Predictions Thread (1 Viewer)

[Michael Elliott]

I will somewhat agree with the bolded part but on the whole I still can't see why some people are calling this one of the greatest movies in the history of cinema. I'm personally glad it's doing so well at the box office. The word of mouth certainly got "new" people to go see the movie but the majority of them appear to be saying it's good but not great. I know the "it's great" crowd is a large one but I just don't see it.

I plan on watching the movie again just to see if there's something I missed but while I'd agree they got the job done I'm still a little shy about saying they did something great. I really didn't see anything that was an improvement over the original picture and I'd say even their last picture (A SERIOUS MAN) had better work done by them.

I think if I were behind INCEPTION, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, 127 HOURS or WINTER'S BONE then I'd be upset.

I'm also a little shocked that Polanski and THE GHOST WRITER did so poorly. It seemed like it would be a lock for at least one of the Best Picture noms.

Jeff Bridges is the only other one I'd throw a red flag at. DiCaprio x2 could have been selected or at least moved him to the Supporting Actor. He certainly wasn't the lead whereas the Supporting Actress was the lead and got dumped down, which in return took a spot from Moore.

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

The fact that TRUE GRIT is getting all this attention to me is somewhat funny but a director's nod over Christopher Nolan and INCEPTION? I didn't find INCEPTION to be the masterpiece that many did but its direction was certainly a lot more important factor than that in TRUE GRIT.

While I agree that Nolan was robbed of a Best Directing nod, I think the Coens work on "True Grit" is underestimated. When you consider that both Portis's novel and the Coens' screenplay use a completely different pattern of speech than contemporary American English, it's amazing that they were able to get realistic and natural delivery and performances from the entire cast. The direction is less flashy than other works this year (or even others of their own films) but it, for the most part, does exactly what it needs to.

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[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by Michael Elliott

I will somewhat agree with the bolded part but on the whole I still can't see why some people are calling this one of the greatest movies in the history of cinema. I'm personally glad it's doing so well at the box office. The word of mouth certainly got "new" people to go see the movie but the majority of them appear to be saying it's good but not great. I know the "it's great" crowd is a large one but I just don't see it.

I plan on watching the movie again just to see if there's something I missed but while I'd agree they got the job done I'm still a little shy about saying they did something great. I really didn't see anything that was an improvement over the original picture and I'd say even their last picture (A SERIOUS MAN) had better work done by them.


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Jeff Bridges is the only other one I'd throw a red flag at. DiCaprio x2 could have been selected or at least moved him to the Supporting Actor. He certainly wasn't the lead whereas the Supporting Actress was the lead and got dumped down, which in return took a spot from Moore.

I think True Grit is great, but I also think A Serious Man is a better overall film, mostly because it's a harder film to pull off well. True Grit has more going on "under the surface" than the general reviews give it credit for, but it's not quite in the "I was blown away" category.


DiCaprio may be his generation's Peter O'Toole. Of the films I've seen this year his performance in Shutter Island was the best. I really think Paramount screwed that film's awards ability over with the February release, though it was clearly the better short-term financial decision.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

I'm not sure where the line is for original vs. non-original music in the score category. I understand the disqualification of True Grit and Black Swan, as they are heavily (albeit skillfully) based on non-original material. As for Inception, it does use the pulse from that Edith Piaf song in several places at various speeds, but there's still a lot of "original" material there (I use the term loosely, as it sounds incredibly like much of Zimmer & Balfe's other recent output). However, didn't Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross rework portions of the Nine Inch Nails album "Ghosts I-IV" for the score for The Social Network? It wasn't like the whole score was based on it, but I wonder if this was considered.


At the end of the day, a composer has to do what's right for the movie, regardless of awards eligibility, but it's still funny to see where the Academy draws the line and where they don't.

 

[Rian]

Here's hoping Inception wins Best Picture but I'm going to say The King's Speech takes it. As for the other categories.


Best Actor - Colin Firth

Best Actress - Anette Benning

Supporting Actor - Christian Bale

Supporting Actress - Melissa Leo

Director - David Fincher


All subject to change after I see True Grit and The Fighter.

 

[Cory S.]

Inception's not winning a single award...not even the tech categories. They'll be split between the King's Speech, True Grit, and the Social Network.


Frankly, with the editing and directing snubs, Inception's filler at the Academy Awards this year and it's damn shame. It's only there to attract younger viewers who think Inception has a shot. It has no shot...not even in the category it should win, which is Original Screenplay. That's also going to the King's Speech.

 

[Ockeghem]

Originally Posted by Bryan Tuck

I'm not sure where the line is for original vs. non-original music in the score category. I understand the disqualification of True Grit and Black Swan, as they are heavily (albeit skillfully) based on non-original material. As for Inception, it does use the pulse from that Edith Piaf song in several places at various speeds, but there's still a lot of "original" material there (I use the term loosely, as it sounds incredibly like much of Zimmer & Balfe's other recent output). However, didn't Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross rework portions of the Nine Inch Nails album "Ghosts I-IV" for the score for The Social Network? It wasn't like the whole score was based on it, but I wonder if this was considered.


At the end of the day, a composer has to do what's right for the movie, regardless of awards eligibility, but it's still funny to see where the Academy draws the line and where they don't.

Bryan,


That's an interesting observation. When I saw the film a few weeks ago, I couldn't separate the hymns (non-original material, if you will) from the original material too easily, because I was greatly captivated by the hymn tunes (which I've sung, played, and analyzed over the years) that dominated the film's sound world. There were some wonderful orchestral passages (particularly some which were very modal as opposed to tonal) during a couple of the extended prairie scenes that were to me quite captivating. But I'm going to have to see this film again before I make any meaningful statements on the instrumentation, orchestration, or compositional properties.

 

[Edwin-S]

I'd pick True Grit for Best Picture, but I'm pretty sure that the entertaining, but shallow, frat boy movie The Social Network will take the award, no matter how undeserving it is of it. My other choice would probably be Inception but that film didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of ever winning a Best Picture Oscar.


As for the Coen's version of True Grit not improving on the original....I'd disagree. The Coen film makes the original look like a Made-for-TV movie.

 

[Steve Christou]

Hans Zimmer talked about his Inception score and nomination with Movieline, here's an excerpt.

Do you think of this as one of your most intense scores?
It’s the most me type of score. That’s what Chris [Nolan] wanted. Chris wanted it to be as much as what I wanted to write how I felt about things. So if you want to know anything about me, it’s probably the score that will give you the most insight. I wasn’t pretending, I was writing from my heart and my sense of aesthetics. It’s a weirdly personal score for me. Being one of your most personal scores, do you feel differently about this nomination compared to the other eight?
Absolutely.

Do you feel a desire to actually win the Oscar more than you have in the past?
I feel that it would be nice to win this one. It would be nice, but, at the same time, I’m really quite shocked that they didn’t nominate Chris for Best Director.

So you’re just as shocked as the rest of us?
Yes, absolutely. You know, I think part of what Inception did — part of what we keep doing, what Chris does, what we all do — we keep pushing the boundaries and we don’t quite know what we are doing yet. We might just be a year ahead usually. It takes people a little bit of time to catch up. For crying out loud, this isn’t like the director who just came in to direct. This is the writer-director. People really have to start understanding the difference between writer-directors and non-writer-directors.

You think writer-directors are more deserving?
Yes! It’s the complete thing. It’s every thought, utterance; every idea comes out of that one brain.

http://www.movieline.com/2011/01/hans-zimmer-reacts-to-his-inception-oscar-nomination-and-christopher-nolans-lack-of-an-oscar-nominat.php

 

[Lord Dalek]

I wonder if Hans Zimmer would get sued for winning an award for a score he probably didn't write?

 

[Ruz-El]

I agree with Hans! I'm one of those who loved "Inception", I liked the characters everyone seems to loath, I liked the idea and in IMAX it was one of the most visually splendid films I've seen in years. I thought it very original as well, and I don't recall any previous film that played with time like it did. Of course, it's a bit too Sci Fi so it wont win... :S


My picks are these:


Best Picture: The Kings Speech. Hollywood fears the internet, so this will beat out "The Social Network".

Best Director: David Fincher, because they have to give The Social Network something and it is a great looking picture.

Best Actor: Colin Firth, he has a british accent, that makes him a better actor then the rest.

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, because it's the closest to a handicapped supporting role.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman, for giving the old school academy their first boners in 10 years.

Best Supporting Actress: Hailiee Steinfeld, she's a kid and actually the lead actress, it's a lock.

Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3.

Art Direction: True Grit, it's old timey and american so it will get the period piece nod.

Cinematography: The Kings Speech, I don;t have a reason other then it will win best picture.

Documentary Feature: Retrepo, it's about American soldiers in war, it's a lock. (it's a pretty good doc too.)

Documentary Short - Poster Girl, sounds sexy, that's all they need to hear since no one actually see these films...

Film Editing: 127 hours, and it will be the big surprise award.

Sound Editing: Toy Story 3

Sound Mixing: Inception, this will be the throw the big money maker a bone award.

Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network, since it wont get best picture.

Original Screenplay: The Kings Speech


NOTE: hardly any of these would be my personal choices, I just figure this is how it will all go down.

 

[Joe*A]

It's amazing how no one seems to mention Despicable Me - the best Animated Feature this year. How To Train Your Dragon is definitely deserving of a nomination and before I saw Despicable Me thought that it will win Best Animated Feature but then Despicable Me was released and man, was that a great film. And then my bubble burst when it wasn't even nominated. It's a travesty I tell you...


Toy Story 3 was good, don't get me wrong, but it's basically a repeat of the previous films in terms of theme. Despicable Me was clever, funny to the nth degree, and very moving.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Joe*A

It's amazing how no one seems to mention Despicable Me - the best Animated Feature this year. How To Train Your Dragon is definitely deserving of a nomination and before I saw Despicable Me thought that it will win Best Animated Feature but then Despicable Me was released and man, was that a great film. And then my bubble burst when it wasn't even nominated. It's a travesty I tell you...


Toy Story 3 was good, don't get me wrong, but it's basically a repeat of the previous films in terms of theme. Despicable Me was clever, funny to the nth degree, and very moving.

Ehh. I thought "Despicable Me" was relentlessly mediocre. It offered mild entertainment, but I certainly found none of the positives you mention. "Toy Story 3" was infinitely more emotional, IMO...

 

[Edwin-S]

I thought Despicable Me was entertaining, but nothing too special. It certainly is not at the level of the other nominees in the Best Animated film category. My pick for the winner would be How to Train Your Dragon but Toy Story 3 with its manipulative, heartstring tugging storyline will be the winner in that category. The Best Animated feature category has to be the easiest one for Academy members to pick. They don't have to expend any energy analyzing or even watching anything in that category. As soon as they see the word Pixar they'll vote for it without even a seconds thought.

 

[TravisR]

^ By voting for Toy Story 3 in the Best Animated category/ghetto, they don't have to feel bad for not treating it like a real movie and they can continue to not treat animation as seriously as a movie with a human onscreen. And I'm not saying that TS3 was the best movie this year but it's better than most of its competition in the BP category and deserves serious consideration over just the nice pat on the head called Best Animated Feature.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

"Despicable Me" is elevated by the story of the three orphans. Each is well-rendered, and maybe it's because I absolutely can't stand seeing children abused or unloved, but it really got to me. Everything else in the movie is cute and often mildly clever, but pretty standard fare for modern CG animation.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

A bit of levity before the pretense takes over (not necessarily here; I just mean in general):


http://www.theshiznit.co.uk/feature/if-the-best-picture-nominee-posters-told-the-truth.php

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Those are great.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

"Despicable Me" is elevated by the story of the three orphans. Each is well-rendered

How do you figure? You had the leader, the bad one, and the cutesy one - that was as deep as those characters got.


Honestly, of the two "bad guy goes good" cartoons this year, I thought "Megamind" was vastly superior to "Despicable Me". It was actually funny and clever, while "DM" was just,,, meh!

 

[Steve Christou]

I too liked Megamind more than Dethpicable Me, I found it more enjoyable.


I don't know why that category is limited to 3 nominations. Megamind, Despicable Me, Tangled, Legend of the Guardians and even Shrek Forever After were all pretty good. And the top anime Summer Wars (released 2010 in the West) has already won a whole bunch of awards.


The 2011 Annie Award nominations -


http://www.annieawards.org/consideration.html#1

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Colin Jacobson

How do you figure? You had the leader, the bad one, and the cutesy one - that was as deep as those characters got.

Yes, they're archetypes. Virtually all characters in childrens' movies are. But the oldest one, Margot, had the cynicism of a kid who has been let down many times by the foster care system. She was the one who was the most fragile, and the one who most desperately needed a parent. Edith, the middle one, is weird enough to find all of Gru's PG-rated dasterdlyness right up her alley. And Agnes, the little one with the best lines, was the one who no one -- even Gru -- wanted to hurt because her innocence was wholly intact. What gave these children depth is that they saw both the obvious flaws of an evil villain as parent and the decent qualities just waiting to emerge. They each had a discrete way of looking at the world, and the differences were reflected in their dialogue over the course of the movie. My favorite was the following exchange: Margot: He's not going to kiss us goodnight, Agnes. Agnes: I like him. He's nice. Edith: But scary. Agnes: Yeah. Like Santa.