Oscar Nominations Reviews
By Joe Boden and Rob Stevens
3rd February 2010

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man,
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, Up, Up in the Air

Rob Well, I didn't expect to see "The Blindside" in. It's good to see "Up" here, and "District 9". The Academy has sort of widened its church a little bit by making it ten. The front runners are still Avatar and The Hurt Locker, though
Joe Ten nominees could have gone one of two ways. We could have had ten oscar baiting films or an influx of interesting, left-wing choices. It looks like they've gone for some kind of a middle ground. A Serious Man, District 9, Blind Side, Up... didn't expect to see them... but they are still films that you're not exactly shocked to see present. And, as you say, ten doesn't really make a difference; "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" arre the only two I can see winning.
Rob Whats interesting about the "The Hurt Locker"/"Avatar" face off (aside of the Bigelow/Cameron battle I joked about before the Globes, which the press have jumped on) is that one is the commerical people's champ which made billions at the box office, while the other is the critics' darling which only just made its money back. It'll be interesting to see which one the Academy backs.
Joe Yeah, I see; it's a showdown between two different types of Oscar favourites.
Rob I've seen nine of the ten, and with the exception of "Precious", which is not good, I like all of them to varying degrees. There is kind of the lack of the really outstanding choice though.
Joe I'd say "Up" is outstanding, to be honest, and by far the best of the bunch. It was my third favourite film of the year (fourth now I've seen "Thirst"). I'd love it to win, but can't see it.
Rob Oh no, I think the next catagory still indicates which ones have a chance of winning.

Achievement in Direction
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker, James Cameron – Avatar, Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire,
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air, Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

Joe Yeah. These five are the ones that you would expect to have a chance in the Best Picture, most notably Bigelow and Cameron's efforts. Lee Daniels is a disgrace to films and to direction. His film is misery porn, and if it wins simply because it shows social themes (and it only shows them, not examines them), then it will be pretty much the final nail in the coffin for the Academy. Elsewhere, I wouldn't be unhappy if Reitman or Bigelow won, and would prefer QT to Cam.
Rob While I agree Daniels shouldn't be there, its for different reasons. "Precious" to me came off as a TV Movie of the Week, and I just find it disconnecting, which considering the subject matter is pretty shocking. I think Bigelow will win, and the Academy will at last break its duck of honouring women in this category.
Joe I wouldn't be disappointed to see Bigelow win. She deserves it.

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart as Bad Blake, George Clooney – Up in the Air as Ryan Bingham, Colin Firth – A Single Man as George Falconer,
Morgan Freeman – Invictus as Nelson Mandela, Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker as Sgt. William James

Rob No real surprises here. I think its between Bridges and Clooney for the win, Unless "The Hurt Locker" goes on a big sweep. I think Bridges is probably ahead of Clooney in the race so far, it probably will be him.
Joe "The Hurt Locker" certainly deserves a sweep, considering it's by far and away the best of the multi-nominated films, even if I think it's just good. I fancy Clooney to win, would hope for Bridges (haven't seen the film yet but come on, he deserves it, it's Jeff Bridges). I think it's fair to say it will be one of those two.

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side as Leigh Anne Tuohy, Helen Mirren – The Last Station as Sofya Tolstoy, Carey Mulligan – An Education as Jenny Miller,
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Clarieece "Precious" Jones, Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia as Julia Child

Joe Sandra Bullock is the surprise package this year. She could certainly be the favourite, with her Globe win and, of course, the fact that the film itself is in the Best Picture category. Gabourey Sidibe is one of the few things which aren't completely horrible about "Precious"... Meryl Streep has her token nomination yet again but, I think, won't be a winner here like she was at the Globes. I'd love to see Mulligan win just because it's a little different from the norm and because she was by far and away the best thing about "An Education".
Rob I haven't yet seen "The Blind Side", but I usually like Sandra Bullock. She has a habit of appearing in really bad films so it would be nice to have seen her make a good choice for once. I also think "The Blind Side" being in the Best Picture catagory pushes Sandra Bullock way ahead for this one. Elsewhere, always nice to see Helen Mirren, great to see Carey Mulligan. I can't say I saw "Julie and Julia".

Christoph Waltz in his nominated turn as Landa in QT's "Inglourious Basterds".

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon – Invictus as François Pienaar, Woody Harrelson – The Messenger as Capt. Tony Stone, Christopher Plummer – The Last Station as Leo Tolstoy, Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones as George Harvey, Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds as Col. Hans Landa

Joe This is the one that I've seen least nominations from, I think, simply because a lot of them haven't been released as of yet. I really like Tucci and, of course, it would be nice to see him win, even if the source material is shockingly shit. Damon has the factual source material on his side... Plummer is pretty deserving for his career and has had a seemingly great year. But, as you say, this one is Waltz's for the taking. His performance is slightly overrated and he shouldn't have beat Dafoe or "the dude from Un Prophete" at Cannes but he was indeed fantastic in "Basterds".
Rob I haven't seen "Last Station" yet, but am hearing good things about Plummer's Tolstoy. Its nice to see him get recognised anyway. I'm pretty sure, though, that Waltz will win.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Penélope Cruz – Nine as Carla Albanese, Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air as Alex Goran, Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart as Jean Craddock,
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air as Natalie Keener, Mo'Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Mary Lee Johnston

Rob It's probably going to Mo'Nique. Cruz isn't the best performance in the pretty-much-forgotten Nine, the "Up in the Air" nominations will probably split the vote, it's good to see Gyllenhaal recognised, though I haven't yet seen the film. But Mo'Nique is favourite.
Joe Gyllenhaal is the only performance I haven't seen from this list. Cruz was okay in "Nine" but it's Cotillard's that should have been recognized here. She was the real heart of that film and her performance was so sympathetic and engrossing... when put up against it Cruz felt little more than eye candy. The two "Up in the Air" performances are worthy of note, particularly Kendrick, who would be a frontrunner here, I think, if she had been more present in the film's final half hour. Mo'Nique is a poor choice, I think; she does nothing but shout for her entire performance. She only has impact because the things she says are "shocking" or "cruel", and the misery which she induces is nothing to do with characterization... it's so disgusting that she is - as you say - the favourite.

Best Adapted Screenplay
District 9 – Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, An Education – Nick Hornby, In the Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Ianucci and Tony Roche, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire – Geoffrey Fletcher, Up in the Air – Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Joe "In the Loop" is my personal favourite. It's a fantastic script; a fine exercise in creative swearing. It's helped out by fantastic delivery by the actors, but the dialogue they are fed was unrivaled last year. I don't think that it will win, though; it's too sweary for the Academy. "Up in the Air" or "Precious" are probably the favourites, and out of the two I would definitely prefer to see Reitman + Turner, obviously. "District 9" was alright... "An Education" was alright...
Rob I think its great to see a genre film like D9 get nominated here, even if you weren't keen on the film (which is a bit mad in itself; it was a great script). Congratulations to the "In the Loop" team as well, a magnificent script. And good luck to the dude who has to find a clip of the script that doesn't have a load of swearing in it on the night. I think the "An Education" screenplay was very good too.
Joe I think the D9 script had some incredible clunky dialogue here and there ("I didn't engage in... any... fokken' pornographic activity with a prawn..."), and although the script was indeed one of the better aspects for the first two acts, it's neglected in the finale in favour of conventional, poorly constructed robotic action. "In the Loop" all the way!
Rob That isn't clunky, that was genius! And largely ad-libbed.
Joe And largely shit.
Rob You're an idiot.

Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal, Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino,
The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen,
Up – Tom McCarthy, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter

Rob I've a feeling that they might go for Tarantino here. "The Hurt Locker" was great although a bit repetitive in the middle, kinda surprised to see "A Serious Man" but I don't see the Coens being honoured again so soon, and "Up" was amazing for the first half hour and then it turns into every other kiddies' animation
Joe I haven't seen "The Messenger", and I think "Inglourious Basterds" deserves to lose simply because of contemptible morals which the screenplay so clearly conveys, but the other three are good choices. "A Serious Man" would be in my top ten english-language films of last year, and "Up" was probably my second favourite behind a film which hardly had a chance here. I would love to see either of those win; it's probably the only category in which the Coens have a fighting chance, I think. Tarantino probably is the [undeserved] winner, though.
Rob "Wall-E" was nominated in this catagory last time around as well, perhaps the Academy are begining to take Pixar a bit more seriously these days.

"The White Ribbon"; the favourite for Best Film not in the English Language?

Best Film Not In the English Language
Ajami (Israel) in Arabic and Hebrew – Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina) in Spanish – Juan José Campanella,
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru) in Spanish and Quechua – Claudia Llosa, A Prophet (France) in French, Corsican and Arabic – Jacques Audiard,
The White Ribbon (Germany) in German – Michael Haneke

Joe There are three here that I haven't seen, or had a chance to see, but "A Prophet" and "The White Ribbon" are both excellent films. I'm kind of surprised that "Broken Embraces" isn't here; as you have said before, Almodovar is a proven world cinema favourite amongst the Academy crowd. I'd have liked to see the likes of "Blue Eyelids" or - in particular - "35 Shots of Rum" nominated, but "A Prophet" is the French film more likely to win, so you can see why it was put forward. My money is on Haneke, and it wouldn't be an undeserved win.
Rob I liked "The White Ribbon" a lot and I wouldn't be dissapointed to see it win. I'm seeing "A Prophet" next week though, so perhaps that will change my view if it lives up to the overwhelming praise it has received.
Joe I do think it's a little overrated. I had a drunken conversation with a Frenchman who said that Audiard was better than Godard, Cocteau, and Rohmer ("you wouldn't compare Shakespeare to Rushdie, would you?" he said... even my drunken conversations are pretentious, yes). I'm yet to be converted, even if both this and "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" were both good.

Best Animated Feature Film
Coraline – Henry Selick, Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson, The Princess and the Frog – Ron Clements andJohn Musker,
The Secret of Kells – Tomm Moore, Up – Pete Docter

Rob No "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" in animated, dissapointingly. "The Secret of Kells" is obviously the surprise choice, but it looks quite good, and it's good to have something I didn't really know about reccomeneded to me by such a body.
Joe "Up" will win, I think; Pixar seems to have the monopoly in this award (and rightly so). I did like "Fantastic Mr Fox", too, and found it to be an interesting and original take on Dahl; Dahl through the eyes of Anderson if you will. It remains to be seen if "The Princess and the Frog" lives up to the hype as Disney's return to form. "Up"'s presence in the best picture category pretty much guarantees a victory here.
Rob I agree that "Up" will win. The only way it won't is if they think they've honoured it enough by nominating it for Best Picture.

Best Original Score
Avatar – James Horner, Fantastic Mr. Fox – Alexandre Desplat, The Hurt Locker – Marco Beltrami and Beck Sanders,
Sherlock Holmes – Hans Zimmer, Up – Michael Giacchino

Rob Pretty surprised to see "Avatar" here, I don't remember a thing from that soundtrack. Mind you, its lack of appearances in the big catagories means that all its nominations come in the smaller ones. I’m pretty disappointed Karen O’s "Where The Wild Things Are" soundtrack was disqualified.
Joe James Horner's score just gets all the more surprising in its popularity. Can no one else see that it's a poorly constructed re-hash of all of Horner's other work? All of the reviews and net forums seem to recognize it... why can't these Awards ceremonys? "Fantastic Mr Fox" had an excellent score... "Up"'s was even better! Slightly surprised to see "Sherlock Holmes" here; it was indeed effective in raising the tension, but it seemed a little by the books to me. I think "Avatar" will win and "Up" should win...

Best Documentary Feature Film
Burma VJ – Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller, The Cove – Nominees to be determined, Food, Inc. – Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein,
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers – Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, Which Way Home – Rebecca Cammisa

Joe "Burma VJ" was fantastic; real riveting and honest cinema that took me by surprise with its unflinching portrayal of a totalitarian and - most scary of all - actual government and those who oppose it. I haven't, rather embarrasingly, seen any of the others, although I know that Tim talks very highly of "The Cove"...
Rob Indeed, I have seen none of these. "Food Inc" is released this month though, and I'll track down the others the best I can.

Double nominee in the Best Song category; Randy Newman.

Best Original Song
"Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog – Randy Newman, "Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog – Randy Newman,
"Loin de Paname" from Paris 36 – Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas, "Take it All" from Nine – Maury Yeston,
"Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart – Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett

Rob I thought "Be Italian" was unexpectedly the stand out song in "Nine", to be honest. I think Crazy Heart will win anyway. I see... No Leona.
Joe Thank God for that. "Take It All" is the fantastic Cotillard song from "Nine", right? I think the two Newmans may split each others' votes, and perhaps give "Take it All" a chance to sneak in. I certainly wouldn't be disappointed; those are the single best three minutes in that film.

Achievement in Cinematography
Avatar – Mauro Fiore, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Bruno Delbonnel, The Hurt Locker – Barry Ackroyd,
Inglourious Basterds – Robert Richardson, The White Ribbon – Christian Berger

Rob It's kinda funny seeing something like "The White Ribbon" and "Harry Potter" compete at anything. Just so different.
Joe That's hilarous! I hadn't noticed that. It's almost surprising to see that "The Road" hasn't be nominated. I'd say that its cinematography was more impressive and more important to the success of that film than "Potter"'s and "Inglourious Basterds"'s. "Avatar" or "The Hurt Locker" will probably win, with whichever one being more popular in other awards being equally so in the technical ones. "The White Ribbon" deserves it in the absense of "The Road".
Rob I think it should be "The Hurt Locker". Ackroyd is a great cinematographer, cut his teeth in documentary (and you can tell) with Nick Broomfield, and he's done all sorts of great work with Ken Loach and Paul Greengrass.

The Really Techincal Catagories (Full list of nominations here)

Rob Basically - Avatar is going to do really well at the other, technical stuff.
Joe Yeah, I can see where you are coming from. The fact that "Avatar" is not present for the acting awards (you can see why, though, eh?) it is set to dominate the technical ones, just so that the Academy can felate Cameron and the Industry can felate its technology. There's not really much to stand against it, to be honest. This is where "Avatar" will win the right to place 'winner of four hundred and twelve Academy Awards' on its dvd box set
Rob Well, from a technical point of view, Avatar is a marvel. I'm pretty glad it hasn't been nominated in acting - or indeed writing - because they really weren't worthy. The only thing is that the Academy voters tend to see things on screeners, so it will be devoid of 3D and all the bells and whistles that go with that.
Joe I think "Avatar" is pretty much a banker... in these, and - unfortunately - many other categories.