Well, ladies and gentlemen, we are now around 24 hours away from the Oscars, Hollywood's biggest night and my Christmas. If you haven't been keeping up, you can see my pieces on
Best Supporting Actress,
Best Supporting Actor,
Best Actress,
Best Actor,
Best Adapted and Original Screenplays,
Best Director, and
Best Picture by clicking on the links. These are the rest of the nominees, which I've grouped here together because I haven't seen a lot of these nominations, whether because of availability or lack of time. Therefore, there won't be any of my ballots for these, just thoughts and predictions. I hope to see all of them someday.
Also, since I'm a shameless self-promoter, be sure to log on tomorrow night for my 2nd Annual Oscar Live-Blog, which will hopefully be starting exactly at 8 pm EST. I hope you'll all check it out.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
At first glance, there shouldn't really seem like there's much competition here, since Toy Story 3 has a Best Picture nomination and was the biggest moneymaker and best-reviewed film of the year. However, there's a lot of love for How to Train Your Dragon, and if it did win I wouldn't be very disappointed since its an excellent film, perhaps the best that Dreamworks has made thus far. Unfortunately for Sylvain Chomet, who competed here in 2003 against Pixar's Finding Nemo, he'll most likely have to settle for "its an honor just to be nominated." In the end, though, I think Toy Story 3 will give Pixar its sixth win in this category.
BEST ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit
Yes, yes,
The King's Speech was shot on a set that was used in a gay porn, but production designer Eve Stewart has said before that she was using a previously-existing set that had been spruced up for the film, and with ballots having been sent in before this was discovered, it doesn't make a difference now anyway. The least impressive work here comes from
Harry Potter, with most of the film occurring outdoors, thus, I assume, little set design (feel free to tell me otherwise - I'm no expert on this stuff, and would love to know better).
True Grit is a similar case, but the designs of the Old West town are great, especially that dusty courtroom that Rooster is interrogated in. The best, in my opinion, is Inception, with it's elaborate sets that were creative and eye-catching. And before we say that
The King's Speech will take this one, consider this: no Tim Burton film nominated in this category has ever lost. Hopefully, the hideous excuse for a film that is
Alice in Wonderland will be the first.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network True Grit
If there's anyone in this category who's most overdue for an Oscar, its
True Grit's Roger Deakins, who to date has nine nominations but no wins, and he's certainly put forward an incredible piece of work in this film, bringing out the stark, empty beauty of the landscapes.
The King's Speech's Danny Cohen, in his first nomination, does some interesting work in his film, but none of its flashy enough to grab attention; he'll need his film to sweep to get a win here. The same goes for
The Social Network's Jeff Cronenweth, another first time who does fine work but not vital work. Wally Pfister has collaborated with Christopher Nolan on all of the latter's films since
Memento, and one of these days he'll win the Oscar that he so richly deserves for his innovative work (just think of the zero-gravity hallway or the falling van in
Inception). If it was my choice, I'd go with Matthew Libatique's claustrophobic handheld camera work in
Black Swan, which fittingly added to the paranoia and psychologically-disturbing qualities of the film. But I suspect that they'll give Deakins his first win, partly out of "its his time" sentimentality and because its likely the only place they'll reward
True Grit this year.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit
Of course, all of the costumes in
True Grit have that rugged Wild West feel, but I was particularly impressed by the doctor in the bear suit; first-time nominee and frequent Coen collaborator Mary Zophres really outdid herself on that one. Jenny Beavan's work on
The King's Speech was positively regal, and is probably the most likely winner here this year. Sandy Powell and Colleen Atwood square off again, this time with two fantasy pieces: the former created some inventive duds for Julie Taymor's Shakespeare adaptation
The Tempest (Taymor, directoral abilities aside, must be a dream to work for as a costume designer) while the latter's costumes were probably the best part of
Alice in Wonderland, which is damning praise if there ever was any. I haven't seen
I Am Love yet, but Antonella Cannarozzi's designs look positively sumptuous. Like I said, though, Beavan will probably take home her second Oscar tomorrow night.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land
This year, I only managed to catch two of the nominees, though I could have seen four had it not been for bad timing.
Exit Through the Gift Shop has caused quite a stir over how Banksy would claim his Oscar should he win, but since the film may not necessarily be a real documentary a la
F for Fake, I doubt that's a very likely scenario. I do think that it was one of the best films of the year, though, as it claimed the #7 spot on my top 10 list. I just missed being able to see
Inside Job, and I suspect its something of a frontrunner for its expose of the financial crisis of 2008 that plunged us into what is now being dubbed the Great Recession.
Gasland, about the growth of natural gas production in the United States, was another film I missed, but it hasn't been buzzy enough to be considered a frontrunner. The same goes for
Waste Land, a film about an artist whose works are composed of recycled products from Rio de Janeiro's largest landfill. I did happen to catch
Restrepo on National Geographic one day, and the first-hand footage of the war in Afghanistan is powerful stuff. This film, to me, seems to be exactly what the Academy would like to honor, and I think it'll walk away the winner.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang
I haven't seen any of these films, but based on subject matter, Killing in the Name (a first-hand account of suicide bombings) and The Warriors of Qiugang (Chinese locals protesting a harmful chemical plant) seem like the best bets, but Poster Girl (women in the Iraq War), Strangers No More (a multinational elementary school in Tel Aviv) and Sun Come Up (environmental refugees in Papua New Guinea) certainly sound like possibilities too. Really, I just don't know.
BEST FILM EDITING
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
There are very few instances of a film winning Best Picture without having an editing nomination, and with all five of these nominees being BP nominees as well, winning here can only help their case (sorry,
True Grit and the egregiously-snubbed
Inception).
127 Hours features the usual quick-paced edits that have come to define director Danny Boyle's films, and these cuts help keep the film in constant motion when its protagonist obviously isn't. The edits in
The Social Network are essential to the film's time-jumping narrative, and establishes the setting for each scene well. I can't think of anything outstanding about
The King's Speech in this regard, but
The Fighter has some great work, particularly in the fight scenes. However, if any film deserves this, its
Black Swan for the way that the editing does the exact opposite of what it does in
The Social Network, blurring the line between delusion and reality until the two are completely inseparable.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Biutiful, Mexico
Dogtooth, Greece
In a Better World, Denmark
Incendies, Canada
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi), Algeria
There's a diverse field of films here this year, and I managed to see two of them before the Oscar ceremony (this is a first for me - before this year, I'd never seen a foreign language nominee before the ceremony).
Biutiful, which would seem to be a frontrunner since its from a well-known director who's been Oscar nominated before (Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu, who was nominated for Best Director for
Babel in 2006 and had his first film
Amores Perros nominated in this category in 2000) and was nominated in Best Actor this year as well (Javier Bardem). However, the film's received mixed reviews, so I doubt Mexico will end its winless streak this year (the nation currently has no wins for eight nominations).
Dogtooth, the other film I've seen, is a fantastically and disturbingly original film, but its probably too weird for the Academy's tastes.
Incendies tackles the Middle East, and played well on the festival circuit, but I don't think its buzzy enough to win. Denmark's
In a Better World is currently the favorite to win, and I think it definitely has the best chance at taking home the prize. However, if they want to get political and show their support for the democratic revolutions in North Africa, they could easily give the prize to Algeria's
Outside the Law, which is about the struggle for Algeria's independence from France. Its probably a long shot, but I think an upset is definitely in the cards.
BEST MAKEUP
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman
I think its telling that all three of these films received their only nominations here. Barney's Version features lots of aging makeup, as the entire cast is aged backwards and forwards to cover their entire lives. The Way Back, which was projected to be a much, much bigger awards presence before it was dumped for release on the last day of the year and being ultimately forgotten, mostly requires the dirtying-up of its protagonists, as well as slimming them down to make them look like they broke out of Siberian gulag. However, I think the obvious winner here is going to be the least-acclaimed film of the group: The Wolfman features dynamic transformation effects courtesy of makeup artist extraordinare Rick Baker, who used similar werewolf-transformation techniques to win the first Makeup Oscar in 1981 for An American Werewolf in London.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
I'm really impressed by all of this year's nominees, who've brought a variety of styles to their films. I don't think anyone would have thought A.R. Rahman would be nominated again after his win in 2008 for scoring
Slumdog Millionaire, but he managed to return with his three-themed score for
127 Hours; its not complicated work, but it suits the film well. John Powell, earning his first nomination, deserves recognition for his brilliant, soaring work on
How to Train Your Dragon, a beautiful score that is uplifting and majestic. Alexandre Desplat, an Academy favorite, created a lush, regal score for
The King's Speech, and I would say that its the most likely to win. Han Zimmer's
Inception score is brash and unsubtle, but when integrated into the film its used excellently; stand-alone, though, its not likely to impress voters. If any score deserves it the most, though, I'd have to go with the unconventional industrial score by Trent Reznor (aka Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross for
The Social Network. For proof of the phenomenal work they've done, just listen to the foreboding, haunting track from the opening credits, "Hand Covers Bruise." That should be enough to win.