2010 Oscar Update
Since my last Academy Award post, I've seen Up In the Air and The Hurt Locker.
I give Up in the Air five stars. I loved that it didn't follow the typical romantic comedy formula and kept you guessing right up until the end. The montages of people reacting to getting laid off were real people who had recently been laid off in real life – that added a real and heart-breaking touch. I'm not sure that Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick really had Oscar worthy performance though. They were both great but were they that great? I'll need to see the movies their competition are in to know for sure.
I give The Hurt Locker four stars. It was a great action movie and I found myself on pins and needles the entire time. The anxiety of the bomb squad soldiers was palpable in almost every scene. I didn't understand a lot of the military jargon and subtext but I still really enjoyed this movie.
BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Up in the Air
Inglourious Basterds
Up
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
A Serious Man
BEST ACTOR
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker
BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Mo'Nique – Precious
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Penelope Cruz – Nine
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
DIRECTOR
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Up
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ajami
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
The Milk of Sorrow
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon
BEST FILM EDITING
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
ART DIRECTION
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon
