2010 Oscars: The Winners

Here are the winners of the 2010 Oscars:

• Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro
• Best Director: “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• Best Actress: Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
• Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique in “Precious”
• Best Original Screenplay: “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• Best Adapted Screenplay: “Precious” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• Best Foreign Language: “The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina
• Best Animated Film: “Up” Pete Docter
• Best Documentary: “The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
• Best Cinematography: “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
• Best Art Direction: Avatar” Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
• Best Costumes: “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell
• Best Editing: “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• Best Score: “Up” Michael Giacchino
• Best Song: “The Weary Kind”(Crazy Heart) Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
• Best Makeup: “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• Best Visual Effects: “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones
• Best Sound Editing: “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• Best Sound Mixing: “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• Best Animated Short: “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• Best Live Action Short: “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
• Best Documentary Short: “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor

I did reasonably well in my predictions this year, getting 17 of 24 correct. If you count my first and second picks then the only one I was completely off on was Best Documentary Short (23 of 24). "The Hurt Locker" cleaning up both the Sound categories was a huge surprise. I really thought that the Academy would recognize "Avatar" over "The Hurt Locker" for Best Picture, but clearly (6 wins to 3 wins) they preferred the little war picture (which was excellent) to the amazing, cinematic experience from the creative genius of the unlikeable James Cameron. They both are great films but I suspect "Avatar" will be the one that is remembered more 50 years from now.

2010 Oscars: MadProfessah's Predictions

BEST PICTURE
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
"The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)
"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
"An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
"A Serious Man" (Focus Features)
"Up" (Walt Disney)
"Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

Should Win: Avatar
Will Win: Avatar

BEST DIRECTOR

• "Avatar" (20th Century Fox) James Cameron
• "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow
• "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company) Quentin Tarantino
• "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels
• "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman

Should Win: James Cameron, Avatar
Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

BEST ACTOR

• Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)
• George Clooney in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Colin Firth in "A Single Man" (The Weinstein Company)
• Morgan Freeman in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)
• Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)

Should Win: Colin Firth, A Single Man
Will Win: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

BEST ACTRESS

• Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)
• Helen Mirren in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Carey Mulligan in "An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
• Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia" (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Should Win: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Will Win: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Matt Damon in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)
• Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger" (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
• Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones" (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
• Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)

Should Win: Christoph Walz, Inglourious Basterds
Will Win: Christoph Walz, Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Penélope Cruz in "Nine" (The Weinstein Company)
• Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)
• Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)

Should Win: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Will Win: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal
• "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company) Written by Quentin Tarantino
• "The Messenger" (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• "A Serious Man" (Focus Features) Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• "Up" (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Should Win: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Will Win: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• "District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• "An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• "In the Loop" (IFC Films) Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Should Win: Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Will Win: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Avatar Breaks $700m Domestic Gross Record

Avatar has now grossed a record-breaking $700 million, domestically. I guess that's just a consolation prize for writer-director-producer James Cameron, because it is looking more and more likely that his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow will win the Best Director Oscar, and her film The Hurt Locker, will win the Best Picture Oscar.

The two films went head-to-head at "British Oscars" (formally known as the BAFTAs) and The Hurt Locker won 6 awards: Picture, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing and Sound. (Avatar won one, for Visual Effects.) The BAFTAs are looked at closely as precursors for the Academy Awards because often the films that are nominated there are also nominated for BAFTAs and the two award ceremonies have similar categories.

The Oscars are on Sunday March 7th. I will have my annual Oscar prediction post up within the next week. I correctly predicted 82% of the Top 8 categories of this year's Oscar nominations. Last year I correctly preidcted all 8 of the Top 8 categories (no surprises with a Slumdog Millionaire sweep) and 20 of 24 categories overall.

2010 Oscars: Nominations Announced

The 2010 Oscar Nominations were announced this morning and MadProfessah did pretty well in predicting the Top 8 categories. I got 4 categories (Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor) completely correct and overall,out of 45 possible nominations, I predicted 37 correctly, or an 82%accuracy rate.

Interesting notes: Lee Daniels becomes the first openly gay and second African American nominated for Best Director, in the same year the 4th woman is nominated (Kathryn Bigelow, who will most likely win!)

Diane Kruger and Julianne Moore were robbed!

The fact that The Hurt Locker was able to tie Avatar for total nominations at 9 is huge, because roughly 100 times more people have seen the latter.

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus An Education
Precious
Star TrekThe Blind Side
The HangoverA Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Accuracy Rate: 7 out of 10.

Best Director

• Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron, Avatar
• Lee Daniels, Precious
• Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Accuracy Rate: 5 out of 5

Best Actress

• Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren, The Last Station
• Casey Mulligan, An Education
  
• Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
• Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Accuracy Rate: 5 out of 5

Best Actor

• Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
• George Clooney, Up in the Air
• Colin Firth, A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman, Invictus
• Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Accuracy Rate: 5 out of 5

Best Supporting Actress

• Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
• Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
• Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds Penelope Cruz, Nine
  
• Mo'Nique, Precious
• Julianne Moore, A Single Man Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart

Accuracy Rate: 3 out of 5

Best Supporting Actor

• Matt Damon, Invictus
• Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
• Christophe Walz, Inglourious Basterds

Accuracy Rate: 5 out of 5

Best Original Screenplay

• Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron, Avatar Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
• Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
• Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of SummerBob Peterson and Pete Docter, Up

Accuracy Rate: 3 out of 5

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, District 9
• Nora Ephron, Julie & Julia Jesse Armstrong and Simon Blackwell, In the Loop
• Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
• Nick Hornby, An Education
• Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Accuracy Rate: 4 out of 5