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 Final Picks

I have previously posted my predictions for who I think should win (and who I think will win) in the Top 8 categories.

Here are my picks for all 24 categories:

Best Picture: Avatar (2nd: The Hurt Locker)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow (2nd: James Cameron )
Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker (2nd: Inglourious Basterds)
Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air (2nd: Precious)
Actor: Jeff Bridges (2nd: Jeremy Renner)
Actress: Sandra Bullock (2nd: Meryl Streep)
Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique (2nd: Maggie Gyllenhaal)
Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (2nd: Stanley Tucci)
Editing: The Hurt Locker (2nd: Avatar)
Art Direction: Avatar (2nd: Sherlock Holmes)
Sound: Avatar (2nd: The Hurt Locker)
Sound Editing: Avatar (2nd: The Hurt Locker)
Cinematography: Avatar (2nd: The Hurt Locker)
Costumes: The Young Victoria (2nd: Bright Star)
Documentary: The Cove (2nd: Food, Inc)
Foreign Language: A Prophet (2nd: The White Ribbon)
Animated Film: Up (2nd: Fantastic Mr. Fox)
Animated Short: A Matter of Loaf and Death (2nd: Logorama )
Live Action Short: The New Tenants (2nd: Abracadabra )
Documentary Short: China’s Unnatural Disaster (2nd: The Last Truck)
Makeup: Star Trek
Score: Up (2nd: Sherlock Holmes)
Song: The Weary Kind (from Crazy Heart)
Visual Effects: Avatar

I'll check in later. This year is much harder to predict than most!

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

2010 Oscars: Nominations Predictions

Tomorrow morning at 5:30am PST (Tuesday February 2) the 82nd Academy Award nominations will be announced for films released in 2009 (Review my Top 10 movies of 2009 list here). After seeing the actual nominations on Tuesday I will post a more extensive post with my predictions for the winners of the Top 8 awards. In previous years, Mad Professah has done pretty well in predicting both nominations and wins. In 2008 I won an online Oscars predictions contest (by picking 18 out of 24 awards correct) that resulted in having free Netflix for 6 months! Last year, I correctly picked all of the Top 8 winners and 20 of 28 categories but since the sweep by Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire was widely expected, I didn't win any Oscar contests.

The big change this year is a return to 10 nominees for Best Picture.

Best Picture

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Precious
Star Trek
The Hangover
Up
Up in the Air

Best Director

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

Best Actress

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

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

Best Supporting Actress

• Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
• Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
• Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds
• Mo'Nique, Precious
• Julianne Moore, A Single Man

Best Supporting Actor

• Matt Damon, Invictus
  
• Josh Brolin, Milk
• Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
• Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Walz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Original Screenplay

• Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron, Avatar
• Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
• Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
  

Best Adapted Screenplay

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

Total Nominations

1. Avatar, 10
   
2. Up in the Air, 8
   
3. The Hurt Locker, 7
4. Inglourious Basterds, Precious 6

'Avatar' Surpasses $500m Domestic; Wins Golden Globes

Avatar (see MadProfessah review) has become the fastest movie to hit the $500 million mark in North American box-office history, achieving that feat exactly one month (32 days) after its December 18 release, on January 18.

This was one day after the Golden Globes shook up the Oscar race by awarding the film Best Picture (Drama) and James Cameron Best Director, shutting out the critical darling (and my second favorite movie of the year), The Hurt Locker (see MadProfessah review) and it's director (Cameron's ex-wife) Kathryn Bigelow.

Avatar's total is currently at $505 million and should surpass The Dark Knight as the #2 all-time domestic box-office champ (behind Titanic at $600m) by the end of the weekend.

Top 10 Movies of 2009

For the first time, (unlike my lists from 2008, 2007, 2006 or 2005) my annual Top 10 list will only include movies that I saw in 2009, not just movies that were released in 2009 (and are eligible for the 2009 Oscar) but that actually I saw later. Anyway, here is MadProfessah's list of Top 10 movies for 2009:

10. A Single Man. The film debut by fashion designer Tom Ford, and featuring Oscar-worthy performances by Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, A Single Man is a film about loss, grief and hope.

9. Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos). It's always a good year when there is a new Pedro Almodóvar film released. Features an incredible performance by Penelope Cruz and some fun self-referential jokes in the movie within a movie.

8. Outrage. A brilliant documentary about media hypocrisy in the coverage of homosexuality in political circles by the director of This Film Is Not Yet Rated, Kirby Dick. Senator Larry Craig, Governor Charlie Crist, Governor James McGreevey are just a few of the names that are bandied about in the film.

7. The Hangover. A bawdy, ridiculous comedy about a bachelor party weekend in Vegas that goes hyperbolically, hysterically wrong. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and the apparently ubiquitous Zach Galifianakis are pitch perfect in this screwball comedy directed by Todd Phillips.

6. Star Trek. J.J. Abrams has the Midas touch. The director took the dross that was the Star Trek brand and turned it into cinematic gold with this energetic, smart re-boot of the most venerable science fiction franchise in Hollywood. Yes, the plot is a mess, but the film (and its youthful stars) are well worth ogling.

5. District 9. Who says summer blockbusters have to have huge budgets and be mindless? South African director Neil Blomkamp is able to amaze and provoke the audience with his allegorical tale of mistreatment of a despised minority group by the government, in a country which has its own unique history with state-sanctioned mistreatment of its citizens.

4. Food, Inc. After seeing this film you'll never look at dinner the same way again, but you will be happy that you did. An absolutely must-see documentary in the spirit of An Inconvenient Truth and Sicko that tells uncomfortable truths about the way our society is organized and offers suggestions for how we can stop being complicit in making things worse for us all.

3. Up. Yet another Pixar masterpiece. It seems like the geniuses at the computer animation are just messing with our heads now. They just showed how to take a curmudgeonly old man, a socially awkward, chubby Asian kid and a talking dog and make an emotionally evocative, suspense-thriller summer blockbuster out of these unlikely elements. One of the better Pixar animated films, and that is saying something.

2. The Hurt Locker. After being exposed to another ecstatic review as the summer was winding down, me and the Other Half went to a nearly empty late screening of Kathryn Bigelow's masterpiece and were unceremoniously blown away by the visceral power the film has to transport the viewer into the heart of a war zone and too close for comfort to the mind of an adrenaline-junkie bomb dismantling soldier played with devastating impact by Jeremy Renner, in a performance that is now beoming widely celebrated.

1. Avatar. The most enjoyable time I spent at the movies all year (really, in several years) was the nearly six hours I spent immersed in watching this film by James Cameron twice in three days in 3-D. It brought back the joy of going to the movies that I remember the first time I saw Star Wars. An instant class and without a doubt the Best Picture of the year.

Honorable Mentions: Terminator Salvation, Up in the Air, Julie & Julia.

Not Seen in 2009: Precious, Fantastic Mr. Fox, A Serious Man, An Education, Invictus.

UPDATE: You might want to check out my Top 10 movies for the decade 2000-2009.

Golden Globe Nominations Are Out

The Golden Globe nominations are out:

Motion Picture, Drama
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air

Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical
500 Days of Summer
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine

Actress, Drama
Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabby Sidibe, Precious

Actor, Drama
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Tobey Maguire, Brothers

Actor Comedy/Musical
Matt Damon, The Informant
Daniel Day Lewis, Nine
Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes
Joe Gordon Levitt, 500 Days of Summer
Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man

Actress, Comedy
Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
Marion Cotillard, Nine
Julia Roberts, Duplicity
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Meryl Streep, It’s Complicated

Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Clint Eastwood, Invictus
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’nique, Precious
Julianne Moore, A Single Man

Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Screenplay
Neill Blomkampt & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Nancy Meyers, It’s Complicated
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Original Score
Michael Giacchino, Up
Marvin Hamlisch, The Informant
James Horner, Avatar
Abel Krozeniowski, A Single Man
Karen O. and Carter Burwell, Where the Wild Things Are

Foreign Language Film
Baria
Broken Embraces
The Maid
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon

Original Song
“Cinema Italiano,” Nine
“I Want To Come Home,” Everybody’s Fine
“I See You,” Avatar
“The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart
“Winter,” Brothers

Hat/tip to AwardsDaily

MOVIE REVIEW: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is the most critically acclaimed movie of the summer (98% rating at rottentomatoes.com) although it is approaching the end of its run in movie theaters, having grossed just over $12 million dollars so far. Over Labor Day weekend the Other Half and I saw it at the Mann Theaters 10 in Glendale.

This is probably the first outstanding artistic venture inspired by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The movie is an intense experience, engrossing the viewer immediately and keeping you on the edge of your seats. The Hurt Locker has been called "the best action movie of the summer" and a "viscerally exciting, adrenaline-soaked tour de force of suspense and surprise" by A.O. Scott of the New York Times (who incidentally can now be seen every weekend taking over for Siskel & Ebert on ABC's At The Movies television show).

Although the film was written by Mark Boal and directed by Kathryn Bigelow it has the look and feel of an unscripted documentary peek at real life of soldiers working in an explosive detection and remediation unit. There are three main characters, played brilliantly by Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner and Brian Geraghty but the real main character is the war in Iraq itself and the frustrating, bewildering, terrifying predicament these soldiers (and our country) have found ourselves in.

Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes. MPAA Rating: Rated R for war violence and language.

OVERALL GRADE: A+.

ACTING: A.
IMAGERY: A+.
PLOT: A.
IMPACT: A+.