MY OSCAR PICKS
BEST PICTURE – THE KING’S SPEECH
TRUE GRIT is my favorite film of 2010, and my pick if I were handing out the Oscars. THE FIGHTER is also remarkable, in my top three along with BLUE VALENTINE, but I think my number four is the most “Oscarly,” if you will, and deservedly so.
BEST DIRECTOR – DAVID FINCHER, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
This category is a close one, but I think that although THE KING’S SPEECH will get the best picture nod, David Fincher’s work exceeded so many expectations that the best picture/director category will be split this year.
BEST ACTOR – COLIN FIRTH, THE KING’S SPEECH
I have not seen Javier Bardem’s performance in BIUTIFUL, but have seen the others. My personal favorite is Jeff Bridges in TRUE GRIT, but Bridges won the Best Actor honor last year. Jesse Eisenberg is terrific in THE SOCIAL NETWORK, and James Franco’s work in 127 HOURS is truly an achievement. However, it’s Colin Firth’s time.
BEST ACTRESS – JENNIFER LAWRENCE, WINTER’S BONE
The odds have Natalie Portman for BLACK SWAN, but having disliked the movie and Portman’s character’s constant weeping and whining so much I had to go with either Annette Bening or Jennifer Lawrence. I found Lawrence so natural and sympathetic and emotionally involving that I am going to go out on a limb for this little seen but terrific film.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – GEOFFREY RUSH, THE KING’S SPEECH
Though Christian Bale was terrific in THE FIGHTER, one of the year’s best films, Rush’s performance as the speech therapist in THE KING’S SPEECH was so perfect I don’t see how he could lose.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – JACKI WEAVER, ANIMAL KINGDOM
Perhaps the toughest category this year, with a remarkable performance by Hailee Steinfeld in TRUE GRIT (my favorite). But I am going with an underdog this year in Jacki Weaver in a bold and chilling performance as the “Ma Barker” head of a family gang of two-bit criminals in the Australian film ANIMAL KINGDOM. There were moments in that film that her performance chilled me.
BEST ANIMATED FILM – TOY STORY 3
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – THE KING’S SPEECH
THE KING’S SPEECH is such a simple story, and its delivered on film so delicately and with such grace and subtlety that I think it manages an edge over its competitors.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – THE SOCIAL NETWORK
The Coen brothers managed to take some pretty heady and awkward dialogue and make it work in TRUE GRIT. Their script is a complex but simple narrative line that results in a terrific movie. However, I think Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay for THE SOCIAL NETWORK will win the Oscar. The real trick in making a movie about the founding of Facebook is making it both suspenseful and gripping, and less about the technology and more about character and thematic elements, and Sorkin pulled it off in spades.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – THE SOCIAL NETWORK
I thought Hans Zimmer’s score for INCEPTION was fine work, but among the nominees the score for THE SOCIAL NETWORK by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross resonated strongly with me. It gave the movie an emotional power it might not otherwise have had.
TRUE GRIT is my favorite film of 2010, and my pick if I were handing out the Oscars. THE FIGHTER is also remarkable, in my top three along with BLUE VALENTINE, but I think my number four is the most “Oscarly,” if you will, and deservedly so.
BEST DIRECTOR – DAVID FINCHER, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
This category is a close one, but I think that although THE KING’S SPEECH will get the best picture nod, David Fincher’s work exceeded so many expectations that the best picture/director category will be split this year.
BEST ACTOR – COLIN FIRTH, THE KING’S SPEECH
I have not seen Javier Bardem’s performance in BIUTIFUL, but have seen the others. My personal favorite is Jeff Bridges in TRUE GRIT, but Bridges won the Best Actor honor last year. Jesse Eisenberg is terrific in THE SOCIAL NETWORK, and James Franco’s work in 127 HOURS is truly an achievement. However, it’s Colin Firth’s time.
BEST ACTRESS – JENNIFER LAWRENCE, WINTER’S BONE
The odds have Natalie Portman for BLACK SWAN, but having disliked the movie and Portman’s character’s constant weeping and whining so much I had to go with either Annette Bening or Jennifer Lawrence. I found Lawrence so natural and sympathetic and emotionally involving that I am going to go out on a limb for this little seen but terrific film.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – GEOFFREY RUSH, THE KING’S SPEECH
Though Christian Bale was terrific in THE FIGHTER, one of the year’s best films, Rush’s performance as the speech therapist in THE KING’S SPEECH was so perfect I don’t see how he could lose.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – JACKI WEAVER, ANIMAL KINGDOM
Perhaps the toughest category this year, with a remarkable performance by Hailee Steinfeld in TRUE GRIT (my favorite). But I am going with an underdog this year in Jacki Weaver in a bold and chilling performance as the “Ma Barker” head of a family gang of two-bit criminals in the Australian film ANIMAL KINGDOM. There were moments in that film that her performance chilled me.
BEST ANIMATED FILM – TOY STORY 3
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – THE KING’S SPEECH
THE KING’S SPEECH is such a simple story, and its delivered on film so delicately and with such grace and subtlety that I think it manages an edge over its competitors.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – THE SOCIAL NETWORK
The Coen brothers managed to take some pretty heady and awkward dialogue and make it work in TRUE GRIT. Their script is a complex but simple narrative line that results in a terrific movie. However, I think Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay for THE SOCIAL NETWORK will win the Oscar. The real trick in making a movie about the founding of Facebook is making it both suspenseful and gripping, and less about the technology and more about character and thematic elements, and Sorkin pulled it off in spades.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – THE SOCIAL NETWORK
I thought Hans Zimmer’s score for INCEPTION was fine work, but among the nominees the score for THE SOCIAL NETWORK by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross resonated strongly with me. It gave the movie an emotional power it might not otherwise have had.
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