Academy Awards 2010 - WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

[Yog]

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

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

Actress
Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."

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

Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Directing
James Cameron, "Avatar"
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air."

Foreign Language Film
"Ajami," Israel
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina
"The Milk of Sorrow," Peru
"Un Prophete," France
"The White Ribbon," Germany.

Adapted Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"
Nick Hornby, "An Education"
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, "In the Loop"
Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air."

Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman "The Messenger"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen "A Serious Man"
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, "Up."

Animated Feature Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up.

Art Direction
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up.

Original Score
"Avatar," James Horner
"Fantastic Mr. Fox," Alexandre Desplat
"The Hurt Locker," Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
"Sherlock Holmes," Hans Zimmer
"Up," Michael Giacchino.

Original Song
"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from "Nine," Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

Costume
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

Documentary Feature
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Documentary (short subject)
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin

Film Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Animated Short Film
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Live Action Short Film
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants

Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

[Yog]

Avatar and The Hurt Locker lead with 9 nods each..

[Rutabaga]

Former spouses battle it out for Oscar dominance! :lol

For me, the biggest surprise was the BP nomination for District 9 :eee. Really glad to see that, I thought it was an excellent movie. I'm just a little disappointed about no BP nom for Star Trek, a lot of people thought it was in the running.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Up! got five nominatons????

D9's nom is awesome, I thought it's genunely brilliant. And frankly Cameron wont care about awards, he can strip naked run on stage and rub some 1000 dollar bills on his nipples and sing something about No 1 and No 2 alltime and da bitch wotn get none....

[CMJ]

I have more films to catch up on this year than most.

Kind of stunned that Blind Side got into the BP race. The biggest stunner was not District 9's love...it's the fact that it apparently was very well liked and yet missed out in Make-Up - which was probably thought to be it's most locked category.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Its too bad D9 and Star Trek won't have a chance in Visual Effects against Avatar. They both were great. I suppose I can pretend to be surprised. ;)

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

This is about the most nerd-heavy BP race I've ever seen, ever.

[CMJ]

Well, that has a greater shot at happening when there are ten nominees.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah I agree, especially more bigger box office films. Not sure what this means in terms of the winner. Could we have a surprise film win because of a split vote? Something could win and only get 15% of the vote.

[CMJ]

Hurt Locker seems to be the industry favorite with Avatar close behind. If there's an upset I would suspect it coming from Inglorious Basterds.

But Carr is right in the sense....with 10 nominees the race is a bit odd because we have no clue how the votes will be fractured.

[Morgan Evanar]

I don't know if I'm alone but I'm of the opinion that D9 is a better movie than Avatar.

[Jack Daniels]

I agree with Morgan

[Darth Turbogeek]

I don't know if I'm alone but I'm of the opinion that D9 is a better movie than Avatar.


Crazy good effects as well as a really good plot and strong acting, great production values and great direction?

Yep, agreed. I loved D9 even more than my decidedly unhealthy love for anythign Pixar

[Atreyu]

Roger Ebert has released his predictions for Oscars 2010:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100219/OSCARS/100219964

Interesting what he said regarding the race for Best Picture - not only are there 10 nominees but it's also going to be using a compulsory preferential/ranking vote (ie. no more vote for 1 nominee and that's it).

[Crusader]

Hehe wouldn't it be funny if the academy turned Avatar into the best picture? I wonder if that would mean that Avatar would make even more money.

[Yog]

not only are there 10 nominees but it's also going to be using a compulsory preferential/ranking vote (ie. no more vote for 1 nominee and that's it).
I think that sort of system heavily favors Hurt Locker, because there are not a heck of a lot of people who are going to leave that movie out of their top 3.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Hehe wouldn't it be funny if the academy turned Avatar into the best picture? I wonder if that would mean that Avatar would make even more money.

No, it wont, even if there was an unexpected win. Avatar's Box Offcie run is finally starting show signs that it is dropping off and an endpoint can be seen. 750 million is almost certainly where it's going to stop.

OS on the other hand, it's still anyone's guess tho a pure 2Billion OS total is now the most likely stopping point. 2.75 Billion in total. No one is going to waste another cent trying to wring any more cash from this incredible run and anyone who wants to see it has pretty much done so now.

That Intl number is mindblowing, nearly a full 1 billion past a movie that nothing even got close to.

[CMJ]

Well, I'll be at te red carpet in the bleachers. I'll try and post pictures if ylall are interested. Anyways, some predictions with thoughts --- I'll try and complete later today.


Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Because of the expanded BP lineup, and various other factors, I've only seen 8 of the 10. Kinda feel bad about it, but it is what it is. Anyways, THL has won most of the precursors, but buzz around IB and Avatar has been increasing the last week or two.

My Predction: The Hurt Locker (narrowly)
My Preference: The Hurt Locker

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

Seen all five of the male lead. Strong group as usual this year. Clooney hasnever been better. Freeman had a showy role, Renner came from nowhere in the role of a lifetime. Firth stepped out of his normal box and blew me away. Bridges really delivered, which is unsurprising as one of the most consistently underrated actors in modern times.

My Prediction: Jeff Bridges
My Preference: Jeff Bridges

Actress
Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."

Seen three of these ladies performances. Streep had the early buzz, but then Bullock came from left field and kinda stole all the momentum(haven't seen her movie tho). Sidibe literally came from nowhere. Mulligan gives a star making turn and Mirren is Mirren.

My Prediction: Sandra Bullock
My Preference: Carey Mulligan


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


Seen four of the five. I really enjoyed them all of those, but Waltz probably waltzes away with this easily. If not for the fact that he seems to have lapped the field, I'd give Plummer a shot because aged vets often win the supporting catgories.

My Prediction: Christoph Waltz
My Preference: Christoph Waltz

Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"; Anna Kendrick
"Up in the Air"; Mo'Nique
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Seen three of five of these. Mo'Nique is considered a hug frontrunner, so I'll predict her even tho I have yet to see the film. I Maggie and the two Up in the Air ladies were great. I doubt Cruz wins back to back.

My Prediction: Mo'Nique
Mr Preference: Vera Farmiga

Directing
James Cameron, "Avatar"
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air."

Bigelow seems to have this one sewn up, and would be the first female director to ever win. It would be well earned IMHO. Seen 4 of 5.

My Prediction: Kathryn Bigelow
My Preference: Kathryn Bigelow

Foreign Language Film
"Ajami," Israel
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina
"The Milk of Sorrow," Peru
"Un Prophete," France
"The White Ribbon," Germany.

Only seen one of these(White Ribbon), and it seems to be between TWR and Un Prophete. With only seeing 1 I can't clain a preference.

My Prediction: The White Ribbon

Adapted Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"
Nick Hornby, "An Education"
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, "In the Loop"
Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air."

Seen three of the 5. District 9's script brilliantly satirizes South Africa's troubled history. Hornby elegangly adapts a young woman's not so subtle education in the world. This is thought to be Reitman' & Turner's which would be a great pick. Probably UITA's only award of the night.

My Prediction: Up in the Air
My Preference: Up in the Air

Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman "The Messenger"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen "A Serious Man"
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, "Up."

This seems to be between Tarantino and Boal. The Coens are Academy faves, but just won acouple years back. Up doesn't really have a shot in this category and Messenger is too small.

My Prediction:Hurt Locker
My Preference: The Hurt Locker

Animated Feature Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up.

Seen four of five. Pixar almost never loses here.

My Prediction: Up
My Preference: Fantastic Mr. Fox


Art Direction
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Only seen two of these. It seems like this would be a category they'd reward Avatar, tho with their penchant for awarding historical pieces, don't count out Victoria. Parnasses is a good darkhorse upset special too.

My Prediction: Avatar
My Preference: Avatar

Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Seen all five...this is uaully one of my favorite categores. One of the tougher call of the night. On paper this should be THL vs Avatar. I'm gonna go with an upset. Black and White is sometimes rewarded because it's a different skill set than what is normally used nowadays.

My Prediction: The White Ribbon
My Preference: The Hurt Locker


Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Usually the start of the blockbuster categories. :) Tho, I am thinking once again this is a battle between THL and Avatar. I figure they'll split the sound awards between the two films.

My Prediction: [/i]The Hurt Locker[/i]
My Preference: The Hurt Locker

Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up.

Gave my hypothesis in the previous sound category.

My Prediction: Avatar
My Preference: Star Trek

Original Score
"Avatar," James Horner
"Fantastic Mr. Fox," Alexandre Desplat
"The Hurt Locker," Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
"Sherlock Holmes," Hans Zimmer
"Up," Michael Giacchino.

Giacchino has won most of the precursors. It's also my favorite.

My Prediction: Up
My Preference: Up/i]

Original Song
"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from "Nine," Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

Can't see either PATF song winning, tho Newman is probably due for another win. Nine has been coming up empty Not enough people saw Parris 36 - tho I loved the song.

My Prediction: Weary Kind from CRAZY HEART
My Preference: Loin de Paname from PARIS 36

Costume
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

Seen three of these. Chanel might win because of the ode to the designer. Bright Star has nice costumes evocative of the time. This feels like it'll goto the British Production tho.

My Prediction: The Young Victoria
My Preference: Bright Star

Documentary Feature
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

I've seen 2 of these. The Cove is the more emotional one - and probably is of all five with as many dolphin lovers as there are.

My Prediction: The Cove
My Preference: Food Inc.

Documentary (short subject)
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin

No clue on this category.

My (Uninformed) Prediction: China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province

Film Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Often is matched with BP unless it's some sort of technical marvel. If Avatar wins, we may have a race. If Hurt Locker does, it may be a big sweep.

My Prediction: Hurt Locker
My Preference: Hurt Locker

Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

All three are accomplished in different ways.Il Divo was probably seen by too few, so throw it out. This is probably ST's best chace as win.

My Prediction: Young Victoria
My Preference: Star Trek

Animated Short Film
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama,
A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Loved all of these for different reasons. Loaf and Death probably takes this due to Wallace and Gromit repuation. French Roast was the most economical storytelling. Logorama the most original. Granny O'Grimm has two distinct animation style which could help it. Lady and the Reaper is probably the most personal.

My Prediction: A Matter of Loaf and Death
My Preference: The Lady and the Reaper

Live Action Short Film
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants

[]The Door is about Chernobyl, and Kavi is about childhood slavery in India - so they have the "importance" to win. Abracadabra is the only straight comedy. Tenants is a dark, but hilarious short. Miracle Fish is the eerie, Hitchcokian choice.

My Prediction: Miracle Fish
My Preference: Miracle Fish

Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Avatar probably wins this in a walk.

My Prediction: [i]Avatar
My Preference: Avatar

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Every time I watch Star Trek I'm blown away by how awesome it was. Its really a shame it wasn't nominated for BP... I would replace The Blind Side with it.

This is the first time I really can't wait to see what happens on Sunday night! I usually watch, but I'm pretty excited to find out what happens in this epic BP race.

[Yog]

I'll be rooting for the Danish / Norwegian production Burma VJ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1333634/) to win an Oscar for best documentary feature. A very powerful and unique film. The world needs to know what is going on in Burma.

[Yog]

My Predictions

Best Picture
Prediction: Hurt Locker
Preference: Hurt Locker / Avatar / Up in the Air.

Seen all the 10 movies, and most of the movies nominated for Oscars this year. I think Hurt Locker has about a 60% chance of winning this, Avatar 20%, Up in the Air or Inglorious Basterds 15%, and the rest 5% chance. It's a toss up for me regarding who I think should win among the top 3 favorites.



Actor
Prediction: Jeff Bridges
Preference: Jeff Bridges

I feel Jeff Bridges was the best male performer of the year. The others were great though.



Actress
Prediction: Sandra Bullock
Preference: Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock has never been better.



Supporting Actor
Prediction: Christoph Waltz
Preference: Cristoph Waltz

Cristoph Waltz was in a class of his own, I suppose.



Supporting Actress
Prediction: Mo'Nique
Preference: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Lots of people raving about Precious, so Mo'Nique will almost certainly win. But I did not care so much for the movie, so I'd prefer Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart.



Directing
Prediction: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Preference: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"

I believe this is the first time a female director would win it, so that gives Kathryn Bigelow the edge over Cameron for me personally. But Cameron really had a monumental achievement in Avatar, so it's close. Tarantino was also at his best. But if buzz is any indication, Hurt Locker runs away with the awards tonight.



Foreign Language Film
Prediction: The White Ribbon
Preference: None

I have not seen enough movies in this category to claim a preference. I'm not wild about The White Ribbon though.



Adapted Screenplay
Prediction: Up in the Air
Preference: Up in the Air

I am not such a fan of In the Loop or Precious, but the others are very good, however. I think Up in the Air has the best chances, and is also my favorite.



Original Screenplay
Prediction: The Hurt Locker
Preference: The Messenger

Very strong category this year. Hurt Locker will probably take another one here, but I slightly prefer The Messenger, personally.


Animated Feature Film
Prediction: Up (duh)
Preference: Up

Some interesting animation styles for some of these. But I feel Up has the strongest overall production, again.



Art Direction
Prediction: Avatar
My Preference: Avatar

Avatar should and WILL win this one, mark my words.



Cinematography
Prediction: Avatar
Preference: Avatar

The cinematography in Avatar is unmatched, IMO. Although it may suffer from the "sweep effect" of THL. THL's strength is really more the editing. Inglorious Basterds is very strong as well though. I don't think filming The White Ribbon in black & white is enough to give it an Oscar for cinematography, but I give CMJ wild props the upset pick.. :)



Sound Mixing
Prediction: Avatar
Preference: Avatar

This is the type of movie that makes me really enjoy having a THX 5.1 sound system at home, or watching it at best possible theater.



Sound Editing
Prediction: Avatar
Preference: Avatar

See my reasons in the previous category.



Original Score
Prediction: "Up," Michael Giacchino.
Preference: "Up," Michael Giacchino.

Giacchino seems the most likely winner, and also the most deserving, IMO, because I did not like the other sound tracks nearly as much.



Original Song
Prediction: Weary Kind from Crazy Heart
Preference: Loin de Paname from Paris 36

Guess I agree with CMJ here.



Costume
Prediction: The Young Victoria
Preference: Bright Star

I'm kinda lukewarm about the costume category this year. It's also hard to predict.



Documentary Feature
Prediction: The Cove
Preference: Burma VJ

I think it's a 2 way race between The Cove and Food Inc, and both were really good. But I would be thrilled if Burma VJ wins it.



Documentary (short subject)
Prediction: The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Preference: The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant

I think "The Last Truck" is going to have a strong resonance with the recession fresh in mind, and it was a powerful film. But like CMJ pointed out, The Tears of Sichuan has an emotional impact. I have not seen Rabbit a la Berlin, and it looks interesting, but maybe a bit too artsy for the Academy.



Film Editing
Prediction: Hurt Locker
Preference: Hurt Locker

I have to be honest. No matter how technically brilliant Avatar is, the editing in Hurt Locker is its strongest point. The whole movie revolve about the perfect timing and assembly of shots. I fully root for THL to win this.



Makeup
Prediction: The Young Victoria
Preference: Star Trek

I am not entirely sure why these movies are nominated for makeup. But I guess my preference is Star Trek. As far as predictions go, I'll go with the costume / makeup combo for Victoria.



Animated Short Film
Prediction: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Preference: none

I have neither seen or done any research on the shorts, as usual. So I'll just shamelessly copy CMJ's picks.. :p


Live Action Short Film
Prediction: Miracle Fish
Preference: none

See previous category.


Visual Effects
Prediction: Avatar (duh)
Preference: Avatar (duh)

duh

[Yog]

I'll update with winners as they are announced. :)

Live coverage:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/colo-colo-tv


Roger Ebert twittering from Chicago
http://twitter.com/ebertchicago

[Yog]

- Christoph Waltz, wins supporting actor for "Inglourious Basterds.". Well deserved, and completely expected.

- UP wins for best animated feature. Another obvious award.

- Best original song: "The Weary Kind" from "Crazy Heart"

- Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"

- Animated Short Film: Logorama

- Documentary (short subject): Music by Prudence

- Live Action Short Film: The New Tenants

* hahaha, Ben Stiller is hilarious!

- Star Trek wins Oscar for best makeup!!!

- Adapted Screenplay: Precious

* I definitely did not root for Precious, but that speech was very emotional and the best so far. Made it worthwhile.

- Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, "Precious" (no surprise there)

- Art Direction: Avatar!

- Costumes: The Young Victoria.

* The winner correctly pointed out those kind of movies win far too many awards for costumes. More contemporary winners, please. Come to mind, Nine would probably been a better winner.

- Sound Editing: Hurt Locker.

- Sound Mixing: Hurt Locker.

* Hurt Locker won 2 technical awards, which strongly indicates to me it will win BP.

- Cinematography: Avatar

* That was a strong recovery though in a prestigious category. The race is still open.

- Original Score: Up, Michael Giacchino. Yay! Very deserved.

- Visual Effects: Avatar!

- Documentary: The Cove.

- Editing: Hurt Locker! Fully deserved.

* This seals the deal for the BP race. The probability for Hurt Locker winning BP is now more than 90%.

- Foreign Language Film: "El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina.

* Guess I'll have to see it now!

- Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart" :D

- Actress: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"

- Director: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"

* Liam is probably very happy now.. (no movie has ever won editing and director and not won BP)

- HURT LOCKER WINS BEST PICTURE!!!

[Liam Jinn]

I just made a last minute bet on BP, based on your suggestion Yog. Don't let me down, I hate losing money.

[Yog]

The above poster is rich now, I hope. :lol

[Liam Jinn]

Yog!!! You da man!! I made a pretty penny or two :D

[Rutabaga]

That was without a doubt one of the worst Oscar shows I've seen in a long while. Ugh.

But I was really glad to see Jeff Bridges win, that was way way way overdue. My two other personal fave wins were Star Trek for make-up and Up for original score.

And it's about damn time that a female director won...huzzah! :clap

[Yog]

Looks like I'm got about 16 picks right in the prediction, and CMJ 1 more, I think.




Yog!!! You da man!! I made a pretty penny or two :D
Good for you! :)




That was without a doubt one of the worst Oscar shows I've seen in a long while. Ugh.
Yeah, I felt the TV production was clunky. However, I can't really argue too much about the winners.




But I was really glad to see Jeff Bridges win, that was way way way overdue. My two other personal fave wins were Star Trek for make-up and Up for original score.

And it's about damn time that a female director won...huzzah! :clap
Agreed with all that. :)

[CMJ]

I had a real good time, but it was a long ass day. I'll try and post some pictures from the Red Carpet in the next couple of days.

My predictions were kinda spotty this year(the White Ribbon cinematography pick wasn't a total stab in the dark Yog - it did with the American Sociey of Cineamtographer's award a few weeks ago) -- but it is what it is. Don't think many saw the Precious screenplay win coming.

Overall pretty pleased with the results.

Now bedtime.

[Yog]

I had a real good time, but it was a long ass day. I'll try and post some pictures from the Red Carpet in the next couple of days.

Can't wait to see it. :D

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Yes post your pictures CMJ!

When you wake up. ;)

I enjoyed the show, though it did seem a little clunky. I especially liked the presentation of the original score nominees - the dancing was great and it was a unique way to present them. Taking out the singing of the original songs was great, and adding the musical/dance number instead was a good idea, imo. We probably have Adam Shankman to thank for that.

[Atreyu]

Once again, I missed the original telecast of the ceremony and instead only got to see the truncated telecast on later when I got home from work :shakefist. I really should learn just to record the damn thing when it's first on.

Anyway, The Guardian (UK) has published it's opinion of the ceremony:

Oscars 2010: The highs and lows by Marina Hyde (http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/marinahyde)

Ladies, gentlemen, and non-members of the academy: welcome to G2's almost-live coverage of the heartbreakingly succinct Oscars (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/oscars) telecast, which – despite the fact that no one would dream of doing anything as transgressive as swearing – is being brought to you with a 24-hour time delay.Right off the bat I want to join the salutes for The Hurt Locker – a movie just too damn important to bother with stuff like narrative, and which will one day be deemed just as hilariously underrated as American Beauty (which, you might dimly recall, won a mere five Oscars) and Dances With Wolves (a paltry haul of seven, including a best director statuette for Mister Kevin Costner). As for James Cameron (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/jamescameron)'s hopes for Avatar, his groundbreaking, record-breaking movie . . . well, they are with Eywa now.

This was indeed a night that made history – David Letterman is now no longer the worst-ever Oscars host. Co-presenters Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/alec-baldwin) proved they couldn't hit a gag with a trunkload of IEDs, falling back three times on comedy misreadings of the autocue, to ever-diminishing returns. They weren't even phoning it; they were texting it in, deferring even the comedy opening number to Doogie Howser MD. As is too often the case with this marquee event, it was a night that lived down to expectations. The Oscars telecast is like one of those movies where you just know that at some point, someone is going to slide down the back of a door with their head in their hands. That someone will be you – but we'll come to the soi disant "Legion of Extraordinary Dancers" later. For now, it's time to sling out some more gongs.

Best drinking game
The one where you do a shot every time someone mentions Meryl (surname very much de trop, obviously). Ever since the heyday of the studio era, an adorably defensive Hollywood has wanted you to know that it doesn't just have sex symbols who can turn in a role. It has actors – men and women who deliver something so much more epic than mere performance. These days, the mantle once worn by the likes of Norma Shearer and Greer Garson is all Meryl's, and failure to either nominate her or mention her less than three times in any given Oscars ceremony would trigger an industry-wide existential crisis. This year's second-best drinking game? The one where you take a gulp every time a member of the motion-picture community salutes the troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It really puts stuff into perspective.

Most tediously predictable seating arrangement
Placing James Cameron directly behind Kathryn Bigelow (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/kathryn-bigelow). Hey, did you hear that those guys were married once? Even if you did, I'll bet you haven't listened to nearly enough yakking about the subject yet.

Best acceptance speech
This year produced that rarest of occurences, both a best actor and a best actress whom you'd love to have a drink with. For all Jeff Bridge's immense charm though, Sandra takes the speech honours. Wherever you stand on America's Sorta Sweetheart, she played it just the way you should: surprised, sweet, sisterly, self-deprecating, and with the brief threat of tears, but not so you feared she'd be overwhelmed by them. A class act. Plus, she gets triple points for the joke about Meryl being "a great kisser".

Best They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To moment
Footage of Lauren Bacall accepting an honorary Oscar at a gala a few months ago. "A man at last," drawled Bacall of her statuette. "The thought that when I get home I'm going to have a two-legged man in my room is so exciting I can hardly stand it." At the Oscars, this was immediately followed by a cutaway to Cameron Diaz (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/camerondiaz) chewing gum. Truly, it was the stars that got small.

Best diva moment
Best director presenter Barbra Streisand walking almost to the front of the stage, then waiting imperiously for a lackey to rush out of the wings and help her down three steps to the microphone. Long may she fib about the farewell aspect of her tours.

Worst cutaway
A tough category, now that reaction shots appear to be subject to the most heavyhanded ethnic profiling. Ethan Coen was the night's go-to Jew, the guy they cut to right after Steve Martin made the joke about Inglourious Basterds star Christoph Waltz playing a Nazi "obsessed with finding Jews", and observed that the contents of the Kodak Theatre were pretty much "the motherlode". Don't worry, viewers – see, Ethan's laughing! The Jews totally get the joke! The sledgehammer cutaway was also deployed each time an African-American star was mentioned. The fact that you could practically hear a producer screaming, "Close-up on Morgan Freeman! Or one of the other four, goddammit!", really added to the sense of how far we have come.

Most never-ending segment
If you had spent the last few weeks wondering what the score from The Hurt Locker would look like interpreted via the medium of modern dance, this was the night for you. In what felt like a 47-minute medley, each and every nominee for best score was . . . glossed, would you call it? . . . by a troupe called the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, who really know how to distil the tension of bomb disposal into a soft-shoe number. This year's ceremony was produced by one of the judges on So You Think You Can Dance, which goes some way toward explaining that excruciating segment, but nowhere near excusing it.

Best reminder of what Hollywood dreams are made of
Oprah Winfrey (http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/oprah-winfrey)'s tribute to Gabourey Sidibe. "She was a student trying to earn some money to go to college. On Monday she skipped school to audition for a movie called Precious. On Tuesday they called her back to meet the director . . . On Wednesday, she got the part. And tonight, she is sitting at the Academy Awards in the same category as Meryl Streep (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/merylstreep)." Ain't that the movies? Nicely done, Oprah.

Best fauxhemian
Sean Penn (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/seanpenn). Even though Sean knows that real outsiders simply wouldn't show for the Oscars, he agreed to present best actress, and used the occasion of someone else's big moment to announce, "I never became an official member of the academy", before taking an incoherent swipe at them for failing to acknowledge his ex-wife. I know! You can almost smell him mocking the institution. Still, while Sean is only a country member of the academy, fans of Team America will recall that he is a leading light of FAG, the Film Actors' Guild – a powerful lobby coincidentally led by Oscars co-host Arec Bardwin.

Most awkward staging
As a tribute to the various 12-step programmes with which so many attendees are familiar, the best actor and best actress nominees are now bigged up in a segment that resembles an AA sponsors' meeting. Julianne Moore (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/juliannemoore) eulogised Colin Firth (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/colin-firth), making it clear they had "only worked together for three days", while Colin Farrell recommended Jeremy Renner with a reminiscence about "that trip to Mexico, which I wish I could remember more of", while saying "man" and "brother" a lot.

Worst sound design
The Oscars ceremony. I fell asleep in that desperately called-for discourse on the difference between sound editing and sound mixing, so I might have missed the explanation as to why, in the year 2010, the Oscars telecast sounds as if it was engineered by a competition winner. Is it really beyond the wit of early 21st-century TV professionals to raise the level on the auditorium announcer's mic to "discernible"?

Best lecture
Courtesy of best supporting actress Mo'nique, who thanked her husband for advising her that "sometime you have to forego doing what's popular to do what's right". Blithely undermining her fellow nominees, the Precious star praised the academy for rewarding "the performance not the politics", apparently under the impression that Oprah's campaign juggernaut for the movie is about as far away from power-player politicking as you can get.

Worst definition of horror
No-time Academy Award-winners Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart introduced a tribute to the horror movie genre, which took some bizarre detours. Movies you never realised were horror flicks include Marathon Man, Edward Scissorhands, Little Shop of Horrors, Jaws, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Beetlejuice and, um, Twilight, which was really flattered by being interspliced with The Shining. Do adjust your records accordingly.

Most self-regardingly graceless hosts
The academy, which banned The Hurt Locker's producer Nicolas Chartier for sending the most innocuous email to a circle of acquaintance, in which he asked them to vote for The Hurt Locker "and not a $500m film". This is apparently an "ethical lapse" in breach of the academy's negative-campaigning rule, so the man who financed and produced the movie wasn't there to see it have a night he could only have dreamed of. Yet Zac Efron is given pride of place up front near Meryl. Where's the justice?

Worst fact-checking
Demi Moore introduced the "in memoriam" section to people we've lost, in a montage that failed to include her pre-2003 bodywork. Rather more glaring, however, was the omission of Farrah Fawcett, whose failure to make the cut an academy spokesman would have you believe was totally intentional. "Major fail" is Roger Ebert's view on the matter.

Most arresting emergence from the Where Are They Now files . . .
Is Judd Nelson – how to put this? – going through some stuff? The Internet Movie Database indicates the Breakfast Club star will feature in six TV movies or straight-to- DVD releases this year, but his appearance during the John Hughes tribute was certainly eye-catching, and all information as to where Bender's currently "at" would be gratefully received.

Finally, best technical innovation
Sky +. Because of your vision, Sky +, and that of the trailblazing TiVo that went before you, I will never know what Sky pundits Ronni Ancona and Mark Dolan made of it all. I absolutely could not have done it without you.
Definitely agree on the comments re: Martin and Baldwin. I suspect it's going to be a while before we see 2 hosts sharing duties again.

[CMJ]

I disagree with a large part of that article.

First of many pictures that I'm still going thru. Mr. Jake Gyllenhall

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/CMJ01/oscar10/IMG_0831.jpg

[CMJ]

Me a few hours before the arrivals rocking the alma mater. I have tons of pictures I'm slowly uploading to photobucket in my spare time

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/CMJ01/oscar10/IMG_0781.jpg

[Yog]

That is awesome. :D

[Yog]

Having seen the animated shorts, I have to say Logorama deserved to win. Not only was it a clever and original masterstroke from a creative point of view, but it was highly entertaining as well. Watch it now! :)

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(the other (http://www.starpulse.com/news/Kevin_Blair/2010/03/09/check_out_oscarwinning_animated_short_) entries are good too though)

[CMJ]

I was kinda "meh" on Logorama, but I agree it was unique. In retrospect, I shoulda picked it because the shorts branch usually goes with "unique" for the win. At least the last few years.


A few hours prior to his win.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v352/CMJ01/oscar10/IMG_0870.jpg