FINAL Oscar Predictions (ahead of Nomination Tuesday)

Blogs aplenty to come. I'm happy to announce that I will be writing for NME columnist Owen Nicholls' website for the forseeable future, as well as this blog. His site goes live this week! For now, here are my final Academy Award predictions ahead of Tuesday's announcement. New insertions are highlighted in BOLD. Feel free to share yours!

Best Picture

The Hurt Locker

Star Trek

Inglourious Basterds

Avatar

Up in the Air

Up

An Education

Invictus

District 9

Precious

OUT: Where The Wild Things Are, The Messenger

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

James Cameron - Avatar

Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Lee Daniels - Precious

OUT: Clint Eastwood - Invictus

Best Actress

Carey Mulligan - An Education

Meryl Streep - Julie and Julia

Gabby Sidibe - Precious

Helen Mirren - The Last Station

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

OUT: Marion Cotillard - Nine

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

Mo'Nique - Precious

Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air

Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air

Diane Kruger - Inglourious Basterds

Julianne Moore - A Single Man

OUT: Samantha Morton - The Messenger, Penelope Cruz - Nine

Best Supporting Actor

Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Woody Harrelson - The Messenger

Stanley Tucci -The Lovely Bones

Matt Damon - Invictus

Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

Best Original Screenplay

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Joel and Ethan Coen - A Serious Man

Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker

Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber - (500) Days of Summer

Bob Petersen, Pete Docter - Up

Best Adapted Screenplay

Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air

Nick Hornby - An Education

Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious

Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell - District 9

Armando Iannuci - In The Loop

OUT: Spike Jonze, Dave Eggars - Where The Wild Things Are/Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach - Fantastic Mr Fox

Best Editing

The Hurt Locker

Avatar

Inglourious Basterds

District 9

(500) Days of Summer

OUT: Nine

Best Cinematography

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The White Ribbon

Nine

Avatar

OUT: The Lovely Bones

Best Art Direction

Avatar

District 9

A Single Man

Inglourious Basterds

Julie and Julia

OUT: The Lovely Bones

Best Sound Mixing

Avatar

The Hurt Locker

Star Trek

District 9

Nine

Best Sound Editing

Avatar

Up

Star Trek

District 9

The Hurt Locker

Best Costume Design

Bright Star

Inglourious Basterds

Coco Avant Chanel

Nine

The Young Victoria

OUT: Where The Wild Things Are

Best Original Score

Michael Giacchino - Up

Carter Burwell and Karen O - Where The Wild Things Are

Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!

James Horner - Avatar

Abel Korzeniowski - A Single Man

OUT: Hans Zimmer - Sherlock Holmes

Best Song

'I See You' - Avatar

'All Is Love' - Where The Wild Things Are

'Cinema Italiano' - Nine

'The Weary Kind' - Crazy Heart

'Almost There' - The Princess and the Frog

Best Animated Feature

Up

Fantastic Mr Fox

The Princess and the Frog

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Coraline

Best Visual Effects

Avatar

2012

Star Trek

District 9

Best Makeup

The Road

Star Trek

Nine

Best Foreign Language Film

A Prophet (France)

The White Ribbon (Germany)

Broken Embraces (Spain)

Winter in Wartime (The Netherlands)

Samson and Delilah (Australia)

OUT: Letters From Father Jacob (Finland), White Wedding (South Africa)



BIG blog tomorrow once the nominations are announced. 'Avatar' and 'Up In The Air' blogs up by the weekend...FINALLY!

Britain can still pack a punch, even if the director is Danish.

If you were to read my first blog, you would read that I rate Peter Sarsgaard very highly. The Kiefer Sutherland lookalike has been one of my favourite character actors since 'Boys Don't Cry', and I even forgave him for 'Orphan' which although there is no official list, was one of the five worst films of 2009. Not just in my opinion, but in most people's. Strange to think that the two leads would go on to receive masses of critical acclaim for further performances in 2009. Vera Farmiga will most likely receive an Oscar nomination for her role in 'Up in the Air', while Sarsgaard achieved rave reviews for his role in a lovely little Nick Hornby-penned picture called 'An Education'.

And it is a lovely little picture, not only of Britain on the cusp of the 'swinging sixties' but of teenage naivety in its very purest form. Lone Scherfig's first film in English in seven years, 'An Education' is the story of Jenny (Carey Mulligan), a sixteen year-old A-level student with her sights set on Oxford (or rather, her father's sights) until she meets mysterious playboy David (Sarsgaard) and discovers a plentiful world outside the exam hall.

What is instantly striking about this film is the almost overwhelming amount of near perfect performances. Carey Mulligan is a beautiful revelation as our lead, but the strong support from Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams, Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper, Cara Seymour and the always enchanting Emma Thompson really make 'An Education' feel like an iconic British film that will stand the test of time. Even more impressively, Mulligan stands her ground against a who's who of British talent and provides the audience with a character that will more than likely earn her a Best Actress nomination come February. On top of that, I think she'll win!

The character of Jenny is as progressive as the film's themes, almost evolutionary. When we meet her she is a few Latin tutorials away from Oxford, head buried in textbooks although it is evident from the get go that hidden behind her well-disciplined, intellectual front is a penchant for the arts, namely French culture. She is practically forbidden this outlet, until a chance meeting with the suave and sophisticated David changes everything. It is only once David is part of her life that we are able to realise that beneath her mature-beyond-her-years, cultured and ambitious exterior, Jenny is as naive and as vulnerable as any sixteen year-old girl. Easily frustrated and quick to rebel, even quicker to consider trading an Oxford future for her first love, Jenny's sparks of maturity are quickly quashed by David's staggering immaturity and reckless abandon. While their feelings for each other are no doubt genuine, his influence was always going to be innocently negative, and I found myself praying at the halfway mark that he didn't hurt her as it became increasingly evident that his relentless charm would have to at some point wear thin. As his charm increases in monetary value, so does her naivety to the point where she overlooks the fact that he is essentially a thief. From that moment on, it is only a matter of time before Jenny reaches into the glovebox for a French cigarette only to find an empty box.

Watching this relationship develop from a modern perspective is difficult, as the more they fall for each other, the more you can't help but feel that whatever he is hiding is going to crush her. Nowadays, the amount of thirty-somethings chasing impressionable students is hardly suprising, with MySpace and Facebook paving the way for textual grooming. To fully understand this particular relationship however, you have to identify with the era. The period in which the film is set makes it all the more feasable. For example, Jack (Jenny's father played by the often overlooked but always endearing Alfred Molina) is quick to accept David into his daughter's life regardless of his age and Jewish background. Why? Because he has something to offer her. Traditional values (apparently) coupled with obvious financial stability. In short, all a father could ever want for his daughter. How quickly his attitude towards her education changes as soon as the prospect of financial relief reveals itself.

Jenny puts it best when she questions why she has been encouraged to push for an Oxford education when she could have been selling herself in nightclubs, if all her father cared about was fiscal stability in later life. Lest we forget that 'An Education' is set in a time where women were not particularly empowered and were often simply passed from father to husband without much concern for personal development. A prime example of this is Rosamund Pike's Helena, a character you can't help but feel Jenny would grow to resemble should she continue along the path that involves borrowing her clothes.

In 2009, there wasn't a better written film (I'm of course referring to Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner's 'Up in the Air' as a 2010 release) in terms of an identification with its time and with its characters. A true coming of age picture though set in the sixties, this should clear up at the BAFTAs and make a strong statement as a Best Picture contender in March. It will lose out on a screenplay gong to 'Up in the Air' for sure, but will launch Nick Hornby's career as an internationally recognised screenwriter. Anyway, awards don't make a film any better when it's already making straight As in a class of its own.

Top 20 of 2009 + 2010 Academy Award Predictions!

1= The Hurt Locker


1= The Messenger


3. Moon


4. Inglourious Basterds


5. (500) Days of Summer


6. Avatar


7. A Serious Man


8. Fantastic Mr Fox


9. Star Trek


10. Where The Wild Things Are


11. District 9


12. Up


13. An Education


14. The Hangover


15. Broken Embraces


16. Synecdoche, New York


17. Observe and Report


18. Sunshine Cleaning


19. Zombieland


(-). Up in the Air

Best Picture

The Hurt Locker

The Messenger

Inglourious Basterds

Avatar

Up in the Air

Up

An Education

Invictus

Where The Wild Things Are

Precious



Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

James Cameron - Avatar

Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Clint Eastwood - Invictus



Best Actress

Carey Mulligan - An Education

Meryl Streep - Julie and Julia

Gabby Sidibe - Precious

Helen Mirren - The Last Station

Marion Cotillard - Nine



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

Mo'Nique - Precious

Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air

Penelope Cruz - Nine

Samantha Morton - The Messenger

Julianne Moore - A Single Man



Best Supporting Actor

Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Woody Harrelson - The Messenger

Stanley Tucci -The Lovely Bones

Matt Damon - Invictus

Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

OR

Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles



Best Original Screenplay

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Joel and Ethan Coen - A Serious Man

Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker

Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber - (500) Days of Summer

Bob Petersen, Pete Docter - Up



Best Adapted Screenplay

Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air

Nick Hornby - An Education

Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach - Fantastic Mr Fox

Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell - District 9

Spike Jonze, Dave Eggars - Where The Wild Things Are



Best Editing

The Hurt Locker

Avatar

Inglourious Basterds

Nine

(500) Days of Summer



Best Cinematography

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The White Ribbon

Nine

The Lovely Bones



Best Art Direction

Avatar

District 9

A Single Man

Inglourious Basterds

The Lovely Bones



Best Sound Mixing

Avatar

The Hurt Locker

Star Trek

District 9

Nine



Best Sound Editing

Avatar

Up

Star Trek

District 9



Best Costume Design

Bright Star

Inglourious Basterds

Where The Wild Things Are

Nine

The Young Victoria



Best Original Score

Michael Giacchino - Up

Carter Burwell and Karen O - Where The Wild Things Are

Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!

James Horner - Avatar

Hans Zimmer - Sherlock Holmes



Best Song

'I See You' - Avatar

'All Is Love' - Where The Wild Things Are

'Cinema Italiano' - Nine

'The Weary Kind' - Crazy Heart

'Almost There' - The Princess and the Frog



Best Animated Feature

Up

Fantastic Mr Fox

The Princess and the Frog

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Coraline



Best Visual Effects

Avatar

2012

Star Trek

District 9



Best Makeup

The Road

Star Trek

Nine

Best Foreign Language Film

A Prophet (France)

The White Ribbon (Germany)

Broken Embraces (Spain)

Letters From Father Jacob (Finland)

White Wedding (South Africa)



So, there you have it! Mark my words, these will be pretty much dead on (hopefully). The only real difference I can foresee is the lack of love for 'Where The Wild Things Are', but we'll have to see.

Apologies for the lack of blog reviews recently. Yes, I have been lazy with Christmas/New Years/The Band/illness getting in the way but there will be blogs this month, I promise. I'm going out on tour from Monday so I will have a lot of downtime to write for you.

Happy New Year to all my loyal readers ;) Blogs to come before Valentine's Day (it is awards season after all):

Avatar
Where The Wild Things Are
An Education
The Messenger
The Hurt Locker
Up in the Air
The Lovely Bones
It's Complicated

The Road

Daybreakers

Laters haters!

-M