Sizing Up Best Picture: District 9

Now we tackle a rarity in the Oscar race: A science fiction film nominated for Best Picture.  Let's see what the chances are...

District 9

Nominations: 

• Best Picture
• Best Visual Effects
• Best Film Editing
• Best Adapted Screenplay

Going For It:  Audiences REALLY love this movie!  Surprise hit of the year.  A winning producing role for Peter Jackson.  Has more then three nominations including a coveted screenplay nomination.

Going Against It:  Science fiction films rarely click with members of the Academy.  Lack of directing or acting nomination.  Movie came out early in the year (Academy favors winter releases).

Chances of Winning:  Another "lucky to be nominated" film.  That said though this did pick up more nominations then I expected it to (despite the accurate predictions on this site), and it does give more hope that maybe the Academy has warmed up to science fiction enough to nominate more of these films in the future.  But as for winning this isn't likely.

New "Toy Story 3" Trailer

More Toy Story 3 Info

We now have more of an idea of what "Toy Story 3" will look like.  I like what I see, and while some people are complaining because they don't like the idea of making sequels...well, if anyone can make a good sequel it's Pixar.  With "Up's" recent Best Picture nomination some are wondering whether or not "Toy Story 3" is next.  Eh, hard to say.  The movie would have to be special to get nominated there.  The Academy is lukewarm to live action sequels, so an animated sequel seems more unlikely right now.  Either way we almost certainly have another Best Animated Feature nomination on their hans.

Sizing Up Best Picture: The Blind Side

I missed a day.  Sorry about that.  Let's tackle the next film right now, which is...

The Blind Side

Nominations: 

• Best Picture
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Sandra Bullock 

Going For It:  Audiences love this movie.  Sandra Bullock helped make this movie successful.  It's a biopic and the Academy LOVES biopics!  The highest grossing sports movie in years.  Academy loves underdog sports movies (see "Rocky" and "Chariots of Fire").  Portrays good Christian values.  Bullock is practically a lock to win Best Actress.

Going Against It:  Some people feel the movie is self-indulgent.  True life story is more interesting then the movie.  Real life football player comes off looking and "dumb and helpless" without a white woman's help.  Only 2 nominations, neither of which go to the writing or directing. Not as critically acclaimed as some of the other nominees.

Chances of Winning:  Though Bullock will certainly win Best Actress, this film feels like a "lucky to be nominated" film.  It's just not big enough, and I think the nomination is more for Bullock and the fact there were ten movies to vote for this year.

Back In The Game And...Oh Look, Oscar Nominations!

Hi folks, I'm back.  I know that being absent from an Oscar blog during the height of the nominations process (not to mention the nominations themselves) is incredibly fatal to a site like this but...well, it's like this.  And for those who don't want to read that article let me summarize it like this: When you move you better make sure to be prepared for the internet to not work for weeks at a time.  Not only was my internet provider EXTREMELY slow in getting to my new apartment and setting things up, but the stupid service didn't even work after they set it up!  This is why I missed commenting about Oscar predictions, and why I missed the nominations themselves.

But hey, we have Best Picture nominations.  Ten for the first time in years!  They are:

1. Avatar
2. The Blind Side
3. District 9
4. An Education
5. The Hurt Locker
6. Inglorious Basterds
7. Precious
8. A Serious Man
9. Up 
10. Up In The Air

For that most part I'd say that's a pretty decent selection.  There are critical favorites, fan favorites, and a couple of surprises (one good one...not so good).  So to make up for lost time (and to take advantage of the delayed telecast) let's discuss the pros and cons of all the nominations.  I'll do one movie//director/actor/actress a day (or at least I'll try to).  We'll go in alphabetical order so that means we'll start with...

Avatar

Nominations:

	Best Picture	James Cameron and Jon Landau	Pending
	Best Director	James Cameron	Pending
	Best Art Direction	Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg (Art Direction); Kim Sinclair (Set Decoration)	Pending
	Best Achievement in Cinematography	Mauro Fiore	Pending
	Best Film Editing	Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron	Pending
	Best Original Score	James Horner	Pending
	Best Sound Editing	Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle	Pending
	Best Sound	Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson	Pending
	Best Visual Effects

Going For It:  Aside from being loved by the public and wildly popular "Avatar" is an "event movie."  It has broken new ground in how movies are made and sold to the general public.  It's the highest grossing film of all time.  Critics and audiences both love it.  It helped expand the idea of how popular IMAX and 3D can be.  Like "Titanic" the love story is universal, and Zoe Saldana's performance has been hailed as the science fiction performance of the year.  The movie is one of two movies that leads the nominations with 9.

Going Against It:  Some people feel the movie is self-indulgent.  James Cameron won before and was less then gracious about it.  When you consider how many of the top grossing films actually WON Best Picture you'll know that financial success does not mean you'll get awards!  There are no nominations for acting or for writing.  Some feel that without the 3D or giant screen the movie would be very standard.


Chances of Winning:  If it weren't for "The Hurt Locker" this would be a lock.