And The Award Goes To...

I make it a point every year to see as many Academy Award-nominated films as possible before the award ceremony. I have many thoughts about the Oscars this year, so to keep things organized, I'll just do bullet points before I share my predictions:

• I'd make a really great Academy member. I'm just saying. (I'd also be a great person on the International Olympic Committee, but that's another blog post...)
  
• I'm terribly disappointed that Viggo Mortensen wasn't nominated for best actor for The Road. His performance was hauntingly beautiful.
  
• Invictus was not that great. It was a good movie, but it was a forgettable movie. (P.S. Where has Clint been this entire awards season? I haven't seen him around...like, support your film, man. Take a cue from Quentin.)
• There are TEN best picture nominees this year; there are usually five. I have seen all but two (A Single Man and Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire.) I don't really have a favorite, but my least favorite is Inglourious Basterds.
• While I despised Inglourious Basterds, I completely appreciated Christoph Waltz's performance and will be excited when he receives his Oscar.
• "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" is much too long a title for a film.
• James Cameron is incredibly talented at film making. James Cameron needs to get over himself.
• An Education/The Last Station, Up/Up in the Air, A Serious Man/A Simple Man...people are going to make some serious errors on their voting ballots.
  
• I hope James Cameron's ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, wins best director for The Hurt Locker. (She directed Point Break, too. I mean, she deserves it.)
  
• I really wish that The Young Victoria, Bright Star, and The Road had gotten more recognition. These were three of the best films I saw in 2009.
• Crazy Heart was a quiet, simple story and a simple film, with huge emotion and heart. I really hope it receives some big awards. Jeff Bridges is incredible in this film.
  
• I wish I had seen A Single Man. I love Mr. Darcy...I mean...Colin Firth.
• When Sandra wins best actress, I am going to cry tears of joy. I saw her at John Wayne airport once, and I've seen Jesse James twice, so we're practically family.
• I cannot believe Christopher Plummer has NEVER been nominated for an Academy Award before....are you joking me? What a tragedy. How embarrassing for the Academy.
  
• That being said, did anyone even see The Last Station?
  
• Christopher Plummer and I have the same birthday.
• Carey Mulligan is the new Keira Knightly, only more adorable.
  
• Mo'Nique will win. And she'll thank God and point to the ceiling in her acceptance speech, which will make me cry.

Alright...now that that's all out of the way, here are my official predictions for the top categories (note that these are not necessarily the winners that I personally would like to see win):

Best picture:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

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

Leading Actress:
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious...based on yadda yadda
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia (she might tie with Sandra...it could happen!)

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

Supporting Actress:
Penelope Cruz in Nine
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
Anna kendrick in Up in the Air
Mo'Nique in Precious

Adapted Screenplay:
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

Original Screenplay:
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Happy Oscar viewing!