Oscar Nominees of 2009

Avatar

Should it win? YES, most definitely. James Cameron's Avatar successfully transported me to another world with the most ground-breaking use of CGI and 3D. That's not an easy feat for any film. You just have to allow Cameron to take you on this once-in-a-lifetime journey and you just won't care about any of the so-called "flaws" in the film.

Will it win? It's a strong possibility. Avatar and The Hurt Locker are the front-runners.

The Blind Side

Should it win? Yeah, sure. It's a good film. It has a remarkable performance by Sandra Bullock. And she is a front runner for Best Actress. However, the film itself is not handled with as much penache as some of the other contenders. It's not near as spectacular as Avatar. But, it's a solid, good story.

Will it win? The odds are not in its favor.

District 9

Should it win? Yeah, sure. It's the darker version of Avatar. It puts aliens against human while here on Earth. It's based in the worst kind of environment, where everyone and everything is just trying to kill you. But, like Avatar, the biggest example of humanity can be found in two alien-like creatures. It's very well told and very well written. The biggest drawback is that its not an easy film to watch. In fact, it can be downright uncomfortable for audiences. However, some may not see this as a bad thing. I just don't think it is great enough for the top prize.

Will it win? Again, the odds are not in its favor.

An Education

Should it win? Not really. I'm surprised they took this film and A Serious Man seriously enough to nominate them. No pun intended. They are very weak dramatically. However, An Education is actually the more enjoyable film of the two.

Will it win? Not likely.

The Hurt Locker

Should it win? Yeah. It's a solid, well-executed thriller. It features some intense moments that can actually be riveting. It's about a bomb squad in Iraq. Every car they come to has a bomb or some kind of deadly device inside. Of course, it's going to be intense. But, I still don't think it has a strong enough human story to be better than its sci-fi adventure competition, Avatar. I would sooner give it to a movie that features 10 foot-tall blue aliens who are fleshed out beautifully than a movie that features a bomb squad, simply going from one bomb to the next, waiting for that trip home... only to come back again. It says something about our place in Iraq, but it's not profound or deep enough to be truly powerful.

Will it win? Most likely. Avatar may be the strongest competition for The Hurt Locker, but I doubt it will beat it. The Hurt Locker has won over most of the critics. The film has won many top prizes, from critical awards to Best Picture essentials like the Producer's Guild Award and Director's Guild Award.

Inglourious Basterds

Should it win? Yeah. It's got a wonderful script by writer and director, Quentin Tarantino. It's got a kick-ass cast. The villain as played by Christoph Waltz is truly nerve-racking to watch. He's sleazy and manipulative, cold, crass and possibly heartless. Whenever he is in a scene, he just takes over, making the audience dread everything he says and does. Everything that features subtitles is just beautiful in story and structure. However, everything that has to do with the "Inglourious Basterds" themselves is almost like playing in guts. It's unintentionally funny. It's hard to watch. It's uncomfortable. But, the question remains, was this Tarantino's intention? Complaints aside, this is one of Tarantino's best films since Pulp Fiction, but it's still far from his greatest film... which just so happens to be Pulp Fiction.

Will it win? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't have the eye-popping amazement of Avatar or the gritty realism of The Hurt Locker. It's conventional and yet, far too unconventional. It's brilliant and silly. All of these things may hurt its chances.

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Should it win? Not in my opinion. It's depressing. It's hard to watch at times. It's hard to understand at times. You get bogged down easily watching this film.

Will it win? Maybe, maybe not.

A Serious Man

Should it win? No. No way. I was somewhat impressed with the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men. But, I could not sit still while watching this film. It didn't go anywhere. It felt like there was no point to anything in A Serious Man. It feels like such a waste of time, money and production values, I'm surprised it's nominated.

Will it win? Probably not and rightly so.

Up

Should it win? Why not? Pixar has been punching out a lot of great, classic animated films in the last ten years. Up is no exception. It's a beautiful story, told in a beautiful way. Children and adults will love Up. It's got a great balance of humor, drama and adventure. But, it is still an animated film. Like Beauty and the Beast in 1991, is it really so great that it deserves the top prize? Hard to say.

Will it win? I wouldn't put my money on it.

Up In The Air

Should it win? Yes. It's got a great script. It's got a good cast. It features some very good performances. It's got humor. It's got drama. It's relevant to everything we have to go through in modern life. It's extremely charming and sophisticated. But, most of this has to do with the script. I will be very upset if this doesn't take home an award for Best Screenplay. However, the direction in Up In The Air is conventional and not exactly interesting enough to give it the top prize in my opinion. It's still second on my list to Avatar and The Hurt Locker.

Will it win? It's got a strong chance to sneak in and beat both of the front-runners. Critics adore it. A lot of audiences liked it. But, again, the camera angles and structure of the film overall has been used, over and over. And they say Avatar is unoriginal? Ha!

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart

George Clooney for Up In The Air

Colin Firth for A Single Man

Morgan Freeman for Invictus

Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon for Invictus

Woody Harrelson for The Messenger

Christopher Plummer for The Last Station

Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones

Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side

Helen Mirren for The Last Station

Carey Mulligan for An Education

Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz for Nine

Vera Farmiga for Up In The Air

Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart

Anna Kendrick for Up In The Air

Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Best Animated Film

Coraline

Fantastic Mr. Fox

The Princess and the Fox

The Secret of Kells

Up

Best Art Direction

Avatar

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Nine

Sherlock Holmes

The Young Victoria

Best Cinematography

Avatar

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The White Ribbon

Best Costume Design

Bright Star

Coco Before Chanel

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Nine

The Young Victoria

Best Directing

Avatar - James Cameron

The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow

Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Up In The Air - Jason Reitman

Best Documentary Feature

Burma VJ

The Cove

Food, Inc.

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Which Way Home

Best Documentary Short

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

Best Film Editing

Avatar

District 9

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Best Foreign Language Film

Ajami

El Secreto de Sus Ojos

The Milk of Sorrow

Un Prophete

The White Ribbon

Best Makeup

Il Divo

Star Trek

The Young Victoria

Best 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

Best Original Song

The Princess and the Frog - "Almost There"

The Princess and the Frog - "Down in New Orleans"

Paris 36 - Loin de Paname"

Nine - "Take It All"

Crazy Heart - "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)"

Best 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

Best Live Action Short Film

The Door

Instead of Abracadabra

Kavi

Miracle Fish

The New Tenants

Best Sound Editing

Avatar

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Star Trek

Up

Best Sound Mixing

Avatar

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Star Trek

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Visual Effects

Avatar

District 9

Star Trek

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9

An Education

In The Loop

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Up In The Air

Best Original Screenplay

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The Messenger

A Serious Man

Up