Pick for 2010 Oscar Best Picture and 5 to Eliminate

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made a big splash this year by nominating ten, instead of the usual 5, movies for Best Picture. Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, A Serious Man, Up, Precious: from the novel "Push," and Up in the Air were all nominated for an Oscar for best picture.

If the effort was a move to increase viewership of the 82^nd Academy Awards by broadening the category most people find intriguing only Sunday night will tell. (The Oscars will air on ABC at 8et/5p.)

If the extension of the category of Best Picture was to make the selection process more confusing, then the Academy has succeeded. Now, instead of choosing the best among five, Academy Award voters must peruse and select from among ten movies the Academy deems worthy of the Best Picture honor.

Its mere nonsense and the field could have easily been narrowed down to five movies worthy of the Oscar nod.

Movies that should have been eliminated from Best Picture Nominees

A Serious Man will not be a contender for Best Movie of the Year.

Just because the Cohen brothers have been nominated for an Academy Award before does not, by default make all of their work genius. A Serious Man moves along at a snail's pace telling the everyday story of a man's life, which is, by the same laws of physics he is teaching unpredictable and unknowable.

Okay, this is how we live. Watching A Serious Man brings no particular insight or revelation. The cinematography is good, but not Oscar worthy. The acting barely requires any acting at all. This movie never should have made it to the 2010 Oscar nominees for Best Picture.

If you want a good nap, this is a great movie to pop in the VCR or Blu-ray.

Knock District 9 out of the running.

This is not even in keeping with Best Movie of the Year Academy nominees. It was a good movie, but too far out there, without significant meaning or lessons to learn. District 9 was a modern sci-fi. If the Academy is trying to represent every genre in Best Picture, then why not eliminate all other categories and award shows pertinent to those genres?

Avatar, are you like everyone else, expecting a win?

Avatar is huge on cinematography and special effects. It has a lovely green message that accents the blue on Pandora. As a film, including actors and a full on movie experience Avatar is lacking. You know it. You just don't want to admit it because the movie was so breath-taking. No, the scenery and effects were breathtaking. The movie was okay. If Avatar wins a 2010 Oscar it changes the meaning of Best Picture, altogether.

Inglourious Basterds, great historical film, but not a 2010 Oscar winner.

Inglourious Basterds is a great movie. Christoph Waltz should definitely win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and I predict that he will. The movie was cohesive, but the group of soldiers known as Inglourious Basterds was not essential to the movie. I found them and Brad Pitt's performance distracting to the point that I fast forwarded through many of the scalping scenes.

Be sure to watch Inglourious Basterds. You will be glad you did, even if you have been riding the fence about seeing the movie. It is great, without Brad Pitt it may have even been worthy of the nomination it received from The Academy.

The Blind Side is another excellent movie, but not Oscar 2010 Best Picture material.

The Blind Side was a very powerful and moving story. I love what it did for Sandra Bullock's career. I think she deserves an award for her role starring in The Blind Side. I believe there are others associated with this movie that deserves accolades as well. However, in keeping with The Academy's standards of all-around excellence in film making, cinematography, and depth, I believe Blind Side could have been left off of the nominee list for Best Picture.

5 Movies that are serious contenders for Best Movie of the Year

That leaves us with five movies that should have been nominated for Best Movie of the Year by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Up, Up and Away, Precious: from the novel "Push", The Hurt Locker, and An Education.

While The Hurt Locker swept the BAFTAs, I'm not sure that The Academy is ready to all out commit to a war film about a renegade soldier. Besides, there were a few glaring mistakes, like a flag on the wrong sleeve and an American soldier running through Baghdad at night, that take the movie down a notch. It's worthy of the nomination, but I don't look for it to take the win.

Up is a touching animated feature for adults. I thought it was a little too deep and sad for kids. I believe The Academy wanted to recognize the animated film and that it will receive other awards, but I can't believe that an animated film will win above the stellar acting and intelligence of some of the other films.

I didn't care for An Education, but it is exactly the kind of movie one would expect to be nominated for an Oscar. Its performance at the box office is a hindrance, especially in light of Avatar. I don't really expect it to win.

Up and Away stars one of the best looking men in show businesses, George Clooney, even though The Academy has place most of the emphasis on his co-stars. They will walk away with some Oscars, but I think Up and Away is a little light for the 2010 Oscar win. It is great, but if you look at past Oscar winners, you are left with one conclusion for the winner of Best Picture.

Precious: from the novel 'Push' by Sapphire is the most dramatic, enthralling, heartbreaking and emotionally evocative film in the list of ten nominees for Best Picture. I look for Precious to win the 2010 Oscar for best picture.

Source:
Personal knowledge and opinion.