Anyway, onto the Oscar Predictions. These are very preliminary and will change as the nominations are announced in January. Not to brag or anything, but I've been doing quite well in my Oscar Pools in recent years. I was the foremost expert on the Oscars on my High School paper staff, and was right on all but 3 predictions last year (cinematography, adapted screenplay, and sound).
I will NOT make those mistakes again this year, but Jason Reitman got SNUBBED last year by Geoffrey Fletcher for "Precious".
Best Picture
"The Social Network" will take home the big prize of the telecast barely edging out "The King's Speech". Other nominees will include "Toy Story 3", "127 Hours", "True Grit", "The Kids Are All Right", and "Black Swan". A lot of Oscar talk about "Hereafter", consider it dead. Any talk about "Inception" is a joke, I will be surprised if it even gets a nomination. Good movie, and if it gets a nom it will be to apologize to Chris Nolan for not nominating "The Dark Knight". But have you SEEN "The Social Network"!?!?! It truly will be the movie that defines our generation. I personally would love to see "Toy Story 3" pull an upset. It's the best of the year, and possibly the best PIXAR has put out. It's a shoo-in for Best Animated Feature, of course.
Best Actor
Colin Firth beating out Jeff Bridges and Jesse Eisenberg. I would love to see Eisenberg win in this one, but I find it unlikely. Very cool dude, met him at the Vail Film Festival before Adventureland, before Zombieland, and before The Social Network. But even then, I knew that kid would explode, and he did. Bridges doesn't have what it takes to win back-to-back.
Best Actress
Annette Bening for "The Kids Are All Right". Other possible contenders are Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway, or Nicole Kidman.
Best Director
David Fincher vs. Danny Boyle. It's a rematch of the 2009 Oscars, only this time, Fincher has helmed a masterpiece. Boyle's "127 Hours" has gotten some solid buzz from the festival circuit, not having seen it I can't comment on it. Lee Unkrich deserves a nomination for "Toy Story 3" as well, but won't get it.
Supporting Actor
Geoffrey Rush in what may be the closest race of the season. This one is the category I am least positive about. I'm a huge fan of both Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield in "The Social Network", and I'm going to give this Oscar to whoever wins the field at The Golden Globes. In a few months I'll have a better idea on who will win this one.
Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter in another extremely close race. Just as Supporting Actor will become clearer as we get closer to Awards Season, so will the category for Supporting Actress. Although almost everyone disagree on who will win this one, most agree Carter will at least get a nomination for "The King's Speech". Melissa Leo is up there right next to Carter for a possibility.
Adapted Screenplay
"The Social Network" is almost guaranteed. The best damn thing about this movie is Aaron Sorkin's powerful script. "Toy Story 3" will upset if we have a repeat of last year in this category.
Original Screenplay
"The King's Speech" will battle with "Inception" and "The Kids Are All Right" in this one. I can really see any of these three winning it, but would like to see "Inception", not because I think it has the best script, but because besides the technical awards (visual, sound, even cinematography perhaps), it won't win anything big. Christopher Nolan is a master in the art of story-telling and he deserves more than he gets. Then again, what credit the Oscars don't give him, the fan boys sure do make up for it. They looooooooove anything Chris Nolan.
Anyway, I will have a more definite list as time gets closer and after I have a chance to see all the movies. Best Song should go to Randy Newman (and perhaps best Score too) for "Toy Story 3". Best Documentary? "Waiting For Superman", probably.
Goodbye for now blogosphere, you may reach me on twitter at twitter.com/senatorbrown or on the FB at Facebook.com/senatorbrown.
