The Full List of Oscar Nominations (and my predictions)

So, the nominations are here and even though I'm spouting off on twitter I'm strangely zen about the whole affair. True, those song nominees are making me see red, but I'm sort of glib about stupity like Steinfeld for Supporting Actress and such. Let's take a look, shall we?

SOUND EDITING
I predicted 127 Hours / Toy Story III / Inception / Scott Pilgrim vs the World / True Grit. Here's how it went, Actual Nominees: Inception /Toy Story III / TRON: Legacy / True Grit / Unstoppable 
So, I get three out of five, I'm kind of shocked that 127 Hours didn't make it here, and in theory I'm glad that the sound voters recognise some less than prestigious flicks (aka Unstoppable). I suppose I was a bit a lot fanciful in predicting Scott Pilgrim vs the World here.

SOUND MIXING
I predicted 127 Hours / Inception / Shutter Island / Toy Story III / True Grit Actual Nominees: Inception / The King's Speech / Salt / The Social Network / The King's Speech
I get two out of five here; I'm not in love with 127 Hours, but the snub sure is odd. Of course good work in Robin Hood and Green Zone would be ignored, but I thought this was a shoo-in.  Just an aside, people need to quit dogging on The King's Speech, for one it's nomination makes more sense than The Social Network (although they both make worthy nominees) - I wonder if people actual get what sound mixing is. Sheesh, the hate is going overboard. The entire first ten minutes of The King's Speech depends on the blend of score with sound - which is, sound mixing.

ORIGINAL SONG
I predicted IF I RISE from127 Hours / YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME from Burlesque / CHANSON ILLUSIONIST from The Illusionist / I SEE THE LIGHT from Tangled / WE BELONG TOGETHER from Toy Story III and the Actual Nominees: COMING HOME from Country Strong / I SEE THE LIGHT from Tangled / IF I RISE from 127 Hours / WE BELONG TOGETHER from Toy Story III

I get three out of four here, but it hurts to see Burlesque snubbed here. Absolute bull-crap, but I'm going to let that go - what's the point in holding on to it?

ORIGINAL SCORE
I predicted 127 Hours / Alice in Wonderland / Inception / The King's Speech / The Social Network and the Actual Nominees: 127 Hours / How to Train Your Dragon / Inception / The King's Speech / The Social Network
Well, four of five is not bad and it's  a bit nice to see How To Train Your Dragon here. I've surrendered to the fact that Oscar choices will not be mine (you'll see those soon enough), and this is a distinguised bunch.

VISUAL EFFECTS
I predicted Alice in Wonderland / Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows / Inception / Scott Pilgrim vs the World / TRON Legacy and the Actual Nominees: Alice in Wonderland / Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows / Hereafter / Inception / Iron Man II
 I get three out of five here, and I really can't fathom the love for Iron Man II here. I understand the Alice in Wonderland love - even if I don't agree with it, but that one is a headscratcher.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
I predicted, Black Swan / Inception / The King’s Speech / The Social Network / True Grit Actual Nominees: Black Swan / Inception / The King’s Speech / The Social Network / True Grit
A perfect score here, but well this was a bit easy - no? All wouldn't make a list of my own, and I would have preferred some surprises from the cinematographers who're sometimes much more inventive - but it's a good set.

EDITING
I predicted The Fighter / Inception / The King’s Speech / The Social Network / True Grit and the Actual Nominees: 127 Hours / Black Swan / The Fighter / The King’s Speech / The Social Network
Three out of five; I can't help but hate that Boyle's ADD style earns him a nod  here even if I shouldn't fault people for their opinion.

COSTUMES

I predicted Alice in Wonderland / Burlesque / The King’s Speech / True Grit / The Tempest Actual Nominees: Alice in Wonderland / I Am Love / The King’s Speech / True Grit / The Tempest
I get four out of five here, and I can't comment on I Am Love because I've yet to see it. Truth be told, though, I'm kind of happy it's nominated if only because it's something surprising (even if, vaguely so).

ART DIRECTION
I predicted Alice in Wonderland / Inception / The King’s Speech / Shutter Island / True Grit Actual Nominees: Alice in Wonderland / Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows I / Inception / The King’s Speech / True Grit
Four out of five; I like Harry Potter but its nomination here annoys me terribly. It's still above average, but there wasn't much scope for interesting production design this year and even though I suppose my Shutter Island prediction was a pipedream it's still unfortunate.

MAKEUP
I predicted, Alice in Wonderland / True Grit / The Wolfman Actual Nominees: Barney's Version / The Way Back / The Wolfman
And I get one of three, ouch. But I'm GLAD - at least some recognition for these two films many have not seen (myself included).

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
I predicted Black Swan / The Fighter / Inception / The Kids Are All Right / The King’s Speech and the Actual Nominees: Black Swan / The Fighter / Inception / The Kids Are All Right / The King’s Speech
And, YES no Black Swan here which means I get four out of five. Sure, I'd throw out the exposition heavy Inception but I'm glad for small mercies. I suppose I have to see Another Year now, not that I'm complaining....

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
I predicted 127 Hours / The Social Network / True Grit / Toy Story III / Winter’s Bone Actual Nominees: 127 Hours / The Social Network / True Grit / Toy Story III / Winter’s Bone
The voters are absolutely crazy for deeming Toy Story as an adapted screenplay (it's a sequel, not a remake) but I get five out of five here, so whatever.

DIRECTOR
My predictions Aronofsky for Black Swan / Fincher for The Social Network / Hooper for The King’s Speech / Nolan for Inception / Reilly for The Fighter Actual Nominees: Aronofsky for Black Swan / Coen's for True Grit / Fincher for The Social Network / Hooper for The King’s Speech / Reilly for The Fighter
Foour out of five; Honestly, the Nolan snub made me laugh because I wanted to call it but then figured, nah. I'm really not incensed because it's not like he's the only one snubbed here - but Oscar dissenters can be so insular at times. Sigh. Again I say, whatever.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

My predictions were Amy Adams in The Fighter / Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech / Mila Kunis in Black Swan / Melissa Leo in The Fighter / Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom Actual Nominees: Amy Adams in The Fighter / Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech / Melissa Leo in The Fighter / Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit / Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom
Four out of five; I can't explain how annoyed I am at the stupidity of Steinfeld's nod here, it's borderline ridiculous and easily my LEAST favourite thing of the day. It's more than her taking a slot for a deserving supporting player, but the category fraud is heinous. I'm surprised voters went for it, but c'est la vie.

SUPPORTING ACTOR
I predicted Christian Bale in The Fighter / Andrew Garfield in The Social Network / Jeremy Renner in The Town / Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right / Geoffrey Rush in The King’s Speech Actual Nominees: Christian Bale in The Fighter / John Hawkes in Winter's Bone / Jeremy Renner in The Town / Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right / Geoffrey Rush in The King’s Speech
Four out of five; I called a surprise here, but I wasn't sure what so I didn't predict it. I'm not shocked to see Garfield go, and really the group could have been much worse.

ACTRESS

I predicted Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right / Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole / Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone / Natalie Portman in Black Swan / Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit Actual Nominees: Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right / Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole / Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone / Natalie Portman in Black Swan / Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine
It's a strong lineup, there's one or two I'd toss out immediately - not because they're bad, but because it was a great year for women - but it's a good group.

ACTOR
I predicted Jeff Bridges in True Grit / Robert Duvall in Get Low / Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network / Colin Firth in The King’s Speech / James Franco in 127 Hours Actual Nominees: Jeff Bridges in True Grit / Javier Bardem in Biutiful / Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network / Colin Firth in The King’s Speech / James Franco in 127 Hours
I'm get to see Bardem's performance, but I'm not complaining about my four out of five here. There's no absolute stinker in sight, so that's good to see.

ANIMATED FILM
I predicted How to Train Your Dragon / Toy Story III / Tangled and Actual Nominees: How to Train Your Dragon / The Illusionist / Toy Story III
And YES, Tangled is shut-out. The fact that I haven't seen The Illusionist makes me suspect, maybe I'll like it less than Tangled. But I never said I was a man of logic (just check the tagline on my banner).


PICTURE

127 Hours / Black Swan / The Fighter / Inception / The Kids Are All Right / The King’s Speech / The Social Network / The Town / True Grit / Toy Story III Alternates: Winter’s Bone / Get Low / Shutter Island
Nine out of ten with Winter's Bone subbing for The Town which I'm fine with. It's an unsurprising group, but considering my least favourites of the set is 127 Hours (C+) I suppose it's not terrible.

What's more, my prediction of The King's Speech leading the nods with 12 nominations was correct. With 72 correct of 96 options, I think I did fairly well though I just predict for the hell of it and being right doesn't really have any appeal. I know more than a few are furious, but I don't think the nominees are that poor. A few hours have passed, what knee-jerk reactions to the nominees do you have?

All the categories, including Docs and Shorts

Welcome to Burlesque

For all its fault there’s one thing about Steve Antin’s Burlesque that it would be stupid to deny it of – Antin approaches the story with so much conviction that even when his script is at its weakest (and there are those moments) his exactitude – no matter how misplaced – ensures that the narrative moves – or occasionally plods – forwards always certain of where it wants to go. True to form, the story’s simple – a small-town girl makes a move to L.A. with hopes of making it big, enter Cher’s Tess with her potentially defunct Burlesque club with an oily businessman breathing down her throat ready to buy her out. In that way, Burlesque is sort of like one of those pastiche musicals that an aspiring musical director would make – a story that’s stripped down to the bare essentials with random numbers throwing sometimes (but not always) moving the plot forward but always offering up a slab of pleasure – just like the club itself.

The shining light of Burlesque is the fact that Antin knows what he wants and he has a sensibility for putting on musical numbers that’s – at times – fascinating to watch. It’s a little bit of Chicago, a little bit of Cabaret with some Moulin Rouge and possibly Coyote Ugly and a little bit of Spice World - for good measure thrown in just for kicks. He is not especially interested in hiding the fact that he’s taking cues from past films – but that knack for evoking films that have come before doesn’t make his decisions any less judicious – which is a welcome surprise. Not that Burlesque ends up becoming a technical spectacle of any sort, but it’s sumptuously put on – especially those costumes which I’m glad have attracted some love from the guilds. The music is never as extraneous as you’d expect there, even if one or two numbers hang just a little there’s always something nice to take away from it (Alan Cummings, forever a trooper, I’m talking to you).

And, the performances – Christina is neither excellent nor terrible in her debut. Despite her intensity in song, she has a surprising knack for the lighter portions of the film which makes me wish that Burlesque had played up the humour a bit more. This is the girl who was hung up on teasing us from “What A Girl Wants” to “Dirrty”. Even though her offstage persona is tinged with just the right amount of playfulness she’s not fully able to reconcile that with her stage performances which are just too adult to be authentic for Ally (but she’s fun to watch – either way). Cher, in all her agelessness offers up her usually acerbic self and makes the most of Tess. She’s fun to watch and though she’s regaled to a mere two numbers – neither of which turns into a duet with Christina (FAIL) she’s wonderful especially opposite Tucci who’s delightful – as always. Burlesque is the type of child on the playground that you’d willingly mock just because it wears its heart on its sleeves and is soooooooo obvious in all that it does. But, it doesn’t really care – and really, the teasing would be injudicious. It’s imprudent to call it a horrible film, because other than script that (admittedly) meanders a little too much to its own detriment, critiquing a film does not begin and end with a script. Burlesque is fun and at times even funny, perhaps harmlessly so – but we can’t really expect each film that falls in our laps to land with a resounding reverberation – can we?
     

B-

Oscar Talk (FINAL PREDICTIONS): Sound / Score/ Song

In a few days the Oscar nominations will be announced, and I’m generally bleh about it all. Which is no surprise, but a step up from last year when I wasn’t even interested enough to write a single word on the race. It’s shaping up to be a very tepid season, but who knows what surprises will come our way. I don’t know – and chances are I won’t predict them, but who cares – right? This is all just for fun.

     

Sound

I think I went back and forth enough on the sound category before, and I’m not expecting there to be too much of a competition for that category – though I shall inevitably be wrong about whatever the nominees end up becoming. I’m even more meh about this category, because I don’t think I’ll be right about it any occasion. Yes, I know I should bottle my enthusiasm – I’m just really excited (yes, the sarcasm is deafening).

Predictions (Sound Editing): 127 Hours / Toy Story III / Inception / Scott Pilgrim vs the World / True Grit Alternates: I have no idea umm Robin Hood? TRON? Black Swan?

Predictions (Sound Mixing): 127 Hours / Inception / Shutter Island / Toy Story III / True Grit Alternates: Even less ideas.... Can you see how on the ball I am here – sheesh,

Original Song

I swear, if Rahman wins the Oscar again I might implode. Actually, I retract that statement because I have feeling that he will win, and I’m not ready to leave yet. Yeah, 127 Hours is probably on its way to earning a nod, and probably a win here – though I can’t deny that I’d be enthused if Burlesque wins for “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” – not because, I love it but because ummm it’d be miles better. Okay, maybe not miles – but I’m interjecting my opinions again and predictions are not supposed to be personal. So, three nominees or five? Who knows....it might be five. And I want to say that the best song from Country Strong will be nominated “Me & Tennessee” because it’s Chris Martin and he’s brilliant – but then , I remember “Coming Home” is just the right amount of schmaltz that they’d go for. They probably won’t disregard “I See the Light” from Tangled, because it’s literally begging for a nomination with that (admittedly sweet lighted lantern scene). But, what if it gets snubbed in the animated category – which I would LOVE – would it still get in here? La de da. And then there’s “We Belong Together” which I can’t even remembering being IN Toy Story III - so umm, there you go. Then there’s Chronicles of Narnia which has that painfully trite “There’s A Place for Us”, but I’ll just reserve judgement on that one. And if the Oscars were too painfully highbrow to remember “Once In A Lifetime” from Cadillac Records I guess they won’t remember “Bound to You” (from Burlesque) which I wish they would, but they probably won’t. Then, there’s the song from The Illusionist which could make it, and I’d like to see it turn up because Je t’aime le francais. I cannot deny that I’m really excited to see what they nominate here, more than most of the “real” categories.

Predictions: IF I RISE from127 Hours / YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME from Burlesque / CHANSON ILLUSIONIST from The Illusionist / I SEE THE LIGHT from Tangled / WE BELONG TOGETHER from Toy Story III Alertnates BOUND TO YOU from Burlesque / ME & TENNESSEE from Country Strong

Score

Will Desplat win the Oscar? Will he? Will he? Will he? Okay – suffice to say, I WANT him to win it and of course as fate would have it he’s back up against the always insufferable officious ubiquitous always noticeable score of Rahman (ha, ha, ha). Not that I have anything against Rahman. (Honestly, I don’t.) The globe win for The Social Network is good but I think it’s for all the wrong reasons. Sure, the score IS good and beautifully understated, but who thinks they’re only rewarding it because The Social Network is intent on crushing all the competition? Just me? Err, moving on. Even worse than Rahman, though, it seems that Alice in Wonderland will be added to list of nominees. I LIKE Alice in Wonderland, marginally, but that score is just a bit of insufferable, repetitive tosh (that’s me, being British). And, I’ve resigned myself to everyone fêting the score for Inception – and I don’t hate it so I suppose if Zimmer wins I won’t combust, but ugh. God, can’t I wish for some originality here (and YES, by originality I mean Rabbit Hole and it's beautiful music – deal with it).

Hmm, these predictions sound less extrapolative and more mordant – but you know, I’m always one for difference. Any last minute hopes in all things aural?