Oscars are tonight. Here are my picks…

Actor in a Leading Role

• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
• Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
• James Franco in “127 Hours”

Winner: Colin Firth.

My pick: Colin Firth. It’s never easy to play a part where someone has a disability, even a small one such as a stammer. Not to mention I enjoyed it a lot when he started cursing. That was hilarious as fuck.

Actor in a Supporting Role

• 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”

Winner: Christian Bale

My Pick: Christian Bale. He always kicks his own ass for his roles. It was just a matter of time before the Acadamy took notice. And they will tonight.

Actress in a Leading Role

• 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”

Winner: Natalie Portman

My Pick: Natalie Portman. This again, should go without saying. Really she played two diffrent characters in that film and just blew me away. Though I’d love to see Annette take one home, Natalie has earned it.

Actress in a Supporting Role

• 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”

Winner: Mellisa Leo

My Choice: Mellisa Leo: Mellisa Leo has always been a favorite of mine from films such as Frozen River or more recently Welcome to the Riley’s. Her character should have been in more of The Fighter, but she was a joy to watch whenever she was actually the center of the scene.

Animated Feature Film

• “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
• “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

Winner: Toy Story 3

My Pick: The Illusionist. Pixar has made some of the greatest animated films of all time. This year is just not the case. Toy Story 3, it being a great movie and all, doesn’t do what the other great Pixar movies have been doing for all these years which I think will be the downfall of Pixar in the coming years. It’s unoriginal. The Illusionist on the other hang… yet it takes the “action speaks louder than words” approach that Wall-E did. It conveys a much different message, that there are some things that can never be real… no matter how much you want it. You can try real hard, but in the end you have to face reality. This is something I haven’t seen in an animated film since I watched Animal Farm and Watership Down years ago. Also in the film you’ll notice how technology and fads replace the illusionist… like… oh, CG over hand drawn anyone? If you haven’t seen the Illusionist, treat yourself to the best animated film in some time. Pixar does not deserve it this time.

Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland”
  Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
  Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Inception”
  Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “The King’s Speech”
  Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
• “True Grit”
  Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Winner: Inception.

My Pick: Inception. There’s some really fucked up shit going on. It’d better win, fuck.

Cinematography

• “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
• “Inception” Wally Pfister
• “The King’s Speech” Danny Cohen
• “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
• “True Grit” Roger Deakins

Winner: Black Swan

My Pick: Black Swan. It was a movie that was MADE for camera tricks, and there’s no shortage of them here.

Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King’s Speech” Jenny Beavan
• “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” Mary Zophres

Winner: The King’s Speech

My Pick: The King’s Speech. It’s a period piece. They never lose, nor should they.

Directing

• “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
• “The Fighter” David O. Russell
• “The King’s Speech” Tom Hooper
• “The Social Network” David Fincher
• “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Winner: The King’s Speech

Black Swan: Aronofsky finally impressed me (about time). Style and substance rolled into an orgy of classical music, drugs, and death.

Film Editing

• “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
• “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
• “The King’s Speech” Tariq Anwar
• “127 Hours” Jon Harris
• “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Winner: 127 Hours

My Pick 127 Hours. If you have a film in one place. You have to make it look special. They did.

Foreign Language Film

• “Biutiful” Mexico
• “Dogtooth” Greece
• “In a Better World” Denmark
• “Incendies” Canada
• “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

Winner: Biutiful

My Pick: Biutiful. Mexico really doesn’t churn out a lot of quality films, not to say that there aren’t any good filmmakers down there… because there sure are.

Best Picture

• “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• “The King’s Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• “Winter’s Bone” Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Winner: The King’s Speech

My Pick: The Fighter. No movie had me more pumped and into it than The Fighter. It and Black Swan were REALLY CLOSE though. But The Fighter had more great performances to go around. But Bale and Leo will get their due tonight.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter’s Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Winner: The Social Network

My Pick: 127 Hours. How hard is it to write a script that’s basically all action and takes place in only one location. I’ll tell you, that shit’s hard.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
  Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• “The King’s Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

Winner: The King’s Speech

My Pick: The Kids Are All Right. Maybe it’s because I’m adopted as well that these stories seem to hit a cord. But between that and the whitty dialoge throughout. It’s a winner to me.

 

Well, let’s see how my picks go tonight. Oscar go go!

And if you’re live tweeting the entire show, come on son. No.