My Oscar Predictions

The Oscar nominations have just come out today, so I thought I would make my predictions. Here are the nominees: Best Picture 127 Hours Black Swan The Fighter Inception The Kids Are All Right The King's Speech The Social Network Toy Story 3 True Grit Winter's Bone I have only seen four of the nominees so far: Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The Social Network and Toy Story 3. I really want to see The Fighter, The King's Speech, True Grit, and Winter's Bone. Out of the movies I've seen, I would pick The Social Network or The Kids Are All Right to win Best Picture, although I think The King's Speech or True Grit has the best chance of winning. Best Actor Javier Bardem for Biutiful Jeff Bridges for True Grit Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network Colin Firth for The King's Speech James Franco for 127 Hours I would pick Jesse Eisenberg to win Best Actor for his impressive performance in The Social Network, but I think that Colin Firth will win for The King's Speech. Best Actress Annette Benning for The Kids Are All Right Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone Natalie Portman for Black Swan Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine I would pick Annette Benning to win Best Actress for The Kids Are All Right. I think she really deserves to win for her performance. My other picks would be Nicole Kidman or Michelle Williams. I think that either Annette Benning or Natalie Portman will win. Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale for The Fighter John Hawkes for Winter's Bone Jeremy Renner for The Town Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech I would pick Christian Bale for The Fighter and I think he will win. Best Supporting Actress Amy Adams for The Fighter Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech Melissa Leo for The Fighter Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom I would pick Melissa Leo for The Fighter or Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom. I think that Melissa Leo will win. Best Director Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan Joel and Ethan Coen for True Grit David Fincher for The Social Network Tom Hooper for The King's Speech David O. Russell for The Fighter I would pick David Fincher for The Social Network. My other picks would be Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan and David O. Russell for The Fighter. I think that either David Fincher or David O. Russell will win. Best Original Screenplay Another Year by Mike Leigh The Fighter by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, and Keith Dorrington Inception by Christopher Nolan The Kids Are All Right by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg The King's Speech by David Seidler I would pick Inception or The Kids Are All Right. I think that The King's Speech or The Fighter might win. Best Adapted Screenplay 127 Hours by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy The Social Network by Aaron Sorkin Toy Story 3 by Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich True Grit by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Winter's Bone by Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini I would definitely pick The Social Network. My 2nd place pick would be Toy Story 3. I think that The Social Network will win. Best Animated Film How To Train Your Dragon The Illusionist Toy Story 3 I would definitely pick Toy Story 3 and I think it will win. Oscar Snubs I think that Andrew Garfield should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Social Network, Katie Jarvis should have been nominated for Best Actress for Fish Tank, Kierston Wareing should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Fish Tank, Christopher Nolan should have been nominated for Best Director for Inception, Julianne Moore should have been nominated for Best Actress for The Kids Are All Right, Ryan Gosling should have been nominated for Best Actor for Blue Valentine, and Dianne Wiest should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Rabbit Hole.

Biggest Oscar Snubs

Here are the biggest Oscar snubs (in my opinion):

1962:
A Raisin In The Sun, the 1961 film starring Sidney Poitier, was not nominated for any Oscars. I saw this movie last year and I thought it was awesome, especially the acting by Sidney Potier and Claudia McNeil, who I think should have been nominated for Best Actor and Actress. I also think it should have been nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

1986:
The Color Purple, the 1985 film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover, was nominated for 11 Oscars and didn't win any. I thought that even if it didn't win Best Picture or Whoopi Goldberg didn't win Best Actress, it would have won Best Original Song or Oprah Winfrey would have won Best Supporting Actress for her performance. I watched Out Of Africa last year, the movie that won most of the awards at the Oscars that year. I thought that Out Of Africa was good, but definitely not deserving of all the Oscars it recieved.

2000:
Fight Club, the 1999 film starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, was nominated for Best Sound Effects, but was left out of the Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Picture categories. I think that even though it was probably very unlikely that Fight Club would be nominated for Best Picture or Best Original Score, it definitely should have been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. I don't really understand how American Beauty won so many of the awards that year. I thought it was good, I guess, but not amazing, like it was hyped to be. I guess that most of the Academy voters thought that Fight Club was too "edgy" and weren't ready for it, although when you compare the plots of American Beauty and Fight Club, I don't think that they were too different. Both movies feature main characters that have gotten tired of modern life and are looking for something that makes them feel alive, only American Beauty is from a Baby Boomer's perspective and Fight Club is Generation X's. I think that Fight Club and Boys Don't Cry should have been nominated for Best Picture, and that The Green Mile should have won that year, instead of American Beauty.

2008:
Into The Wild, the 2007 film starring Emile Hirsch, was nominated for Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actor for Hal Holbrook's performance in it. I think that Emile Hirsch should have been nominated for Best Actor, and that the movie should have been nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Into The Wild is one of my favorite movies from 2007 and one of the best movies I have ever seen.

2009:
The Dark Knight, the 2008 film starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, was nominated for several technical awards and won Best Sound Editing and Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger's performance. I think that The Dark Knight should have also been nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. The Dark Knight is one of my Top 3 favorite movies of 2008.

2010:
(500) Days Of Summer, the 2009 film starring Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, was not nominated for any Oscars. I think that it should have been nominated for Best Original Screenplay and especially Best Picture, since the Best Picture category was expanded last year to include 10 movies. It is amazing to me how The Hurt Locker and A Serious Man were nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay and (500) Days Of Summer was left out. (500) Days Of Summer is one of my Top 3 favorite movies of 2009.

The Soloist, the 2009 film starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx was not nominated for any Oscars. I think that Jamie Foxx definitely should have been nominated for Best Actor for his performance, instead of George Clooney for Up In The Air or Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker.

Inglourious Basterds, the 2009 film starring Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz, was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and a few technical awards. It won Best Supporting Actor for Christoph Waltz, who really deserved it. However, Melanie Laurent was not nominated for her performance, which I think drives the entire movie and gives it heart, which it might not otherwise have. Inglourious Basterds is one of my Top 3 favorite movies of 2009.

Where The Wild Things Are, the 2009 film starring Max Records and Catherine Keener, was not nominated for any Oscars. Where The Wild Things Are is one of my favorite movies of 2009, and I was really surprised it didn't get nominated for Best Picture, especially with the expanded Best Picture category.

Mary & Max, the 2009 animated film featuring the voices of Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman, was not nominated Best Animated Picture. I saw this movie last year, and I thought it was amazing. It's one of my favorite movies of 2009 and one of the best animated movies I've ever seen. I'm really surprised how it didn't get nominated but Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox did. I know that even if it had been nominated, it wouldn't have had a chance against Up (one of my Top 3 favorite movies of 2009), but it still would have been nice.

Movie Review-The Social Network

Title-"The Social Network"

Rating- PG-13

Director-David Fincher

Actors-Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield

Genre-Biography/Drama

Year-2010

"The Social Network" is an awesome and exciting movie. It is about Mark Zuckerberg, the man who created Facebook, the popular social networking website, and became the world's youngest billionaire at 23. The movie begins with Mark (Jesse Eisenberg) as a brilliant, but arrogant and socially-awkward student at Harvard. Mark has only one friend, a student named Eduardo (Andrew Garfield). One day, Mark comes up with an idea for a new website that will help people keep in touch with each other, and gets Eduardo to help him create it. As the website's popularity begins to grow, Mark deals with legal battles over the ownership and origin of Facebook. What makes this movie great is how it manages to take a story that uses a lot of computer terminology and because of its writing and acting, make it extremely interesting. The movie's screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin, who wrote "A Few Good Men" and created the television show "The West Wing", so the dialogue in "The Social Network" is amazing. From the first scene, the movie really makes you pay attention to the dialogue, which is very fast-paced. "The Social Network" also has great acting, especially by Jesse Eisenberg, playing a character that is almost completely unlikeable, but manages to convey Mark's insecurity and lonliness. I would not be surprised if he was nominated for Best Actor in this year's Academy Awards. "The Social Network" is definitely one of the best movies of 2010 and I really recommend watching it when it comes out on DVD.

Movie Review-Mary & Max

Movie Review-"Mary & Max"

Rating- PG-13

Director-Adam Elliot

Actors-Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Genre-Animated/Drama

Year-2009

"Mary & Max" is one of the best animated movies I've seen. It is about a lonely Australian girl named Mary (Toni Collette). She desperately wants a friend, so one day she decides to write to a randomly chosen American. The letter goes to Max (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a man living in New York City who has Asperger's Syndrome. He has a very lonely life, also, and he answers Mary's letter. Soon, they are sending letters back and forth and learning about each other's lives. Although "Mary & Max" is an animated movie, it is not for kids, and I would recommend it more to teenagers and adults. "Mary & Max" has probably the best portrayal of Asperger's Syndrome that I've seen in a movie. It also has exceptional voice work by Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who make the characters come to life. I really recommend watching "Mary & Max".

My Favorite Movies Of The Decade

• Billy Elliot (2000)


• High Fidelity (2000)


• Amelie (2001)


• Ghost World (2001)


• The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)


• Chicago (2002)


• My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)


• The Pianist (2002)


• The Dreamers (2003)


• Finding Nemo (2003)


• School Of Rock (2003)


• Million Dollar Baby (2004)


• Brokeback Mountain (2005)


• C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)


• Borat (2006)


• The Departed (2006)


• Little Miss Sunshine (2006)


• Shortbus (2006)


• The Assasination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)


• Into The Wild (2007)


• Juno (2007)


• Persepolis (2007)


• The Dark Knight (2008)


• Milk (2008)


• Slumdog Millionaire (2008)


• WALL-E (2008)


• Inglourious Basterds (2009)


• Up (2009)