As usual I was up this morning to watch the Academy Award nominations live – albeit today I was on my way to work so I was that early anyway.
If you’re reading this then you want to know my take on the whole show – and you know what? I aim to please. I will go through the major categories (acting, writing, directing, picture) and some of the other technical categories that I find interesting and give my spin on the nominees and who I think will win and who I would pick to win.
Best Original Screenplay
“Another Year”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“The King’s Speech”
Skillet’s Pick: “Inception” – Original, ambitious, and it’s the perfect example of high-art action science fiction. Not easily done, but this script excels.
Projected Winner: “The Kids Are All Right” – Terrific, light comedy with dashes of drama that feels very real and it’s the kind of script that doesn’t tie up all the ends and ends as life does – sometimes with not fully closed doors.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3”
“True Grit”
“Winter’s Bone”
Skillet’s Pick: “The Social Network” – It’s smart, maybe too smart, but the dialogue is so volatile and an essential part of these characters that it’s too hard to ignore.
Projected Winner: “The Social Network”
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams – “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter – “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo – “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld – “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver – “Animal Kingdom”
Skillet’s Pick: Hailee Steinfeld – She should be in the lead category because she commands the screen in this film and takes charge of Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon throughout the film.
Projected Winner: Melissa Leo – Dramatic, emotional, all the makings of a winning role but she might split votes with co-star Adams thus letting one of the other three slip in.
Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale – “The Fighter”
John Hawkes – “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner – “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo – “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush – “The King’s Speech”
Skillet’s Pick: Geoffrey Rush – He is such a joy to watch. He is one of the reasons this film is so great because he has fun with it while at the same time not being overly comical. He is level-headed and stands true to his ideals no matter what he is faced with, even when it’s the King of England.
Projected Winner: Christian Bale – This is a lock, take it to the bank. Bale steals this movie with his performance.
Best Actress:
Annette Benning – “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman – “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence – “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman – “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams – “Blue Valentine”
Skillet’s Pick: Natalie Portman – Her descent into madness as the pressure of the lead in Swan Lake is breathtaking and we go along for the ride. She is sensual and terrifying as she blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. It’s a role that starts in one place and ends somewhere completely different. A true transformation.
Projected Winner: Natalie Portman
Best Actor:
Javier Bardem – “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges – “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg – “The Social Network”
Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech”
James Franco – “127 Hours”
Skillet’s Pick: James Franco – His performance reminds me of one of my favourite performances of all time by Tom Hanks in “Cast Away” in that he is virtually alone and acting by himself for a majority of the film. He is funny, at times grave, charming, and we see the transformation from the person he was to the person he wants to be. We are placed right there with him under the boulder and watching him struggle with the possibility of death and losing everything he ever took advantage of and loved. This is a complete performance from one of the best young actors working today.
Projected Winner: Colin Firth – Lock it up. He’s won. He is terrific. He commands the screen not only because he is the King of England but because his performance is so complete that is impossible to ignore. I cannot quite put my finger on it but Firth has it and it’s a quality that allows him to be the King and take us on a journey that culminates in a crowd-pleasing moment.
Best Director:
Darren Aronofsky – “Black Swan”
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – “True Grit”
David Fincher – “The Social Network”
Tom Hooper – “The King’s Speech”
David O. Russell – “The Fighter”
Skillet’s Pick: Darren Aronofsky – (since the best director wasn’t nominated – Christopher Nolan for “Inception” I choose the next best) The camera, like the audience, loves Nina and it follows her closely everywhere lurking over her should like the delusions that Nina says are following her. The camera moves deftly through the ballet scenes as we are placed right in the middle of it all.
Projected Winner: David Fincher – He’s won many other directing awards, and now it might be his time given his work on “Benjamin Button” and audience favourites “Se7en” and “Fight Club”. I’ll be honest I don’t remember much about the camera work in this film, which says a lot about how this film played with me.
Best Original Score:
“127 Hours” – A.R. Rahman
“How To Train Your Dragon” – John Powell
“Inception” – Hans Zimmer
“The King’s Speech” – Alexandre Desplat
“The Social Network” – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Skillet’s Pick: Inception – BWRAAAAAMMH! The music from this film is so powerful and essential to the film as a whole because it emphasises the emotions and actions (as all great scores do) of the characters. It’s original (duh), daring (slowing down the horn from Edith Piaf’s “No Regrette Rien”') and utterly masterful because it is so unique.
Projected Winner: The Social Network – The music is so haunting that is the part that has stayed with me the most from the entire film. The music is beautiful and let’s you sit in the moment and soak it all in while the score plays in conjunction with the action, not separate.
Best Original Song:
If I Rise – “127 Hours”
Coming Home – “Country Strong”
I See the Light - “Tangled”
We Belong Together – “Toy Story 3”
Skillet’s Pick: I See the Light – What a return to form for the Disney animated musical. I was surprised to hear original songs in this film and really enjoyed this song and the imagery that was accompanied it, as it was a complete experience. It’s a simple song but beautiful nonetheless.
Projected Winner: I See the Light
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”
Skillet’s Pick: Inception – A daring piece of cinema that challenges the mind and entertains. Mind-bending effects, a multi-layered plot (literally), all centered around an idea that is not a simple as it sounds – not unlike the act of inception itself. The directing is top notch, the visuals – cinematography and effects, the writing is fresh and original, the action is intense, and the story in emotionally involving. All the makings of a great film.
Projected Winner: The King’s Speech – I am torn between this film and “The Social Network”, yet I feel that “The King’s Speech” will win out because it is a feel good story set in a time when there was not much to feel good about. The people of England needed a voice and they found it in their unlikely King who struggles just like the people he oversees. This is a complete film that never takes you out of the moment and immerses you into the time and place because in order to understand the gravity of the job the King must do, we must be put into his life and walk around in his shoes. A job the film does very well.
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