Kinematoscope

Best Visual Effects

Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

So pretty…

Best Sound Effects

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek

BOOM!

Best Sound Effects Editing

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek

BOOM goes the dynamite!

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Best Make Up

District 9
The Road
Star Trek

I have often found myself wondering how this award is not sponsored by Max Factor or L’Oreal.

Best Costume Design

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
A Single Man
The Young Victoria

For costume design, I have three out of the five real nominees. Basterds gets added because of its scope and costumes for the women. Meanwhile, A Single Man gets added for its dead on fashion of the 1960s and because Tom Ford made it. You know it has to at least look damn good.

Best Art Direction

District 9
Inglourious Basterds
A Single Man
Watchmen
Where the Wild Things Are

None of the real nominees here, convention be damned!

Best Song

Crazy Heart – “The Weary Kind”
Fantastic Mr. Fox – “Petey’s Song”
The Hangover – “Stu’s Song”
It Might Get Loud – “Fly Farm Blues”
Where the Wild Things Are – “All Is Love”

Save “The Weary Kind,” the Academy completely fumbled away this category. Songs should be memorable and fun/moving.

Best Score

Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
A Single Man
Star Trek
Up

Best Animated Feature

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Secret of the Kells
Up

::Nodding::

Best Cinematography

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Single Man

Awesome to the max.

Best Film Editing

District 9
Drag Me to Hell
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man

The “It” Category.

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9
Fantastic Mr. Fox
In the Loop
A Single Man
Up in the Air

I feel that this category, without compromise, is significantly more solid than the real one.

Best Original Screenplay

Drag Me to Hell
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up

Solid choices abound…

Best Supporting Actress

Diane Krueger – Inglourious Basterds
Melanie Laurent – Inglourious Basterds
Mo’Nique – Precious
Julianne Moore – A Single Man
Lorna Raver – Drag Me to Hell
Last Woman Out: Vera Fermiga – Up in the Air

I cannot ignore Mo’Nique’s career altering performance in Precious. The Basterds duo of Krueger and Laurent get my support giving the film a strong female presence. Julianne Moore has replaced Kate Winslet as the actress who always gets nominated, but has nothing on the shelf at home. Lastly, I am recognizing Lorna Raver for her wacky and dastardly turn in Drag Me to Hell. I just gave the horror industry legitimacy.

Best Supporting Actor

Peter Capaldi – In the Loop
Billy Crudup - Watchmen
Richard Kind – A Serious Man
Anthony Mackie – The Hurt Locker
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
Last Man Out: Kylie the Possum – Fantastic Mr. Fox

I feel that Capaldi, Kind, Mackie, and Waltz are self-explanatory. Waltz is easily the most memorable character, with Capaldi in second. The fifth spot came down to Watchmen co-stars Crudup and Jackie Earle Haley. I chose Crudup’s alienated and subdued performance over Haley’s psychotic rendition.

Also, if a claymation possum could be nominated for an Oscar, Crudup gets dropped.

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Alison Lohman – Drag Me to Hell
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie and Julia
Last Woman Out: Helen Mirren – The Last Station

I just added more legitimacy to the horror genre.

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Matt Damon – The Informant!
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Michael Stuhlbarg – A Serious Man
Last Man Out: Liam Neeson – Taken

A solid list… Up until you read Liam Neeson as the sixth man. Why Neeson? If you have a role that redefines who you are as actor and it establishes a mindset with pop culture, you have achieved something. After Taken, we all think the same thing when we see Liam Neeson now: Oh snap, Liam Neeson is about to start killing people. Keep in mind, Neeson once played Michael Collins and a psychiatrist in Nell.

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Pete Docter – Up
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Last Man/Woman Out: Neil Blomkamp – District 9

Bigelow, Cameron, Reitman, and Tarantino are not strangers to this category this year. I chose Docter over Blomkamp because too often animated films are dismissed as solely a collaborative effort. Docter had a significant hand in every aspect of Up, and it was not a hindrance at all.

Best Picture

Avatar
District 9
Drag Me to Hell
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Up in the Air

Last Two Films Out: In the Loop and A Single Man

Nine out of these ten do not need to be explained.

So, why did I put Drag Me to Hell here? One, it is a great movie. It makes you experience fear, sorrow, and sheer ridiculousness. Horror is often a genre – like science fiction and fantasy in years past – that gets overlooked. The Exorcist is the only true horror film to get a lot of accolades, which is a shame. Maybe the trend will be reversed someday for films that truly deserve it.

Totals

Inglourious Basterds – 12
District 9 – 9
The Hurt Locker – 9
A Single Man – 7
Avatar – 6
Star Trek – 6
Drag Me to Hell – 5
Fantastic Mr. Fox – 5
A Serious Man – 5
Up – 5
Up in the Air – 4
Crazy Heart – 2
In the Loop – 2
Precious – 2
Watchmen – 2
Where the Wild Things Are – 2
The Blind Side – 1
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – 1
Coraline – 1
An Education – 1
The Informant! – 1
Julie and Julia – 1
Nine – 1
The Road – 1
The Secret of the Kells – 1
The Young Victoria – 1