Kinematoscope

It's that time again, folks. Here are my friend Dave's picks for everything but the shorts, documentary, and foreign- because we live in Milwaukee and haven't seen any of them.

Best Sound Effects

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Up

LOUD NOISES!

Best Sound Effects Editing

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Up

LOUDER NOISES!

More...

Best Special Effects

Avatar
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Pretty things…

Best Costume Design

An Education
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
A Single Man
The Young Victoria

Prettier things…

Best Production Design

The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
A Single Man
Where the Wild Things Are

More pretty things…

Best Makeup

District 9
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Best Cinematography

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
A Single Man

::Nodding Head::

Best Original Score

Avatar
An Education
A Single Man
Star Trek
Up

Best Song

Avatar – “I Will See You”
Brothers – “Winter”
Crazy Heart – “The Weary Kind”
Everybody’s Fine – “I Want to Come Home”
Where the Wild Things Are – “All Is Love” (not a homer pick at all…)

Best Animated Feature

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Up

Best Film Editing

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air

One category to decide them all… Sort of…

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9
An Education
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Precious
Up in the Air

I feel pretty confident about this category. I have not further explain as to why.

Best Original Screenplay

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up

Same here…

Mo’Nique Delivers Another Speech Best Supporting Actress

Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Mo’Nique – Precious
Julianne Moore – A Single Man
Samantha Morton – The Messenger

This was a pretty easy category to pick. I would have put Penelope Cruz here for Nine, but that film has just fallen off the radar. I placed Morton in her place. Dark Horse: Penelope Cruz – Nine, if she is still the voter’s darling.

The Christoph Waltz Award Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

Too easy. Dark Horse: Anthony Mackie – The Hurt Locker

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie and Julia

The Bullock-Streep title bout takes center stage here. The two newcomers, Mulligan and Sidibe, will be rewarded with nominations – and be content with that. I figure Mirren for the last spot because she’s always a favorite and there really is no one else. Dark Horse: Emily Blunt – The Young Victoria

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Matt Damon – The Informant!
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

I feel that Bridges, Clooney, and Firth are locks. I would bet the farm on them. The last two spots have been toss ups over the last several weeks. Damon has gotten a Golden Globe nomination, while Renner got a BAFTA nomination. I feel that those two are the most likely candidates because Renner leads the most lauded film of the year, and Damon is going to get nominated because it is a good performance (from what I hear) and he has not been nominated since Good Will Hunting. Dark Horse: RDJ – Sherlock Holmes

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Lee Daniels – Precious
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

Another category where four are locks (Bigelow, Cameron, Reitman, and Tarantino), and there is one slot open. Eastwood, Daniels, and JJ Abrams are the most likely to fill that last spot. Pete Docter will be overlooked for Up because animation has not come that far – yet. I figure it to be Daniels because the DGA gave him the nomination over Eastwood and Abrams has not seen any love this year. Dark Horse: Lone Scherfig – An Education.

Best Picture

Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Precious
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Up in the Air

I feel very confident about nine of these ten being here. The one I don’t? A Serious Man. I feel that the last spot comes down to the Coen Brothers’ film or District 9. Invictus gets in on pure prestige, as its odds have faded considerably since its release. Dark Horse: District 9

Totals:
Avatar – 10
The Hurt Locker – 9
Inglourious Basterds – 8
Up in the Air – 7
Precious – 6
A Single Man – 6
Up – 6
Star Trek - 6
An Education – 5
A Serious Man – 3
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – 3
Where the Wild Things Are – 2
Crazy Heart – 2
Fantastic Mr. Fox – 2
Invictus – 2
The Last Station – 2
The Messenger – 2
Nine – 2
District 9 – 2
The Young Victoria – 2
The Blind Side – 1
Brothers – 1
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – 1
Coraline – 1
Everybody’s Fine – 1
The Informant! – 1
Julie and Julia – 1
The Lovely Bones – 1
The Princess and the Frog – 1