Oscar nominees announced! Any early leans?

I was surprised to see District 9 in the mix. I thought the movie was ok at best.

Where ya at H Park, aka......Oscar Guru!

District 9 is in the mix because this year the Oscars expanded to include 10 films nominated for Best Picture.

In reality only five of those films would even be considered. I lean towards Hurt Locker and Monique for Best Actress.

Complete List of 82nd Annual Academy Award Nominations


1. Best Picture: ``Avatar,'' ``The Blind Side,'' ``District 9,'' ``An Education,'' ``The Hurt Locker,'' ``Inglourious Basterds,'' ``Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire,'' ``A Serious Man,'' ``Up,'' ``Up in the Air.''

2. Actor: Jeff Bridges, ``Crazy Heart''; George Clooney, ``Up in the Air''; Colin Firth, ``A Single Man''; Morgan Freeman, ``Invictus''; Jeremy Renner, ``The Hurt Locker.''

3. Actress: Sandra Bullock, ``The Blind Side''; Helen Mirren, ``The Last Station''; Carey Mulligan, ``An Education''; Gabourey Sidibe, ``Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire''; Meryl Streep, ``Julie & Julia.''

4. Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, ``Invictus''; Woody Harrelson, ``The Messenger''; Christopher Plummer, ``The Last Station''; Stanley Tucci, ``The Lovely Bones''; Christoph Waltz, ``Inglourious Basterds.''

5. Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, ``Nine''; Vera Farmiga, ``Up in the Air''; Maggie Gyllenhaal, ``Crazy Heart''; Anna Kendrick, ``Up in the Air''; Mo'Nique, ``Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire.''

6. Directing: James Cameron, ``Avatar''; Kathryn Bigelow, ``The Hurt Locker''; Quentin Tarantino, ``Inglourious Basterds''; Lee Daniels, ``Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire''; Jason Reitman, ``Up in the Air.''

7. Foreign Language Film: ``Ajami,'' Israel; ``El Secreto de Sus Ojos,'' Argentina; ``The Milk of Sorrow,'' Peru; ``Un Prophete,'' France; ``The White Ribbon,'' Germany.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, ``District 9''; Nick Hornby, ``An Education''; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, ``In the Loop''; Geoffrey Fletcher, ``Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire''; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, ``Up in the Air.''

9. Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, ``The Hurt Locker''; Quentin Tarantino, ``Inglourious Basterds''; Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, ``The Messenger''; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, ``A Serious Man''; Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, ``Up.''

10. Animated Feature Film: ``Coraline''; ``Fantastic Mr. Fox''; ``The Princess and the Frog''; ``The Secret of Kells''; ``Up.''

11. Art Direction: ``Avatar,'' ``The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,'' ``Nine,'' ``Sherlock Holmes,'' ``The Young Victoria.''

12. Cinematography: ``Avatar,'' ``Harry ****** and the Half-Blood Prince,'' ``The Hurt Locker,'' ``Inglourious Basterds,'' ``The White Ribbon.''

13. Sound Mixing: ``Avatar,'' ``The Hurt Locker,'' ``Inglourious Basterds,'' ``Star Trek,'' ``Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.''

14. Sound Editing: ``Avatar,'' ``The Hurt Locker,'' ``Inglourious Basterds,'' ``Star Trek,'' ``Up.''

15. Original Score: ``Avatar,'' James Horner; ``Fantastic Mr. Fox,'' Alexandre Desplat; ``The Hurt Locker,'' Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders; ``Sherlock Holmes,'' Hans Zimmer; ``Up,'' Michael Giacchino.

16. Original Song: ``Almost There'' from ``The Princess and the Frog,'' Randy Newman; ``Down in New Orleans'' from ``The Princess and the Frog,'' Randy Newman; ``Loin de Paname'' from ``Paris 36,'' Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas; ``Take It All'' from ``Nine,'' Maury Yeston; ``The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)'' from ``Crazy Heart,'' Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.

17. Costume: ``Bright Star,'' ``Coco Before Chanel,'' ``The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,'' ``Nine,'' ``The Young Victoria.''

18. Documentary Feature: ``Burma VJ,'' ``The Cove,'' ``Food, Inc.'' ``The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,'' ``Which Way Home.''

19. Documentary (short subject): ``China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province,'' ``The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner,'' ``The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant,'' ``Music by Prudence,'' ``Rabbit a la Berlin.''

20. Film Editing: ``Avatar,'' ``District 9,'' ``The Hurt Locker,'' ``Inglourious Basterds,'' ``Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire.''

21. Makeup: ``Il Divo,'' ``Star Trek,'' ``The Young Victoria.''

22. Animated Short Film: ``French Roast,'' ``Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty,'' ``The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte),'' ``Logorama,'' ``A Matter of Loaf and Death.''

23. Live Action Short Film: ``The Door,'' ``Instead of Abracadabra,'' ``Kavi,'' ``Miracle Fish,'' ``The New Tenants.''

24. Visual Effects: ``Avatar,'' ``District 9,'' ``Star Trek.''

Actor: Jeff Bridges,

kinda like Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds for best supporting actor.

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Dark horse to win a lot of major categories

minet123 said:

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Dark horse to win a lot of major categories

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not so much of a dark horse ..............

go against "avatar"

Will they even post odds for the best visual effects winner? Avatar seems about as close to free money as you can get in that category.

Jeff Bridges should take down best actor for Crazy Heart

FuriousDrew said:

Will they even post odds for the best visual effects winner? Avatar seems about as close to free money as you can get in that category.

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If I recall, two years ago there were more of these smaller awards available to wager on at places. Not so much last year.

Avatar cleans house !!@)

District 9 certainly deserves to be in the mix. It was a far superior sci-fi film to Avatar. Looked great and was made for less than 30 million not to mention the story and characters were far richer than anything Cameron came up with in his latest installment.

FuriousDrew said:

Jeff Bridges should take down best actor for Crazy Heart

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i agree

also think 'the hurt locker' wins best picture.

lock play at -300 or better

Kathryn Bigelow, ``The Hurt Locker'

celticGreen said:

i agree

also think 'the hurt locker' wins best picture.

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Strongest picture in the category, IMO.

James Cameron went on record saying, "I'd be pissed if anyone else won."

Best pic between HL and Avatar, really a toss up imo right now. Director will most likely go to Bigelow, in fact I'm pretty certain it will (75%+). Actor is Bridges (85%+), Actress a little confused right now, both supporting are massive favs (especially Monique). Hard to decipher value on -1000/-2000 favs though.

king ebeneezer said:

kinda like Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds for best supporting actor.

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this is the surest bet in the bunch imho.

my friend pointed out something pretty clever about Oscars in years past and will probably be the same again this year. It's no longer about the "best" but the "most." (most money made, most special effects, most raved performance, etc.)