MOTION PICTURES
_Picture, Drama: "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglorious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," "Up in the Air."
Wait, they actually stuck to only five nominees? Madness! Overall, nothing surprising, but these are pretty solid picks, and I'm thrilled to see that the lack of star power didn't hurt The Hurt Locker. It's starting to take some of Up in the Air's momentum, which is pretty huge for a film that grossed about $12 million back in July/August and then vanished until about a week ago. I'm not super crazy about Precious being up for the top prize, mainly because the cast is better than the film or direction; I wouldn't mind seeing it take the SAG award, however. As for Avatar, it looks like the big blockbuster of the year ala The Lord of the Rings, or more obviously, Titanic. And no A Single Man? Ouch.
_Picture, Musical or Comedy: "(500) Days of Summer," "The Hangover," "It's Complicated," "Julie & Julia," "Nine."
A shame to not see A Serious Man or In the Loop here, though the latter snub was expected. The HFPA do have a tendency to go star/box-office crazy, and The Hangover's presence is clear evidence. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty funny movie, even gut-busting at times, but there were much better choices to be made. Nice to see that (500) Days of Summer made it, as did Nine. Harvey Weinstein must be heaving a HUGE sigh of relief right now. Oh, and It's Complicated = Something's Gotta Give '09???
_Actor, Drama: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"; George Clooney, "Up in the Air"; Colin Firth, "A Single Man"; Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"; Tobey Maguire, "Brothers."
Oh hi, Jeff Bridges. Oh hi, Colin Firth. Oh hi, Tobey Magui-TOBEY MAGUIRE? I haven't seen Brothers so I'm in no position as to comment on whether he deserves it but...that's one hell of a curve ball right there, HFPA. The other four, not surprising at all. What's going to be surprising is who actually wins the damn thing. And no Jeremy Renner or Sam Rockwell? BOO!
_Actress, Drama: Emily Blunt, "The Young Victoria"; Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"; Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"; Carey Mulligan, "An Education"; Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."
I know I predicted Saoirse Ronan, but she was honestly the one I felt least secure about.Bullock got in, which isn't too surprising, but Blunt's nomination comes relatively out of nowhere. I don't expect her to do to well this awards season, and she surely won't win this, but it's a small boost for a film that many were writing off as "TV movie quality." Poor Abbie Cornish, though...that's just cruel HFPA.
_Director: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"; James Cameron, "Avatar"; Clint Eastwood, "Invictus"; Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglorious Basterds."
A big YAY for Kathryn Bigelow and Quentin Tarantino. Sadly I haven't seen the other films (expect some new reviews this weekend at long last), but this is certainly a big boost for Cameron. The HFPA do have a big crush on Eastwood, though, so I can't say that this necessarily means that he's a shoo-in for the Oscar nom. Not yet.
_Actor, Musical or Comedy: Matt Damon, "The Informant!"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "Nine"; Robert Downey Jr., "Sherlock Holmes"; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "(500) Days of Summer"; Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man."
Great to see Michael Stuhlbarg get some recognition, as well as Gordon-Levitt. I wasn't too crazy about Damon in The Informant, but there were relatively slim pickings this year. Day-Lewis isn't a surprise and will probably win the award, and Downey Jr. looks like he might be the Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean-of the year.
_Actress, Musical or Comedy: Sandra Bullock, "The Proposal"; Marion Cotillard, "Nine"; Julia Roberts, "Duplicity"; Meryl Streep, "It's Complicated"; Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."
I would gasp and sputter about Sandra Bullock's second nomination, but I'm too flabbergasted by the presence of Julia Roberts here. Granted, Duplicity was a well made and well acted movie, but I thought everyone (myself included) had basically forgotten about it. The Weinstein's category fraud seems to have paid off for Cotillard, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see her win, simply because the HFPA may be split on which Streep performance they want to award.
_Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, "Invictus"; Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"; Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"; Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"; Christoph Waltz, "Inglorious Basterds."
Holy crap...I got a category 100% right. Go me. That's all.
_Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Nine"; Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"; Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"; Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Julianne Moore, "A Single Man."
This is basically the supporting actress lineup people have been predicting for two months, and with this set of nominees, it's coming close to reality (unless the Academy fawns over Cotillard in a supporting way).
_Foreign Language: "Baaria," "Broken Embraces," "The Maid (La Nana)," "A Prophet," "The White Ribbon."
_Animated Film: "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Princess and the Frog," "Up."
_Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp, "District 9"; Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"; Nancy Meyers, "It's Complicated"; Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglorious Basterds."
District 9? Really? That's kind of cool, actually.
_Original Score: Michael Giacchino, "Up"; Marvin Hamlisch, "The Informant!"; James Horner, "Avatar"; Abel Korzeniowski, "A Single Man"; Karen O, Carter Burwell, "Where the Wild Things Are."
Why on earth is the score for The Informant! nominated? That's horrifying. Yay for the under appreciated Carter Burwell, however.
_Original Song: "Cinema Italiano" (written by Maury Yeston), "Nine"; "I Want to Come Home" (written by Paul McCartney); "Everybody's Fine"; "I Will See You" (written by James Horner, Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrell); "Avatar"; "The Weary Kind (Theme from 'Crazy Heart')" (written by Ryan Bingham, T Bone Burnett); "Crazy Heart"; "Winter" (written by U2), "Brothers."
That Avatar song is pretty bleh. "Winter" and "Cinema Italiano" are both pretty good, although I would have liked to see "Take It All" instead (haven't seen Nine, but I listened to the soundtrack, and Cotillard KILLS IT).
TELEVISION:
_Series, Drama: "Big Love," HBO; "Dexter," Showtime; "House," Fox; "Mad Men," AMC; "True Blood, HBO.
_Actor, Drama: Simon Baker, "The Mentalist"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"; Hugh Laurie, "House"; Bill Paxton, "Big Love"
_Actress, Drama: Glenn Close, "Damages"; January Jones, "Mad Men"; Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"; Anna Paquin, "True Blood"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer."
_Series, Musical or Comedy: "30 Rock," NBC; "Entourage," HBO; "Glee," Fox; "Modern Family," ABC; "The Office," NBC.
_Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Steve Carell, "The Office"; David Duchovny, "Californication"; Thomas Jane, "Hung"; Matthew Morrison, "Glee."
_Actress, Musical or Comedy: Toni Collette, "United States of Tara"; Courteney Cox, "Cougar Town"; Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"; Tina Fey, "30 Rock"; Lea Michele, "Glee."
_Miniseries or Movie: "Georgia O'Keeffe," Lifetime Television; "Grey Gardens," HBO; "Into the Storm," HBO; "Little Dorrit," PBS; "Taking Chance," HBO.
_Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Joan Allen, "Georgia O'Keeffe"; Drew Barrymore, "Grey Gardens"; Jessica Lange, "Grey Gardens"; Anna Paquin, "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler"; Sigourney Weaver, "Prayers for Bobby."
_Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Kevin Bacon, "Taking Chance"; Kenneth Branagh, "Wallander: One Step Behind"; Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Endgame"; Brendan Gleeson, "Into the Storm"; Jeremy Irons, "Georgia O'Keeffe."
_Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jane Adams, "Hung"; Rose Byrne, "Damages"; Jane Lynch, "Glee"; Janet McTeer, "Into the Storm"; Chloe Sevigny, "Big Love,"
_Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Michael Emerson, "Lost"; Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother"; William Hurt, "Damages"; John Lithgow, "Dexter"; Jeremy Piven, "Entourage."
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Martin Scorsese.
Oscar Meter: Up
Best Picture: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Nine, Inglourious Basterds
Best Director: James Cameron, Clint Eastwood
Best Actor: Michael Stuhlbarg
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, Gabourey Sidibe, Sandra Bullock
Best Actress/Supporting Actress: Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Julianne Moore
Oscar Meter: Down
Best Director: Lee Daniels, Rob Marshall
Actor: Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Renner, Sam Rockwell
Actress: Abbie Cornish, Saoirse Ronan
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