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valacirca said:
Best Actress - Drama: Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"
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Big chance she will win her first Oscar as well, mark my words. Her performance was magnificent.
I saw Black Swan yesterday, a very dark psychological horror film with interesting camera movement. At times, very scary, and I heard that Polanksi's The Tenant and Repulsion have influenced the director.
 
No other actress can really give Natalie Portman any competition for the Best Actress category in the Oscars this year. Second place for me is Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone, but it's going to be a shocker if Natalie Portman doesn't win it.

Oscar nominees are going to be announced on Tuesday BTW. Best Director is going to be tight! David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, David O. Russell, Danny Boyle, Tom Hooper and The Coen Brothers ALL deserve to be nominated - and all their films for Best Picture as well.

Since the academy has increased the number of Best Picture nominees from 5 to 10, I'm thinking these films are going to get the nod: The Social Network, Inception, Black Swan, The Fighter, 127 Hours, The King's Speech, True Grit, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone & The Town
 
Prowler_108 said:
My favorite movie of all time.
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It's an excellent movie indeed!, one of Tarantino's best story lines, a fine balance of drama and humor... What a cast!, first rate.
Now watching Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas.
 
valacirca said:
No other actress can really give Natalie Portman any competition for the Best Actress category in the Oscars this year. Second place for me is Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone, but it's going to be a shocker if Natalie Portman doesn't win it.

Oscar nominees are going to be announced on Tuesday BTW. Best Director is going to be tight! David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, David O. Russell, Danny Boyle, Tom Hooper and The Coen Brothers ALL deserve to be nominated - and all their films for Best Picture as well.

Since the academy has increased the number of Best Picture nominees from 5 to 10, I'm thinking these films are going to get the nod: The Social Network, Inception, Black Swan, The Fighter, 127 Hours, The King's Speech, True Grit, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone & The Town
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Remember that the Oscars RARELY have anything to do with performance and more often than not are driven by POLITICS. A good indication as to who is going to win what is to take a look at the Golden Globe winners. Rarely, if ever, has a person won both. A good example is Jim Carrey, who has 2 Golden Globes for best actor, yet has NEVER even been nominated for an Oscar.
 
Onhell said:
Remember that the Oscars RARELY have anything to do with performance and more often than not are driven by POLITICS.
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I know a lot of people love to malign awards shows for this reason, but I think this is exaggerated for film awards (music awards such as The Grammys are another matter altogether though). While there is certainly a significant amount of politics involved, more often than not, I believe that the people and films that deserve to get nominated are nominated... and the same goes for the winners.

Onhell said:
A good indication as to who is going to win what is to take a look at the Golden Globe winners. Rarely, if ever, has a person won both.
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Actually... after doing some research:

Best Actor: 16 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Actress: 20 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Supporting Actor: 15 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Supporting Actress: 13 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Director: 17 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Picture: 18 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar

I love Jim Carrey and I do believe that his Oscar snubs involve a lot of politics there... but I think it's a rare and isolated case.
 
valacirca said:
I know a lot of people love to malign awards shows for this reason, but I think this is exaggerated for film awards (music awards such as The Grammys are another matter altogether though). While there is certainly a significant amount of politics involved, more often than not, I believe that the people and films that deserve to get nominated are nominated... and the same goes for the winners.
Actually... after doing some research:

Best Actor: 16 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Actress: 20 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Supporting Actor: 15 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Supporting Actress: 13 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Director: 17 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar
Best Picture: 18 of the last 26 Globe winners won the Oscar

I love Jim Carrey and I do believe that his Oscar snubs involve a lot of politics there... but I think it's a rare and isolated case.
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You are ever the optimist lol, but I really liked your research regarding Globe/Oscars. It is definitely higher than my original hunch, well over 50%
 
valacirca said:
I believe that the people and films that deserve to get nominated are nominated... and the same goes for the winners.
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This year or always? There are quite some examples where you may wonder why some people have not won for several films. Take Hitchcock.

And Henry Fonda should have won for his role in Grapes of Wrath (1940) easily. There are way more examples where the Oscars jury preferred to give the prize to a comedy/"normal" drama (role). I hope the Portman Oscar will be another exception.
 
Forostar said:
This year or always?
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"...more often than not, I believe that the people and films that deserve to get nominated are nominated... and the same goes for the winners."

One general problem I have with the academy is not taking animated films seriously. There are a good number of animated films that deserved to be nominated for Best Picture, but they're forever relegated to merely the Best Animated Feature award.

Anyway... going backwards, here are some gripes about the choice of winners and nominees:
2009 - Moon was completely overlooked. Should have been nominated for several categories, especially Sam Rockwell for Best Actor
2008 - Mickey Rourke was robbed. The Wrestler not even getting nominated for Best Pic. Låt den rätte komma in not nominated for Best Foreign Film
2007 - <no complaints; quite spot on>
2006 - Children of Men > The Departed. CoM didn't even get nominated for Best Pic... and lost for Best Cinematography, which is imo a travesty. At least it lost to Pan's Labyrinth in that category.
2005 - very weak year for films in general. When your two best films of the year are comic adaptations (Sin City & Batman Begins), you know it's bad. From the nominees, Good Night and Good Luck was one I liked the most. Bill Murray should have been nominated for Broken Flowers.

Well, that's for the last five years. BUT, for the most part, I think the Academy does get things right.
 
valacirca said:
"...more often than not, I believe that the people and films that deserve to get nominated are nominated... and the same goes for the winners."
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I thought, the more often that not part was about the previous words (there is certainly a significant amount of politics involved), not the latter.

valacirca said:
One general problem I have with the academy is not taking animated films seriously. There are a good number of animated films that deserved to be nominated for Best Picture, but they're forever relegated to merely the Best Animated Feature award.
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I don't mind that much because I am not that much into that kind of stuff. Especially Anime and Manga I find dreadful, cruel, sex-obsessed, violent, tasteless shit, full huge eyed characters staring at eachother endlessly, trembling with rage. A ridiculous result of Japan's nutty censorship. Some Oscars are about acting, camerawork, and there's nothing of that to be seen in Animated films (besides voices). I admire technique in classic animated films but computergenerated stuff I don't find that beautiful in this genre. I like it in Lord of the Rings but when it comes to animated works, I prefer the good old style. Just like I can enjoy a handdrawn artwork of Riggs more than some CGI crap.
 
Forostar said:
Some Oscars are about acting, camerawork, and there's nothing of that to be seen in Animated films (besides voices). I admire technique in classic animated films but computergenerated stuff I don't find that beautiful in this genre. I like it in Lord of the Rings but when it comes to animated works, I prefer the good old style. Just like I can enjoy a handdrawn artwork of Riggs more than some CGI crap.
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Best Cinematography I can understand animated films not getting nominated for that. The acting awards as well, since you get the visual as well as aural package with live-action actors. But there are so many animated films that are strong enough as a whole to compete for Best Picture. They can also be nominated for screenplay, editing, sound... but the academy just doesn't hold animated films in the same regard as live-action release, which I think is disappointing.

Over the past five years, here are some of the strongest animated films: Persepolis, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Ponyo on the Cliff, Mary and Max, Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Coraline, Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon, L'illusionniste. That's a combination of CGI... traditional hand-drawn animation... even claymation. I don't think the medium detracts from the overall strength of the film. If it's good, it's good and the academy should recognize that on the same level as live-action films.

Forostar said:
I don't mind that much because I am not that much into that kind of stuff. Especially Anime and Manga I find dreadful, cruel, sex-obsessed, violent, tasteless shit, full huge eyed characters staring at eachother endlessly, trembling with rage. A ridiculous result of Japan's nutty censorship.
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That's a terrible generalization of Japanese anime. Studio Ghibli, for one, has produced so many classics. Spirited Away... Princess Mononoke... Grave of the Fireflies... My Neighbor Totoro - such great animes - and that's not even half of the great titles that Studio Ghibli has under their belt. Outside of Studio Ghibli, films such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Paprika, Perfect Blue, 5 Centimeters per Second, Akira, Ghost in the Shell & The End of Evangelion are great examples of excellent animes as well.

It should be noted that Perfect Blue is a personal favorite of Black Swan writer/director Darren Aronofsky. It bears a lot of similarities with Black Swan in how it's a suspenseful psychological thriller that deals with how reality and fantasy are constantly being blurred.

5 Centimeters per Second features some of the most breathtaking scenery I have every seen on an animated film.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a sci-fi fantasy that deals with time travel and romance better than most live-action films.
 
valacirca said:
It should be noted that Perfect Blue is a personal favorite of Black Swan writer/director Darren Aronofsky.
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I can see some influences from Anime

the dirty skin sequences and she changing into some monster

, but those were not my favourite moments of the film.

valacirca said:
It bears a lot of similarities with Black Swan in how it's a suspenseful psychological thriller that deals with how reality and fantasy are constantly being blurred.
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That particular influence must have come from Polanski's The Tenant (22 years older than Perfect Blue), one of the most famous films doing just that.
 
I should really get around to seeing The Tenant. I've had it queued along with Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby for the longest time...
valacirca said:
Oscar nominees are going to be announced on Tuesday BTW. Best Director is going to be tight! David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, David O. Russell, Danny Boyle, Tom Hooper and The Coen Brothers ALL deserve to be nominated - and all their films for Best Picture as well.

Since the academy has increased the number of Best Picture nominees from 5 to 10, I'm thinking these films are going to get the nod: The Social Network, Inception, Black Swan, The Fighter, 127 Hours, The King's Speech, True Grit, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone & The Town
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Well here are the nominees!

83rd Academy Awards Oscar Nominations

Almost all of the films I predicted to get nominated for Best Picture were nominated - with the exception of The Town. Toy Story 3 got nominated instead! While I'm not exactly crazy over Toy Story 3, I'm glad it got nominated considering I was previously ranting about the academy snubbing animated films.

Also, Nolan got snubbed for Best Director. But I already saw that category being really tight so I can't complain. Glad the Coens were nominated!

BEST FILM

  * Black Swan
  * The Fighter
  * Inception
  * The Kids Are All Right
  * The King’s Speech
  * 127 Hours
  * The Social Network
  * Toy Story 3
  * True Grit
  * Winter’s Bone

BEST DIRECTOR

  * Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
  * David O. Russell – The Fighter
  * Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech
  * David Fincher – The Social Network
  * Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – True Grit

BEST ACTOR

  * Javier Bardem – Biutiful
  * Jeff Bridges – True Grit
  * Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
  * Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
  * James Franco – 127 Hours

BEST ACTRESS

  * Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
  * Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
  * Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
  * Natalie Portman – Black Swan
  * Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  * Amy Adams – The Fighter
  * Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
  * Melissa Leo – The Fighter
  * Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
  * Jackie Weaver – Animal Kingdom

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  * Another Year
  * The Fighter
  * Inception
  * The Kids Are All Right
  * The King’s Speech

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  * 127 Hours
  * The Social Network
  * Toy Story 3
  * True Grit
  * Winter’s Bone

BEST ANIMATED FILM

  * How to Train Your Dragon
  * The Illusionist
  * Toy Story 3

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

  * Biutiful
  * Dogtooth
  * In a Better World
  * Incendies
  * Outside the Law

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  * Exit Through the Gift Shop
  * Gasland
  * Inside Job
  * Restrepo
  * Waste Land

BEST EDITING

  * Black Swan
  * The Fighter
  * The King’s Speech
  * 127 Hours
  * The Social Network

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  * Black Swan
  * Inception
  * The King’s Speech
  * The Social Network
  * The King’s Speech

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  * Alice in Wonderland
  * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
  * Hereafter
  * Inception
  * Iron Man 2

BEST MAKEUP

  * The Way Back
  * The Wolfman

BEST ART DIRECTION

  * Alice in Wonderland
  * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
  * Inception
  * The King’s Speech
  * True Grit

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  * Alice in Wonderland
  * I Am Love
  * The King’s Speech
  * The Tempest
  * True Grit

BEST SOUND MIXING

  * Inception
  * The King’s Speech
  * Salt
  * The Social Network
  * True Grit

BEST SOUND EDITING

  * Inception
  * Toy Story 3
  * TRON: Legacy
  * True Grit
  * Unstoppable

BEST SCORE

  * How to Train Your Dragon
  * Inception
  * The King’s Speech
  * 127 Hours
  * The Social Network

BEST SONG

  * “Coming Home” from Country Strong
  * “I See the Light” from Tangled
  * “If I Rise” from 127 Hours
  * “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

  * Killing in the Name
  * Poster Girl
  * Strangers No More
  * Sun Come Up
  * The Warriors of Qiugang

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

  * Day & Night
  * The Gruffalo
  * Let’s Pollute
  * The Lost Thing
  * Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

  * The Confession
  * The Crush
  * God of Love
  * Na Wewe
  * Wish 143
 
By the way, thanks for that list of animated films. I should get more out of this genre. I have seen Cars with my son and quite enjoyed it.

valacirca said:
I should really get around to seeing The Tenant. I've had it queued along with Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby for the longest time...
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Hope you like it. I still need to see Repulsion.

valacirca said:
Toy Story 3 got nominated instead! While I'm not exactly crazy over Toy Story 3, I'm glad it got nominated considering I was previously ranting about the academy snubbing animated films.
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:ok:  (plus three other categories)

True Grit has many nominations! I wasn't that impressed by the original. I am getting curious now about the remake, maybe I'd prefer this one.
 
I don't know man... after giving Black Swan 5/10 i gotta say I have to recalibrate your ratings to fit my own :p

I am meaning to watch The Kings Speech though.
 
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