Monthly Archives: February 2010
Let’s Not Forget About Lee Daniels
With all this talk about Kathryn Bigelow being only the 4th woman to be nominated for Best Director and the first woman to win at the DGA, I think we’ve forgotten that Lee Daniels has been making history, too. I watched an interview with him today on KTLA, wherein he said he sobbed when he heard he was nominated for the DGA. Apparently, he is the first black man to be up for the honor. He’s also only the second black man to be nominated for Best Director (John Singleton was up for the honor for 1991’s Boyz n the Hood). He is also only the third black producer up for the Best Picture award (this year, there are two black nominees, the only previous nominee was Quincy Jones for The Color Purple in 1985) Also, this is the first time a film directed by a black man has been nominated for Best Picture.
(500) Days of Summer and 9 Other Great Films the Academy Completely Ignored This Decade
I was really shocked that (500) Days of Summer was completely ignored by the Academy this year. It was on several critic’s top ten lists. It had won several critic awards for its screenplay. I really thought, at the very least, it would get nods for Original Screenplay and Editing (hello, that Expectations vs. Reality scene was fucking awesome). I even had it on my predictions for Best Picture.
Alas, this was not the case and was probably, for me, the biggest disappoint of Tuesday’s announcements. However, this is not the first time an amazing piece of cinema has gone completely un-lauded by the Academy. I’ve picked one film from each year of this past decade that also has zero Oscar nominations to its name.
Jeremy Renner and the Best Actor Race
I’ve yet to see A Single Man or Crazy Heart, mostly due to living in the middle of nowhere, and thus can only comment on the three performances I have seen. I enjoyed George Clooney in Up In The Air, but he was better in Michael Clayton. My opinion on Morgan Freeman in Invictus will come up later on in this post. That leaves Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. And of the three I’ve seen, he has my vote. It’ll be a difficult race for him, but I think he has a chance of pulling it off. He had perhaps my favorite reaction to his nomination when interviewed on Good Morning America yesterday. When asked about his competition, he replied, “I’ve gotta break some serious legs.”
Can Sandy Win the Oscar?
Or can the Academy live with themselves if she wins the Oscar the day after she wins the Razzie, for which she’s almost guaranteed to win for All About Steve.
Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations
Here’s a look at the Best Picture nominees and how many Oscars they’re up for:
- Avatar – 9
- The Blind Side – 2
- District 9 – 4
- An Education – 3
- The Hurt Locker – 9
- Inglourious Basterds – 8
- Precious – 6
- A Serious Man – 2
- Up – 5
- Up In The Air – 6
I’m really excited about this tie of noms between The Hurt Locker and Avatar. I really hope The Hurt Locker kicks that film’s ass.
Oscar Nominations Announced!
Really the biggest shocks are in Supporting Actress with Maggie Gyllenhaal and Penelope Cruz over Diane Kruger or Julianne Moore. Also The Blind Side but no Star Trek or The Hangover for Best Picture. I’ll write another post in just a second with my thoughts.
Best Motion Picture of the Year:
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- The Hurt Locker
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious
- A Serious Man
- Up
- Up In The Air
My Oscar Nominations Predictions
The Academy Award nominations will be announced at 5:30AM PST tomorrow, February 2nd. I’ve got predictions for 10 of the 24 categories. I’m also going to supply some alternates. I love being able to predict what the nominations will be, but at the same time, it would be nice for some surprises to sneak in there too!
Best Picture:
- (500) Days of Summer
- An Education
- Avatar
- District 9
- The Hangover
- The Hurt Locker
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious
- Star Trek
- Up In The Air
(Alternates: Up, Invictus, A Serious Man)
the diary of a film history fanatic 
