Blog Archives
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.
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)
Bigelow Wins DGA
KATHRYN WON YOU GUYS. SHE WON. I am so happy about this. SO HAPPY.
So what does this mean for Oscar? Well, the winner of the DGA has gone on to win Best Director at the Academy Awards 58 of the last 60 years. This is one of the few precursors that tend to accurately predict how Oscar will go.
Avatar – Visually Stunning, But Ultimately Boring and Predictable
I really did go into this film with an open mind. After about 30 minutes I was pretty sure I knew how I’d feel about the rest of the film. Why? Because I could see exactly how it was going to play out and all I really wanted was for it to end.
BAFTA Nominations Are In
There are a few odd things in this list, but keep in mind these are for Britain, so some films that are eligible for Oscar haven’t been released there yet.
The one thing that is certain is Jeremy Renner is closer now to being a lock for a Best Actor nomination by the Academy.
Full list of nominees and my analysis after the cut.
The Hurt Locker – Can A Good Old-Fashioned War Movie Win Best Picture?
I finally got to see The Hurt Locker today. I absolutely loved it. I am a big fan of War films and I’d put this one up there with my favorites, namely The Thin Red Line and The Longest Day.
Although I’ve yet to see Avatar, I do not want it to win Best Picture. I know I should reserve judgement until I’ve seen it. But I do not see how it can be as good as either The Hurt Locker or Up In The Air. To quote Quentin Tarantino “This CGI bullshit is the death knell of cinema. If I’d wanted all that computer game bullshit, I’d have stuck my dick in a Nintendo.”
What the Critics Choice Awards Mean to Oscar
In many ways the Critics Choice Awards are just as good, if not a better gauge of how the Oscars are going to go than the Golden Globes. Granted, there are no Academy members who vote for either of those award shows (unlike the guilds, where there are some crossover members with the Academy.)
Detroit Film Critics Mix Things “Up,” Push Colin Firth Into Frontrunner
Best Film: “Up”
Best Director: Pete Docter, “Up”
Best Actor: Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Best Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Ensemble: “The Hangover”
Best Breakthrough Performance: Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
precursors chart, frontrunners and tight races…oh my!
I’ve made a chart of all the precursors that have announced winners, various critics, the national board of review, etc.
the diary of a film history fanatic 
