The Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday morning, so I figured I would make up a post showing the nominees and my initial thoughts on them.

Best Motion Picture of the Year Nominees:

Avatar (2009): James Cameron, Jon Landau

The Blind Side (2009): Nominees to be determined

District 9 (2009): Peter Jackson, Carolynne Cunningham

An Education (2009): Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey

The Hurt Locker (2008): Nominees to be determined

Inglourious Basterds (2009): Lawrence Bender

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009): Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness

A Serious Man (2009): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Up (2009): Jonas Rivera

Up in the Air (2009/I): Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman

I like the fact that they increased the nominees to 10 this year. I have to say that right now I am really hoping that either Up in the Air or Up win, but I would be fine with District 9 or Inglourious Basterds. I will be very pissed if Avatar wins in this catagory.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Nominees:

Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart (2009)

George Clooney for Up in the Air (2009/I)

Colin Firth for A Single Man (2009)

Morgan Freeman for Invictus (2009)

Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker (2008)

George Clooney for the win here, such a great performance.  Could see Freeman maybe as a possible winner, but my money is on Clooney.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Nominees:

Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (2009)

Helen Mirren for The Last Station (2009)

Carey Mulligan for An Education (2009)

Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)

Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia (2009)

Initial feeling is that it is going to be Gabourey Sidibe for Precious, but knowing the Oscars, most likely it will go to Meryl Streep.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Nominees:

Matt Damon for Invictus (2009)

Woody Harrelson for The Messenger (2009/I)

Christopher Plummer for The Last Station (2009)

Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones (2009)

Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Christoph Waltz for the win and it’s not even close. I hope he is getting his speech ready now.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Nominees:

Penélope Cruz for Nine (2009)

Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air (2009/I)

Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart (2009)

Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air (2009/I)

Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)

I would be happy with either lady from Up in the Air, but I am guessing the buzz for Mo’Nique will equal a win for her.

Best Achievement in Directing Nominees:

Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)

James Cameron for Avatar (2009)

Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)

Jason Reitman for Up in the Air (2009/I)

Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

I don’t care about the big Bigelow vs Cameron debate, so I am going to pull for Reitman or Tarantino. But most likely this will go to Cameron, that way they don’t give him Best Picture.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Nominees:

The Hurt Locker (2008): Mark Boal

Inglourious Basterds (2009): Quentin Tarantino

The Messenger (2009/I): Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman

A Serious Man (2009): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Up (2009): Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Thomas McCarthy

Up or the Basterds, but my heart is for Up.  Go Pixar.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Nominees:

District 9 (2009): Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell

An Education (2009): Nick Hornby

In the Loop (2009): Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009): Geoffrey Fletcher

Up in the Air (2009/I): Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

District 9 or Up in the Air, but I am going to be cheering for District 9

Best Achievement in Cinematography Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Mauro Fiore

Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009): Christian Berger

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009): Bruno Delbonnel

The Hurt Locker (2008): Barry Ackroyd

Inglourious Basterds (2009): Robert Richardson

Avatar can win this one.

Best Achievement in Editing Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Stephen E. Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron

District 9 (2009): Julian Clarke

The Hurt Locker (2008): Bob Murawski, Chris Innis

Inglourious Basterds (2009): Sally Menke

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009): Joe Klotz

Once again this will most likely go to Avatar, and I am ok with that.

Best Achievement in Art Direction Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009): David Warren, Anastasia Masaro, Caroline Smith

Nine (2009): John Myhre, Gordon Sim

Sherlock Holmes (2009): Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

The Young Victoria (2009): Patrice Vermette, Maggie Gray

Avatar.  This is the type of catagory it should win in, not Best Picture

Best Achievement in Costume Design Nominees:

Bright Star (2009): Janet Patterson

Coco avant Chanel (2009): Catherine Leterrier

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009): Monique Prudhomme

Nine (2009): Colleen Atwood

The Young Victoria (2009): Sandy Powell

Going to go with Nine or Parnassus, but I would be willing to be it is going to go to Parnassus.

Best Achievement in Makeup Nominees:

Il divo (2008): Aldo Signoretti, Vittorio Sodano

Star Trek (2009): Barney Burman, Mindy Hall, Joel Harlow

The Young Victoria (2009): John Henry Gordon, Jenny Shircore

Star Trek for the win!!

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Nominees:

Avatar (2009): James Horner

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009): Alexandre Desplat

The Hurt Locker (2008): Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders

Sherlock Holmes (2009): Hans Zimmer

Up (2009): Michael Giacchino

Up and Michael Giacchino.  Great combo, he could have been nominated for his work on Star Trek too in this catagory.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song Nominees:

Crazy Heart (2009): T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham(“The Weary Kind”)

Faubourg 36 (2008): Reinhardt Wagner, Frank Thomas(“Loin de Paname”)

Nine (2009): Maury Yeston(“Take It All”)

The Princess and the Frog (2009): Randy Newman(“Almost There”)

The Princess and the Frog (2009): Randy Newman(“Down in New Orleans”)

Nine, it was a musical, not my favorite song from the movie, but I would think this would be the obvious choice.

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson

The Hurt Locker (2008): Paul N.J. Ottosson, Ray Beckett

Inglourious Basterds (2009): Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, Mark Ulano

Star Trek (2009): Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson, Peter J. Devlin

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009): Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Geoffrey Patterson

Avatar once again.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Christopher Boyes, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle

The Hurt Locker (2008): Paul N.J. Ottosson

Inglourious Basterds (2009): Wylie Stateman

Star Trek (2009): Mark P. Stoeckinger, Alan Rankin

Up (2009): Michael Silvers, Tom Myers

Avatar will sweep the special effects and design catagories.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects Nominees:

Avatar (2009): Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andy Jones

District 9 (2009): Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken

Star Trek (2009): Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton

Avatar, but I would love for District 9 to win. Just for the simple fact that the special effects in District 9 were amazing for just a 30 million dollar budget.  Don’t need to spend a crap load of money for good effects.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year Nominees:

Coraline (2009): Henry Selick

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009): Wes Anderson

The Princess and the Frog (2009): John Musker, Ron Clements

The Secret of Kells (2009): Tomm Moore

Up (2009): Pete Docter

Up will most likely not win Best Picture, so it will easily win in this catagory.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Nominees:

Ajami (2009)(Israel)

Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)(Germany)

El secreto de sus ojos (2009)(Argentina)

Un prophète (2009)(France)

La teta asustada (2009)(Peru)

Haven’t seen Un Prophete yet, but it is on my must see list as soon as it hits the Milwaukee market.

Best Documentary, Features Nominees:

Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land (2008): Anders Østergaard, Lise Lense-Møller

The Cove (2009): Nominees to be determined

Food, Inc. (2008): Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009): Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith

Which Way Home (2009): Rebecca Cammisa

The Cove shoudl win this; heard very good things about it and it’s a great cause too.

Best Documentary, Short Subjects Nominees:

China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (2009) (TV): Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill

The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner (2009): Daniel Junge, Henry Ansbacher

The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant (2009) (TV): Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert

Królik po berlinsku (2009): Bartosz Konopka, Anna Wydra

Music by Prudence (2010): Roger Ross Williams, Elinor Burkett

One of the catagories I really have no idea on, so no initial feelings right now.

Best Short Film, Animated Nominees:

French Roast (2008): Fabrice Joubert

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (2008): Nicky Phelan, Darragh O’Connell

La dama y la muerte (2009): Javier Recio Gracia

Logorama (2009): Nicolas Schmerkin

Wallace and Gromit in ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’ (2008) (TV): Nick Park

Wallace and Gromit for the win, and it shouldn’t even be close.

Best Short Film, Live Action Nominees:

The Door (2008): Juanita Wilson, James Flynn

Istället för abrakadabra (2008): Patrik Eklund, Mathias Fjällström

Kavi (2009): Gregg Helvey

Miracle Fish (2009): Luke Doolan, Drew Bailey

The New Tenants (2009): Joachim Back, Tivi Magnusson

Another catagory I have no initial thoughts on, will have to do some research on it.

So there you go, my initial thoughts on the Oscars, don’t really seeing much change here, but I will update my guesses before the Oscars are announced. So what do you think? Please let me know what you think.

Until next time, go out and see an Oscar movie.

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