Our Oscar Predictions

As you get all fancied up this Sunday evening for your annual Oscar party or you're content to sit at home and watch it with your dog/cat/ferret/fish and a bowl of popcorn as you curse the heavens that Christopher Nolan wasn't nominated for Best Director, we've compiled our picks for this years ceremony (along with a few little thoughts here and there). Maybe this will help you decide who or what to pick on your ballot so you'll be the talk at the water cooler the next day (do companies really still have those?), or maybe you're set in stone that HARRY POTTER will win something dang it(!)...either way, here are our thoughts..for better or worse:

(The Academy Awards will hand out the little gold guys February 27th at 8e/5p)


Best Picture
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
"Inception" (Jonesy's review) (Javi's review)
“The Kids Are All Right ”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3″
"True Grit" (Jonesy's review) (Javi's review)
“Winter’s Bone”

Jonesy:
What I'm writing on my Oscar ballot: The King's Speech
What probably should win: The Social Network
Dark Horse: True Grit and what an upset that would be.

Javi:

What I'm writing on my Oscar ballot: The Social Network

What probably should win: Black Swan

Dark Horse: Inception Storytelling and technicality speaking, such a great movie




Best Direction
Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
David Fincher for “The Social Network”
Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech”
David O. Russell for “The Fighter”

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: This one is tough, but I'm going with David Fincher since The King's Speech will probably take Picture; this will be Social Network's consolation prize.
Who could win: Tom Hooper

Javi:

Oscar Ballot: Christopher Nolan...oh wait...but if we're going seriously, I'd say David Fincher

Who probably should win: Darren Aronofsky

Dark Horse: Joel and Ethan Coen

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
James Franco in “127 Hours”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Colin Firth
Dark horse: James Franco who's brilliant and equally as deserving. It's hard to hold a movie alone, just ask Tom Hanks.


Javi:
Oscar ballot: Colin Firth

Who probably should win: Ryan Gosling...but once again this category sucked so, I'll say Javier Bardem. I'd like to see anyone else do what he did in Biutiful.

Dark Horse: Since I haven't seen 127 Hours, I'd Jesse Eisenberg or Jeff Bridges

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Natalie Portman. Oscars love their crazies, i.e. Jack Nicholson in Cuckoo's Nest
Who should win: Annette Bening, long overdue but always the Oscar bridesmaid, never the bride.
What would be a fun surprise: Jennifer Lawrence

Javi:

Oscar ballot: Natalie Portman. She threw herself into this role in a way that's indicative of a true actress

Who probably should win: Natalie Portman.

Dark Horse: Michelle Williams

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Christian Bale. Hands down showing the world what a versatile and amazing actor he is in The Fighter.
Who could upset: Geoffrey Rush

Javi:

Oscar ballot: Christian Bale

Who probably should win: Christian Bale

Dark Horse: John Hawkes




Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Hailee....no, erm, Meli.. ahhh! such a tough one! okay fine: Melissa Leo (Tough category).
Wishing there were two awards in this category: Hailee Steinfeld

Javi:

Oscar ballot: Melissa Leo

Who probably should win: Hailee Steinfeld, she was a more intelligent Juno with actual chops behind the sassy exterior

Dark Horse: Jacki Weaver, I've heard great things of this movie, and I 've heard she's one of the highlights.

Adapted Screenplay
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for “127 Hours”
Aaron Sorkin for “The Social Network”
Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich for “Toy Story 3″
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini for “Winter’s Bone”

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot (like this one isn't completely obvious): Aaron Sorkin
Who would be a fun surprise: Toy Story 3

Javi:
Oscar ballot: Aaron Sorkin
I'm not really sure about any of the other ones, honestly. I don't quite understand why the Coens got this nomination as I hear that the movie is verbatim of the novel. I could be wrong. I'm going with Aaron Sorkin all the way.





Original Screenplay
Mike Leigh for “Another Year”
Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson for “The Fighter”
Christopher Nolan for “Inception”
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for “The Kids Are All Right”
David Seidler for “The King’s Speech”


Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: David Seidler
Could upset but probably not: Christopher Nolan

Javi:

Oscar ballot: The King's Speech dude

Who probably should win: Christopher Nolan - Mind boggling heist action film and rich white people with problems (oh no am I being too much of a contrarian?)

Dark Horse: Mike Leigh! (Love Topsy Turvy!!)

Animated Feature
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“The Illusionist”
“Toy Story 3″

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot (again, like this one isn't obvious to everyone): Toy Story 3
My personal, completely biased wish: How to Train Your Dragon
What honestly should win: The Illusionist


Javi:

Oscar ballot: Toy Story 3

Who probably should win: The Illusionist. This movie epitomizes what it is to be an animated movie through and through. I love Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon in an emotional way, but if we're looking at quality and excellence in this category, politics aside, The Illusionist wins through and through.

Dark Horse: The Illusionist

Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”: Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Stuart Craig (Production Design), Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
“Inception”: Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design), Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)
“The King’s Speech”: Eve Stewart (Production Design), Judy Farr (Set Decoration)
“True Grit”: Jess Gonchor (Production Design), Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: The King's Speech
Completely fanatical hope but will never happen: Harry Potter

Javi:

Oscar ballot: The King's Speech. I'm only putting this in here because this is so dumb it will win it.

Who probably should win: True Grit. Damn, I felt like I was in that nasty part of Texas they call El Paso (which is near where they filmed the movie).

Dark Horse: Alice In Wonderland. Atrociously boring movie that looked awesome.

Cinematography
“Black Swan”: Matthew Libatique
“Inception”: Wally Pfister
“The King’s Speech”: Danny Cohen
“The Social Network”: Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit”: Roger Deakins

Jonesy
Oscar ballot: True Grit
What should win: Black Swan

Javi:
Oscar ballot: True Grit. Long time cinematographer for the Coens, Roger Deakin, needs some love, which is part of the "politics" part of the Oscars I can't stand.
Who probably should win: Black Swan The movie moved seamlessly between beautiful dance scenes to intimate and disturbing contemplating moments that made you feel almost as crazy as Natalie Portman did in the movie.
Dark Horse: Inception





Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland”: Colleen Atwood
“I Am Love”: Antonella Cannarozzi
“The King’s Speech”: Jenny Beavan
“The Tempest”: Sandy Powell
“True Grit”: Mary Zophres

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: The King's Speech (never underestimate a British period drama for costumes)
What would be fun: The Tempest, especially since I heard it was awful.

Javi:

Oscar ballot: True Grit.

What probably should win: True Grit.

Dark Horse: Alice In Wonderland.

Documentary (Feature)
"Exit Through the Gift Shop" (Jonesy's Review) (Javi's Review)
“Gasland”
“Inside Job”
“Restrepo”
“Waste Land”

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Inside Job
What I'm really cheering for: Exit through the Gift Shop because I want to see what crazy antics Banksy thought up!

Javi:

Oscar ballot: Exit Through The Gift Shop

What probably should win: Exit Through The Gift Shop

I honestly didn't watch that many documentaries this year.

Documentary (Short Subject)
“Killing in the Name”
“Poster Girl”
“Strangers No More”
“Sun Come Up”
“The Warriors of Qiugang”

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: ummmmmmm, Killing in the Name? Sure.

Javi:
No comment




Film Editing
“Black Swan”: Andrew Weisblum
“The Fighter”: Pamela Martin
“The King’s Speech”: Tariq Anwar
“127 Hours”: Jon Harris
“The Social Network”: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Jonesy
Oscar ballot: The Social Network
What could ride on the coattails of the craze: The King's Speech

Javi:

Oscar ballot: The Social Network

What probably should win: Black Swan

Dark Horse: 127 Hours

Foreign Language Film
“Biutiful”: Mexico
“Dogtooth”: Greece
“In a Better World”: Denmark
“Incendies”: Canada
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)”: Algeria

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Outside the Law
What would be a fun surprise considering the very non-Oscar subject matter: Dogtooth

Javi:

Oscar ballot: Biuitiful

What probably should win: Biutiful

Dark Horse: Dogtooth

Makeup
“Barney’s Version”: Adrien Morot
“The Way Back”: Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Wolfman”: Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: The Wolfman

Javi:
No Comment



Music (Original Score)
“How to Train Your Dragon”: John Powell
“Inception”: Hans Zimmer
“The King’s Speech”: Alexandre Desplat
“127 Hours”: A.R. Rahman
“The Social Network”: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: The Social Network
Where my loyalty really stands: How to Train Your Dragon


Javi:
Oscar ballot: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross-Not only is the 12 year old in me freaking out, but this was one of the best scores and pieces of music this last year.
Who probably should win: Inception






Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: "Coming Home" because everyone is a little bit country.
What my musical fan-girldom really wants: "I See the Light" Love me some old-school Disney movies.

Javi:

Oscar ballot: We Belong Together- Randy Newman seems like a shoe-in

Why there was no Daft Punk(Tron: Legacy) or Beck(Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) is beyond me. There were great songs in both of those movies. I guess they're still stuck in their old lite rock FM radio choice of songs for this category.

Short Film (Animated)
“Day and Night”: Teddy Newton
“The Gruffalo”: Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
“Let’s Pollute”: Geefwee Boedoe
“The Lost Thing”: Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”: Bastien Dubois

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Day and Night, absolutely precious, plus, I mean, it IS Pixar.

Javi:

Oscar ballot: Day and Night

I didn't get a chance to see the animated ones. So I'm going with the easy one.

Short Film (Live Action)
“The Confession”: Tanel Toom
“The Crush”: Michael Creagh
“God of Love”: Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe”: Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143″: Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot (I actually have an opinion in this category this year!): Wish 143
What could take it: The Confession

Javi:

Oscar ballot: The Confession

Who probably should win: The Crush

Dark Horse: Wish 143

Sound Editing
“Inception”: Richard King
“Toy Story 3″: Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“Tron: Legacy”: Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable”: Mark P. Stoeckinger

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Inception because it needs some love.

Javi:

Oscar ballot: Inception

Who probably should win: Tron:Legacy

Dark Horse: Toy Story 3

Sound Mixing
“Inception”: Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
“The King’s Speech”: Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt”: Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
“The Social Network”: Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Inception. (Wait, what's the difference between Sound Mixing and Editing anyways??)

Javi:

Oscar ballot: The King's Speech -another category that the Oscar bait will win.

Who probably should win: The Social Network

Dark Horse: Inception

Visual Effects
“Alice in Wonderland”: Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter”: Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
“Inception”: Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
“Iron Man 2″: Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Jonesy:
Oscar ballot: Inception
Fan-girl hope that won't happen: Harry Potter

Javi:

Oscar ballot: Inception

What probably should win: Inception

Dark Horse: Iron Man 2

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