*OFFICIAL 2011 ACADEMY AWARDS PREDICTIONS*

Ok folks... THEY ARE UPON US. The 83rd annual Academy Awards. After extensive discussion and analysis, these are what we have come up with, and we are convinced they are the most accurate predictions available. Feel free to exploit them at your Oscar parties... but just refer everyone to this blog after you win.



BEST PICTURE
1.) The King's Speech
2.) The Social Network
3.) The Fighter
4.) True Grit
5.) Black Swan
6.) Inception
7.) 127 Hours
8.) Winter's Bone
9.) Toy Story 3
10.) The Kids Are All Right

The PGA, SAG, DGA, and BAFTA's do not lie. The days of Social Network's domination have seem to come to a close. Expect the King's Speech to sweep.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
1.) Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
2.) Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
3.) Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
4.) Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
5.) Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

What chances Annette Bening had of pulling an upset seem to be getting less and less likely with each passing day. Natalie Portman has won every major award so far this year and it doesn't look like she'll stop at the Oscars.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
1.) Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
2.) Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
3.) James Franco (127 Hours)
4.) Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
5.) Javier Bardem (Biutiful)

The biggest lock of the night.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1.) Christian Bale (The Fighter)
2.) Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)
3.) John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
4.) Jeremy Renner (The Town)
5.) Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)

Some seem to believe a Geoffrey Rush upset is possible, but it seems unlikely considering he's competing with Christian Bale's career-best performance.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1.) Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
2.) Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
3.) Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)
4.) Amy Adams (The Fighter)
5.) Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdon)

The toughest acting category to call this year. Melissa Leo's uncomfortable campaigning choices this season have left many voters with a bitter taste in their mouth, an act that could ultimately benefit Hailee Steinfeld. For now though, Leo is still technically our front-runner.

BEST ANIMATED FILM OF THE YEAR
1.) Toy Story 3
2.) How To Train Your Dragon
3.) The Illusionist

The Academy can finally honor the Toy Story franchise with it's first Oscar (and Pixar's zillionth).

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1.) The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)
2.) Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt)
3.) True Grit (Joen & Ethan Coen)
4.) Winter's Bone (Debra Granik & Anne Rossellini)
5.) 127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)

Aaron Sorkin's screenplay is too smart and witty not to take this, especially considering the plethora of awards he has already taken, not to mention a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Writer's Guild trophy.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1.) The King's Speech (David Seidler)
2.) Inception (Christopher Nolan)
3.) Another Year (Mike Leigh)
4.) The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko)
5.) The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silver & Paul Tamasy)

While Inception's story is arguably the most original piece of the year, The King's Speech will easily take this. The story of David Seidler and his devotion taken to writing the screenplay is almost as inspiring as the film, itself!

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
1.) The King's Speech
2.) Inception
3.) Alice In Wonderland
4.) True Grit
5.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

An incredibly close race between The King's Speech, Inception, and Alice In Wonderland. We predict 'Speech' to take it as part of it's Oscar sweep, but any of these three could easily win.

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
1.) True Grit (Roger Deakins)
2.) Inception (Wally Pfister)
3.) Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)
4.) The King's Speech (Danny Cohen)
5.) The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)

After 9 Oscar nominations and no wins for Roger Deakins, it seems like it is finally his time to win gold. Although True Grit definitely doesn't stand as Deakins' best work behind the camera, expect him to take the award over the Guild winner (and better-photographed) Inception.

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
1.) The King's Speech (Jenny Beaven)
2.) Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
3.) True Grit (Mary Zophres)
4.) I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
5.) The Tempest (Sandy Powell)

The second category where The King's Speech faces close competition with Alice In Wonderland. While 'Alice' has much more flashy costumes (which the Academy loves), The King's Speech could win based on name alone.

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
1.) David Fincher (The Social Network)
2.) Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
3.) Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
4.) David O. Russell (The Fighter)
5.) Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

An incredibly close race. While Hooper won the DGA (the season's BEST forecaster for Best Picture and Best Director), his lack of other accolades throughout the year makes his win seem like more of a fluke. David Fincher, therefore, seems poised to receive his first Oscar. This looks like it will be the 4th time since 2000 that Best Picture and Best Director split.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
1.) Inside Job (Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures))
2.) Exit Through The Gift Shop (Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures))
3.) Gasland (Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC))
4.) Restrepo (Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films))
5.) Waste Land (Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects))

While Exit Through The Gift Shop would provide a well-deserved and enjoyable win, all signs point to Inside Job.

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
1.) The Wolfman
2.) Barney's Version
3.) The Way Back

There is really no appropriate way to determine the winner. Each of these film's received this sole nomination and none are extremely well-known. When in doubt go with the most noticeable work, in this case, The Wolfman.

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
1.) The Social Network (Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall)
2.) The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar)
3.) Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
4.) The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
5.) 127 Hours (Jon Harris)

Once Inception failed to receive a nomination, (in MoJo's opinion one of the worst snubs of the year) the next most logical choice was The Social Network, whose constant cross-cutting between time and location fits the bill for 'best-editing-of-these-5-nominees-but-not-necessarily-of-the-year.'

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
2.) In a Better World (Denmark)
3.) Incendies (Canada)
3.) Biutiful (Mexico)
4.) Dogtooth (Greece)
5.) Hors la Loi (Algeria)

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
1.) The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
2.) The Social Network (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)
3.) Inception (Hans Zimmer)
4.) 127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)
5.) How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)

The score for Inception and The Social Network were both about as memorable as they come, but with 4 previous nominations and a very traditional score (which the Academy usually goes for), Alexandre Desplat may very well win his first (and extremely well-deserved) Academy Award

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
1.) "Coming Home" from Country Strong (Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges & Hillary Lindsey)
2.) "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 (Music and Lyric by Randy Newman)
3.) "I See the Light" from Tangled (Music and Lyric by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater)
4.) "If I Rise" from 127 Hours (Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido & Rollo Armstrong)

Toy Story 3 is the predicted 'front-runner' on many pundits' lists, but Best Original Song rarely goes to the most popular film. Voters screen clips from each film to see how each song is incorporated and works within its respective film, so solidly predicting a winner is difficult. 'Coming Home' seems as good a choice as any.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
1.) Inception
2.) TRON: Legacy
3.) True Grit
4.) Unstoppable
5.) Toy Story 3

The logical choice

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
1.) Inception
2.) True Grit
3.) The Social Network
4.) Salt
5.) The King's Speech

True Grit could pull an upset, but Inception seems too well-locked in these technical categories to bet against it

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
1.) Inception
2.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
3.) Iron Man 2
4.) Alice in Wonderland
5.) Hereafter

Inception. Duh.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
1.) Strangers No More
2.) The Warriors of Qiugang
3.) Poster Girl
4.) Killing in the Name
5.) Sun Come Up

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
1.) Day and Night (Teddy Newton)
2.) The Gruffalo (Jakob Schuh & Max Lang)
3.) Let's Pollute (Geefwee Boedoe)
4.) The Lost Thing (Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann)
5.) Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) (Bastien Dubois)

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
1.) Wish 143 (Ian Barnes & Samantha Waite)
2.) Na Wewe (Ivan Goldschmidt)
3.) God of Love (Luke Matheny)
4.) The Confession (Tanel Toom)
5.) The Crush (Michael Creagh)

The Guild Awards (SAG, PGA, DGA - what they mean and why they matter)

I figured the above picture was appropriate, since after this weekend's guild awards (Director's Guild and Actor's Guild), The King's Speech cleaned up... and most likely will at the Academy Awards as well.

Maureen's Reaction:
The Director's Guild Awards (DGAs), always an enormously long event with increasing tension until the  last award (which is really the only one that anyone cares about), ended with Tom Hooper winning for The King's Speech. Needless to say, this came as somewhat of a shock, considering The Social Network has been dominating awards up to this point in the year. Tom Hooper's win confirms that the slew of Academy Awards nominations for The King's Speech is not a fluke, and that this film should be taken very seriously this awards season. History has shown that the film that wins the DGA will also win Best Picture (this has only NOT been true in a handful instances in the DGA's 60+-year history). The DGA winner usually also wins Best Director, though it is (weirdly) not quite as good at predicting Best Director as it is with predicting Best Picture. Based on Tom Hooper's win this year, however, it seems very unlikely that anyone else, even David Fincher, will win for Best Director at the Academy Awards, considering The King's Speech recent success.

Going into the Screen Actor's Guild Awards (SAGs) this evening, a couple were certain, and a couple were not. The Best Actor Awards were almost certainly going to go to Colin Firth and Christian Bale, who have won every major awards ceremony this year for their work. The Actress and Ensemble categories were a bit more uncertain... Portman or Bening? Steinfeld or Leo? The Fighter, The King's Speech, or The Social Network? None of the possible winners here would have been shocking, but the winners give further insight/confirmation of future Academy Awards winners. Natalie Portman's and Melissa Leo's wins tonight, both expected and deserved, virtually seal their success at the Academy Awards. Based on other 2011 awards shows (Critic's Choice, Golden Globes), it would seem as though The Social Network should win, or possibly The Fighter for Best Ensemble Cast. The win in Ensemble by Speech was the biggest and best surprise of the evening, well-deserved for a wonderful film.

It seems as though The King's Speech is a clear frontrunner anyway, and Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards typically go hand in hand. At this point, it would be surprising to see anything but Speech win big at the Academy Awards. Personally, I am quite pleased to see Speech receive so much well-deserved recognition, as it is almost certainly the best picture of the year and one of the best, if not the best, directed as well. I truly believe The King's Speech will be a classic of our time and will not be easily forgotten in the coming years.

John's Reaction:
In one of the most shocking awards season turns I can think of it seems that The Social Network's steam has all but run out, and the tortoise of the year, The King's Speech, may end up victorious after all. In rapid succession and without mercy, The King's Speech snatched up the Producer's Guild, Director's Guild, and the Screen Actor's Guild Awards, thus practically guaranteeing its Best Picture and Director win at this year's Academy Awards. Aside from Apollo 13, which won the first ever Screen Actor's Guild 'Best Ensemble' award, no film that has won all 3 guild awards has ever lost the Best Picture Oscar. (And all but one won Best Director, too-Chicago's Rob Marshall lost Best Director to Roman Polanski for the Pianist.) The King's Speech is looking to join the company of Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, The Return of the King, and American Beauty as having a perfect guild sweep.

But what happened to The Social Network? Weren't people comparing it to Citizen Kane as one of the greatest movies in recent times? Surely it can't NOT win the top prize? Unfortunately, chances look slim. While it is true that The Social Network has won a majority of awards this season, most were awarded by critics groups, and while critical reception and accolades are good for a film, there is really no connection to the more popular 'award shows.' This isn't completely unheard of either. In 1997, LA Confidential was very much the critical darling of the year, until a little movie called Titanic sailed away with both Producer's and Director's awards and carried them all the way to the Oscars. Critics are just that: critics, while those who vote for Guild awards are in many cases actual Academy members, and their votes are a much stronger reflection of the final outcome. It seems that while The Social Network was settling into a 'winning' streak, the King's Speech was the volcano slowly building underneath. It seems like it has finally erupted.

Other than that, the majority of the major awards (including the acting awards) seem all sewn up now that the Screen Actor's Awards have come and gone. Any chance we had of seeing an Annette Bening upset has come and gone, and Natalie Portman can now rest easy knowing her Oscar offically has her name imprinted on it.

All we need now are a few of the smaller guilds to announce their winners (editing, cinematography, art direction, and costuming) and we will be all set come prediction time. Until then, we can make a few safe assumptions: Colin Firth will finally get his long-awaited Oscar, Tom Hooper shouldn't necessarily be seen as the underdog anymore, and The Social Network's modem seems to have indefinitely stalled.

John's Oscar Nominations Reactions/Current Thoughts:

Well, the day has finally come, and we now have one solid month in which to determine Oscar winners from the freshly-named nominees. While there were plenty of surprises, overall I think the majority of nominations are greatly deserved and ones that we definitely saw coming. *I am going to make initial predictions based on today’s nominations – picks that will most likely change in a month’s time.


BEST PICTURE

It’s not even a question: up until today, The Social Network has been the awards’ juggernaut, winning just about every best picture award there was to have. Early favorites like The King’s Speech and Black Swan didn’t seem to pick up enough awards, but today there seems to be a change – with The King’s Speech AND True Grit picking up several more nominations (12 and 10, respectively) that The Social Network (at 8, tied with Inception). The love for these films seems to be much bigger than expected, and there now seems to be the tiny glimmer of a Best Picture upset. Overall, though, the nominees for Best Picture are essentially as predicted, and there aren’t any glaring surprises.
Prediction: The King’s Speech (gasp!)

BEST DIRECTOR

What does Christopher Nolan have to do to be recognized as one of today’s greatest directors? Isn’t the reason we have 10 Best Picture nominees today because his film The Dark Knight got snubbed back in 2008? I can somewhat understand the Academy’s decision to nominate the Coens, but I still scratch my head over the overwhelming love there continues to be for The Fighter and David O. Russell, who’s film just didn’t cut it for me. I still doubt David Fincher can lose here, but could this be a year where Best Picture and Best Director split? Can The King’s Speech AND The Social Network win top prizes? I could very easily see it happening as of now.
Prediction: David Fincher

BEST ACTOR

Although I haven’t seen the film, I’m very happy to see Javier Bardem receive a nomination, even though he was largely snubbed the rest of the awards season. Clearly this award has Colin Firth’s name already written on it, and the 4 other nominees should be happy with their nominations.
Prediction: Colin Firth (duh)

BEST ACTRESS

The inclusion of Michelle Williams seems to reflect that the Academy wants to award Hailee Steinfeld an Oscar this year, as she could have easily have received a lead actress nomination as well. Her bump to supporting really boosts her chances. However, this race is down to Natalie Portman, with Annette Bening barely holding on.
Prediction: Natalie Portman (Sorry Annette)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Andrew Garfield’s lack of a nomination suggests that the Social Network may not have as much clout with the Academy as others suspected. We know this award is Christian Bale’s to lose, so what would have been the harm in nominating Garfield and boosting the Oscar nominations for The Social Network?
Prediction: Christian Bale

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

While Melissa Leo is currently the front-runner by a few paces, I could easily see this going to Hailee Steinfeld… Or Helena Bonham Carter… Or the overdue Amy Adams. Out of all the categories this one is currently the toughest to call, but this Sunday’s SAG awards will hopefully shed some light on the future winner. Also happily surprised to see Jacki Weaver nominated! I’m surprised at the lack of love for the Black Swan supporting ladies, especially Barbara Hershey! This was the one category where there were so many great options, but I think the 5 chosen are perfect.
Prediction: Hailee Steinfeld

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

This is the one category where the Social Network is guaranteed an Oscar still. Aaron Sorkin would richly deserve a win, and as of now there doesn’t seem to be any other possibilities, aside from maybe Toy Story 3. Nice to see 127 Hours receive recognition here.
Prediction: The Social Network

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Where’s Black Swan? The love for this movie is definitely weak, and Natalie Portman currently seems like the only Oscar possibility for this film. Does Christopher Nolan’s Best Director snub force voters to give him the sympathy vote here, OR, will The King’s Speech grab it and use it as momentum to win Best Picture? Right now, I’m leaning towards the King’s Speech for the win.
Prediction: The King’s Speech

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

I feel like we should have seen The Illusionist’s nomination coming – it just seems like the right kind of film. Other than that, Toy Story 3 is all set for the anticlimactic win, although How To Train Your Dragon would be an amazing alternative.
Prediction: Toy Story 3

BEST ART DIRECTION

Pleasantly surprised to see Harry Potter receive some love here. I think Black Swan and Shutter Island are shocking snubs, and the winner now seems less clear. Could this be the one area where Alice In Wonderland can win – or will The King’s Speech or True Grit take it? As of now – I’m completely in the dark for this category.
Prediction: The King’s Speech

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

To be honest, I still think Black Swan had the best costumes of the year, but clearly the Academy disagrees. This award usually is given to the most flashy wardrobe, so Alice In Wonderland currently seems to be ahead. Then again, they love period pieces here (The King’s Speech, The Young Victoria, The Duchess, Titanic, etc, etc, etc)
Prediction: The King’s Speech

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Predictable nominees. All we have to figure out now is whether or not Roger Deakins is going to win for True Grit, definitely not his finest work, or Wally Pfister will win for Inception. Both are equally deserving and are the only two possible winners I can see at this point. I kind of have a feeling it will go to Deakins, if only because he’s the greatest living cinematographer and has already lost 8 times. On a side-note, I’m somewhat disappointed to see 127 Hours snubbed here.
Prediction: True Grit

BEST EDITING

When I think of the best editing in films last year, Inception is the only film that comes to mind. I’m absolutely stunned at this snub in particular, especially considering films like The King’s Speech took it’s place – a film definitely not full of memorable cuts. If you want to win Best Picture, you NEED a best editing nomination. There’s no way you can win without it – it just doesn’t happen (at least since the 80’s). Therefore, the only Best Picture outcomes I can see are The Fighter, The King’s Speech, or The Social Network.
Prediction: The Social Network

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

I am thrilled beyond WORDS that How To Train Your Dragon was nominated. If you haven’t listened to the score, do it – it’s one of my favorites. I’m equally surprised to see The Social Network nominated – not because it’s inadequate, but because the Academy seems to dislike nominating double composers (otherwise, The Assassination of Jesse James or The Dark Knight would have been nominated, right?) The Social Network seems like the front-runner, but I think Alexandre Desplat is so overdue that the King’s Speech may take the prize in the end. Sorry, Inception.
Prediction: The Social Network

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Prediction: Toy Story 3

BEST SOUND MIXING
Prediction: True Grit

BEST SOUND EDITING
Prediction: Inception

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Prediction: Inception


OTHER THOUGHTS:
-If you doubt the King’s Speech has a large chance at winning Best Picture now, check out the nominees for Best Sound Mixing. If that doesn’t show overall support for the film, then what does? Remember when The Hurt Locker was nominated for best original score? (What score?) This seems to be the same situation.

-127 Hours NOT receiving a single sound nomination is (in my opinion) one of the biggest snubs of the year. Mind-boggling.

-Waiting For Superman snubbed for Best Documentary? Okay then….

-The film with the most nominations wins best Picture 75% of the time. The Social Network wasn’t the most-nominated film. It wasn’t even the second-most nominated film. Just something to think about…

-Black Swan receives a pitiful 5 nominations. I thought this was supposed to be one of the big threats at the Oscars this year? Apparently not... The Kid's Are All Right received 4, one in the Best Picture category no less. Last year, Meryl Streep most likely lost to Sandra Bullock because she was the film's sole nomination. This year, the Bening/Portman match up seems to be on a much more even playing field.

-When was the last time a PG-13 movie won Best Picture? 6 years ago: Million Dollar Baby. (The King's Speech-R. The Social Network-PG-13. The Fighter-R. True Grit-PG-13)

Stay tuned for more predictions as guild awards begin to be awarded in the coming weeks!

Nominations and Early Winners Predictions

Well folks, it's the start of the new year! And you all know what that means... it's time for New Year's resolutions, celebrations, reminiscing about 2010, a year of new movies... but most importantly, the start of a new year means that all of the movies up for consideration for the 2010 Academy Awards have been released, and predictions can start to be made. Based on the "Awards Potential" section at the end of each of our blog posts, here are official predictions for nominees (and early predictions of the winners*) for the major award categories at the 2010 Academy Awards:

*Final predictions will be included in an additional post once a complete list of official 2010 nominees is released.

Best Picture:
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Fighter
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Best Director:
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
DAVID FINCHER - THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan - Inception
David O. Russell - The Fighter

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Robert Duvall - Get Low
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
COLIN FIRTH - THE KING'S SPEECH
James Franco - 127 Hours

Best Actress:
Annete 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
Andrew Garfield - The Social Network
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
Mila Kunis - Black Swan
MELISSA LEO - THE FIGHTER
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit

Best Animated Feature:
Despicable Me
How To Train Your Dragon
TOY STORY 3

Best Original Screenplay:
Another Year
Black Swan
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 Editing:
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Best Original Score:
How To Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King's Speech
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Toy Story 3

Best Original Song:
"If I Rise" from 127 Hours
"You Still Haven't Seen The Last of Me" from Burlesque
"I See The Light" from Tangled
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3
"SHINE" from WAITING FOR SUPERMAN

Best Cinematography:
Black Swan
INCEPTION
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Best Art Direction:
Alice In Wonderland
Black Swan
INCEPTION
The King's Speech
True Grit

Best Visual Effects:
Alice In Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
INCEPTION
Iron Man 2
Tron Legacy

Best Costume Design:
Alice In Wonderland
BLACK SWAN
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Best Sound Mixing
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
True Grit

Best Sound Editing:
127 HOURS
Hot To Train Your Dragon
Inception
The Social Network
True Grit

Best Makeup:
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Barney's Vision
The Fighter


In terms of the most nominations, we predict the films leading the race will be Inception and The King's Speech with 11 nominations each. The Social Network and Black Swan should each receive 10 nominations. True Grit should score 9 and The Fighter is expected to get 7.

2011 Golden Globe Awards

Golden Globes TONIGHT (already!)... we all know that these are typically a very poor indicator of who will win the Oscar statues, but it's interesting to see the results anyway. Though we here at MoJo specialize in Oscar predictions, here are our predictions for the 2011 Golden Globe awards (which will likely closely align with our Oscar predictions). Note that these are only the movies predictions,  because let's be honest, no one REALLY cares about TV...

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network (X)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Halle Berry – Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman – Black Swan (X)
Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
Colin Firth – The King’s Speech (X)
James Franco – 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg – The Fighter

Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right (X)
Red
The Tourist

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right (X)
Anne Hathaway – Love And Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie – The Tourist
Julianne Moore – The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone – Easy A

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Johnny Depp – Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp – The Tourist
Paul Giamatti – Barney’s Version (X)
Jake Gyllenhaal – Love And Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey – Casino Jack

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams – The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis – Black Swan
Melissa Leo – The Fighter (X)
Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale – The Fighter (X)
Michael Douglas – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield – The Social Network
Jeremy Renner – The Town
Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech

Best Animated Feature Film
Despicable Me
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled
Toy Story 3 (X)

Best Foreign Language Film
Biutiful (Mexico, Spain)
The Concert (France)
The Edge (Russia)
I Am Love (Italy)
In A Better World (Denmark) (X)

Best Director – Motion Picture
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
David Fincher – The Social Network (X)
Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan – Inception
David O. Russell – The Fighter

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Simon Beaufoy, Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
Christopher Nolan – Inception
Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler – The King’s Speech
Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network (X)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat – The King’s Speech
Danny Elfman – Alice in Wonderland
A. R. Rahman – 127 Hours
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – The Social Network (X)
Hans Zimmer – Inception

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Bound To You” – Burlesque /Music By: Samuel Dixon /Lyrics By: Christina Aguilera and Sia Furler (X)
“Coming Home” – Country Strong/ Music & Lyrics By: Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey and Troy Verges
“I See The Light” – Tangled/ Music By: Alan Menken/ Lyrics By: Glenn Slater
“There’s A Place For Us” – Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader/ Music & Lyrics By: Hillary Lindsey, Carrie Underwood and David Hodges

John's Top 10 Movies of 2010

Well, here it is - I have finally picked my favorites and here it is, my ten favorite movies of the year... In ORDER!

1. 127 Hours
2. The King's Speech
3. Black Swan
4. Rabbit Hole
5. The Social Network
6. Inception
7. The Kids Are All Right
8. The Ghost Writer
9. Toy Story 3
10. True Grit

Blue Valentine (**1/2)

How shocked was I to discover that Blue Valentine was not the spectacularly-emotional movie the trailer built it up to be, but rather a complete misstep in terms of simple story and character development. What has a concept for a great film ultimately fails and dies very quickly.

The story is disjointed, following two story lines of the same couple played by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. One plot follows their meeting and 'falling in love,' while the second contrasts and presents the ultimate failure of their marriage. There is no in-between, and I think that's where the majority of my problem with this film lies: that one plot shows how they are allegedly 'the perfect match,' and the second one says no with no reasoning why it didn't work in the first place. When did they begin to fall out of love?

And that's basically it. The story has no plot - it's more situational and character-driven. Not to say that no plot isn't a good thing, but when you spend two hours watching 2 people fight and eventually divorce, what's really the point? It doesn't have a happy ending (clearly), and it really doesn't have a happy beginning, either. There's nothing much happening.

That's also not to say the acting isn't bad, either. In fact it's nearly flawless. Both Gosling and Williams easily switch from their younger roles to older - from blinded by love youths to emotionally-tired adults. The transitions are truly remarkable.

But, for me, the movie is a miss. What's the point of spending 2 hours watching two people get a divorce, anyways?

(Awards potential: Best Actor (Gosling), Best Actress (Williams))

I Am Love (****)

I'm sure many people will consider I Am Love to be mere melodrama - a film more focused on shock and startles than actual story. While I believe it to be a film that does take a few liberties in terms of development, I found it to be an engrossing, albeit slowly-paced work of art with a spellbinding performance from Tilda Swinton.

The movie, a small Italian film, will most likely receive little to no nominations from any major Awards, but this should in no way be a detractor from the film. The story follows a wealthy Italian family with their fortune made in the textile industry. Tilda Swinton, the wife of the heir to the fortune, is in many ways a trophy wife, a Russian-born who is there simply to complete the ideal family. She eventually discovers love and develops a fiery romance with her son's friend and business partner. The ending takes a shockingly-different turn than expected, but this isn't a film necessarily focused on telling a complete story and wrapping it up nicely. We as an audience are simply presented the facts then left to sort out the pieces and interpret as we will.

Stylistically, the film is stunning. Italy is presented so beautifully and lush, while so much of the Recchi's extravagant home is dark, cold, almost sinister. A broad symphonic score provides a rousing accompaniment, while the editing is non-linear and very much internalized to Swinton's character.

And then there is Tilda Swinton herself - has she ever had a 'bad' role? She easily has established herself as one of the greatest living actresses. The British actress meticulously plays an Italian with a Russian accent, and I understand she learned both languages in preparation for the role. There is never a moment when her performance on screen is anything less than brilliant. This film, along with Julia, are easily two of her best works, yet the Oscar-winning actress will most likely not receive her second Oscar nomination for this film, even though this film is easily caliber for a win. As is typical with Oscar-voting, the smaller films often are forgotten, and this will surely be one stunning snub.

Overall a beautifully-shot, marvelously acted, and perfectly paced. Unfortunately I predict it will receive little to no recognition as one of the year's best films. Worth the viewing anyways, if only to see Tilda Swinton. She's a goddess.

(Awards potential: Best Actress (Swinton), Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography)

Animal Kingdom (****1/2)

Animal Kingdom is a brutally real look at the life of an organized crime family in Australia. While its thematic elements are dark to say the least, the story is told with such a cinematic eye and clever acting that it becomes an amazing film-going experience.

The film opens with one of the most disturbing and matter-of-fact death scenes I think I've ever seen. Right away we learn so much about Josh, this quiet teenage boy, left with no where to go. While the film seems to mimic the narrative style of films like Goodfellas as times, the story is unique and oftentimes much more gritty. There is nothing glamorous about the lives this family leads.

The cast is stellar, but Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver truly steal the show. Pearce plays a detective tracking the family and set on protecting Josh in what ever way he can. Weaver plays the matriarch, the mother with a constant smile on her face as her family descends deeper and deeper into darkness. Her role is complex and so riveting to watch, and while she may be considered a villain at times, she also has moments of pure heroism.

There are several things working against this film in terms of awards potential, mainly its status as an independent film from Australia. While Weaver may be the film's best shot at an Oscar nom, that doesn't stop it from being one of the most finely-crafted films of the year.

(Awards potential: Best Supporting Actress (Weaver), Best Original Screenplay)

Rabbit Hole (*****)

While I consider 2010 to be a fantastic year for movies, I would still only consider a handful of them to be truly moving and revelatory pieces of cinema. Rabbit Hole in that sense is one of the best movies of the year, an honest, tragic, and inspired look at the lives of two people destroyed over the death of their son.

Nicole Kidman. Aaron Eckhart. While both have made fine films in the past, they give career-best performances in Rabbit Hole. The level of frustration and grief required in roles like these could easily be overdone and melodramatic, but these two actors understand the great balancing act required. What we are left with are two of the most honest and thought-out leading roles of the year.

Kidman is a revalation. The Others, Moulin Rouge, The Hours... Had she not recently won an Oscar for her turn as Virginia Woolf, this would be a shoe-in for the win. The majority of the film accounts for the suppression of her grief, all building up to one of the most heartbreaking and visceral emotional breakdowns I have ever seen on film. Aaron Eckhart's character is more focused on preserving the past, yet his frustrations are more visible and we are never quite sure who is the more stable in the relationship.

Rounding off one of the greatest casts of the year is Dianne Wiest, another Oscar winner (2 times) who would be a shoe-in for the win any other year. Wiest perfectly encapsulates the role of Kidman's mother, a woman also familiar with the death of a child, yet the two are never quite able to see eye to eye.

The film is a masterpiece in the way it documents the quiet lifestyle of the 'suburban family' and how isolated people truly are from one another. Although the film is heavily weighted down with mature and grim themes, there is still a great sense of wit and dark humor infused throughout the film. That is not to say it's a black comedy - but it does work so perfectly well as a means to create a full picture and emotionally-satisfying film. This film easily ranks right alongside Ordinary People, another masterful film dealing with similar topics of loss and separation.

Emotionally, this film left me devastated. It is rare that you see such a sophisticated level of film making on display. While this film is clearly a showcase for the actors, it is still one of the best of the year. Why Aaron Eckhart or Dianne Wiest aren't receiving more nominations for their work is frustrating and completely baffling to me. Likewise for the director and screenwriter especially. Hopefully, come Oscar nominations, Rabbit Hole will be duly rewarded.

(Awards potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Kidman), Best Actor (Eckhart), Best Supporting Actress (Wiest), Best Adapted Screenplay)