2010 Academy Awards Winners

We can finally close the book on 2009. The Oscars have come and gone and The Hurt Locker has triumphed, winning Best Picture and five more awards including Best Director (making Kathryn Bigelow the first woman to win best director) and Original Screenplay.

It was definitely a night for "Hurt Locker" as it nabbed many of the technical awards that were expected for "Avatar," the blockbuster that was directed by Bigelow's ex-spouse James Cameron.

The Dude, Jeff Bridges, won best actor for his portrayal of an alcoholic country singer in "Crazy Heart." Sandra Bullock won best actress for portraying a nurturing mom in the football drama "The Blind Side" and worst actress for portraying a stalker in "All About Steve."

Enough talk, here are the winners and who they were up against:


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

Performance by an actress in a leading role

* Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
* Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
* Carey Mulligan (An Education)
* Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
* Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)

Performance by an actor in a leading role

* Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
* George Clooney (Up In the Air)
* Colin Firth (A Single Man)
* Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
* Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Achievement in directing

* James Cameron (Avatar)
* Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
* Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
* Lee Daniels (Precious)
* Jason Reitman (Up In the Air)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

* Matt Damon (Invictus)
* Woody Harrellson (The Messenger)
* Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
* Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
* Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

* Penelope Cruz (Nine)
* Vera Farmiga (Up In the Air)
* Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
* Anna Kendrick (Up In the Air)
* Mo'Nique (Precious)

Best animated feature film of the year

* Coraline
* Fantastic Mr. Fox
* The Princess and the Frog
* The Secret of Kells
* Up

Best Documentary Short Subject

* China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
* The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
* The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
* Music by Prudence
* Rabbit à la Berlin

Best Short Film (Animated)

* French Roast
* Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
* The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
* Logorama
* A Matter of Loaf and Death

Best Short Film (Live Action)

* The Door
* Instead of Abracadabra
* Kavi
* Miracle Fish
* The New Tenants

Achievement in art direction

* Avatar
* The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
* Nine
* Sherlock Holmes
* The Young Victoria

Achievement in cinematography

* Avatar, Mauro Fiore
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Bruno Delbonnel
* The Hurt Locker, Barry Ackroyd
* Inglourious Basterds, Robert Richardson
* The White Ribbon, Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design

* Bright Star, Janet Patterson
* Coco before Chanel, Catherine Leterrier
* The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Monique Prudhomme
* Nine, Colleen Atwood
* The Young Victoria, Sandy Powell

Best documentary feature

* Burma VJ
* The Cove
* Food, Inc.
* The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
* Which Way Home

Achievement in makeup

* Il Divo, Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
* Star Trek, Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
* The Young Victoria, Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in film editing

* Avatar, Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
* District 9, Julian Clarke
* The Hurt Locker, Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
* Inglourious Basterds, Sally Menke
* Precious, Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year

* Ajami
* El Secreto De Sus Ojos
* The Milk of Sorrow
* A Prophet
* The White Ribbon

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

* Avatar, James Horner
* Fantastic Mr. Fox, Alexandre Desplat
* The Hurt Locker, Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
* Sherlock Holmes, Hans Zimmer
* Up, Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

* "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* "Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* "Loin de Paname" from Paris 36 Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
* "Take It All" from Nine Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
* "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from Crazy Heart Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Achievement in sound editing

* Avatar, Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
* The Hurt Locker, Paul N.J. Ottosson
* Inglourious Basterds, Wylie Stateman
* Star Trek, Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
* Up, Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing

* Avatar, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
* The Hurt Locker, Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
* Inglourious Basterds, Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
* Star Trek, Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects

* Avatar, Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
* District 9, Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
* Star Trek, Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay

* Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (District 9)
* Nick Hornby (An Education)
* Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche (In the Loop)
* Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious)
* Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (Up In the Air)

Original screenplay

* Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
* Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
* Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman (The Messenger)
* Joel and Ethan Coen (A Serious Man)
* Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy (Up)

As for the actual event itself, I really enjoyed the banter between Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. The two did a great job of keeping the atmosphere light and no doubt, helping viewers not only tune in, but to stick around.

Throughout the ceremony we saw a wide variety of presenters which included notable Oscar winners of the past and currently-popular mainstream celebrities.

Some Notable call-outs:

* Robert Downey Jr. & Tina Fey were awesome. We needed more Robert Downey Jr.
* Miley Cyrus & Amanda Seyfried were not awesome. Ms. Hannah Montana messed up her lines and tried to cover herself by saying she was nervous (and no one else was?). We need none of this next year.
* Ben Stiller as a Na’Vi from "Avatar" was hilarious.
* The hosts "Paranormal Activity" skit was quite amusing.
* The tribute to John Hughes was a very touching moment and featured Hughes regulars such as Jon Cryer, Anthony Michael Hall, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Macaulay Culkin and Matthew Broderick.

And in an offbeat rant, I’m not a fan of desperate attempts at bringing out celebrities like Taylor Lautner and Miley Cyrus for the sole reason of bringing their fanbases in for ratings rather than their accomplishments. There were quite a few shots of Lautner sitting near the front when he wasn’t nominated for anything (like we saw with Rob Pattinson last year). He has a better seat than those who were nominated or even winners of other categories.

What did you think of the 2010 Oscars? Do all the winners deserve their awards?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Rope of Silicon, USA Today, Screen Rant

2010 Oscar Nominations

The complete list of nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards, the most prestigious award in Hollywood, have been announced today (via Oscars.com). The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the nominees this morning live from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. This is the first year that 10 movies are nominated for Best Picture (since 1943).

So without further ado, take a look at the full list of nominees below.

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

Performance by an actress in a leading role

* Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
* Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
* Carey Mulligan (An Education)
* Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
* Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)

Performance by an actor in a leading role

* Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
* George Clooney (Up In the Air)
* Colin Firth (A Single Man)
* Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
* Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

* Matt Damon (Invictus)
* Woody Harrellson (The Messenger)
* Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
* Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
* Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

* Penelope Cruz (Nine)
* Vera Farmiga (Up In the Air)
* Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
* Anna Kendrick (Up In the Air)
* Mo'Nique (Precious)

Best animated feature film of the year

* Coraline
* Fantastic Mr. Fox
* The Princess and the Frog
* The Secret of Kells
* Up

Best Documentary Short Subject

* China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
* The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
* The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
* Music by Prudence
* Rabbit à la Berlin

Best Short Film (Animated)

* French Roast
* Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
* The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
* Logorama
* A Matter of Loaf and Death

Best Short Film (Live Action)

* The Door
* Instead of Abracadabra
* Kavi
* Miracle Fish
* The New Tenants

Achievement in art direction

* Avatar
* The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
* Nine
* Sherlock Holmes
* The Young Victoria

Achievement in cinematography

* Avatar, Mauro Fiore
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Bruno Delbonnel
* The Hurt Locker, Barry Ackroyd
* Inglourious Basterds, Robert Richardson
* The White Ribbon, Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design

* Bright Star, Janet Patterson
* Coco before Chanel, Catherine Leterrier
* The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Monique Prudhomme
* Nine, Colleen Atwood
* The Young Victoria, Sandy Powell

Achievement in directing

* James Cameron (Avatar)
* Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
* Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
* Lee Daniels (Precious)
* Jason Reitman (Up In the Air)

Best documentary feature

* Burma VJ
* The Cove
* Food, Inc.
* The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
* Which Way Home

Achievement in makeup

* Il Divo, Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
* Star Trek, Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
* The Young Victoria, Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in film editing

* Avatar, Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
* District 9, Julian Clarke
* The Hurt Locker, Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
* Inglourious Basterds, Sally Menke
* Precious, Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year

* Ajami
* El Secreto De Sus Ojos
* The Milk of Sorrow
* A Prophet
* The White Ribbon

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

* Avatar, James Horner
* Fantastic Mr. Fox, Alexandre Desplat
* The Hurt Locker, Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
* Sherlock Holmes, Hans Zimmer
* Up, Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

* "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* "Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* "Loin de Paname" from Paris 36 Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
* "Take It All" from Nine Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
* "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from Crazy Heart Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Achievement in sound editing

* Avatar, Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
* The Hurt Locker, Paul N.J. Ottosson
* Inglourious Basterds, Wylie Stateman
* Star Trek, Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
* Up, Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing

* Avatar, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
* The Hurt Locker, Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
* Inglourious Basterds, Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
* Star Trek, Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects

* Avatar, Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
* District 9, Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
* Star Trek, Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay

* Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (District 9)
* Nick Hornby (An Education)
* Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche (In the Loop)
* Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious)
* Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (Up In the Air)

Original screenplay

* Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
* Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
* Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman (The Messenger)
* Joel and Ethan Coen (A Serious Man)
* Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy (Up)

The top films of the heap looks like this in terms of number of nominations:

* Avatar (9 nominations)
* The Hurt Locker (9 nominations)
* Inglourious Basterds (8 nominations)
* Precious (6 nominations)
* Up In the Air (6 nominations)

SOME SURPRISES

Does "The Blind Side" deserve a nomination for Best Picture. While it did well in the box office, can it be considered that good of a film while other movies, such as "500 Days of Summer," get left out in the cold. Seriously, no nomination for that film anyway?

And "Invictus" gets its casting nominations, but not a Best Picture nom? I admit to having not seen this film, but it seriously just feels like one of those movies that will get nominated. If it gets the acting noms, it gives more credit for the Best picture nom as well. Guess not always...

But the big battle will be between "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker." Directors James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow will duke it out once again as the two were once married. Now that is a very fun and interesting fact!

The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT.

What do you think of the Oscar nominations?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Rope of Silicon, First Showing

Best Picture Voting System Changed for Oscars

Over two months ago, it was announced that the Best Picture category at the Oscars™ was expanding from five to ten nominees, making it more likely for those “close, but no cigar” movies (such as "The Dark Knight" last year) to get a Best Picture nomination the next time the Oscars roll around.

To this day still, that decision causes heated debates among film fanatics, mainly because we don't yet know the kind of impact it will have, and every week we see new movies that have the potential to make it in as a nominee.

Now, another significant piece of news has surfaced, claiming that the voting system for Best Picture has been changed as well.

The system up 'til now has been that Academy voters vote for one movie out of those nominated, and logically whichever movie gets the most votes wins the award for Best Picture. The new system is similar to the way the nominees are chosen: instead of voting for just one movie, the voters will now rank the ten nominees in order of preference, and the result will be tallied using a rather complicated preferential system.

Here's an explanation of the new voting rules courtesy of The Wrap. Read on for why it makes a difference.

"Instead of just voting for one nominee, the way Academy members have almost always done on the final ballot, voters will be asked to rank all 10 nominees in order of preference — and the results will be tallied using the complicated preferential system, which has been used for decades during the nominating process but almost never on the final ballot.

As a result, a film could be the first choice of the largest number of voters, but find itself nudged out of the top prize by another movie that got fewer number one votes but more twos and threes."
The reason for this change by the Academy is to eliminate the chance that a certain movie could win by only getting 18 percent of the votes. Even though he doesn’t say it in as many words, the Academy executive director, Bruce Davis, says that he doesn’t want a vote percentage that low to determine which movie is Best Picture.

One of the issues that increasing the nominees to 10 presents is that members vote so sporadically that it would only take 18 percent for one movie to win - and that wouldn't be a proper representation of the Academy's choice for Best Picture. That's why this change was made, in order to eliminate that extreme possibility, with the Academy members ranking all 10 of the movies instead, then using a bit of math to determine the winner.

This new system can be confusing at first, but a change from the old system is justified because with the nominees list expanded the old system just doesn’t work anymore. If any of you are interested, you can head over to FilmSchoolRejects to read a fantastic write-up on the new voting rules that explains everything in a nutshell.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant, First Showing

Expect More Best Picture Nominations Next Year

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just announced the Oscars this year will be bumping their Best Picture nominees from five to ten beginning with the upcoming 2010 Oscars President Sid Ganis announced today at a press conference in Beverly Hills.

“After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,” said Ganis. “The final outcome, of course, will be the same – one Best Picture winner – but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.”

"Having 10 best picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize," Ganis said.

It's now being called 10 in 2010. Some are claiming that this decision was made under pressure from the studios, as it allows them to feature more great movies and include more advertising at the Oscars. Others are saying this will now water down the Oscars, since a nomination "used to be" a prestigious recognition.

The move is an obvious response to the recent discussion concerning "The Dark Knight’s" absence from the nominees for more art house style films such as "The Reader" and I would expect we can now look at Up as a serious contender for a Best Picture nominee when previous Pixar favorites "Ratatouille" and "WALL-E" were left in the cold.

This is interesting news indeed! More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: First Showing, Rope of Silicon