There may be 10 strong nominees for Best Picture at the 2010 Academy Awards, but only two of them are really considered to be in contention for the top prize. Most Oscar buffs have narrowed the true field of competitors for Best Picture down to Avatar or The Hurt Locker. We think it would be most delightful if the Academy Award voters surprise the hell out of us by awarding the Best Picture honor to a film that actually deserves it instead.
That pretty much sums up how we feel about the Oscars this year in general. We’d like to see the films and actors that truly represent the best creations and performances of the year actually get credit it for it this time around. Too often, the Oscars go to films that got the most buzz or earned the most money at the box office. The actors win Oscars, many times, because of who the actors are, not how well they portrayed the characters they were supposed to be representing.
In light of this, we give you our list of 2010 Academy Award winners and losers if we had any choice in the matter – which, of course, we don’t. We’re sure you’ll probably vastly disagree with many of our choices, but hey, that’s what the comments section is for, right? So check out our picks and then flame away if you don’t like them. And tell us who you think deserve to be the real winners of the evening.
Writing (Original Screenplay):
Probably Win: The Hurt Locker
Should Win: A Serious Man
Considering how pissed off some actual military service men are about how unrealistic The Hurt Locker screenplay is, we wouldn’t give it this prize. There is such a thing as creative license, but not when you are writing a film based on people who are losing their limbs and lives in real life.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
Probably Win: Up in the Air
Should Win: Precious
Up in the Air was a great film and we feel it probably will not get much of the recognition it deserves this year at the Oscars. However, Precious wasn’t just a great screenplay, it was a shockingly amazing screenplay. Every word in it packed a punch to the gut and we think it really deserves this prize.
Music (Original Song):
Probably Win: “Down in New Orleans” – The Princess and the Frog
Should Win: “The Weary Kind” – Crazy Heart
For some reason everyone loves that damn song from that terrible movie and keeps predicting it will win. We hope not. The song from Crazy Heart is by far the better choice here.
Music (Original Score):
Probably Win: Up
Should Win: Up
Up deserves it, Up should win it. We won’t argue with this one.
Animated Feature Film:
Probably Win: Up
Should Win: Up
Again, no argument here. The rest of the nominees don’t really even compare. Honestly though, Avatar should have been nominated in this category instead of Best Picture. Yeah, yeah, not all of it was animated, but enough of it was to make it a whole lot less about acting than digital manipulation.
Best Supporting Actress:
Probably Win: Mo’Nique – Precious
Should Win: Mo’Nique – Precious
Most are predicting Mo’Nique will take this category, partially as a nod to the film itself because it will likely lose out on the bigger prizes. We feel that Mo’Nique deserves the Best Supporting Actress nod entirely on her own merit.
Best Supporting Actor:
Probably Win: Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
Should Win: Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
Overall, we really didn’t like this film. It was a bit over the top macho BS and bad accents. But Christoph Waltz was a standout in the film and in the rest of the Supporting Actor pack. We’d give him the statue.
Best Actress:
Probably Win: Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Should Win: Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
We love Sandra Bullock and have nothing against her, but seriously – her role in The Blind Side was not brain surgery. Gabourey Sidibe, on the other hand, was friggin’ awesome in Precious playing a role most well-seasoned actresses would fail at miserably. Hats off to Meryl Streep, who should have deserved the Oscar any other year, but our vote is with Sidibe.
Best Actor:
Probably Win: Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
Should Win: Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
We hope the Academy will actually get this one right as most predict they will. Jeff Bridges knocked this one out of the park.
Best Director:
Probably Win: Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Should Win: Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
Kathryn Bigelow will likely win this one because the Academy Awards loves “firsts”. As in, the first woman in history to win a Best Director Academy Award. We think that’s kind of sexist. Being Best Director for overly dramatic scene switches, awkward dialogue and carefully controlled explosions doesn’t impress us that much. Up in the Air, on the other hand, was a masterpiece of subtlety and detail thanks to Jason Reitman – what a real Best Director winner should be honored for.
Best Picture:
Probably Win: The Hurt Locker
Should Win: Precious
No, we did not choose Avatar as our pick for Best Picture instead of The Hurt Locker. The Hurt Locker has spurred so much ridicule and anger from every military service member we know, we can’t even stand to hear the film’s name. Avatar, on the other hand, is basically a bigger version of FernGully with a smattering of other ripped off ideas thrown into the mix. Just because it made a ton of money and everyone in the friggin’ world saw it does not make it the end all and be all of film-making. For real, gut-wrenching, heart-tearing, serious film artistry – we give it to Precious all the way around.
The 2010 Academy Awards kicks off at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST on ABC.