02/25/10

Okay, fine. Sure. It’s not cool to openly like the Oscars. 

But I’m not cool. And I don’t like the Oscars, I love the Oscars. I often don’t agree with who they give awards to, but, seeing as how talking about movies is one of my very favorite things to do, I look forward to the single night where so many others join the conversation. This year, however, looks a bit dim, conversationally speaking. Many will likely discuss the Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker race, the reasoning behind nominating 10 films for Best Picture instead of five, or maybe Up. Not me. Here’s what I’ll talk about ...

Best Picture: Meh. There’s not really a single film from 2009 that owned me (though there were plenty that I loved). The Hurt Locker is great stuff, but a bit overrated in my opinion. Goodbye, Solo, a near perfect – though minor – indie work, has been criminally overlooked by all the major awards ceremonies, as has Sam Rockwell’s knockout performance in Moon. One film I really enjoyed was Greg Mottola’s Adventureland. But that’s not an Oscar type of film like, say, Juno. Ugh. Final Answer: Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. Funny, epic, unique and incredibly well made.

Best Male Lead: Jeff Bridges will likely win this year for his twangy performance in Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart. And while it is a great performance, the film is full of clichés and lacking in story. Bridges will win because the nominations this year aren’t very strong and, frankly, he’s had it coming for a while now. Rockwell’s abovementioned performance in Moon is more to my liking, as is Souleymane Sy Savane’s lead in Ramin Bahrani’s great Goodbye, Solo. Final Answer: Anyone but George Clooney.

Best Female Lead: I’ve not yet seen An Education, unfortunately, but the trailer looks fantastic. That said, I highly doubt Education’s Carey Mulligan will take home any hardware. My bet, unfortunately, is on Sandra Bullock, though I’d be thrilled if fellow nominee Meryl Streep won for her excellent work in Julie & Julia. Final Answer: Melanie Laurent, who isn’t nominated, but gave a knock out performance in Basterds.

Best Director: This is, for my money, the year’s most interesting race. We have Hurt Doctor director Kathryn Bigelow, who stands to possibly be the first woman to ever take home the award. We have James Cameron, who directed Avatar, the highest grossing film ever made. And then we have Basterds director Quentin Tarantino, who will likely come in a distant third to Cameron and his ex-wife, Bigelow. Final Answer: I predict Bigelow in an upset over Cameron … though prefer Tarantino.

Other Predictions: Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Male Actor); Mo’Nique (Best Supporting Female Actor); Inglourious Basterds (Best Original Screenplay); Up In the Air (Best Adapted Screenplay); Mauro Fiore/Avatar (Best Cinematography); The White Ribbon (Best Foreign Language Film); and Up (Best Animated Feature).

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards show is set to air on NBC at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 7. Pretty dresses, awkward speeches, cheesy music and no Woody Allen. Color me stoked. Send your reactions and Top 10 lists to gregwlocke@gmail.com.

Also: Both Tim Burton’s Alice and Wonderland and Antoine Fuqua’s (Training Day) Brooklyn’s Finest hit theaters this week. Both should have a couple of strong weeks (especially Wonderland, which features Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter) during this slow season. Martin Scorcese’s new thriller, Shutter Island (great, by the way), continues to do well in theaters, headed fast towards the $100 million mark. Kevin Smith’s new buddy comedy, Cop Out, had a stellar opening weekend, bringing in just under $20 million over its first three days. Stay tuned next week, as we return to our formatted columns and preview what looks to be one of the biggest release weeks of the year so far.

Written by G. William Locke