We are already a month into the fall movie season and I thought it was about time that I share my thoughts on the films that will round out the rest of the year.

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Dec. 21

The initial teaser trailer for the film cut to a cover version of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” had me swooning  There is a longer version of the trailer that I saw before “Moneyball” and it doesn’t compare to the greatness of the first teaser. I think David Fincher can bring something different, a level of greatness I hope, that the Swedish film version of the book didn’t have.

2. Hugo – Nov. 23

Any film directed by Martin Scorsese would make my list. This film is based on the children’s book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabaret,” and focuses on an  orphaned young boy venturing around in a Paris train station in the 1930′s. Not only is this Scorsese’s first movie aimed at children, if you don’t count “GoodFellas,” it is also his first 3D movie. I haven’t been the biggest fan of 3D, but I’m sure Scorsese will be able to use it in a cinematically compelling way.

3. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Dec. 9

I’m a huge fan of this film’s trailer, which is able to efficiently convey a sense of time and place and dark atmosphere. The movie is based on the 1970′s novel of the same name about a former spy brought out of retirement in order to find a Russian mole inside the British Intelligence Network. The film features a stellar cast that includes Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Cirand Hinds, Mark Strong and John Hurt. If that cast wasn’t enough of a reason to get you excited, the film is directed by Tomas Alfredson, the man who directed the stellar, “Let the Right One In.”

4. Shame

This film stars Michael Fassbender as a New Yorker addicted to sex, and what happens to that life style when his sister, played by Carey Mulligan, comes to stay with him. This is director Steve McQueen’s follow up to his fantastic 2008 effort, “Hunger,” which also starred Fassbender. McQueen is an artist, he literally made art before becoming a filmmaker, and I can’t wait to see what he can do with two of the best actors working today, Fassbender and Mulligan. There is no trailer for the film yet, just this intriguing clip from the film.

5. The Descendants – Nov. 18

I was a hugh fan of Alexander Payne’s 2004 film, “Sideways,” and this film marks his long awaited return to filmmaking. The movie stars George Clooney as a man who must reconnect with his family after his wife lands in a coma. The film received good word of mouth when it played at the Telluride Film Festival earlier in September and George Clooney has been on a roll of late in terms of starring in memorable roles. Hopefully this film will continue this streak.

8:42- James Franco did better work on his Twitter feed tonight.

8:39 – You would think that these damn kids would have dressed up a bit. It’s the Oscars for Christ’s sake.

8:36 – How could the film had not have won Best Picture? For God’s sake,they used the speech in the film to cut the best picture montage together.

8:34 – This montage cut to The King’s Speech is actually pretty good.

8:32 – Nice consolation prize to The Social Network for mentioning the film’s that didn’t win Best Picture. I like how the crowd clapped loudly when Speilberg mentions the films that lost Best Picture.

8:21 – I bet Sandra Bullock hasn’t watched last year’s telecast when she won the award. Who would have thought that her tattoo crazed, Nazi loving husband, who was once married to a porno stat, would have cheated on her?

8:19 – Let’s applaud Sandra Bullock cause her crazy tattoo husband was fucking behind her back.

8:14 – Hey, just noticed that Aronofsky isn’t wearing that damn scarf around his neck. Guess he didn’t have a horrible neck surgery after all.

8:07 – So glad the honorary Oscar winners are finally shown some proper respect, unlike last year.

8:03 – Tom Hopper! Damn! You can tell he really wanted it. The film was good, but Fincher directed the hell out of The Social Network.

7:53 – No clapping at the In Memoriam segment. How will we know who to care about?

7:46 – Jennifer Hudson looks hot after losing all that weight. That is all I can muster up to type.

7:45 – The montage of dead people  and the Lena Horn tribute hasn’t been shown yet. This is going to go another hour.

7:35 – The visual effect guys forgot to thank Nolan. Thats a rule.

7:30 – The Ghost of Bob Hope!

7:27 – Here is the best Oscar host. He looks a hell of a lot better following these two.

7:21 – Okay, no Banksy. Inside Job was pretty good as well. Yea! Throw those fucking financial executives in jail!!

7:21 – Joel Coen was just caught on camera looking for his cell phone.

7:16 – This Best Live Action short guy probably gave one of the more entertaining speeches of the night.

7:15 – Wow. Got both the short documentary and short live action categories correct.

7:13 – Not a sweep for The King’s Speech. The most I can see them winning is a total for 4.

7:06 – Best Song Nominees being performed, time to do something the fuck else.

6:59 – Collen Atwood wants to thank who ever the fuck put her all the way in the back.

6:58 – Academy Award winning The Wolfman. That phrase reeks of classiness.

6:53 – Franco has a strange smirk on his face. When he said he didn’t care if he hosted the worst Oscar ever, he wasn’t kidding.

6:51 – Inception wins the well deserved Sound awards. Leading the night with 3 awards.

6:43 – YES! The Social Network for score! A good warning sign for a Best Picture win? One could hope.

6:41 – Let’s hear John Williams’s music for the rest of the show.

6:32 – Batman! Best Supporting Beard.

6:25 – There’s the Charlie Sheen joke

6:19 – The mic’s right there in front of you.

6:16 – Classy speech by Aaron Sorkin.

6:13 – They cut away when Brolin and Bardem were dancing. Too gay for the Oscars?

6:06 – Justin Timberlake shouldn’t be allowed to speak unless Aaron Sorkin is writing his dialogue.

6:04 – It appears that there was no rehearsal before the show.

6:02 – Bill Maher – “Kirk Douglas died during that acceptance speech.”

5:59 – Yeah, let’s drop the F bomb, Melissa Leo.

5:57 – This will be the longest Oscars ever if Kirk Douglas keeps presenting all the awards. I’m all for it.

5:51- Great Kirk Douglas, now no one will know who won best supporting actress.

5:49 – Great start, I’m 0-2  in predictions before the first fucking commercial.

5:47 – Inception! Deakins loses again, I knew it would happen.

5:44 – First miss of the night, fucking Alice in Wonderland. Maybe King’s Speech won’t be a sweep after all.

5:43 – There is something to be said for hiring comics to host the Oscars.

5:42 – James Franco looks out of it. He clearly doesn’t give a shit.

5:41 – Let’s begin, please.

5:35 – This was funny when Billy Crystal did it in 1997.

5:31 – I really hope The Social Network ins for score. It’s really fucking amazing.

Coming at 5:30

Best Picture
Black Swan, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
The Fighter, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
Inception, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
The Kids Are All Right, Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
The King’s Speech, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
127 Hours, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
The Social Network, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceàn Chaffin, Producers
Toy Story 3, Darla K. Anderson, Producer
True Grit Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
Winter’s Bone, Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

I think The Social Network is the movies of the year, and it deserves to win, but deserves got nothing to do with it. The Social Network seemed like the film to win it until all the Guilds awards went to The King’s Speech. I still think The Social Network could win, but The King’s Speech is the type of film that the Academy loves.

Directing
Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky
The Fighter, David O. Russell
The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper
The Social Network, David Fincher
True Grit, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

I think this year is where Picture and Director will split. I would have went with Tom Hooper, had he won the BAFTA for Best Director, but Fincher took it. I think the Academy will want to reward The Social Network with something and that film above all, was masterfully visualized for the screen by its director.

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

This is one of the few easy categories to predict. Firth was nominated last year for A Single Man, and he will get it because he didn’t get it last year.

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

Bale has won all the major awards before the Oscar, and he gives the kind of showy performance that the Oscars love. Rush could pull up an upset if The King’s Speech sweeps all the awards on Oscar night.

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

This is a race between Portman and Bening. Bening is a veteran who has been nominated before, but Best Actress tends to go to the young hot star.

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

This is the toughest of the main categories to predict. I’m going with Leo even though she seemed to piss off some people when she took out her own ads promoting her to the award. Maybe Steinfeld could win or Carter could ride in on The King’s Speech wave. I’ll play it simple and predict that her own ads

Animated Feature Film
How to Train Your Dragon Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
The Illusionist Sylvain Chomet
Toy Story 3 Lee Unkrich

This is one of those easy categories to call. Done deal.

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

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that The King’s Speech will win some of these technical categories because The Academy will love the film and just be lazy and vote for it here. I think Inception deserves to win, and it could, but I’ll just go with The King’s Speech.

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

Deakins has been nominated 9 times and has never won, I think this is his time. True Grit has to win something and It’s going his way. I wouldn’t be surprised if Deakins continues his losing streak, he did lose the Cinematographer’s Guild award to 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

I think people will vote for The King’s Speech because they like the film and will just vote for it here. Alice in Wonderland could win here, but I’m betting on the fact that most Oscar voters are lazy and just go with the film they liked.

Documentary (Feature)
Exit through the Gift Shop, Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
Gasland, Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land, Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Here is another one of those tough categories to call. It could really go with any of the five. I know that predicting Exit through the Gift Shop is a risky call, but here is my reasoning. In order to vote for Best Documentary, you have to prove that you have seen all five films. I’m betting that the voters who do see the Banksy film will really fall for it and think it’s the best among the five. I might have too much faith in the Academy, but I’ll go out on a limb in this category.

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

Like almost everyone else, I haven’t seen any of these films. I’m going with the documentary about an Israeli school for refugees.

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

The Social Network is so masterfully edited it has to win. The film did win the Editor’s Guild award, so this only confirms my prediction.

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

This is always a tough category to predict. Dogtooth is too weird and Biutiful might win because among the five, it’s the most well-known. I’m going to give it to In a Better World, because it seems the most friendly among the five.

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

The Wolfman had the most showy makeup among the three, so it’s going to win.

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

The Social Network’s unique and fascinating score deserves to win, but I think it may be too modern for the Academy’s old, traditional taste.

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

I don’t really have any clue about who will win, but most of the people who track the Oscars are giving it to Toy Story 3, so I’ll agree with them.

Short Film (Animated)
Day & 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

Day & Night is the most well-known of the animated shorts because it played in front of Toy Story 3.

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

Most Oscar pundits are picking God of Love. Categories like this are never easy to predict.

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

My theory is that Inception has to win something and most of those wins will be in the technical categories.

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

I’ll give it to Inception. I would love if The Social Network won. True Grit might pull out a win here.

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

The Academy will go with the smart blockbuster here, Inception.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
127 Hours, Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3, Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit, Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone, Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

This is one of those easy categories to call. Sorkin’s screenplay is terrific and deserves to win.

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Another Year, Written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter, Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception, Written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right, Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

Seidler gets it for King’s Speech. No contest.

The nominations for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning and The King’s Speech was the big leader in terms of nominations with 12. True Grit followed with 10 and The Social Network and Inception each scored 8 nominations. I’m going to go down each category and bitch or rave about the nominees.

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

I thought The Town would make it in, but it wasn’t as strong as I once thought. It’s a real close race between The King’s Speech and The Social Network. Everyone, including myself, thought The Social Network had the momentum, but The King’s Speech won the Producers Guild Award, so it halted The Social Network’s momentum. I’m still going to call it or The Social Network, but things could change as we get closer to Oscar time.

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

This is a race between Portman and Bening, but I’d have to give the edge to Portman. Bening will continue to get nominated and lose to younger actresses. I thought Steinfeld might make it in lead, but I was wrong. All five actresses nominated here are actually deserving, who would have thought that?

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

This is an easy Colin Firth victory. Haven’t seen Bardem, but heard his performance was great.

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)
Jeremy Renner (The Town)
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right)
Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)

This was one of only two categories that I accurately predicted. Great to see Hawkes get in. Andrew Garfield was too young and the Academy wasn’t going to nominate him.

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Weaver deserves to win and I was glad she didn’t get shut out by the Black Swan actresses. Everyone is betting on Leo, but I could see Steinfeld pulling an upset here. True Grit got a surprising 10 nominations and they may have to give it some award.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 will win. No contest.

Best Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Haven’t seen any of these films, and I probably won’t. Where does one go to see the Documentary short films?

Best Short Film (Animated)
Day & 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

I only saw Day & Night and that was because it played in front of Toy Story 3. Again, where does one go to see these films?

Best 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

Don’t know where the fuck I would see these films.

Achievement in Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit

I read a lot of sites saying that Alice in Wonderland will win. I have no idea, but I’ll go with The King’s Speech because it scored 12 nominations which shows that a lot of people in The Academy love the film.

Achievement in Cinematography
Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)
Inception (Wally Pfister)
The King’s Speech (Danny Cohen)
The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)
True Grit (Roger Deakins)

The True Grit cinematography was beautiful and very Westerney. Deakins has been nominated many times and hasn’t won yet. I will give a special shout out to Matthew Libatique, an alumni from my college, Cal State Fullerton.

Achievement in Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
The King’s Speech (Jenny Beaven)
The Tempest (Sandy Powell)
True Grit (Mary Zophres)

Glad to see I Am Love get in. I’ll just go with King’s Speech here, because.

Achievement in Directing
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
David O. Russell (The Fighter)
Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

What does Chris Nolan have to do to get a directing nomination? I was really surprised to see Nolan’s name off the list. The directing branch at The Academy must not really respect fantasy/sci-fi type films. This is really disappointing. The man has three Director Guild Nominations and zero directing Oscar nominations. I guess Nolan will have to direct a Holocaust film to get nominated for Best Director.

Best Documentary Feature
Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)
Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)
Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)
Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)
Waste Land Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)

I was really glad to see Exit Through the Gift Shop make it in. I’m not sure it will win though. Inside Job seems like the safer choice.

Achievement in Makeup
Barney’s Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

Haven’t seen any of these films. The Wolfman. I guess.

Achievement in Film Editing
Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
The King’s Speech (Tariq Anwar)
127 Hours (Jon Harris)
The Social Network (Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall)

The Social Network should win here. I do fear that The King’s Speech might sweep and could pick up this award.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Hors la Loi (Algeria)

I heard Dogtooth is really out there and I’m excited to see it tomorrow. I don’t have a fucking clue who will win here. I’ll say In a Better World will win because it won the Golden Globe.

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (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)

The Social Network is this year’s most original and interesting score. It could be too unique for The Academy. I wouldn’t be upset if Hans Zimmer’s score won.

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (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 and Lyric 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

Don’t give a shit.

Achievement in Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

I’ll say Inception wins. The film will likely do really well in the technical categories.

Achievement in Sound Mixing
Inception
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

I’ll say Inception again.

Achievement in Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

If there is any justice Inception will win.

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

Sorkin is taking this in a cake walk.

Original Screenplay
Another Year (Mike Leigh)
The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silverand Paul Tamasy)
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko)
The King’s Speech (David Seidler)

I wish Inception would win, but The King’s Speech will win.

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict what and who will get nominated in the 8 major categories. We already know most of the films and actors that will get nominated, so the key will be to predict what the surprises will be tomorrow morning. Tomorrow I will have an in-depth analysis of the nominations after they are announced.

BEST PICTURE

Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

I’m not totally confident that Winter’s Bone will make it in the final ten. 127 Hours could defiantly make it there instead of Winter’s Bone.

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network

Joel & Ethan Coen might make it in here instead of Russell, but The Fighter has demonstrated real strength in the run up nominations.

BEST ACTOR

Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

The 5th slot is a real toss up. Robert Duvall for Get Low or Javier Bardem for Biutiful could replace Gosling.

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

This is another case where the 5th slot is a toss-up. Even though Paramount is campaigning for Steinfeld in the Best Supporting Actress category, The Academy has the right to put her in any group they want. Steinfeld really is the lead performance in the film and I think The Academy will put her in it as a result. Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine or Lesley Manville for Another Year could slip in the 5th slot. An even bigger surprise would be Julianne Moore for The Kids Are All Right making it in.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Hawkes makes it in due to his SAG nomination in this category. I could see Andrew Garfield making it in on The Social Network’s coat tails. The supporting categories are where we usually see surprise nominations and I think Hawkes might be that surprise.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

I really hope Weaver makes it in for Animal Kingdom, but I could see her getting shut out if Steinfeld gets nominated in the supporting category. Barbara Hershey from Black Swan might replace Kunis in this category.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Black Swan
The Fighter
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

The Town could make it in here since it got a WGA nomination.

5:07 – Christian Bale, looking my Charles Manson, wins Best Supporting Actor. Can’t disagree.

5:09 – Best Actress TV Drama, who gives a shit?

5:11 – Still nice to see Peggy Bundy win

5:19 – Nice to see Carlos win best miniseries or movie. Cut away to Tom Hanks clapping and talking very angrily. He’s not use to losing. All those World War Two HBO shows usually win everything.

5:23 – Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series, Made for TV Movie or Miniseries. WTF?

5:25 – There is a woman in that man.

5:34 – Odd colored beard on Dexter there.

5:35 – Buscemi!

5:39 – Shot of Jolie helping Pitt put his tie on. Yeah, that wasn’t perfectly timed for the camera.

5:49 – The Social Network wins for best score. Pretty fucking good for the Globes for calling that one right.

5:55 – That’s nice a little lesbian presenting best animated film.

6:00 - Downey needs to relapse again.

6:05 – Al Pacino scares me.

6:10 – Stallone has a massive human head and a small tiny body.

6:15 – Tilda Swinton and Geoffrey Rush make for an odd, fantastic couple.

6:25 – Tina Fey and Steve Carel were funnier presenting Best Screenplay than they were in Date Night

6:41 – Thank God Laura Linney isn’t there so I don’t have endure another boring ass speech

6:47 – Jane Fonda looks good for an old broad.

6:52 – Yeah, looks like Melissa Leo is gonna win the Oscar. Still think Jacki Weaver gave the better crazy mother performance of the year for Animal Kingdom.

7:03 – Yes let us all applaud for De Niro’s body of work except for Little Fockers and his last sixteen pictures

7:10- Enjoyed the hell out of De Niro channeling Rupert Pupkin during his acceptance speech.

7:15 – Best Director goes to David Fincher. Well deserved. Why isnt this show over yet?

7:16 – “A bitter man with lots of opinions” sounds a lot like me and every other douche who has a web site.

7:33 – Here comes Natalie Portman for Best Actress.

7:39 – Ricky Gervais doing a bang up job of insulting Tim Allen.

7:41 – Sad that they cut off Lisa Cholodenko. Nobody cares what the producer has to say.

7:47 – Weinstein finally wins something!

7:54 – Lets all get up and clap that Michael Douglas didn’t die from cancer! Is that all he did?

7:57 – I’m surprised that the most deserving movie, The Social Network won.

7:58 – Ricky Gervais line: “Thank you to God for making me an Athiest” literally made me laugh out loud. Great line to end the night.

1. The Social Network

Honestly, I had a hard time deciding my number one film of 2010. It could have easily been “Shutter Island.” Why “The Social Network” makes my number one slot is simple enough. I put the blu ray of the movie on and was only prepared to watch a bit of it, and suddenly I just couldn’t turn it off. The film is made with such mastery, that I couldn’t resist watching it again. I remember when this project was first announced in the Fall of 2008, many people thought a film about the founding of Facebook couldn’t possibly be good. Those nay sayers were dead wrong. David Fincher’s direction and Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay make for a dynamite combination. The actors are all on the top of their game. Jesse Eisenberg, as Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, is an enigma of a character who we simultaneously hate and feel sympathy for. Andrew Garfield is also good as the moral center of the film, and Justin Timberlake conveys the right amount of arrogance and charisma as the man who breaks up the Eisenberg Garfield friendship. Armie Hammer delivers a career making role playing the Winklevoss twins who sue Zuckerberg over Facebook. The film moves at a lightning pace; the editing and fast talking dialogue never deliver a false note. If any film this year could be called perfect, this film could be it.

2. Shutter Island

I named Martin Scorsese’s film the best film I had seen so far back in August of 2010, and it only falls down one slot months later. The film, about a U.S. Marshal who searches for an escaped mental patient, divided audiences and critics alike when it came out last February. Many discounted the film because of the false narrative of the story. Others, including myself, may have found the narrative false, but the emotions and truth behind it, to be incredibly moving. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the U.S. Marshal, who is deeply haunted by the death of his wife, while he searches the island for the escape mental patient. When his character finally confronts his haunted past, it felt like an emotional punch to the stomach. I literally left the theatre in a trance like state after the film’ s resolution. There is wonderful filmmaking on display from Scorsese and his regular crew composed of Thelma Schoonmaker, Robert Richardson and Dante Ferretti. This is the kind of picture that you can watch multiple times and find new meanings in each scene.

3. Animal Kingdom

This is a terrific feature film debut from Australian writer-director David Michod. A young seventeen old boy, played by James Frechville, gets caught in the middle of a war between his criminal family of Uncles and a group of corrupt Australian police. The title of the movie is appropriate because Frechville is literally struggling for his own survival between the two. The film features great performances from Ben Mendelsohn as Frechville’s insane Uncle Pope, and Jacki Weaver, as the matriarch of the family. I can’t begin to say too many great things about Weaver. She is terrifying, but she underplays it. She comes across as simply a mother who will do ANYTHING to protect her sons. I was on edge watching this film because just when you thought it was going one place, it goes in another direction. The film doesn’t glorify the criminal lifestyle, but it shows us the terrifying consequences that everyone in this family must pay. I can’t wait to see what Michod has to offer next.

4. Somewhere

Sofia Coppola has been one of my favorite filmmakers ever since her sophomore feature, “Lost In Translation” came out in 2003. What I loved about that film and her new film, “Somewhere,” is how she is completely a visual filmmaker. She uses the image to tell us everything about the characters and the atmosphere of the story. In her latest film, Stephen Dorff plays Johnny Marco, a Hollywood action film star who lives an empty life of excess at the Chateau Marmont. His lifestyle is changed when his eleven year old daughter, played by Elle Fanning, arrives. Both lead actors are pretty damn great here. Dorff easily conveys a real sense of emptiness and loss in just his body behavior. Elle Fanning as Cleo, is a remarkably smart young lady, who managed to grow up normal within the crazy atmosphere of the Hollywood lifestyle. Coppola doesn’t condemn the celebrity lifestyle outright, instead she shows us the ridiculousness and appeal of it. This film is Coppola’s most minimalis to date. There is no real traditional story line present in the picture. Coppola simply uses the visuals to tell the story of a man who is able to find some measure of truth amidst his empty life.

5. Inception

Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” was the lone standout in the shit storm of big budget, disappointing tent pole films released in summer 2010. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a con man who is able to enter people’s dreams and steals their ideas. The plot at first glance, may seem confusing, but it’s rather quite simply. The film simply demands the audience be an active participant, which is something that most mainstream Hollywood blockbusters never ask of their audience. Nolan raises the stakes of the film as we go deeper and deeper into the layers of dreams that DiCaprio and his crew dwell into. Though structured as a heist film, the film’s emotional core of DiCaprio reeling over his dead wife, played by Marion Cotillard, is what makes the film memorable. The picture’s incredibly level of craftsmanship, the terrific musical score by Hans Zimmer and the boldness of the screenplay’s originality make this one of the most exciting films to come out of a major studio in some time.

6. True Grit

This film is probably Joel and Ethan Coen’s most sincere film to date. This story centers on thirteen year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), who searches for the man that killed her father, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Mattie is assisted in her journey by a U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and a Texas Ranger named La Beouf (Matt Damon). Among the great level of A-list talent in the film, the film is really held together by the performance of Steinfeld. She more than holds her own against Bridges, Damon and Brolin. She isn’t the rambunctious little girl we sometimes see in films, but she is a hardened person who has experienced a lot despite her youth. Bridges perfectly inhabits the role of the drunken, rough Cogburn and Damon is the perfect comic foil to Cogburn. This movie feels like a traditional Western we would have seen from Ford or Hawks. The last fifteen minutes of the film is just bravura filmmaking. The Western imagery captured by cinematographer Roger Deakins is breathtaking. The Coen’s always fill their films with interesting faces, and I love all the character that we meet in this film. A mysterious, strange encounter with a doctor wearing a bear suit comes to mind. I left the theatre wanting to spend a lot more time these characters.

7. A Prophet

I was not going to list this film on my top ten of 2010 because I originally counted it as a 2009 release. But since the film didn’t get a U.S. theatrical release until 2010, I’ve decided to put it on my list. This French film from director Jacques Audiard, is about a half French, half Arab man who is sent to a French prison and slowly rises up the ranks inside to become a mafia kingpin. Tahar Rahim, who plays the young man, Malik, is terrific here. He has a magnetic movie star quality to him. He has the potential to become a big movie star that can actually act. That’s a deadly combination. Audiard does a very good job of showing us the life and death stakes that Rahim encounters inside the prison. I’m specifically thinking of the scene where Rahim has to commit his first murder using a strategically placed razor blade. That scene is so masterfully constructed that it leaves you on the edge of your seat. The film has been compared to “The Godfather” and after watching it, you’re going to understand why people are comparing it to that great film.

8. Black Swan

It took me a second viewing to take in everything that this film had to offer. During my first viewing, I was impressed technically with the picture, but I was a bit turned off by some of the fake scares that occur during the film. On my second viewing, my appreciation of the film grew even more and I was even more impressed with the performance of Natalie Portman. The film is an examination of Portman’s descent into madness as she prepares for the lead role in the ballet production of Swan Lake. This is without a doubt the most intense, fearless performance that Portman has ever given. You feel the pressure literally pounding down on her, it’s all present in her body and face. Director Darren Aronfosky shoots the film with a gritty realism that flies in the face of the psychological fantasy elements present in the story. The climax of the film occurs during the production of the “Swan Lake” ballet and when Portman transforms into the black swan, it’s quite extraordinary to see. I love how the camera glides during the ballet and allows us to see Portman let go of all her inhibitions. The cinematography in the film by Matthew Libatique is quite extraordinary here.

9. Catfish

There was a lot of buzz surrounding this documentary when it premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. People who saw the film at Sundance recommended that people should go into the film knowing as little as possible. I took that advice and was really surprised at the griping story this documentary told. The documentary follows a young New York photographer, Nev Schulman,who develops a romantic relationship with a girl through Facebook. Schulaman begins to develop suspicions that something is not quite right with the young woman. Nev, along the films directors, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, document the journey the three of them take to meet the girl in person. There has been alot of controversy surrounding whether this film is a complete fake. Regardless of that issue, there is no denying that this is a great story. The film builds a lot of suspense building up the Nev’s meeting with the girl. When the story’s truth is revealed, it is sad, uncomfortable and touching at the same time.

10. The American

This film, directed by Anton Corbijn, stars George Clooney as a professional assassin that specializes in building weapons intended for death. He lives a solitary, empty life in the shadows and Clooney soon finds his own life threatened by a mysterious figure. I really enjoyed the hell out of this picture. I was immensely impressed with what is essentially an art film that could have come out of the 1970′s. The crowd I saw the film with seemed very unimpressed. It wasn’t the movie they were expecting. This probably has to do with the film’s marketing that emphasized the action. The film is very minimalist and not every story detail is neatly explained to the audience. There are long stretches of silence that do an excellent job of building suspense. Give the film a fair chance and you might come out being totally impressed at the level of craft and expertise that went into this film.

Rounding out my top 25:

11) The Kids Are Alright 12) 127 Hours 13) Exit Through The Gift Shop 14) I Am Love 15) Rabbit Hole 16) The Tillman Story 17) The King’s Speech 18) Restrepo 19) Cyrus 20) Blue Valentine 21) Toy Story 3 22) The Fighter 23) Winter’s Bone 24) Inside Job 25) Never Let Me Go

Filed under: Diatribe Tagged: A Prophet, Animal Kingdom, Best Films of 2010, Black Swan, Catfish, Inception, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Social Network, Top Ten of 2010, True Grit ]]> http://filmdiatribe.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/the-best-films-of-2010/feed/ 0 filmdiatribe The Social Network Shutter Island Animal Kingdom Somewhere Inception True Grit A Prophet Black Swan Catfish The American http://filmdiatribe.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/2010-in-review/ http://filmdiatribe.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/2010-in-review/#comments Mon, 03 Jan 2011 04:48:00 +0000 Kevin Vasquez http://filmdiatribe.wordpress.com/?p=1917 ]]> The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 13,000 times in 2010. That’s about 31 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 47 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 63 posts. There were 156 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 10mb. That’s about 3 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was December 9th with 289 views. The most popular post that day was AFI Fest 2010 Review: The Fighter.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were imdb.com, twitter.com, pro.imdb.com, boxxet.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for nine film, precious movie, crazy heart, marion cotillard nine, and roger ebert.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

AFI Fest 2010 Review: The Fighter November 2010

Review Roundup: Brothers, A Single Man, Nine January 2010
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Best Lead Performances of 2009 January 2010

Top 10 Films of 2009 December 2009
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Best Supporting Performances of 2009 January 2010
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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which are responsible for the Globes, have long been considered a joke because it is made up of 90 foreign journalists, who are not really journalists. A lot of people, including myself, don’t treat the Globes very seriously.

It’s no surprise that “The King’s Speech” led the way in nominations, it’s just the type of film that the Globes would go for. The surprise showing for “The Fighter” could mean that it has a bigger presence in the awards season than I first thought. I was surprised to see Mark Wahlberg and David O. Russell each get a nomination.

The Golden Globes split best picture into a drama and comedy/musical category. “The Kids Are All Right” should easily win the best comedy/musical award. It’s competition, including the terribly reviewed “The Tourist,” really has no shot of winning. I haven’t seen “The Tourist,” but I heard it was a horrible, and the nominations for Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie for their performances in the film, seems like a play for high profile celebrities to attend the event.

I think that “The King’s Speech” will win the best drama award. There is a small chance that “The Social Network” could eak out a victory. I still think that a Social Network loss would not stop its march to the best picture Oscar. Last year, “Avatar” beat “The Hurt Locker,” but we all know how that turned out when Oscar night came.

Some noticeable exclusions from the Golden Globes include “True Grit.” I wouldn’t be too worried about this snub being a forecast for the film’s Oscar chances. I’ve heard speculation that since “True Grit” and “The Fighter” are both from Paramount, the Globes simply threw its weight behind “The Fighter” and that it left nothing for “True Grit.”

Speaking of noticeable exclusions, Robert Duvall didn’t get nominated for “Get Low” and Leonardo DiCaprio was snubbed for both “Shutter Island” and “Inception.” “Winter’s Bone,” and “127 Hours” were also ignored for a best picture nomination.

Other noticeable things that I enjoyed seeing were Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams getting nominated for best actor and actress for “Blue Valentine.” I was also extremely happy to see Jacki Weaver get nominated for her terrific performance in “Animal Kingdom.”

Here is a list of the films nominated for Golden Globes. I’m not listing the TV side because I don’t give a damn. This is a film blog.

Best Picture (Drama)
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech”
“The Social Network”

Best Picture (Musical/Comedy)
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Burlesque”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“Red”
“The Tourist”

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, “Black Swan”
David O. Russell, “The Fighter”
Christopher Nolan, “Inception”
Tom Hooper, “The King’s Speech”
David Fincher, “The Social Network”

Best Actor (Drama)
Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”
Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”
James Franco, “127 Hours”
Ryan Gosling, “Blue Valentine”
Mark Wahlberg, “The Fighter”

Best Actress (Drama)
Halle Berry, “Frankie and Alice”
Nicole Kidman, “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine”

Best Actor (Musical/Comedy)
Johnny Depp, “Alice in Wonderland”
Johnny Depp, “The Tourist”
Paul Giamatti, “Barney’s Version”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Love and Other Drugs”
Kevin Spacey, “Casino Jack”

Best Actress (Musical/Comedy)
Annette Bening, “The Kids Are All Right”
Anne Hathaway, “Love and Other Drugs”
Angelina Jolie, “The Tourist”
Julianne Moore, “The Kids Are All Right”
Emma Stone, “Easy A”

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, “The Fighter”
Michael Douglas, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”
Andrew Garfield, “The Social Network”
Jeremy Renner, “The Town”
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”
Jacki Weaver, “Animal Kingdom”

Best Screenplay
Christopher Nolan, “Inception”
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, “The Kids Are All Right”
David Seidler, “The King’s Speech”
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, “127 Hours”
Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network”

Best Foreign Language Film
“Biutiful”
“The Concert”
“The Edge”
“I Am Love”
“In a Better World”

Best Animated Feature
“Despicable Me”
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“The Illusionist”
“Tangled”
“Toy Story 3”

Best Original Score
Danny Elfman, “Alice in Wonderland”
Hans Zimmer, “Inception”
Alexandre Desplat, “The King’s Speech”
A.R. Rahman, “127 Hours”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “The Social Network”

Best Original Song
“Bound to You” from “Burlesque”
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from “Burlesque”
“There’s a Place for Us” from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled”

All of these critical wins helps propel “The Social Network” to the front-runner position at the Oscars. Last year, “The Hurt Locker” nearly swept all the major film critic awards and that helped it win the best picture Oscar over the highest grossing movie of all time, “Avatar.” The general consensus among award sites was that ”The King’s Speech” would win best picture. I still think that “The King’s Speech” will be a formidable contender and it should do well when the Golden Globes are announced. Now that “The Social Network” is racking up these wins, expect a backlash against the film to begin.

Other than “The Social Network” and David Fincher winning the critics awards for picture and director, there isn’t much of a consensus in the other categories. We will have to wait until the Golden Globes and the guild awards announce their winners next year to get a clearer picture of where things stand. Colin Firth is probably the front-runner for best actor. Natalie Portman hasn’t emerged as the front-runner for best actress, and Annette Benning, and “The Kids Are All Right” received a much-needed boost from the New York Film Critics Circle. The best supporting actor contest appears to be a two-way race between Christian Bale from “The Fighter” and Geoffrey Rush from “The King’s Speech.” The best supporting actress contest is a wide open field with Jackie Weaver from “Animal Kingdom,” Hailee Stanfield from “True Grit,” and Amy Adams and Melissa Leo from “The Fighter,” all competing for the Oscar.

This site from Incontention.com is a great resource for keeping up with all the award mania occurring at the moment.