A year that saw Christopher Nolan redefine the world of the dream, David Fincher unravel the fabrics of this generation’s social network and Pixar complete a 15 year-old trilogy.
Oscar nominations were announced a week ago and now, nearly a month from the awards show, the speculations have begun.
Around mid-July of last year the outlook for the 83rd Academy Awards looked bleak at best. However, the Academy’s nomination list has left little to be desired.
Best Film
The Academy is spot on in this category. Unlike the ridiculous nominations handed out by the Golden Globes and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Academy’s best film nominations make logical sense.
The Academy knows a good movie when it hits the silver screen and does not base its nominations merely on whether or not Johnny Depp makes a sub-par appearance. The Golden Globe nominations were nothing short of ridiculous, but faithfully the Academy has righted the ship.
Despite the brilliance across the board in the best film category, it is shaping up to be a two horse race. The award will most likely go to either “The King’s Speech” or “The Social Network”.
The Producer’s Guild of America somewhat surprisingly awarded “The King’s Speech” as its best film. This bodes well for Tom Hooper’s film as the PGA and Academy agree 71 percent of the time.
The Director’s Guild of America also honored Hooper for outstanding directorial achievement and Colin Firth’s lead role in the film earned him a Screen Actor’s Guild award. This recent success and the awards garnered by Hooper and cast place “The King’s Speech” at an advantage going into the Academy Awards.
Previous front-runner, “The Social Network”, needs to make a big push in the coming weeks to have a chance at bringing David Fincher his first Oscar.
Final Say: “The King’s Speech”
Score
Hans Zimmer is no stranger to this nomination list, but a win would be his first in this category since “The Lion King”.
Zimmer is an expert composer and his third composition for Nolan is sensational. A.R. Rahman (“127 Hours”) returns only two years removed from his win in this exact category when he took the Academy by storm with his music in “Slumdog Millionaire”.
However, his reunion with Danny Boyle is going to be hard pressed to yield him another award.
The main reason for this is the duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Their combination on the score for “The Social Network” was a pleasant surprise.
Final Say: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross,”The Social Network”
Screenplay
“The Social Network” will not leave the Oscars empty-handed because it will be an absolute outrage if Aaron Sorkin’s work does not win best adapted screenplay. Original screenplay will either end up with Christopher Nolan for his incredibly creative work on “Inception”‘s script, or with David Siedler for his coy and witty work in “The King’s Speech”. It is past time for Nolan to his receive his first Oscar and that film may be just enough to give him the edge in this category.
Final Say: Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network”, Best Adapted Screenplay; Christopher Nolan, “Inception”, Best Original Screenplay
Actor
Colin Firth and James Franco have emerged as two of the best actors in recent years. Franco’s gritty performance in “127 Hours” is simply sublime, and he had the category locked up until Colin Firth delivered a flawless depiction of King George VI.
This category is one of the most appealing because 2010 was one of the best years for actors in recent memory. Eisenberg, Bridges, Franco, Firth, and Bardem all delivered performances well deserving of the award.
Final Say: James Franco
Actress
If Natalie Portman does not win this award, the Academy has issues much larger than Portman’s character, Nina. Her performance as a slowly deteriorating and obsessive dancer was brilliant. Although Aronofsky’s film is about the unattainable nature of perfection, Portman’s work is indeed nearly flawless. Her performance is a refreshing glimpse of pure acting.
Final Say: Natalie Portman
Directing
If “The Social Network” fails to bring home best film, I believe the Academy will finally acknowledge David Fincher as director of the year. However, the Academy is kind to the Coen brothers and they are always a threat to win this award. Their work directing the unlikely duo of Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfield is definitely deserving of the nod in this category.
Cinematography
This category is a tough one.
“Black Swan” was incredibly stylized. It was shot in color but cinematographer Matthew Libatique created the illusion of a black and white feel. This unique approach may win him the award.
However, “The Social Network”, which was shot on the new, sensational Red camera, was incredibly streamlined and pure. Jeff Cronenweth’s style fit with Fincher so well that he may just win the award.
Christopher Nolan’s most visually ambitious film to date, “Inception”, teams him up with friend Wally Pfister whose only nominations have come under Nolan’s direction. The things done in this film are groundbreaking and the images are displayed on an insurmountably grand scale. The snub in editing should alone warrant a win for Inception in this category.
Final Say: Wally Pfister,”Inception”
5 best films of the year:
1. The Social Network
2. The King’s Speech
3. 127 Hours
4. Inception
5. Black Swan
Cinema and Culture 