More Oscar Projections....

We literally looked all afternoon for a good image to go with this blog, and then (voila!) we found this one of the late, great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa getting a lifetime achievement Oscar.

Here are the rest of our projections (some will be listed on our other blog):

Best Director:

Will win: Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech)

Should win: Darren Aronofsky ("The Black Swan")

Would vote for: David Fincher ("The Social Network"). Fincher has a better chance of winning that Aronofsky, and I essentially like the two films almost the same with a just a slight preference for "The Black Swan."

Best Screenplay (Adapted):

Will/Should: "The Social Network"

Best Screenplay (Original):

Will: "The King's Speech"

Should: "The Fighter"

Cinematography (to be honest your guess is as good as mine here!):

Will: "The Social Network"

Should: "The Black Swan" (yes, I would vote for the film here!)

Visual Effects:

Will/should: "Inception"

Sound Editing:

Will/should "Inception"

Sound Mixing:

Will/should: "Inception"

Film Editing:

Will: "The King's Speech"

Should: "The Social Network"

Makeup:

Will: "Barney's Version" (hmm...yes, we are pulling this one from thin air)

Score:

Will/should: Inception (Hans Zimmer)

Costume:

Projection: "The King's Speech"

Original Song:

"We Belong Together" by Randy Newman from "Toy Story 3"

For the short film categories, go to our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Oscar Predictions_ Best Picture (s)

Roger Ebert said that he thinks "True Grit" will win the Oscar for Best Picture because it got ten nominations. Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" projects voters will choose "The Social Network" because last year's winner "The Hurt Locker" suggests Oscar-voters may be slightly more hip than the ones who chose "Driving Miss Daisy" just over ten years ago.

But, ultimately, even though I think it's only a moderately good film myself, I have to agree with David Thomson of "The New Republic" who feels the voters are going to pick "The King's Speech." Ironically, his magazine wrote an article questioning how historically accurate the film was. As Thomson states the film has picked up momentum, both critically and with the public, as it has surprisingly made over $100 million at the box office. And, it's later release date seems to make it a more likely choice than previous favorite "The Social Network."

So, here is a run-down of who I think will win/should win or in some cases who I would vote for (not always the same choice I think is the best).

This is the first of six entries of two blogs, so I will not overwhelm blog readers with all of the categories, including Best Sound Mixing here today.

But, I am going to focus on the four feature-length film categories in this particular entry: Those are Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary Feature.

On our other blog "Politics, Culture and Wastes of Time," I will make projections regarding the four acting categories.


BEST PICTURE:

Who will win: "The King's Speech"
Who should win: "The Black Swan" (which was my overall pick for best film of the year.)
Who I would vote for: "The Social Network." David Fincher's film was a close second on my 20 best films of 2010 list, and it would be great to see a solid film win rather than a movie that is essentially, as well-acted as it might be, a royal family soap opera- and, one that is not quite as witty as "The Queen."

Best Animated Feature:

Projection: "Toy Story 3." I have not seen the other nominees, but this as of a guarantee as the fact that Duke University would assuredly beat Roanoke Catholic High School in a basketball game.

Best Documentary Feature:

Will win: "Restrepo"_ this is a gut feeling, but it seems like this apolitical documentary about American soliders figthing in Afghanistan is the kind of film that Oscar-voters will go for even though I thought the film was disappointing myself. It is more or less like "The Hurt Locker," but not nearly as well-done.

Should win: "Inside Job"- along with most film critics, I think this hard-hitting film about Wall Street insider trading is the best documentary of 2010.


Best Foreign Language Film:

Will win: "Bitiful" (Mexico). The film has a familiar actor in Javier Bardem who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "No Country for Old Men" which gives it a major advantage.

Should win: "Dogtooth" (Greece). I have not seen the film, but it has garnered the best critical praise of the five films nominated.

For more Oscar projections, go to our other blog:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

My 20 Best Films of 2010 List

Here it is; I have made my choices....let me the controversy begin:


1. The Black Swan

2. The Social Network

3. The Fighter

4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden)

5. Soul Kitchen (Germany/Turkey)

6. Fish Tank

7. Inside Job (doc)

8. True Grit

9. The Green Zone

10. Cyrus

11. Exit Through the Gift Shop (doc.)

12. Never Let Me Go

13. Toy Story 3

14. Life During Wartime

15. The Rabbit Hole

16. Inception

17. 127 Hours

18. Ghost Writer

19. Shutter Island

20. Greenberg

"Film Comment" named "Carlos," a five and a half hour miniseries/film about Carlos the Jackal that originally aired on French tv and has recently appeared on the Sundance Channel as its film of the year. Like me, they chose "The Social Network" as the second best film of 2010.