[Ivanatis]

75 minutes to go

livestream: http://www.oscars.org/live/index.html
hopefully it will work

[BigJohn]

Best Picture: "Avatar," "The Blind Side," "District 9," "An Education," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," "A Serious Man," "Up," "Up in the Air."

Directing: James Cameron, "Avatar"; Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"; Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air."

Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"; George Clooney, "Up in the Air"; Colin Firth, "A Single Man"; Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"; Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker."

Actress: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"; Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"; Carey Mulligan, "An Education"; Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."

Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, "Invictus"; Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"; Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"; Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"; Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds."

Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Nine"; Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"; Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"; Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Adapted Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"; Nick Hornby, "An Education"; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, "In the Loop"; Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air."

Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"; Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, "The Messenger"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man"; Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, "Up."

[BigJohn]

No screenplay nomination for Avatar, that speaks volume.

No nomination for Cotillard, that is pretty sad, but her song is nominated so we'll probably see her perform it. Just for that, the ceremony will be worth watching.

Any actor would be deserving, I'd like to see Mr Darcy win it.

Bullock is always good, she was snubbed for Crash, it's her time to shine.

[BigJohn]

So far this award season:

AVATAR
Best Picture: Golden Globe (for drama), New York Film Critics Online, Bilbo
Best Director, James Cameron: Golden Globe, Bilbo

THE HURT LOCKER
Best Picture: Producers Guild, National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Critics Choice, Boston Society of Film Critics
Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow: National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Critics Choice, DGA

[Bilbo]

if movies like The Hurt Locker are nominated you know how bad the year was

[Bilbo]

Christoph Waltz is a good actor. hope he will win.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Bilbo

if movies like The Hurt Locker are nominated you know how bad the year was

You can say it was a bad year because of The Blind Side, Up or District 9 being on the list. But to say that about The Hurt Locker?

You have odd artistic tastes. You must be one of those Germans who bought David Hasselhoff' cds.

[Ivanatis]

Best Picture: "Avatar," "The Blind Side," "District 9," "An Education," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," "A Serious Man," "Up," "Up in the Air."

Good choices here. I really like District 9 to be nominated, has been a great year for SciFi movies. Up deserves it too and so does A Serious Man. Only thing I disagree with is The Blind Side, would change it into The White Ribbon. Crazy Heart, Star Trek or A Single Man would be more deserving too. But I like neither American Football nor Sandra Bullock, so... Surprising to see Invictus not nominated, not because it absolutely belonged in, but more because Freeman and Damon were no safe picks, but got their nominations. As I wrote earlier, my preferred scenario would be Cameron and Bigelow sharing the awards for Picture and Director. Happened three times in the last 10 years.

Directing: James Cameron, "Avatar"; Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"; Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air."

Those five were expected. Blomkamp or Haneke instead of that prick Reitman would have been too good to be true. Should be between Cameron and Bigelow, although I'd like Tarantino too, he's been snobbed a lot by the Academy.

Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"; George Clooney, "Up in the Air"; Colin Firth, "A Single Man"; Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"; Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker."

Again those five which were expected. I'm happy for Freeman. Can't deny that Downey Jr., Damon and Stuhlbarg were probably as deserving as Mandela. Winner should be between Firth and Bridges, but will be between Clooney and Bridges. With Gyllenhall's nomination being the biggest surprise, things look good for Bridges in his 5th try, no less than 38 years after his 1st nomination.

Actress: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"; Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"; Carey Mulligan, "An Education"; Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."

No surprises here either, Mirren should be the weakest link. I'd love to see Mulligan winning it, but it would be a huge upset. Bullock is the favourite unfortunately, even more after Blind Side got nominated as Best Picture.

Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, "Invictus"; Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"; Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"; Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"; Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds."

Weird category. Lots of these guys had better perfomances in other movies this year, especially Damon in Informant. Should be a lock for Waltz. Deserving. The unlucky one here is Christian McKay.

Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Nine"; Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"; Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"; Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Really annoying. How the hell can Penelope Cruz be nominated three times in four years??? I agree to her nomination for Volver. Last year was a complete joke. Imo her role in VCB wasn't even worth a nomination, let alone winning the category. And this year it's exactly the same. She was so average in Nine. I have no clue how anybody can vote her over Marion based on their performances. Maybe it was because Marion's role wasn't clearly defined as main role or supporting role, I don't know. But that Cruz nomination is so undeserving. I'm not very much in favour of Gyllenhall's surprise nomination. What I strongly dislike is Julianne Moore being ignored. She was my no°1-choice, her performance next to Firth was extraordinary. Nominations for Best Supporting Actress are an epic fail this year. Well, Mo'nique will win it. I don't like her and she's a damn diva, but she was good.

Animated Feature:
Coraline” Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
“Up” Pete Docter

Surprises me a bit to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs not on the list. But I guess it just shows how fine the animated movie industry is doing right now. 10 years ago there were one or two decent animated features each year, now there's 5 or 6. (My) favourite here is Up, Coraline yet to be seen and I've never heard of Moore's movie until yesterday. I hope Up can win a 2nd Oscar in contrast to Wall-E last year. Original Score should look good.

Haven't seen any of the four movies nominated with The White Ribbon, but I highly doubt I will like them as much. On the other hand I've read a lot of good things particularly about the one from Argentina. So let's see. Good to see TWR got a 2nd nomination though, unfortunately not in one of the main categories. And I hope Haneke's English will be much better than at the Globes once he accepts the award.

Heath Ledger is present again this year with Doctor Parnassus being nominated twice.

Good to see my early ranting resulted in 4 nominations for Star Trek.

[Ivanatis]

You can rewatch the announcement of the main categories here.

[Bilbo]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

You can say it was a bad year because of The Blind Side, Up or District 9 being on the list. But to say that about The Hurt Locker?

9 nominations for The Hurt Locker. I mean come on. It's probably because it's an americanized movie and Bigelow the ex-wife of Cameron.

Originally Posted by BigJohn

You have odd artistic tastes.

you mean like the dark knight being a better movie than avatar? i have the best taste and knowledge about movies around here wether you like it or not.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Bilbo

9 nominations for The Hurt Locker. I mean come on. It's probably because it's an americanized movie and Bigelow the ex-wife of Cameron.

Obviously you haven't seen the movie, otherwise you'd know it's because it is brilliant. Sure, the DGA named Bigelow best director because she's Cameron's wife, while running against Cameron. That makes no sense at all whatsoever, even for you, and you set the standard very low.

Originally Posted by Bilbo

you mean like the dark knight being a better movie than avatar? i have the best taste and knowledge about movies around here wether you like it or not.

The Dark Knight is a better movie at all levels saved for SFX. Better story, better dialogue, better acting, it is more entertaining and less boring. It will age a lot more gracefully than Avatar because what makes it great is all that, not flashy technology that will eventually look cartoonish. Well, more cartoonish than it already does. Even real actors in that movie come across cartoonish thanks to that cheesy screenplay.

As far as better taste in movies, sure, wanking over Avatar making tons of money is a true sign of an informed movie connoisseur.

Better knowledge about movies? Well you have better knowledge about cult movies, no one can debate that.

[Bilbo]

what a moron

let me guess, you also like movies like spiderman, x-man, transformers etc.?

[Lopez]

Originally Posted by Bilbo

what a moron

let me guess, you also like movies like spiderman, x-man, transformers etc.?

Dark Knight has better rating at both Rotten Tomatoes and at IMDB than Avatar. Haven't checked other websites. The fact that it's based on a comic doesn't diminish its value as a movie.

I haven't seen Avatar yet so I won't make statements on which is better. However, most reviews I've read about Avatar praise the special effects but not the story. A movie based on a story will stand the test of time much better.

I don't know why you're dissing the Hurt Locker, it was amazing. Great intensity and different from most American films.

I think the past few years have been poor movie years. Slumdog Millionnaire winning and now Avatar as a favorite (after winning the Golden Globe).

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Lopez

Dark Knight has better rating at both Rotten Tomatoes and at IMDB than Avatar. Haven't checked other websites. The fact that it's based on a comic doesn't diminish its value as a movie.

Bilbo has no clue what that means other than $$$ value.

Originally Posted by Lopez

I haven't seen Avatar yet so I won't make statements on which is better. However, most reviews I've read about Avatar praise the special effects but not the story. A movie based on a story will stand the test of time much better.

Again, not an argument Bilbo can actually understand. That is why you did not get any answer.

Originally Posted by Lopez

I don't know why you're dissing the Hurt Locker, it was amazing. Great intensity and different from most American films.

That would be because he is a prick that love to argue even if he has nothing of interest to bring to the discussion. Apart from "It cost a lot of money" or "It made a lot of money".

Originally Posted by Lopez

I think the past few years have been poor movie years. Slumdog Millionnaire winning and now Avatar as a favorite (after winning the Golden Globe).

Could not agree more. One can only hope the Academy will not go as populist as the last Grammys when it come to crowning its yearly best. The only 2 movies that did receive Best Picture Oscars with no screenplay nomination are The Sound of Music and ... wait for it... Titanic.

[Ivanatis]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

No nomination for Cotillard, that is pretty sad, but her song is nominated

Haven't recognized that until now, great stuff, although I think it's technically not a nomination for her, but for the creator of the song, but seriously who cares

I'd love to see her take it, she was easily the best singer in Nine, although I like the Crazy Heart song by Ryan Bingham a lot too, so it's a win-win-situation hopefully, gonna check out the 3 other ones later.