Mimi's Picks for the Oscars®

AVATAR and THE HURT LOCKER lead with the most nominations for tonight's Academy Awards® TV gala with nine each. UP received five, including Best Animated Film and Best Motion Picture. The surprise nominations were THE BLIND SIDE for best picture and Sandra Bullock for best actress.

By now you probably know what to expect, who the hosts are for tonight, and have your voting list in hand [CLICK HERE], etc. Perhaps, you are waiting for the limousine that will take you to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. If you are watching at home you will either be thoroughly engaged and rooting for your favorites, or you will watch without any expectations, simply enjoying the multi-million dollar spectacle unfolding on your television set, provided you have it tuned to ABC-TV.

Have you picked your favorites? I have picked mine, but not because I like the actor or actress better than anyone else, or I really liked a certain movie. Being raised in a movie theater, having about 55 college graduate hours in film history and criticism, and having seen hundreds of films of all types and from many countries, I'm analytical about my choices, but I am not going to write about that now.

First of all, I do not evaluate short films because they are not readily shown in theaters or issued on DVD. Here are my choices for the 82nd Academy Awards honoring the best Hollywood offered in 2009, minus short films:

BEST PICTURE:
THE HURT LOCKER

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Jeff Bridges, CRAZY HEART

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Christoph Waltz, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Meryl Streep, JULIE & JULIA

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Mo'Nique, PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
UP, Pete Docter

ART DIRECTION:
AVATAR

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
AVATAR

DIRECTING:
Kathryn Bigelow, THE HURT LOCKER

DOCUMENTARY (Feature):
THE COVE

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
THE WHITE RIBBON, Germany [Second choice, AJAMI, Israel]

MUSIC (Original Score):
UP, Michael Giacchino

MUSIC (Original Song):
"The Weary Kind" from 'Crazy Heart' - Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

COSTUME DESIGN: [Abstaining because I saw none of these, but my heart goes with THE YOUNG VICTORIA.]

MAKEUP:
STAR TREK [MY favorite in this category didn't get a nomination, DISTRICT 9.]

FILM EDITING:
THE HURT LOCKER

SOUND EDITING:
THE HURT LOCKER

SOUND MIXING:
THE HURT LOCKER

VISUAL EFFECTS:
AVATAR

WRITING (Adapted Screenplay):
UP IN THE AIR by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

WRITING (Original Screenplay):
THE HURT LOCKER by Mike Boal

Winners of the Motion Picture Golden Globes® for 2009

67th Golden Globe Awards, Sunday, 17 January 2010, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California.

There were surprises and, perhaps, some questions about the winners at this year's Golden Globe Awards. One thing is certain, the winners are all over the map. There is no discernable pattern, no way to say that the Globes are an indicator of how the Academy Awards will go this year.

However, if you read this blog even occasionally, you have already learned that the sponsors of the Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, is composed of journalists, as opposed to the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is composed of those who belong to the industry's guilds. The members of the HFPA nominate for the Golden Globes the people they want to see, and meet. The members of AMPAS honestly nominate their peers they not only work with and usually like, but the ones they feel actually deserve an Oscar, and "like" is the operative word.

Tonight was a fun night. James Cameron won for Best Director of AVATAR, and the technology expanding movie won Best Motion Picture, Drama. He even tipped his hat to one of his ex wives, Kathryn Bigelow, saying he thought she would take the director's award for THE HURT LOCKER. That might happen at the Oscars®.

And glory be, my favorite animated movie, UP, topped its category, thanks to the voice acting skills of one my favorite people on this Earth, Edward Asner, who voiced to role of the old curmudgeon. It also won best score for Michael Giacchino.

I must confess, I really like that score, but I was cheering for James Horner for AVATAR. I not only love his music, there is a familial connection. The same was true for Best Song. Down deep, I have felt the vibes for the nominated song from CRAZY HEART by T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham, "The Weary Kind," but there was the beautiful song in AVATAR, "I Will See You," by, yep, James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell.

THE WHITE RIBBON, directed by Michael Haneke, won the Best Film at Cannes last May and it won the Best Foreign Language Film tonight. I has been submitted for Oscar consideration in that category.

THE HANGOVER took home the statuette for Best Motion Picture, Musical Comedy or Drama. The Best Screenplay went to Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for UP IN THE AIR.

I was delighted to see Jeff Bridges win Best Actor, Drama, for CRAZY HEART, and not really surprised when Sandra Bullock won in the Best Actress, Drama, for THE BLIND SIDE. With the exception of Helen Mirren and Bullock, the other nominees were panty weights in that category, and I expected Bullock would win. Mirren's chances suffered because THE LAST STATION's lack of promotion and from poor distribution.

I knew Meryl Streep, who was nominated for two roles in the Best Actress, Musical or Comedy category, almost had to win one. I hoped it would be for her role as Julia Chile in JULIE & JULIA. It was, although she is a hoot opposite Alec Baldwin in IT'S COMPLICATED.

I'm blowing big kisses to Robert Downey, Jr., for a magnificent comedic performance in SHERLOCK HOLMES and for winning a Best Actor, Musical or Comedy Globe for it. Cheers for Jeff Bridges for winning in the same category for Drama.

No surprise concerning the winners of Best Supporting Actor and Actress, for sure. I have never seen a year when these categories have produced such strong contenders. Christoph Waltz for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, and Mo'Nique for PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. Both "heavy" roles.

The absolutely best list on the Planet of all the Golden Globe winners can be found on the IMDb, but here's the short list of the winners in the Motion Picture categories:

• Best Motion Picture - Drama: AVATAR.
• Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: THE HANGOVER.
• Best Animated Motion Picture - UP.
• Best Foreign Language Film - THE WHITE RIBBON (Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte, Germay), directed by Michael Haneke.
• Best Director - Motion Picture: James Cameron for AVATAR.
• Best Screenplay - Motion Picture: UP IN THE AIR by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner.
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama: Jeff Bridges for CRAZY HEART.
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama: Sandra Bullock for THE BLIND SIDE.
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: Robert Downey Jr., for SHERLOCK HOLMES.
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: Meryl Streep for JULIE & JULIA.
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Drama: Christoph Waltz for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Drama: Mo'Nique for PECIOIUS: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.
• Best Original Song - Motion Picture: "The Weary Kind," by T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham, CRAZY HEART.
• Best Original Score - Motion Picture: Michael Giacchino for UP.

Shortlist for Visual Effects Oscar Nominations

Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that seven films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category (VFX) for the 82nd Academy Awards®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

AVATAR
DISTRICT 9
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
STAR TREK
TERMINATOR SALVATION
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
2012

All members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films on Thursday, 21 January. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration. There were not enough qualifying films to have more than three nominees in the category this year.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced Tuesday, 2 February 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented Sunday, 7 March 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.