82nd Academy Awards® Nominations

AVATAR and THE HURT LOCKER lead the nominations with the most, nine each. UP received five, including Best Animated Film and Best Motion Picture.

Will it be Sandra Bullock vs. Meryl Streep for Best Actress and James Cameron vs. Kathryn Bigelow (former wife) for Best Director? Or, will INGLORIOUS BASTERDS rewrite this speculation history by being the big winner?

Nominations for the 82 Academy Awards® were announced a little after 5 a.m. this morning from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak, accompanied by Oscar-nominated actress and Academy member Anne Hathaway, read the nominees for 10 out of the 24 categories.

The gold statuettes will be presented to the winners at a gala on Sunday, 7 March, in the Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

The Official Website for the Academy Awards is now up and, this year, it has gone high tech and interactive. Visitors will be able to cast their votes for many things connected to the awards. Click the title of this post to link to it.

Here are all the 82nd Academy Award Nominations ~~

BEST PICTURE (with director):
AVATAR, James Cameron
THE BLIND SIDE, John Lee Hancock
DISTRICT 9, Peter Jackson
AN EDUCATION, Lone Scherfig
THE HURT LOCKER, Kathryn Bigelow
INGLOURIOS BASTERDS, Quinten Tarantino
PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, Lee Daniels
A SERIOUS MAN, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
UP, Peter Docter
UP in the AIR, Jason Reitman

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Jeff Bridges, CRAZY HEART
George Clooney, UP in the AIR
Colin Firth, A SINGLE MAN
Morgan Freeman, INVICTUS
Jeremy Renner, THE HURT LOCKER

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Matt Damon, INVICTUS
Woody Harrelson, THE MESSENGER
Christopher Plummer, THE LAST STATION
Stanley Tucci, THE LOVELY BONES
Christoph Waltz, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
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

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Penélope 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

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
CORALINE, Henry Selick
FANTASTIC MR. FOX, Wes Anderson
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, John Musker and Ron Clements
THE SECRET OF KELLS, Tom Moore
UP, Pete Docter

ART DIRECTION:
AVATAR
THE IMAGINARIUM of DOCTOR PARNASSUS
NINE
SHERLOCK HOLMES
THE YOUNG VICTORIA
 
CINEMATOGRAPHY:
AVATAR
HARRY POTTER and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
THE WHITE RIBBON

DIRECTING:
AVATAR, James Cameron
THE HURT LOCKER, Kathryn Bigelow
INGLOURIUOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino
PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, Lee Daniels
UP in the AIR, Jason Reitman

DOCUMENTARY (Feature):
BURMA VJ
THE COVE
FOOD, INC.
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
WHICH WAY HOME

DOCUMENTARY (Short Subject):
CHINA'S UNNATURAL DISASTER: The Tears of Sichuan Province
THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF GOVERNOR BOOTH GARDNER
THE LAST TRUCK: Closing of a GM Plant
MUSIC BY PRUDENCE
RABBIT à la BERLIN

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (with country and director/s):
AJAMI, Israel, Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani
EL SECRETO de SUS OJOS, Argentina (The Secret in Their Eyes), Juan José Campanella
THE MILK OF SOROW, Peru (La teta asustada), Claudia Llosa
UN PROPHÈTE, France (A PROPHET), Jacques Audiard
THE WHITE RIBBON, Germany (Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke

MUSIC (Original Score):
AVATAR, James Horner
FANTASTIC MR. FOX, Alexandre Desplat
THE HURT LOCKER, Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
SHERLOCK HOLMES, Hans Zimmer
UP, Michael Giacchino

MUSIC (Original Song):
"Almost There" from 'The Princess and the Frog' - Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans" from 'The Princess and the Frog' - Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname" from 'Paris 36' - Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from 'Nine' - Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind" from 'Crazy Heart' - Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

SHORT FILM (Animated):
FRENCH ROAST
GRANNY O'GRIMM'S SLEEPING BEAUTY
THE LADY AND REAPER (La Dama y la Muerte)
LOGORAMA
A MATTER of LOAF and DEATH

SHORT FILM (Live Action):
THE DOOR
INSTEAD OF ABRACADABRA
KAVI
MIRACLE FISH
THE NEW TENANTS

COSTUME DESIGN:
BRIGHT STAR
COCO BEFORE CHANEL
THE IMAGINARIUM of DOCTOR PARNASSUS
NINE
THE YOUNG VICTORIA

MAKEUP:
IL DIVO
STAR TREK
THE YOUNG VICTORIA

FILM EDITING:
AVATAR
DISTRICT 9
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

SOUND EDITING:
AVATAR
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
STAR TREK
UP

SOUND MIXING:
AVATAR
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
STAR TREK
TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen

VISUAL EFFECTS:
AVATAR
DISTRICT 9
STAR TREK

WRITING (Adapted Screenplay with writer/s):
DISTRICT 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
AN EDUCATION, Nick Hornby
IN the LOOP, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
UP in the AIR, Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

WRITING (Original Screenplay with writer/s):
THE HURT LOCKER, Mark Boal
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino
THE MESSENGER, Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
A SERIOUS MAN, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
UP, Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy

For the list of all with all the credits, CLICK HERE.

16th Annual SAG Award Winners for 2009

                      

SERIES: Hollywood Guild Awards and Oscars®

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) gave their acting awards last night. All knew that the big movie winner in drama at the Golden Globes® was AVATAR, but that movie was not nominated by SAG. Wonder why?

Easy. The Screen Actors Guild supports live actors in the flesh. Actors doing "performance capture," and then being computerized for the big screen, is not in SAG's mission statement. As has been mentioned before, keep in mind that SAG is the biggest voting block in Ampas®. So, as SAG votes, often that's the way the Academy members vote for the Academy Awards®.

The delightful Quentin Tarantino movie, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS won the best performance by a cast in a motion picture, which for an acting guild is also saying, "Best Motion Picture." The other casts nominated were AN EDUCATION, NINE, PRECIOUS and THE HURT LOCKER.

Sandra Bullock moved up a notch in the awards firmament by winning best actress for her performance in THE BLIND SIDE. She won a best supporting actress Globe for the same role.

Actress Betty White, whose career has mainly been in television, received the Life Achievement Award.

Click the title of this post to go to the Official SAG Website and view some great pictures from last night's event as well as all the nominees in their glitz and glam. Here's the full list, including the television awards, and not one in this list surprised me:

Cast: Inglourious Basterds.

Actor in a leading role: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart. - He won a Globe.

Actress in a leading role: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side. - She won a Globe.

Supporting actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds - He won a Globe.

Supporting actress: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire - She won a Globe.

Stunt ensemble: Star Trek.

Television:

Drama series cast: Mad Men.

Comedy series cast: Glee.

Actor in a drama series: Michael C. Hall, Dexter.

Actress in a drama series: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife.

Actor in a comedy series: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock.

Actress in a comedy series: Tina Fey, 30 Rock.

Actor in a movie or miniseries: Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance.

Actress in a movie or miniseries: Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens.

Stunt ensemble: 24.

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.