Oscar Nomination Overview

We interrupt out regularly scheduled programming for an important movie update!

Earlier today, the nominations for the Academy Awards were announced! I'll be back soon with the expected movie reviews, but I wanted to do an overview of the categories that I actually care about and discuss them a bit, along with present my personal favorites for each category discussed here. Please feel free to comment and add your own opinions as well!

Art Direction

Alice in Wonderland

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Inception

The King's Speech

True Grit

You really do have to go out of your way to make a movie pretty these days, and art directors are becoming more and more valuable - especially with the rise of the 3D motion picture. While all of these movies are very strong, the one that I have to go with is the movie directed by one of Hollywood's most twisted geniuses - Tim Burton. While there were a lot... A LOT... of problems with Alice in Wonderland, the visual direction and vision brought by Burton's twisted mind was definitely not one of them. It was dynamic, eerie, surreal, and beautiful - in other words, everything Wonderland should be.

FaceGuy's Pick: Alice in Wonderland

Cinematography

Black Swan

Inception

The King's Speech

The Social Network

True Grit

This is the first time where I've really felt torn between two movies, and it shouldn't be difficult for you to figure out which two. Both Black Swan and Inception were among the most visually striking movies that I have ever seen, and the fact that we can't give them both an Oscar for this category really is a shame. However, both the Academy and myself have to make a choice... and while I consider Inception to be an overall better film, I've got to give this to Black Swan. The director went really out of his way to make this movie a brilliant work of cinematography. Every shot is so carefully planned out and angled that any frame could be considered a work of art in its own right. That kind of dedication is something that I really can't ignore.

FaceGuy's Pick: Black Swan

Music (Original Score)

How to Train Your Dragon - John Powell

Inception - Hans Zimmer

The King's Speech - Alexandre Desplat

127 Hours - A.R. Rahman

The Social Network - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

I love music. It's one of my favorite things, and this goes almost double for good movie soundtracks. I'm one of those guys who goes out and buys the soundtracks for movies that I like, and even make entire CDs and Playlists of nothing but awesome movie music. My favorite movie score composer has been doing a lot of work in the past few years, and even has a nomination here. Hans Zimmer is the mind behind the soundtracks of Sherlock Holmes, The Dark Knight, and most notably the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy. However, his soundtrack in Inception is not as strong as that of the thrilling score written by John Powell for How to Train Your Dragon. Seriously, go onto Youtube and listen to some of that music. Love you, Hans, but you get beat out this year.

FaceGuy's Pick:

How to Train Your Dragon - John Powell

Music (Original Song)

Coming Home - Country Strong

I See the Light - Tangled

If I Rise - 127 Hours

We Belong Together - Toy Story 3

So, I basically just listened to all of these songs on the spot. Not much I can say here - We Belong Together will follow in the footsteps of "You've Got A Friend In Me" as a song from Toy Story that wins this Oscar. That's... really all I have to say on the matter.

FaceGuy's Pick:

We Belong Together - Toy Story 3

Visual Effects

Alice in Wonderland

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Hereafter

Inception

Iron Man 2

I AM VERY ANGRY RIGHT NOW. Seriously. I mean, okay, I'll grant, all the movies on here had some pretty awesome visual effects, but the movie that I think REALLY deserves the Oscar in this category didn't even get NOMINATED?!? SERIOUSLY?!? I am so mad right now I could smash the computer I write this on... but if I did, then I might harm the inhabitants of The Grid, who are already hurt enough by this travesty. I know it wasn't nominated, but I'm going to pick it anyway.

FaceGuy's Pick: Tron: Legacy - the movie that REALLY deserves it, as opposed to Inception, which will probably win it.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

127 Hours

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone

... Meh. I find myself generally indifferent about this particular category, but it's considered one of the "big" ones, so I feel obliged to comment on it. See, the idea of giving an Oscar to someone for relying on the tried and true as opposed to writing something original seems to fuel what I consider to be the biggest threat to Hollywood. The lack of originality in movies today is just depressing, and... ugh. Not gonna talk about that anymore. I suppose I'll give it to The Social Network. It was a very well written film, in my opinion. I have a nagging feeling that the Oscar will probably go to Winter's Bone, but... Meh. It's not like I care too much anyway.

FaceGuy's Pick: The Social Network

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Another Year

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

Ahh, nothing like originality, eh? I mean, granted, several of these movies are inspired by true events (including the one that I am going to be picking), but just because we know something happened doesn't mean we know exactly how it all went down. Writing something new and original about a real-life event is something that is very hard to do, and in that light I'm going to give my pick solidly to The King's Speech. Not only is it the best original screenplay this year, I'd go so far as to say it's the best written film this year period - and possibly for more than just 2010.

FaceGuy's Pick: The King's Speech

Animated Feature Film

How to Train your Dragon

The Illusionist

Toy Story 3

Now, Toy Story 3 has a soft place in my heart, in no small part because of the fact that it was the first movie I reviewed on this site. However, a movie came out not long before I started writing these reviews that I actually enjoyed better. While I have no doubt that Toy Story 3 will take it, I actually found myself preferring Dreamworks' animated adventure - How to Train Your Dragon. Dreamworks Studios has really come into its own this year, giving us not one, but two very strong animated features. They're moving away from their old formula of either throwing endless puns and pop-culture references at us or just spending an entire movie poking fun at Disney. Dreamworks really started taking itself seriously this year, and they deserve a nod for that.

FaceGuy's Pick: How To Train Your Dragon

Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem - Biutiful

Jeff Bridges - True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network

Colin Firth - The King's Speech

James Franco - 127 Hours

I admit, I have only seen three of these movies, but I was able to get a good idea of the acting involved in the two that I missed the people who HAVE seen them whom I have talked to. While I admit fully that James Franco's performance in 127 hours was very emotionally intense, I'm going to have to put my support behind Colin Firth on this one. I am still working on my review for The King's Speech, but I'll summarize by saying that it was a very good film, and Firth's performance as King George VI was, quite frankly, spectacular.

FaceGuy's Pick: Colin Firth - The King's Speech

Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale - The Fighter

John Hawkes - Winter's Bone

Jeremy Renner - The Town

Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right

Geoffery Rush - The King's Speech

My overview here is going to be pretty much the same as the one above, I'm afraid. Winter's Bone was a very good movie - and frankly, John Hawks' performance in it is the only one of these that I think can compare to my pick for this category. But again, I'm going to throw my support behind the candidate from The King's Speech. Geoffery Rush remains among my favorite character actors alive, and his performance as Lionel Logue will likely be remembered as one of the strongest performances of his considerably long career.

FaceGuy's Pick: Geoffery Rush - The King's Speech

Actress in a Leading Role

Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman - Black Swan

Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

Given my last review, my choice for this category should surprise nobody - it's Natalie Portman all the way. Every time I see her in a new movie, I realize more and more that she is definitely a rising star in Hollywood. While she may have appeared on the silver screen with a less than optimal introduction - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace - her later performances have been increasingly good. That said, nothing she has ever done comes close to the performance she gives here. This will likely be an easy pick for the Academy.

FaceGuy's Pick: Natalie Portman - Black Swan

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams - The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech

Melissa Leo - The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit

Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

While I really loved seeing more than just crazy psycho out of Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech, I feel that giving an actress an Oscar for playing someone sane would be an insult to the actresses that really did a good job this past year. Now, don't get me wrong, Bonham Carter did a spectacular job in The King's Speech, but I felt that overall there were performances that surpassed hers - albeit only a little. With that in mind, I'm going to give it to one of the two contenders from The Fighter. Both girls did a great job in the role, but I'm going to give the edge here to Amy Adams - I found her character a bit more engaging and interesting than Melissa Leo's, which makes her - for me, at least - the more memorable pick.

FaceGuy's Pick: Amy Adams - The Fighter

Directing

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan

David O. Russell - The Fighter

Tom Hooper - The King's Speech

David Fincher - The Social Network

Joel & Ethan Coen - True Grit

If there's one thing that we learned from the prequel trilogy of Star Wars, it's that you can have a whole posse of great actors and still make a bad movie. Good directors are key to a film - with bad direction, even the best writing can't save the film. Truly good directors are rare, and it's even more difficult to find someone so dedicated to their art that they go to ridiculous levels just to get a 2 second shot "right". One such director is Darren Aronofsky, whose attention to detail in Black Swan felt just as loving - if not more so - than anything that happened between the characters. Most directors view their craft as a work of art, but Aronofsky sees his film as a work of love.

FaceGuy's Pick: Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan

Best Picture

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

127 Hours

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone

This is it. The big one. The Oscar that could turn a movie into a legend, something that will be remembered for all time. The most sought after award in all American Cinema. Of these ten candidates, who will be the champion?

... It'll be The King's Speech. Hands down. The actors and actresses in this movie were all spectacular - particularly the aforementioned Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffery Rush. It was also easily the best written film of the year - if not the entire millennium so far. While Black Swan may have been better directed, while Inception may have been more intellectually engaging, while The Social Network may have been more... um... Insightful! Yes! And while Toy Story 3 may have had more evil stuffed bears that smell like strawberries, The King's Speech is just... amazing. SEE THIS MOVIE. TWICE.

And then buy it.

For ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS.

FaceGuy's Pick: The King's Speech

So! Those are my picks for this year's Academy Awards! Disagree with me on any particular point? Stuff it Then feel free to make a comment sharing your incorrect opinions in the comments section below!

And be sure not to miss the Academy Awards Ceremony on February 27th on ABC to see who was right and who... well.... wasn't!