Oscar Countdown: The Award Season Begins

Cafe Society
1

Today had several announcements for year-end awards from various critics’ groups (the first of which came out a week ago). Here’s a tally so far:

Picture
Avatar (YO)
The Hurt Locker (Bo, LA)
Up in the Air (NB, Wa)

Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (Bo, LA, Wa, YO)
Clint Eastwood, Invictus (NB)

Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart (LA, YO)
George Clooney, Up in the Air (NB, Wa)
Morgan Freeman, Invictus (NB)
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker (Bo)

Actress
Yolande Moreau, Seraphine (LA)
Carey Mulligan, An Education (NB, Wa)
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia (Bo, YO)

Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger (NB)
Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds (Bo, LA, Wa, YO)

Supporting Actress
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air (NB)
Mo’Nique, Precious (Bo, LA, Wa, YO)

Screenplay
Inglorious Basterds (Wa, YO)
A Serious Man (Bo, NB)
Up in the Air (LA, NB, Wa)

Cinematography
The Hurt Locker (Bo)
Inglorious Basterds (YO)
The White Ribbon (LA)

Documentary
The Beaches of Agnes (LA)
The Cove (Bo, LA, NB, YO)
Food, Inc. (Wa)

Foreign Film
A Prophet (NB)
Sin Nombre (Wa)
Summer Hours (LA)
The White Ribbon (YO)
NB = National Board of Review, LA = Los Angeles Film Critics, Bo = Boston Film Critics, Wa = Washington DC Film Critics, NYO = New York Online Film Critics

2

Also, the Academy has already issued a shortlist for the contenders in the Visual Effects category. A bake-off will occur, narrowing the field down to around 7, and then finally 3 for the actual ballot. Right now, these are in the running:

*Angels & Demons
Avatar
Coraline
Disney’s A Christmas Carol
District 9
G-Force
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Sherlock Holmes
Star Trek
Terminator Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2012
Watchmen
Where the Wild Things Are
*

3

Let’s hope your thread goes better than mine from a couple of weeks ago did.

You didn’t mention if you wanted to keep this thread to wins only, or if nominations were ok.
The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) announced their nominees for the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards:

BEST PICTURE
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges - “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney - “Up In The Air”
Colin Firth - “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman - “Invictus”
Viggo Mortensen - “The Road”
Jeremy Renner - “The Hurt Locker” (YAY!!)

BEST ACTRESS
Emily Blunt - “The Young Victoria”
Sandra Bullock - “The Blind Side”
Carey Mulligan - “An Education” (YAY!!)
Saoirse Ronan - “The Lovely Bones”
Gabourey Sidibe - “Precious”
Meryl Streep - “Julie & Julia”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon - “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson - “The Messenger”
Christian McKay - “Me And Orson Welles”
Alfred Molina - “An Education”
Stanley Tucci - “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz - “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard - “Nine”
Vera Farmiga - “Up In The Air”
Anna Kendrick - “Up In The Air”
Mo’Nique - “Precious”
Julianne Moore - “A Single Man”
Samantha Morton - “The Messenger”

BEST DIRECTING
Kathryn Bigelow - “The Hurt Locker”
James Cameron - “Avatar”
Lee Daniels - “Precious”
Clint Eastwood - “Invictus”
Jason Reitman - “Up In The Air”
Quentin Tarantino - “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal - “The Hurt Locker”
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - “A Serious Man”
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - “(500) Days Of Summer”
Bob Peterson, Peter Docter - “Up”
Quentin Tarantino - “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach - “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell - “District 9”
Geoffrey Fletcher - “Precious”
Tom Ford, David Scearce - “A Single Man”
Nick Hornby - “An Education”
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - “Up In The Air”

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Jae Head - “The Blind Side”
Bailee Madison - “Brothers”
Max Records - “Where The Wild Things Are”
Saoirse Ronan - “The Lovely Bones”
Kodi Smit-McPhee - “The Road”

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious
Star Trek
Up In The Air

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Barry Ackroyd - “The Hurt Locker”
Dion Beebe - “Nine”
Mauro Fiore - “Avatar”
Andrew Lesnie - “The Lovely Bones”
Robert Richardson - “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST ART DIRECTION
Dan Bishop - “A Single Man”
Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg - “Avatar”
John Myhre, Gordon Sim - “Nine”
Naomi Shohan, George De Titta, Jr. - “The Lovely Bones”
David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco - “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST EDITING
Dana E. Glauberman - “Up In The Air”
Sally Menke - “Inglourious Basterds”
Bob Murawski, Chris Innis - “The Hurt Locker”
Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron - “Avatar”
Claire Simpson, Wyatt Smith - “Nine”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Colleen Atwood - “Nine”
Janet Patterson - “Bright Star”
Sandy Powell - “The Young Victoria”
Anna Sheppard - “Inglourious Basterds”
Casey Storm - “Where The Wild Things Are”

BEST MAKEUP
Avatar
District 9
Nine
The Road
Star Trek

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar
District 9
The Lovely Bones
Star Trek
2012

BEST SOUND
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Nine
Star Trek

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Princess And The Frog
Up

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek

BEST COMEDY
(500) Days Of Summer
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
The Proposal
Zombieland

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Gifted Hands
Grey Gardens
Into The Storm
Taking Chance

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Broken Embraces
Coco Before Chanel
Red Cliff
Sin Nombre
The White Ribbon

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Anvil
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cove
Food, Inc.
Michael Jackson’s This Is It

BEST SONG
“All Is Love” - Karen O, Nick Zinner - “Where The Wild Things Are”
“Almost There” - Randy Newman - “The Princess And The Frog”
“Cinema Italiano” - Maury Yeston - “Nine”
“(I Want To) Come Home” - Paul McCartney - “Everybody’s Fine”
“The Weary Kind” - T Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham - “Crazy Heart”

BEST SCORE
Michael Giacchino - “Up”
Marvin Hamlisch - “The Informant!”
Randy Newman - “The Princess and the Frog”
Karen O, Carter Burwell - “Where The Wild Things Are”
Hans Zimmer - “Sherlock Holmes”

I’m starting to get very upset that Ben Foster is being ignored everywhere for his intense performance in The Messenger, but I’m so happy with so many of the other nominations/wins that I can’t complain too much. Jeremy Renner and Carey Mulligan getting attention is making me very happy. I hope both go on to get Oscar nominations too. And things are looking very good for Kathryn Bigelow.

The Golden Globe nominations are tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.

4

Thanks, Equipoise. Since the BFCA is usually a pretty accurate bellwether of the Oscar itself (6 of the 7 major winners last year also were honored by the Academy), that info is most welcome.

Two more critics awards: New York Film Critics (NY) and the Southeastern Film Critics (SE):

Picture: The Hurt Locker (NY), Up in the Air (SE)

Director: Bigelow (NY, SE)

Actor: Clooney (NY*, SE)

Actress: Streep (NY, SE)

Supp.Actor: Waltz (NY, SE)

Supp.Actress: Mo’Nique (NY, SE)

Screenplay: (500) Days of Summer (SE), In the Loop (NY), Up in the Air (SE)

Documentary: Food, Inc. (SE), Of Time and the City (NY)

Foreign Film: Summer Hours (NY, SE)

Cinematography: The White Ribbon (NY)
*the NY Critics cited both Up in the Air and Fantastic Mr. Fox for Clooney’s award

5

I was so shocked when the Independent Spirit Awards nominations came out and The Hurt Locker was shut out. I felt so bad for Jeremy Renner. I just found out, or rather, was “reminded” that Renner and his co-star Anthony Mackie WERE nominated, last year!

2008-9 Independent Spirit Awards (supposedly for 2008 films)

Best Actor nominees:

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler (winner)

* Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
* Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
* Sean Penn - Milk
* Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Best Supporting Actor nominees:

James Franco - Milk (winner)

* Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker
* Charlie McDermott - Frozen River
* Jim Myron Ross - Ballast
* Haaz Sleiman - The Visitor

! I know some people complain about people/films being nominated before being released, and usually I roll my eyes at them, but in this case, I agree. It wasn’t released in America until June! Thank goodness for some reason it didn’t qualify for the Oscars last year.

6

Roger Ebert just Twittered his Best Actor Oscar nom predictions:

For those following along but not hip to all the players…

Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
George Clooney in Up In the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

I’d certainly be fine with Ebert’s pick for a winner. I haven’t seen Crazy Heart yet but it’s getting great reviews and is supposed to be one of Bridges’s best roles ever. Bridges has been nominated for an Oscar 4 times and has never won. That doesn’t mean he’s “due” or anything, but if it’s a great role, in a very good movie, why not?

7

He may not be “due”, but he sure is overdue, and I’d love to see him win*. Between him and Julianne Moore (also 4 nods w/no wins) in A Single Man, this might be their lucky year.

*no, I haven’t seen the film yet

8

Have you seen A Single Man? I haven’t, yet, but isn’t Julianne Moore a supporting character? I’m sure she’s great, she always is, but I haven’t heard all that much buzz. Not compared to Colin Firth.

9

I haven’t seen the film, but she’s supposed to be quite good in a supporting role (and given Firth’s buzz, a lot of Academy members are going to be seeing the film).

10

True.

So, is anybody besides the two of us excited or interested in this awards season (and by that, I mean, the quality of interesting movies that are being talked about and getting attention, not the “awards” themselves, which is why I love awards season)? At least, we haven’t had a too-cool-for-school-I-don’t-care threadshitter yet. There is that.

11

This is fun. Sometimes the biggest surprises come from unlikely places.

Indiana Film Critics awards:

Best Film of the Year
Up in the Air
Runner-up: Fantastic Mr. Fox (Yay!)

Best Director
Spike Jonze, Where the Wild Things Are (:eek: Yay!)
Runner-up: Wes Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox (:eek: Yay!)

Best Screenplay
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Runner-up: Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers, Where the Wild Things Are (Yay!)

Original Vision Award
Where the Wild Things Are (Yay!!)
Runner-up: District 9 (Yay!!)

Best Actor
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Runner-up: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker (Yay!)

Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, An Education (Yay!)
Runner-up: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Runner-up: Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (Yay!)
Runner-up: Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones and Julie & Julia

Best Foreign Language Film
Sin Nombre (Yay!)
Runner-up: Welcome

Best Animated Film
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Yay!)
Runner-up: Up

Best Documentary
The Cove
Runner-up: Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Yay!)

I love it when they show the Runners-up. It still would have been a cool list without it, but it’s absolutely delightful with it. Maybe I ought to start keeping track of this stuff, like I did 2 years ago.

12

An hour and a half until the Golden Globe nominations. Yes I’m staying up for it. Yes I’m a hopeless awards geek. No, I don’t have to work today, but I work nights anyway so I’m used to this.

13

The San Francisco Film Critics chimed in. Some usual suspects, some nice surprises:

Picture/Director: The Hurt Locker/Bigelow
Actor: Colin Firth
Actress: Meryl Streep
Supp.Actor: Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles (I saw this last night, and McKay is uncanny and marvelous as Orson)
Supp.Actress: Mo’Nique
Screenplay: Inglorious Basterds & The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Cinematography: A Serious Man
Documentary: Anvil!
Foreign Film: You, the Living

Plus, the wonderful Sita Sings the Blues got a special citation.

14

Au = Austin Film Critics, DFW = Dallas Fort Worth Film Critics, SD = San Diego Film Critics, To = Toronto Film Critics

Picture: Hunger (To), Hurt Locker (Au), Inglorious Basterds (SD, To), Up in the Air (DFW)
Actor: Nicolas Cage, Bad Lieutenant: PoCNO (To), Clooney (DFW), Firth (Au, SD)
Actress: Melanie Laurent, Inglorious Basterds (Au), Michelle Monaghan, Trucker (SD), Carey Mulligan, An Education (DFW, To)
Supp.Actor: Waltz (Au, DFW, SD, To)
Supp.Actress: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air (Au, To), Mo’Nique (DFW), Samantha Morton, The Messenger (SD)
Director: Bigelow (Au, To), Jason Reitman, Up in the Air (DFW), Tarantino (SD)
Screenplay: Fantastic Mr. Fox (SD), Inglorious Basterds (Au, SD, To), Up in the Air (Au, DFW, To)
Cinematography: The Hurt Locker (Au), The Lovely Bones (DFW), The Road (SD)
Foreign Film: Il Divo (SD), Sin Nombre (Au, DFW), The White Ribbon (To)
Documentary: Anvil! (Au), The Cove (DFW, SD, To)

15

Here’s a final list of all the tunes eligible for Best Song by the Academy.

And the SAG nominations come out tomorrow.

16

The Animated Feature category is going to be really great this year:
Up
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Coraline
The Princess and the Frog

17

Because there are 20 films eligible in this category this year, the final nomination slate will consist of 5 films. I think the 4 you listed are fairly certain as nominees, which leaves one slot left–I’m guessing for Ponyo, since Miyazaki is a fave within the branch (the last time there were 5 nominees, he won the Oscar).

18

Here are the Screen Actors Guild nominations:

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 (fantastic!)
GABOUREY SIDIBE - Precious
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
ANNA KENDRICK - Up In The Air
DIANE KRUGER - Inglourious Basterds
MO’NIQUE - Precious

Ensemble
AN EDUCATION (!!! YAY)
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
NINE
PRECIOUS

That’s a pretty awesome Ensemble lineup. Carey Mulligan was expected but An Education for Ensemble?!?! That just upped its profile a hundred fold! Diane Kruger was very unexpected. Jeremy Renner should feel better today after the Golden Globes snub the other day. I guess Ben Foster will have to go without any major nominations this year. Dammit.

19

The absence of big-hitters like Day Lewis and Julianne Moore over relative unknowns like Renner and Kruger speaks a great deal to the apparent large appeal of Hurt and Basterds among the actors (the largest branch within the Academy).

Although it’s never completely a 5:5 match across all four acting categories from SAG to Oscar, it’s pretty darn close, so I think we’re looking at what’s very likely to resemble the final slates.

Actor: Day Lewis is still likely to make a strong showing, so I think the final 5 will come from those 6 (spoilers like Stuhlbarg, Mortensen, or Damon for The Informant! seem like really long shots)
Actress: The biggest challengers to these 5 are two actresses (Emily Blunt, Abbie Cornish) in period films (Young Victoria, Bright Star) that will go largely unseen. If there’s a 6th that might nudge in, it may be Cotillard from Nine.
Supporting Actor: This seems like a very solid grouping (though some argue Plummer’s in the wrong category), but there are some potential spoilers: Alfred Molina (Education), Anthony Mackie (Hurt Locker), Christian McKay (Me & Orson Welles) for starters. All are low-buzz however.
Supporting Actress: I really have a hard time seeing Kruger make the final cut, so I think Moore is back in, though don’t count out a few other Nine ladies, or maybe Maggie Gyllenhaal from Crazy Heart.

20

It seems like the Academy pulls at least one WTF, where’d that come from? out of their hats, and maybe it’ll be Ben Foster. Ok, I know, slap me, but damn, he’s great in The Messenger, and it’s terrible how he’s being ignored left and right, while Woody Harrelson, who absolutely deserves every accolade, is getting lots of accolades. I don’t know who he’d replace though anyway. Freeman would be my choice, but that’ll never happen. In the end, I don’t care who gets nominated as long as Jeremy Renner does, so as long as he’s safe, and that’s no longer a sure thing since the shock of the non-Globe nom, I’m happy. I was always only passionate about Jeremy Renner and Carey Mulligan, so the rest are just nice icing.