The Road to the OSCARS 2010

Cafe Society
1

So this thread will be devoted to all the pre-Oscar awards: both industry awards and critics organizations.

One that really doesn’t fit into either (it’s a long story) is the National Board of Review, which has been doing this thing since 1929 and traditionally is first out of the gate. So here are their awards for 2010 (please note that the Ten Bests are essentially “runners-up” choices)–let the horserace begin!

Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Best Actress: Lesley Manville, Another Year
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Best Foreign Language Film: Of Gods and Men
Best Documentary: Waiting for “Superman”
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Ensemble Cast: The Town
Breakthrough Performance: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Debut Directors: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, Restrepo
Spotlight Award: Sylvain Chomet and Jacques Tati, The Illusionist
Best Original Screenplay: Chris Sparling, Buried
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Ten Best Films (in alphabetical order)
Another Year
The Fighter
Hereafter
Inception
The King’s Speech
Shutter Island
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Five Best Foreign-Language Films (in alphabetical order)
I Am Love
Incendies
Life, Above All
Soul Kitchen
White Material

Five Best Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
*A Film Unfinished
Inside Job
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Restrepo
The Tillman Story *

2

Oh, and even though they operate on a different calendar than AMPAS, the Grammy nominees for Best Score Soundtrack Album include 3 films eligible this year:

Alice in Wonderland (Danny Elfman)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
Toy Story 3 (Randy Newman)

The other two nominees are Best Score Oscar losers Avatar & Sherlock Holmes from last year

3

How is the Social Network the Best Film but not one of the ten best films?

4

From the OP:

5

You expect me to read? :smiley:

6

Thanks for the thread ArchiveGuy. This is the first chance I’ve had to take a close look at this list. I’ve taken the liberty of adding IMDB links to all the movies/people. I’ve seen most of the movies, but some I missed and some haven’t opened here yet.

Good for The Social Network! It wouldn’t have been my choice, but it’s a great movie and I’m fine with the wins and happy for everyone involved.

I hadn’t heard of this movie before now, but now I’ll keep an eye out for it. I don’t know when it opens.

I’m seeing a sneak preview of this on Tuesday. It’s getting great reviews. I had no idea that Bale was in it, because I haven’t been paying attention to the previews. It’s David O. Russell. I knew I’d see it no matter who was in it or what it was about.

I’m kicking myself for missing this, but it never played at any of the theaters I regularly go to. I kept seeing previews, over and over and over, at a theater I go to a lot, but it never opened there! Argh. The same thing happened with Jack Goes Boating, kept seeing previews, but it didn’t open at that theater. Why the hell play previews but don’t show the film?

Anyway, from everything I heard, it’s a very good movie and she’s terrific in it.

This hasn’t opened yet. It looks great.

Of the documentary mentions I’ve seen, this would be my last choice. I liked it, but better than The Tillman Story? Uh uh.

It wouldn’t have been my choice for Ensemble (I would have said Inception), but it’s a fantastic movie, a surprise mention, I’m very happy for Ben Affleck and the cast.

YAY! I’m so glad this performance (and movie) wasn’t completely forgotten. After all my predictions, I’d feel so silly and disappointed if these are the only awards mentions for this movie.

I missed this.

This opens here in January, I think. Chomet directed The Triplets of Belleville, so I have no doubt this will be wonderful.

Besides the Winter’s Bone mentions, this just made my day. I liked this movie a lot, and this might be the only mention the movie gets during awards season, so CHEERS!

Along with The Social Network, this is a very good list, very eclectic. It’s nice to see that Winter’s Bone, of course, and Shutter Island were not forgotten, and nice to know that someone in the universe has seen True Grit already and thinks so highly of it.

Of these, I’ve only seen I Am Love and Soul Kitchen so far. I’m thrilled that Soul Kitchen is mentioned! In a different era, Soul Kitchen would have been a very popular crossover hit, because it’s fun, funny and incredibly likable, the kind of movie that has you leaving the theater with a huge grin on your face, and humming the theme song. The right time, the right place, the right marketing and publicity could have made this the film that people who don’t go to see foreign-language films would go see, and word of mouth would have made it a hit. But no, nowadays, if it’s in a foreign-language, the movie’s going to be relegated to 2 weeks at the arthouse, if lucky.

It’s not just foreign language films that suffer from ghetto treatment. Made In Dagenham should be a popular hit, at least among women and smart, enlightened men, but it’s dying at the arthouses. There aren’t too many movies that are fun and entertaining, while also being educational and inspiring. Dagenham is all those things.

I’ve seen 3 of these 5, Unfinished, Inside and Tillman, excellent movies all. I missed Restrepo because I kept putting it off, and then one day it was gone, and I had no interest in the Joan Rivers movie. The damn thing better not get nominated for an Oscar.

7

These are the documentary nominees for the Producers Guild Awards (PGA). For some reason the other nominee categories won’t be announced until January 4. Winners will be announced January 22.

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Earth Made of Glass
Inside Job
Smash His Camera
The Tillman Story

I’ve seen two. I have no idea if Client 9, Glass or Camera have opened here yet. Probably not. I’ve seen more documentaries this year than I have previously in my entire life combined, but I hadn’t heard of Earth Made of Glass before now. I’d have to learn more before I see it.

8

Washington D.C. Critics’ Awards Nominations, via Awardsdaily:

[spoiler]Best Film:
Black Swan
Inception
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3

Best Director:
Daren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
Danny Boyle (127 Hours)
Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Christopher Nolan (Inception)

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
Robert Duvall (Get Low)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)

Best Actress:
Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
Anne Hathaway (Love & Other Drugs)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Andrew Garfield (The Social Network)
John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)
Sam Rockwell (Conviction)
Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)

Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Best Acting Ensemble:
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The Social Network
The Town

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours)
Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3)
Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)
Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini (Winter’s Bone)

Best Original Screenplay:
Mike Leigh (Another Year)
Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin (Black Swan)
Christopher Nolan (Inception)
Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right)
David Seidler (The King’s Speech)

Best Animated Feature:
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
Megamind
Tangled
Toy Story 3

Best Documentary:
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Inside Job
Restrepo
The Tillman Story
Waiting for ‘Superman’

Best Foreign Language Film:
Biutiful
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I Am Love
Mother
White Material

Best Art Direction:
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
True Grit

Best Cinematography:
Black Swan
Inception
127 Hours
The Social Network
True Grit

Best Score:
Black Swan
Inception
127 Hours
The Social Network
True Grit[/spoiler]

Black Swan, The Social Network, and Winter’s Bone seem to be gaining a lot of momentum. The King’s Speech is a frontrunner and is mostly staying strong. True Grit just started screening and is mostly getting good notices.

I just saw Black Swan last night. Natalie Portman was incredible, and the cinematography is Oscar-calibre as well. Glad to see the critics are taking notice.

9

Thanks judikium!

It’s wonderful to see these great movies getting attention. Well, I haven’t yet seen Black Swan, The King’s Speech or True Grit, but I’m sure the attention is well-deserved.

I tried to see a late show of it Friday night, after seeing the 1946 Noir film So Dark the Night and the Japanese animated movie Summer Wars at the Gene Siskel Film Center. As I was standing in line for the 10:50pm show, it started blinking “Sold Out” so I went to see Red, which I hadn’t yet seen, instead. I’ll try again soon.

Oh, that’s lovely to see!

Yes! I hope it and Noomi Rapace get a lot of critical mentions, because it and she is not going to show up at either the Golden Globes or the Oscars.

Will one of the year’s best performances go unrecognized?

Damn.

Oh man, I’m going to have to catch White Material Monday at the Music Box ($5 Mondays, whooo!) before it leaves. I had only planned on seeing Bill Plympton’s Idiots and Angels, but now I’ll see them both. Biutiful hasn’t opened here yet. It’s by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel) and stars Javier Bardem, so it’s high on my list. I don’t know when and where Mother played, but I’m sorry I missed it.

10

I have been wanting to see Social Network, but my SO is, to put it mildly, computer illiterate. Would this film be at all of interest to someone who does not really use or know what Facebook is?
I could fill him in on the basics, but need to know if the plot is heavily reliant on computer knowledge, or is it more of a legal/personal drama that anyone could relate to?

11

Given that you’ve basically described Aaron Sorkin, your SO should be fine :wink:

12

The winners were announced:

Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Best Original Screenplay: Inception
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Cinematography: Inception
Best Art Direction: Inception
Best Score: Inception
Best Foreign Language Film: Biutiful
Best Documentary: Exit Throught the Gift Shop
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Ensemble Cast: The Town

13

All great winners, but this…YES! Maybe she does have a chance at an Oscar nomination, oh please oh please oh please.

DMark, I would say your SO doesn’t have to be computer literate to enjoy The Social Network. It’s a human drama, and entertaining, though with a lot of technical jargon. I’m fairly computer literate, and I could kinda follow along with some of the technical stuff, but most of it, no. I still loved it.

If you do go see it, let us know what he thought. You too, but especially him since he isn’t into computers. I know for sure a person doesn’t have to like Facebook to like the movie. My husband loathes Facebook with the intensity of a thousand suns, and he loved the movie. I like (the idea of) Facebook, and I loved the movie. It appeals to all sides. It’s a good movie, not just a good movie about a computer programmer.

14

I’ve had this list for several days, but I wanted to put in links to the films and just didn’t have the time. I didn’t put links to the people because they’re easy enough to find on the movie page, and because I really want to get this posted.
2010-11 Independent Spirit Award Nominations

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer, Executive Producers are not listed)

127 Hours - Producers: Danny Boyle, Christian Colson, John Smithson
Black Swan - Producers: Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver
Greenberg - Producers: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Rudin
The Kids Are All Right - Producers: Gary Gilbert, Philippe Hellmann, Jordan Horowitz, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray, Daniela Taplin Lundberg
Winter’s Bone - Producers: Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Anne Rosellini

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
Danny Boyle - 127 Hours
Lisa Cholodenko - The Kids Are All Right
Debra Granik - Winter’s Bone
John Cameron Mitchel - Rabbit Hole

BEST SCREENPLAY

Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko - The Kids Are All Right
Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini - Winter’s Bone
Nicole Holofcener - Please Give
David Lindsay-Abaire - Rabbit Hole
Todd Solondz - Life During Wartime

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)

Everything Strange and New - Director: Frazer Bradshaw, Producers: A.D. Liano,
Laura Techera Francia
Get Low - Director: Aaron Schneider, Producers: David Gundlach, Dean Zanuck
Night Catches Us - Director: Tanya Hamilton, Producers: Sean Costello, Jason Orans, Ronald Simons
The Last Exorcism - Director: Daniel Stamm, Producers: Marc Abraham, Tom Bliss, Eric Newman, Eli Roth
Tiny Furniture - Director: Lena Dunham, Producers: Kyle Martin, Alicia Van Couvering

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Diane Bell - Obselidia
Lena Dunham - Tiny Furniture
Nik Fackler - Lovely, Still
Bob Glaudini - Jack Goes Boating
Dana Adam Shapiro, Evan M. Wiener – Monogamy

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD - Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director, and producer. Executive Producers are not listed

Daddy Longlegs - Writer/Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie Producers: Casey Neistat, Tom Scott
Lbs. - Director: Matthew Bonifacio Writer/Producers: Matthew Bonifacio, Carmine Famiglietti
Lovers of Hate - Writer/Director: Bryan PoyserProducer: Megan Gilbride
Obselidia - Writer/Director: Diane Bell Producers: Chris Byrne, Mathew Medlin
The Exploding Girl - Writer/Director: Bradley Rust Gray Producers: Karin Chien, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Greta Gerwig - Greenberg
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

BEST MALE LEAD

Ronald Bronstein - Daddy Longlegs (aka Go Get Some Rosemary)
Aaron Eckhart - Rabbit Hole
James Franco - 127 Hours
John C. Reilly - Cyrus
Ben Stiller - Greenberg

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Ashley Bell - The Last Exorcism
Dale Dickey - Winter’s Bone
Allison Janney - Life During Wartime
Daphne Rubin-Vega - Jack Goes Boating
Naomi Watts - Mother and Child

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

John Hawkes - Winter’s Bone
Samuel L. Jackson - Mother and Child
Bill Murray - Get Low
John Ortiz - Jack Goes Boating
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Adam Kimmel - Never Let Me Go
Matthew Libatique - Black Swan
Jody Lee Lipes - Tiny Furniture
Michael McDonough - Winter’s Bone
Harris Savides - Greenberg

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)

Exit Through the Gift Shop - Director: Banksy
Marwencol - Director: Jeff Malmberg
Restrepo - Directors: Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger
Sweetgrass - Directors: Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
Thunder Soul - Director: Mark Landsman

BEST FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)

Kisses (Ireland) - Director: Lance Daly
Mademoiselle Chambon (France) - Director: Stéphane Brizé
Of Gods and Men (Morocco) - Director: Xavier Beauvois
The King’s Speech (United Kingdom) - Director: Tom Hooper
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand) - Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 17th annual Acura Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Acura.

Hossein Keshavarz - Dog Sweat
Laurel Nakadate - The Wolf Knife
Mike Ott - Littlerock

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 14th annual Piaget Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

In-Ah Lee Au Revoir - Taipei
Adele Romanski - The Myth of the American Sleepover
Anish Savjani - Meek’s Cutoff

AVEENO® TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 16th annual AVEENO® Truer Than
Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features
who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a
$25,000 unrestricted grant funded by AVEENO®.

Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor - Sweetgrass
Jeff Malmberg - Marwencol
Lynn True, Nelson Walker - Summer Pasture

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD - (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)

Please Give
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy
Ensemble Cast: Ann Guilbert, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet,
Oliver Platt, Lois Smith, Sarah Steele

Needless to say, I’m thrilled at all of the nominations for Winter’s Bone! I first saw it last May, and it’s still my favorite movie of the year. My favorites and major awards attention very rarely line up.

Very often the ISA nominees are completely different from the Oscar nominees, but this is going to be one of those years where the Oscar nominees will look strikingly similar to the ISA nominees.

I’ve seen the majority of the films in the major categories (I know they’re all major to the nominees), though some haven’t opened here yet (Rabbit Hole, Blue Valentine, The King’s Speech and Marwencol for instance). I’m seeing Tiny Furniture tomorrow night. Restrepo, Daddy Longlegs and Jack Goes Boating played here but I unfortunately missed seeing them (kick). The only Foreign-language film I’ve seen so far is Uncle Boonmee.

Biggest inclusion surprise: THE LAST EXORCISM?? Damn, if I’d known it had awards potential I would have gone to see it just to be able to judge for myself.

Saddest ommision: Bhutto for Best Documentary, though it may not have been eligible. I’m pretty clueless on eligibility requirements.

15

Ooops. This should be

16

New York Film Critics winners

Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Best Actress: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Best Screenplay: The Kids Are All Right
Best Cinematography: Black Swan
Best Foreign Language Film: Carlos
Best Non-Fiction Film: Inside Job
Best Animated Feature: The Illusionist
Los Angeles Film Critics winners

Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network & Olivier Assayas, Carlos (tie)
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Best Actress: Kim Hye-ja, Mother
Best Supporting Actor: Niels Arestrup, A Prophet
Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Best Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Cinematography: Black Swan
Best Production Design: Inception
Best Score: The Ghost Writer & The Social Network (tie)
Best Foreign Language Film: Carlos
Best Non-Fiction Film: Last Train Home
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Boston Society of Film Critics winners

Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Juliette Lewis, Conviction
Best Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Cinematography: True Grit
Best Editing: Black Swan
Best Score: The Social Network
Best Ensemble Cast: The Fighter
Best Foreign Language Film: Mother
Best Documentary: Marwencol
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Indiana Film Journalist winners

Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Inception
Best Actor: James Franco, 127 Hours
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Best Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Foreign Language Film: Lebanon
Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Animated Feature: How to Train Your Dragon
Southeast Film Critics Association winners

Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Best Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Cinematography: True Grit
Best Foreign Language Film: Mother
Best Non-Fiction Film: Inside Job
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3

17

Thanks ArchiveGuy! I’m working on the Golden Globe nominations, adding in links, but I’ve got an important movie to go to and they may not be posted until later. Here’s a cut and paste of the movie nominations. Caps are theirs, not mine.

18

Picking The Tourist, which is by most accounts awful, and shoehorning it into comedy/musical is an unusual amount of starfucking, even for the HFPA.

19

I didn’t think The Tourist was awful, I thought it was a lot of fun. Not great great, but the slight story, the Venice locations and staring at Jolie and Depp was a happy enough diversion for me. It was European enough that I can see why the HFPA liked it enough to put it on their list.

Same with Red. Not great, but fun enough. I had a good time watching it. Even if these films were nominated to get the stars to the awards, who cares? They more than make up for that in the excellent drama categories.*

  • edit to add I will post everything else tonight. I’m off to see a Film Noir lecture with a showing of Mullholland Drive, which I haven’t seen since it was originally released.
20

I have seen every one of these:

BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
BURLESQUE
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
RED
THE TOURIST

A rather amazing list - Alice In Wonderland was OK, but I didn’t think it was great.
I wrote a thread about Burlesque and said I liked it, but can’t say as I would suggest it being the Best of anything this year. I also started a thread about The Tourist that was a pleasant diversion, up until the ridiculous twist at the end that was just stupid.

So, I would say it comes down to either The Kids Are All Right and RED.
My guess is that The Kids Are All Right will win - the Lesbian angle and pro-tolerance aspect makes it a politically correct choice. Plus, to be honest, it was a decent film (although I know we have one hater here on the boards) that made it both funny and a “message” film.
That said, the film RED was simply fun - an action adventure with a real plot, a cast of truly great actors and everyone I know who has seen it liked it. A friend of mine worked on this film and said the actors had a great time making the film, and it shows.
We’ll see who wins, but my guess is the Golden Globes voters will stick to the politically correct option and Kids will win.

BTW, I am so pissed I didn’t go see Social Network, and now it isn’t showing locally anymore. Any idea when it is scheduled for release on DVD? (They often do that shortly before awards shows to get that extra buzz and more buyers/renters for the film).