Die-hard film buffs and a swarm of discerning film critics (anxious to yelp "I told 'ya so") tumbled out of bed at the crack of dawn today to catch a run-down of the Oscar nods for the calendar year of 2010.
I was brimming with pride when the nominees were named because - as it turns out - most of my own predictions in all the major categories fell in line with those drummed up by the Academy.
Top Ten Flicks
Post: 12/28/10
http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-movies-for-2010social-network.html
Top 5 Actors & Actresses
Post: 01/02/11
http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2011/01/julian-ayrs-top-5-picksactors-actresses.html
Top 5 Directors
Post: 01/09/11
http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2011/01/julian-ayrs-top-5-picks-for-director.html
Top 5 Screenwriters
Post: 01/11/11
http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2011/01/julian-ayrs-5-top-picksbest.html
In some respects - a handful of hopefuls who received a nod from the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences - were a shoe-in to capture the coveted honor.
But, there were a couple of nasty upsets, nonetheless.
For instance, Julianne Moore - considered a leading contender for her seamless characterization in - "The Kids are Alright" - was passed over.
Mark Wahlberg - who pined quietly in the sidelines the past few weeks (surreptiously biting his nails) watched supporting players on his highly-nominated film (The Fighter) rustle up nods while he was left out of the ring.
The Academy could have at least tossed a bone to Ben Affleck - in the category of Best Director - since the handsome actor did such a bang-up job on his first big-budget suspense-thriller (the talented kid also garnered great critical notices for his feataure "Gone Baby Gone").
Uh-huh!
The big winner was "The King's Speech" which nabbed a staggering 12 nominations.
"True Grit" trailed behind with ten of the little suckers.
As expected - "The Social Network" - made a fairly big splash alongside the oh-so-dark "Black Swan" and the well-received boxing flick "The Figher".
Mo’Nique - who was dressed-to-the-nines in a spiffy body-fitting frock which suited her dark sultry looks, nervously shared the heady task of announcing the Oscar nominees with the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at (yawn) 5:30 a.m. on CBS.
With little more ado - drum roll - please!
BEST PICTURE
• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids are All Right
• Toy Story 3
• The King’s Speech
• The Social Network
• True Grit
• Winter’s Bone
• 127 Hours
BEST ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE
• Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
• Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
• James Franco (127 Hours)
• Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
• Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE
• Annette Bening (Kids are All Right)
• Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
• Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
• Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
• Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
BEST ACTOR IN SUPPORTING ROLE
• Christian Bale (The Fighter)
• Mark Ruffalo, (Kids are All Right)
• John Hawkes, (Winter’s Bone)
• Jeremy Renner (The Town)
• Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)
BEST ACTRESS IN SUPPORTING ROLE
• Amy Adams (The Fighter)
• Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
• Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
• Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
• Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)
BEST DIRECTOR
• Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
• David Fincher (The Social Network)
• Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (True Grit)
• David O. Russell (The Fighter)
ANIMATED FILM
• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist
• Toy Story 3
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
• Mike Leigh (Another Year)
• Scott Silver & Paul Tamasay (Fighter)
• Christopher Nolan (Inception)
• Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg (Kids All Right)
• David Seidler (The King’s Speech)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
• Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufroy (127 Hours)
• Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
• Ethan Coen and Joel Coen (True Grit)
• Debra Granik & Anne Rosselini (Winter’s Bone)
• John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, Michael Arndt
Toy Story 3)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
• Biutiful (Mexico)
• Dogtooth (Greece)
• Incendies (Canada)
• Outside the Law (Algeria)
• In a Better World (Denmark)
The Oscars will be handed out Feb. 27th amdist at lot of hoopla & dazzle at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, after nominees make the long arduous trek down the frenzied red carpet on Hollywood Boulevard.
Anne Hathaway and James Franco are hosting the splashy event!
See 'ya there.
As Bugs Bunny would say:
That's all folks!
http://www.thetattler.biz/
