Who will take home the Oscar at this Sunday’s Academy Awards? The Urbandaily makes some predictions.
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES:
Avatar
Hurt Locker
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Winner: The Hurt Locker. While Avatar wins in the court of popular opinion (ticket sales have already surpassed $1 billion), ‘Hurt Locker’ is clearly the critics’ darling, being hailed as the best movie of 2009 by countless reviewers. Kathryn Bigelow, the movie’s director, was recently awarded the 2009 Director Guild’s Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film, making her the first woman director to win. After a 12 year hiatus, Cameron showed exactly why he is ‘on top of the world’…’Avatar’s anti-capitalist, anti-militarist, pro-environmentalist opus is cleverly packaged in a visual masterpiece of CG magic. Of interest, Bigelow and Cameron were married briefly from 1989-1991…Sunday’s win just might prove who was the better half of their short-lived relationship.
BEST ACTOR NOMINEES:
Jeff Bridges (‘Crazy Heart’)
George Clooney (‘Up in the Air’)
Colin Firth (‘A Single Man’)
Morgan Freeman (‘Invictus’)
Jeremy Renner (‘The Hurt Locker’)
Winner: Jeff Bridges. I’m sure half of America hasn’t even seen this movie, but a good performance is a good performance. Jeff Bridges is second generation Hollywood with a strong body of work and the Academy knows it. His only serious threat would be Morgan Freeman, and while he already has an Oscar under his belt (‘Million Dollar Baby’), this would be his first win in the Best Actor category.
BEST ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock (‘The Blind Side’)
Helen Mirren (‘The Last Station’)
Carey Mulligan (‘An Education’)
Gabourey Sidibe (‘Precious’)
Meryl Streep (‘Julie & Julia’)
Winner: Sandra Bullock. I must admit, I’m a little baffled that Bullock would be nominated for a movie that was better suited for a Lifetime Movie of the Week. She’s already won the SAG and the Golden Globe, and in all of her interviews she’s repeatedly said that she didn’t deserve to win. This goes beyond false modesty or insecurity—she knows this is NOT her best body of work. Hopefully the Academy will spare us another one of her ‘I don’t deserve to win..’ speeches and give it to a more deserving actress. On another note, I wish the Academy would create a “Best Breakthrough Performance” category just for Gabourey Sidibe…yes, the critics are going ga-ga over 25 year old Carey Mulligan’s ability to play a 17 year old in ‘An Education’…but try playing a 13 year old at age 26 as Sidibe accomplished believably in ‘Precious.’
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon (‘Invictus’)
Woody Harrelson (‘The Messenger’)
Christopher Plummer (‘The Last Station’)
Stanley Tucci (‘The Lovely Bones’)
Christopher Waltz (‘Inglourious Basterds’)
Winner: Stanley Tucci. Tucci winning the Oscar would be tantamount to hazard pay—I don’t know any actor who would relish applying his Method acting skills into playing a creepy child molester/murderer. But if Anthony Hopkins could win Best Actor for playing a charming psychologist/cannibal in ‘Silence of the Lambs’, why not Tucci?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz (‘Nine’)
Mo’Nique (‘Precious’)
Vera Farmigia (‘Up in the Air’)
Maggie Gyllenhall (‘Crazy Heart’)
Anna Kendrick (‘Up in the Air’)
Winner: Mo’Nique. Admit it, this category is the reason most Americans of color will be watching. Say what you want about the political incorrectness of ‘Precious’, Mo’Nique’s performance was absolutely riveting. She was an evil b*tch–but the kind you see everyday in your own family, down the hall, or sitting next to you on the train. From the ever dangling cigarette in the corner of her mouth, to her unshaved armpits, Mo’Nique kept her character rooted in reality, and never insulted the audience’s intelligence by making her sympathetic or likeable.
–ReBecca Theodore-Vachon
