Oscar Predictions

(I suspect that most people will see this when it turns up in my Facebook feed, no doubt long after the Oscar Ceremony has taken place. Rest assured that this was posted on my website before that happened.)

It's time again for my annual stab at predicting all the Oscar winners. Looking back through this blog's history I evidently forgot to post my predictions last year, but I did make them and in fact did quite well. Time will tell how this year's picks will fare:

Best Picture: The King's Speech

Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network

Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech

Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter *

Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech

Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network

Best Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland

Best Cinematography: True Grit

Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland

Best Editing: The Social Network

Best Makeup: Barney's Version

Best Music, Original Score: The King's Speech

Best Music, Original Song: Toy Story 3

Best Sound Mixing: Inception

Best Sound Editing: Inception

Best Visual Effects: Inception

Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Language Film: In A Better World

Best Documentary Feature: Exit Through the Gift Shop

Best Documentary Short: Strangers No More

Best Short Film (Animated): The Gruffalo

Best Short Film (Live Action): Wish 143

The last three categories are largely guesses, as per usual. Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design and Song could all easily go a different way as well.

* I have a Mar Bar on the line in a potentially mis-guided bet with a work colleague who believes that Geoffrey Rush will steal the Supporting Actor statue away from Bale at the last moment. I have faith!

* EDIT *

So, I got 16/24. Not bad, although I have done better in the past. I tried to be a bit adventurous in a few categories which backfired in a year of generally safe choices. I'm still peeved about Tom Hooper undeservedly winning Best Director, but at least I won my Mars bar...

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True Grit

Depending on your point of view, True Grit is either an adaptation of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis, or a remake of the 1969 Western starring John Wayne. Either way, it tells the story of Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl whose father is killed by a coward by the name of Tom Chaney. Swearing revenge upon Chaney, the stubborn and precocious youngster recruits Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), an old and drunken U.S. Marshal, to help her hunt down the fugitive. They are joined along the way by LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), a self-important Texas Ranger also on Chaney's trail.

I was disappointed by True Grit. Admittedly, Westerns are not my favourite genre but I had hoped that the Coen Brothers would have come up with something more interesting and distinctive. In fact, aside from one or two unexpected bursts of strong violence, the film bears almost none of the Coens' hallmarks and as such ends up as surprisingly generic and forgettable. Things pick up somewhat in the second half but it all eventually peters out to an anti-climactic ending - much like other recent Coen Brothers films. Perhaps they've simply forgotten how to write endings?

The one standout in the film was the performance of newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, a young girl with a very bright acting career ahead of her. My only argument against her recent Oscar nomination is that she has been named in the wrong category; hers is unquestionably the lead character in True Grit and as such a nod in the Supporting Actress category seems more than a little silly. Bridges and Damon are as good as you would expect them to be but both have had better performances in the past. All in all, this is an underwhelming effort that doesn't deserve even close to its 10 Oscar nominations.

VERDICT: Unspectacular. One for Western fans only.

IMDb

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The Fighter

I always find it fascinating how, despite personally finding boxing to be completely ridiculous as a sport, boxing movies are more often than not very good. And the latest entry into the genre is no exception.

The Fighter tells the true story of Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a down-on-his-luck welterweight boxer struggling to get his "one last chance" at a world championship, and his strained relationship with his older brother Dicky (Christian Bale) - a once-famous boxer who has since fallen into a crack cocaine addiction. There isn't really anything particularly original about the story or its inevitable conclusion, but given that it's based on real-life events you can probably forgive the script writer.

The Fighter features some superb performances, most notably Christian Bale in an uncharacteristically funny and at times heartbreaking role. He acts pretty much everyone else off the screen and absolutely deserves to win the Supporting Actor Oscar (if he doesn't, I'll be angry). In fact, you could almost argue that Bale's role is just as significant as Wahlberg's and could be considered a lead actor, but there you go. Amy Adams and Melissa Leo as Ward's girlfriend and overbearing mother respectively are also excellent. Together the ensemble elevates what is otherwise an entertaining but unremarkable film into something much greater. The boxing scenes are well-executed and put a smile on my face, but ultimately, this film is all about the acting.

VERDICT: Worth seeing for the performances alone.

IMDb

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