How Hurt Locker fares in a bunch of these categories might tell us a lot about how it will fare in the final category. Or not.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Will Win: Avatar
Should Win: Avatar
Seriously? Is there some suspicion that District 9 is gonna walk away with this one? The one thing that everyone can agree on with this flick is the visual effects. The boundary that has been pushed, the moment in film history that has been marked is all about visual effects. Honestly, it’s kind of mean to even nominate the other two.
I’ll drink the koolaid on this one. It really is an amazing film to look at, and the digital reality that Cameron has created, both on the faces of the actors and their surroundings is convincing (although Gollum is still the most impressive CG character creation/performance to date, imho).
ANIMATED FEATURE
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
Will Win: Up
Should Win: Up
We can pretend that Fantastic Mr. Fox is a spoiler, but critter, please.
One of the best films of the decade. There, I said it. Actually, there I said it.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon
Will Win: The Hurt Locker
Should Win: The Hurt Locker
Not an easy pick. You’ve got BAFTA, one of the few other major awards ceremonies giving out a cinematography award, giving theirs to Hurt Locker (along with a bunch of critics circles). You’ve got ASC (cinematographer’s union) going with The White Ribbon. And then you’ve got these random people thinking Avatar‘s a slam dunk, and to their credit, this does more or less follow the “if it’s a technical award, it will go to Avatar” rule.
First off, I don’t think most of the Academy has seen The White Ribbon. Secondly, I get the sense that when people think of Avatar, they don’t think of cinematography, at least not in the traditional sense. I think they think of a bunch of guys sitting at computers. Not a guy with a camera. When they think of Hurt Locker, there’s a guy with a camera. Getting amazing shots.
That one image at the beginning of the film with the grains of sand. You know the one? If not, I’m not going to spoil it. But right there it won Best Cinematography in my heart.
FILM EDITING
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Will Win: Avatar
Should Win: Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Again, a tough call. As often as not, the Best Picture favorite nabs this one. That’s easily Avatar here, though some might say Hurt Locker (more on that later). Hurt Locker, on the other hand, did nab the ACE Eddie award and the BAFTA for Best Editing. Ultimately, though, I feel like Hurt Locker is only going to be able to pull so many wins away from Avatar, and this won’t be one of them.
The tonal shifts in Precious are not easy, but the editing makes them seem that way. The fantasy sequences in particular are well-merged. Just as important, knowing when not to cut, as in Mo’Nique’s climactic monologue.
SCREENPLAY – ADAPTED
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Up in the Air
Will Win: Up in the Air
Should Win: Up in the Air
All of the stars have lined up for this one. Globes, BFCA, BAFTA, WGA, and virtually every critics circle pointed at Up in the Air and said “yes.” Will probably be the only award it wins, but still.
My favorite movie of last year, and the screenplay is no small part of that. Oh, by the way, go see In the Loop. The only reason I didn’t pick it for “should” is that a lot of the (amazing) dialogue is improvised.
SCREENPLAY – ORIGINAL
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up
Will Win: Inglourious Basterds
Should Win: Up
Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds are practically neck and neck on this one. Locker got the love from WGA and BAFTA while Basterds got BFCA and a ton of critics circles (basically everyone who didn’t vote for (500) Days of Summer, which inexplicably didn’t make the Oscar cut). Here is one of the places I think the unfortunate e-mail will come back to bite Hurt Locker in the ass, with the Academy giving the more familiar Tarantino his second win.
Hurt Locker specializes in character and action and Inglourious Basterds specializes in dialogue and theme, but Up doesn’t specialize. It masters every narrative skill set and makes it look effortless. That amazing dialogue-free opening sequence? Somebody wrote that. The hilarious dialogue? Same. The highly original action sequences? All on the page.
In our final installment: Real war vs. fake war.
Comments