2010 Oscar Nominees

It’s that time of year again! No, Not Christmas (although it’s almost as exciting for me), but Oscar season! The nominees were announced yesterday, and I’m familiar with just about all the nominees and their performances, so this should be a good season. for me for picking the winners. We’ll see.

And the nominees are…

Best Picture

(Synopsis’ from Oscar.com)

There are 10 Best Picture nominees this year, rather than the usual five. The Academy decided to bump up the number in part because of declining viewership of the televised awards ceremony, and in part to open the field to a more diverse group of films. I think it’s a good decision, and I believe that it opens the door this year for Avata to be upset by The Hurt Locker. More on my picks later…

Avatar
With Earth an ecological disaster, a corporation sets its sights on the distant planet Pandora, which possesses a mineral that can be used as a valuable energy source. To overcome the resistance of the planet’s indigenous population, the Na’vi, former Marine Jake Sully is sent to infiltrate the society as a part-human, part-Na’vi avatar who can operate on Pandora while Jake himself remains in a twilight sleep.
(trailer)

The Blind Side
African-American teenager Michael Oher has been in and out of the foster care system throughout his difficult childhood. When suburban mom Leigh Anne Tuohy, whose children are Michael’s schoolmates, discovers him living on the streets, he gains a home with the Tuohy family and receives the stability and encouragement he needs to develop his talents as a football player.
(Trailer)

District 9
The arrival of an enormous disabled spaceship over Johannesburg, South Africa, has led to the establishment of a refugee camp on the city’s outskirts for the ship’s starving, stranded aliens. Leading an attempt to relocate its inhabitants to a more remote location is security expert Wikus van de Merwe, whose lack of knowledge about the visitors will undergo a dramatic change when he becomes infected with an alien substance.
(Trailer)

An Education
When Jenny, a 16-year-old English schoolgirl, finds herself the object of a calculated seduction by a charming older man, she is by turns wary, flattered, and disarmed by his interest. As their relationship develops, Jenny is drawn deeper into a sophisticated world of wealth and style that may be too good to be true.
(Trailer)

The Hurt Locker
As the war in Iraq continues, Staff Sgt. William James carries out one of the most dangerous of all military assignments: bomb defusing. While James thrives on the job’s risks ans seems to live only for the adrenalin rush, the head of his support team, Sgt. JT Sanborn, becomes increasingly worried by what he feels is a growing recklessness in James’s behavior.
(Trailer)

Inglourious Basterds
Shosanna, a resourceful young movie theater owner fighting to stay one step ahead of the Nazis in occupied France, plots her revenge on the man responsible for her family’s death, the flamboyant Col. Hans Landa. Her plan brings her in contact with Lt. Aldo Raine, who leads a group of Jewish soldiers known as the Basterds in a savage campaign behind enemy lines.
(Trailer)

Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Sixteen-year-old Precious Jones is overweight, nearly illiterate, and the victim of horrific physical and verbal abuse at the hands of her mother and father. Facing a seemingly hopeless future, Precious transfers to a new school, where a dedicated teacher and fellow classmates offer the unhappy young girl a chance for a new life.
(Trailer)

A Serious Man
In a series of escalating personal catastrophes, physics professor Larry Gopnik finds himself facing an unfaithful wife, ungrateful children, a troubled brother-in-law and poison pen letters at work. But Gopnik is a fundamentally decent man, and he tries, with increasing despair, to respond rationally and fairly to trials befitting a modern-day Job.
(Trailer)

Up
Carl Fredricksen, a gruff, lonely old man, thwarts an attempt to force him out of his home by launching it into the air with hundreds of helium balloons. As he sets his sights on South America, however, Carl discovers he has an inadvertent stowaway: a Boy Scout named Russell who was trapped on his front porch.
(Trailer)

Up In The Air
Ryan Bingham is a corporate downsizer who spends his days in hotels, airports, and airplanes as he travels around the country laying off other companies’ workers with polished finesse. His pursuit of a life without emotional connections is called into question, however, by his interactions with two women, one a sophisticated fellow traveler and the other an inexperienced young colleague.
(Trailer)

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Jeff Bridges
Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges portrays Bad Blake, a washed-up country-western singer whose meeting with a young journalist may help him to turn his life around.

George Clooney
Up In The Air

As Ryan Bingham, George Clooney plays a man who makes his living firing people and who prides himself on the absence of emotional connections in his life.

Colin Firth
A Single Man

Colin Firth plays George, a gay man in the early 1960s who must hide his grief over the death of his lover.

Morgan Freeman
Invictus

Morgan Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela, the South African president who seizes on the chances of the national rugby team in the World Cup as a means of uniting his troubled country.

Jeremy Renner
The Hurt Locker

Jeremy Renner portrays Staff Sergeant William James, a bomb defuser in Iraq who thrives on the risk and danger of his job.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Sandra Bullock
The Blind Side

Sandra Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, a suburban mom who takes in a homeless African-American teenager and encourages his talents as a football player.

Helen Mirren
The Last Station

As Sofya, Helen Mirren portrays the wife of author Leo Tolstoy, a woman locked in a battle with her husband’s admirers over the disposition of his royalties.

Carey Mulligan
An Education

Carey Mulligan plays Jenny, an English schoolgirl who is seduced by the charms of an older man.

Gabourey Sidibe
Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

As Precious, Gabourey Sidibe plays a pregnant teenager who struggles to overcome years of abuse at the hands of her parents.

Meryl Streep
Julie & Julia

Meryl Streep portrays cookbook author Julia Child, whose years in France with her husband inspire her to study the art of French cooking.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon
Invictus

Matt Damon plays Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African rugby team that becomes a surprising unifying force for a divided nation.

Woody Harrelson
The Messenger

As Captain Tony Stone, Woody Harrelson plays a military officer struggling to maintain his sobriety as he delivers news of soldiers’ deaths to their families.

Christopher Plummer
The Last Station

Christopher Plummer portrays Tolstoy, the great Russian writer who finds himself torn in his final years between his wife and his devoted admirers.

StanleyTucci
The Lovely Bones

As George Harvey, Stanley Tucci plays a serial killer who murders his neighbors’ 14-year-old daughter.

Christoph Waltz
Inglourious Basterds

Christoph Waltz plays Col. Hans Landa, a sinister Nazi officer with a talent for seeking out people in hiding.

Best Actress In A Supporting Role

Penelope Cruz
Nine

Penélope Cruz portrays Carla, the passionate mistress of a married film director.

Vera Farmiga
Up In The Air

As Alex Goran, Vera Farmiga plays a business traveler who begins a no-strings-attached affair with a man she meets in a hotel bar.

Maggie Gyllenhaal
Crazy Heart

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Jean Craddock, a journalist whose love and admiration for a broken-down country-western singer may change his life.

Anna Kendrick
Up In The Air

As Natalie Keener, Anna Kendrick plays an ambitious but inexperienced young woman who is sent on an eye-opening series of trips with a veteran colleague.

Mo’Nique
Precious: Based O)n The Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire