My Thoughts on the 2010 Oscar Winners

When looking at these, make sure have a list of the 2011 Oscar winners with you on a different internet page. 


Best Picture
Well I definitely saw this one coming after Hooper undeservingly won the Oscar for Best Director. It was a shame that the Academy still has yet to really award a film about the aspects of our modern society of technology, but beside the point. The film was just okay, wasn't bad but I've seen this type of film like over a 100 times literally, it just never really got awarded until now. I will say that the acting was great but that was it. The Social Network offered a lot more when it came to creative filmmaking and being a better picture and I'm still glad I cast my vote for it and that I went down with the ship instead of predicting a movie that I didn't want to win. All I can say is shame on you Academy for refusing to recognize true significance in modern filmmaking and go with Harvey Weinstein's bribes instead. It's just like How Green Was My Valley vs. Citizen Kane all over again.


Best Director
This was when my mind yelled "WHAT?!?!?!". I mean I could understand a split between Best Picture and Director cause I really thought David Fincher had this one even if The King's Speech still took home Best Picture. That would've been an acceptable result, but instead they give it to the most undeserving off all, Hooper. Here's a question I'm sure a lot of people are asking, how on earth did Hooper do a better job at directing than Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, David O. Russell or even Darren Aronofsky? That just makes no sense. Yes I know what the director does in his line of work and Tom Hooper was mediocre at best compared to the others, especially Christopher Nolan. How was he creative? What was new that he did that other films haven't done? I've seen nothing new and I've watched this film twice, good acting, set design, writing was okay, but nothing special from the direction. One of the most undeserving wins for Director in a long time. 


Best Actor
I thought Colin Firth was deserving of this award. In my opinion, not the best performance compared to James Franco or Jesse Eisenberg but he's done so much in his career to finally get the recognition he deserves. I didn't really listen that much to his speech mainly cause I've already heard so many of his these past couple months and the fact that I was eager to get the Best Picture award over with. At least I'm now happy to say that Colin Firth is now an Oscar winner.


Best Actress
Yeah I saw this one coming as well, Natalie Portman is a great actress no doubt, but I didn't really like her performance in this. I mean it's not mediocre but it's such a one note performance, I mean I know it took her awhile to learn how to dance which I know wasn't easy, but the way she read out her lines and her facial expressions I did not find impressive, she did good but they didn't seem original or unique. At least she does have an  Oscar now so at least I won't hear people bitching anymore about how she's SO overdue, cause she's not at this point.


Best Supporting Actor
Okay, NOW we're getting down to business. A fine performance by Christian Bale earned him a well deserved Oscar. What else can I say? Well I was glad to see the real Dicky Eklund in the back standing up cause knowing how much that guy's been through, he deserves the fame and recognition. What else? Well it was kind of awkward he forgot the name of his wife in his speech, I mean I could tell he was nervous, but jesus... well hope he lives it down and can't wait to see him play Batman again for the third time, should be fun.


Best Supporting Actress
All right! F-bomb dropping Melissa Leo finally got her statuette. I know that she's really only known for two films, The Fighter and Frozen River, but you should be able to tell that she's worked for DECADES to get to where she finally got to last night. A few f-bombs shouldn't hurt. Hilarious, awkward but no problem for me.


Best Original Screenplay
It was kind of cool to see a man who used to stutter but over came it receive an Oscar for a movie about overcoming stuttering. Not only that, to be the new oldest screenplay winner ever now. I will say it wasn't the best "original" screenplay knowing it was telling the story of someone's life which the Academy chose instead of a new concept like Inception. He just got lucky there was no adapted material about King George VI cause otherwise Sorkin would have beat him for sure. Also I didn't think there was good character development in the film, but that's just a minor issue in my opinion. Other than that, I just wish Inception had won.


Best Adapted Screenplay
Well I am GLAD that the most deserving individual contender of the night got his Oscar knowing he'd gone years without having been nominated until now. It's a dream come true... finally. I mean with his snappy dialogue, not just in his movies and TV shows, but in his speech he gave, he knows how to label the Academy in the best terms. Even though The Social Network didn't win Best Director (still hate that) or Best Picture, it at least won it's most deserving nomination of all. Thank you Aaron Sorkin for a fantastic script that will be remembered for generations.


Best Cinematography
YES! The one I thought didn't have as good of a chance at winning  ACTUALLY WON! That was awesome because Wally Pfister had been overdue for awhile now and I'm glad Christopher Nolan kept him on the job for all his films cause I somehow knew that he would win an Oscar for a Nolan film. Thankfully it caught me my surprise that it was for Inception (Nolan's best film to date). I still feel bad for Roger Deakins who still has yet to win again, I mean jesus! 9 nominations, 0 wins?! Give the guy his frickin Oscar already Academy, unless you secretly hate the man for some reason. I don't know but mainly because of his loss True Grit went home completely empty handed, guess they must be tired of the Coen Brothers but if that's the case, why did you nominate them instead of Nolan for directing? Yes that still baffles me, I mean if you're not gonna award the most anticipated Oscar for True Grit to Deakins and instead give it to Inception, it would seem like you guys either thought Inception was a better movie or you just hate Deakins. I don't know, but congrats to Wally and I hope you get one someday Deakins you're as deserving.


Best Art Direction
Talk about the first shock of the night, I didn't think Alice in Wonderland was gonna get any. At least we know not to judge movies by their release date, of course I should already know that when Gladiator came out in May of 2000 advertised as a blockbuster but it also managed to win Best Picture, I still despise that to this day. Anyways I am glad Tim Burton managed to do it again. Two movies of his in a row win Best Art Direction, wonder what his next film can pull off. I did want Inception to win this, but when it won Best Cinematography right after, I thought that was a good trade.


Best Costume
Well I guess I was wrong, The King's Speech was not getting at least one tech category and once again, this March release managed to win more Oscars than half the Best Picture nominees. I am glad that The King's Speech didn't sweep. In fact it was this win right here and Social Network's win for Best Score that really gave me hope that TKS wouldn't win Best Picture, too bad. Guess, Weinstein saved all his bribe money for the top 4 awards instead of a sweep. Other than that, congrats to Colleen Atwood for your third Oscar.


Best Film Editing
That's satisfying. The best film of the year managed to receive Best Editing. Personally, (and I know most people would agree) I thought Inception was the real winner for Best Editing which still made no sense to me why it was snubbed. I still do give my full respect to Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter's win no doubt, but I was wondering why Inception was snubbed for Editing after it won Best Cinematography cause it seemed they really liked this film a lot to give it as many awards as The King's Speech, so what the hell did they find wrong with the editing? That to me is actually a bigger question than Nolan's snub for director quite honestly. Well either way, it did go to a truly deserved film which is still the true Best Picture winner in my opinion.


Best Sound
After seeing The Social Network win Best Score, I was wondering if its chances were increasing to win Best Sound Mixing, but of course it went to the obvious and more deserving film in this category. Inception had great sound and I'm glad a Christopher Nolan managed to double its wins from his last film by getting awards for categories they should've had for his previous films, The Dark Knight especially.


Best Sound Editing
Once again, Nolan dominates this category by hiring the best and then receiving the awards for being the best. As selfish and arrogant as that sounds, Inception was too great of a film to ignore.


Best Visual Effects
This was probably the most deserving award among all of Inception's nominations (it wouldn't be if Nolan was nominated for best Director though). It was great to see a Christopher Nolan film FINALLY get the Best Visual Effects award after making how many films? Well either way, it got what it deserved and I'm happy with that.


Best Makeup
I didn't really care much for this category especially knowing I never saw any of the nominees, but of course I went with my prediction of The Wolfman, and I got it right. Kind of interesting how about half the tech awards went to movies that were released really early in the year of 2010. It shows anything is possible.


Best Score
I loved all the nominees that I was happy no matter who won, thankfully it went to the most unique score. I was happy for Trent Raznor, mainly due to the fact that I can now say the guy from Nine Inch Nails is an Oscar winner. I was wondering if Inception would win this after its surprising win for Cinematography or The King's Speech who's score I really enjoyed by the way surprisingly. Either way, I was happy with the results.


Best Song
I'm glad Randy Newman got another Oscar after about 20 nominations total and the fact that a Toy Story movie finally won Best Song. I loved all the song nominees as well, I would've been happy no matter who won, glad it was Randy Newman. Nice speech by the way, Randy.


Best Animated Film
I'm not gonna lie, I was a little hesitant that an upset could occur after all the surprising wins in the beginning, but thankfully it went to Toy Story 3 which once again, I am glad a Toy Story movie won an Oscar for a category it should've had long ago. Not much else to say except thank God there wasn't an upset for this category.


Best Documentary
Good news I got this prediction right, bad news I don't get to see what Banksy looks like now. That would be funny if it turned out Justin Timberlake was Banksy like he said earlier and that if the movie had won that he would've gone up on stage saying "Seriously I wasn't joking." That would have been great. I'm still happy for Inside Job winning cause it does talk about an important subject that needs to be shown in every economics class at every high school. Congrats for the win.


Best Foreign Film
I guess Ebert and Roeper and I were wrong, but do I really care? I never saw any of these movies that were nominated, so... congrats to Denmark's win for A Better World. Good job guys. 

My Thoughts on the 2010 Oscars

Well last night's Oscars was interesting, and when I mean interesting I really mean just a simple good gone bad. Everything was going great at first with a lot of surprise wins which made me think that The Social Network had a massive chance at winning Best Picture, but all that was dumped completely down the drain when Tom Hooper won Best Director. I said to myself "and it's all down from here", and it was. There where three awards left to give and they were just too obvious that I wish I had turned off the TV sooner. When The King's Speech did win Best Picture, I went ahead and turned off the TV saying what a letdown. You go from Inception winning Best Cinematography to Hooper winning Best Director, that's no good. I will say that at least the show was good itself, the opening spoof of Inception was one of the best Oscar starts among any ceremony, and James Franco and Anne Hathaway I thought did a terrific job (I don't know why so many people on the web have been saying they sucked). Had great chemistry among them and their jokes were hilarious, I will admit Franco did seem a little off the scale, but knowing he was also an Oscar nominee for Best Actor I could understand there was more to think about besides his act. Anne Hathaway of course always impresses me with everything she does so of course she did great. Now I plan to post another Oscar related opinion revealing my beliefs on each win from every category (except the shorts). I'm not gonna lie, a few insults will be thrown at certain movies and celebrities *cough Tom Hooper* but also a few congrats to give out as well. Should be interesting.

My 2010 Oscar Prediction Results

Correct Guess
Incorrect Guess


Best Picture: The King's Speech (Horrible!)
Best Director: Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
(Even more horrible!!!!)
Best Actor: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Cinematography: Inception (YAY FOR WALLY!!)
Best Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland
Best Costume: Alice in Wonderland
Best Film Editing: The Social Network
Best Sound: Inception
Best Sound Editing: Inception
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Makeup: The Wolfman
Best Score: The Social Network
Best Song: "We Belong Together" (Toy Story 3) (Go Randy!)
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Best Documentary: Inside Job
Best Foreign Film: In a Better World (Denmark)


My Score: 14/21 (hey at least I got 2/3rd's right) 


I didn't predict any of the shorts because I chose to not them this year. 

My 2010 Oscar Predictions

Here are my predictions that I truly believe will happen on Oscar night, even if The King's Speech has won all the guild awards, that doesn't mean it's over, for all you Oscar nuts like myself FYI, Apollo 13 (the more deserving film of that year) has won all the guild awards before but only went home with two tech awards while Braveheart pretty much took everything else including Best Picture. Hopefully the more deserving film this year (AKA The Social Network) will do the same as it did at the Golden Globes. For most of you that probably haven't seen all the nominees, don't worry, just pull for The Social Network and Inception on Sunday night and we'll still be on the same page. If you don't like either of those films, I'll be very interested to hear why. If you haven't seen The Social Network or Inception, please do before Sunday night cause they're in my opinion the best films of the year. Anyways here are the predictions: 

Picture: The Social Network (I still have faith that it can win it)

Director: David Fincher (The DGA is more kind to newcomers than the Oscars are, it's still Fincher's to lose)

Actor: Colin Firth (even though I prefer James Franco, he’s still deserving no doubt)

Actress: Natalie Portman (I’m hoping Bening will upset, but not likely)

Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (Rush already has an Oscar, it must go to Bale)

Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo (Even her campaigning behavior won’t put a stop to her win, sorry Steinfeld)

Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech (which sucks cause I want Inception to win this)

Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network (give me one good reason why it doesn’t deserve this)

Cinematography: True Grit (I believe it’s Deakins’ year finally)

Art Direction: Inception (I don’t believe TKS will go for the sweep, you can still call this going out on a limb)

Costume: The King’s Speech (This I KNOW it will win)

Editing: The Social Network (we all know the true winner is Inception but unfortunately not the Oscars case)

Sound: Inception (Even if TKS is on a sweep, it will NOT take this one home)

Sound Editing: Inception (the only thing that can stop this is True Grit)

Visual Effects: Inception (If Inception only won one Oscar, it would be this one)

Makeup: The Wolfman (really everyone’s best guest)

Score: The Social Network (I really think the Oscars are taking the unique route this season)

Song: “If I Rise” [127 Hours] (knowing the film got 6 nominations including Best Picture and Editing, I can see them avoiding this film going home empty handed)

Documentary: Inside Job (knowing they didn’t award Super Size Me makes me think they avoid the unique subjects in this category only and decide to go with this instead of Exit Through the Gift Shop)

Foreign Film: Incendies [Canada] (best to go with the crowd for this category cause I literally have no idea, if Ebert and Roeper both predict this, I might as well)

I'm not putting any predictions down for the shorts mainly cause I haven't seen any of them and are usually to hard to call. I do hope I get at least half of these right, though really I just don't want The Social Network, Inception or Toy Story 3 to go home empty handed. Well nothing to do now except wait until Sunday night. Should be interesting.

Top 10 Movies of 2010

1. Inception

This is a movie that literally "BLEW MY MIND". I mean when I saw the trailer for this film, I thought I'd be expecting too much like how most movie trailers get you, but no, I got EXACTLY what I expected, an extremely well made action thriller with a well thought out original plot. I mean I really liked Christopher Nolan for his other films like The Dark Knight and Memento, but this film made me love the guy 10 times more. When I saw the rotating hallway fight, I never would've known they used non-CGI effects and a real room instead, which looked great on the IMAX by the way. Definitely earned my award for Best Director of 2010, and who knows, maybe of this decade.


2. The Social Network

Even though this didn't make my number 1 spot on this list, it's still the Best Film of the year thanks to Sorkin's brilliant screenplay, Fincher's unique direction, and Eisenberg's, Garfield's, and Hammer's superb acting. I really don't know how well this film could've done if it wasn't for those five (especially Sorkin). I know most people would say it's wrong to compare this almost as a remake of Citizen Kane set in this generation, but I'll admit from my own observation that it's not far off, and in a good way no doubt.


3. Toy Story 3

With no surprise really, Pixar has done it again, and not only that, Michael Arndt has impressed me again as well. After his amazing script to my favorite movie of all time (Little Miss Sunshine), he shines light to a franchise that I first thought didn't need another sequel, but I was wrong thankfully. After I saw this movie in theaters, I declared Toy Story 3 to have made the best ending among any trilogy. That's right, more than Star Wars, more than Back to the Future. It ends it on a perfect note that actually got me teary-eyed. Knowing I've been watching the Toy Story movies since I was 5, and here I am at age 20 still having that same exact feeling I did 15 years ago. Great job, Pixar!


4. Teenage Paparazzo

I know a lot of people didn't see this movie, but you can still find it on DVD and Netflix because this is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It captures such an important subject that most of us just try to either ignore or what we believe in teen magazines. It shows a very realistic image on what power the paparazzi have on people (mostly celebrities). Adrien Grenier known for starring in one of my favorite shows of all time, "Entourage" made this documentary from points of view I never would've guessed judging by the subject matter, from his point of view as a celebrity and a 13 year old kid who works for the paparazzi. You think that  it would be some unknown filmmakers following the paparazzi around trying to get an interview with them or something, but no you get the more interesting route. It's entertaining, smart and worth checking out when you have the chance.


5. Hot Tub Time Machine

You think judging by the title that it would be one of the worst movies ever made, right? WRONG! You get one of the most funny and entertaining movies of this year with a shitload of 80s movie references, Motley Crüe and of course one of my favorite actors ever, John Cusack! If you love the 80s or at least a few movies from that time period, watch this and you won't be disappointed.


6. 127 Hours

From the director of Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle makes another great Best Picture contender starring James Franco who I believe gave the best performance of the year playing Aron Ralston, a guy who gets his arm trapped under a boulder for five days and has to figure how to get out of the spot he's in. You think the movie would be plain boring to where he's just standing in the same spot for five days (over an hour running time), but with the flashbacks, hallucinations, and showing many different ways of him trying to survive it was entertaining from start to finish. Love this film, check it out.


7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Even though it only tells the first half of the book, it does it in a way to where it still feels like a full movie to where you don't feel like to much is left out. It's perfect the way they do it. Can't wait for the second half.


8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

The thing I never got was why so many people never went to see this, probably because they don't like Michael Cera which they've never given him a chance in the first place, but for me I was thrilled when I saw that there was comedy/video game romance film being made by the director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I'm surprised that didn't catch more peoples attention even when they knew Edgar Wright was in the director's chair and instead they ignored it and went to go see The Expendables. God help our modern audience. To those still boycotting this movie, GIVE THIS FILM A FREAKIN CHANCE! That is all.


9. Rabbit Hole

If you're not into movies with the slightest bit of depression, this one probably isn't for you, but for those who want to see right on the spot realistic performances and hear touching dialogue, have a seat in front of the TV with this film in your DVD player because you are in for a treat when it comes to terrific independent filmmaking. The plot of the film may sound depressing at first, but if you really dig deeper into the story, you might find something a little more appealing with the outcome and characters.


10. Kick-Ass

Yes, I know this is a love or hate movie. I first thought I was going to hate this after reading all those harsh reviews about it, but instead was happily surprised on how well-made and funny it turned out to be. The thing that even surprised me more (besides the jetpack scene at the end) was that Aaron Johnson who played Kick-Ass was the same actor who played John Lennon in that UK film Nowhere Boy. That I thought was awesome and showed how truly devoted to acting he really was, going from John Lennon to Kick-Ass and nailing the american accent perfectly. That is no easy task. Hats off to you Aaron Johnson. 

First Blog Post

Hey guys, just started this blog. This is my first post. Just testing to see how this works. I look forward to posting my movie reviews along with a bunch of lists I created as well. Looking forward to reading your comments once I get followers. Looks like I have a lot of work to do. Hope this works out.