Oscars 2011!

Yay! It's that time of year again! The Academy Awards are just around the corner!

I'm pretty excited! I love the Oscars! They're so fun to predict and finally the nominees have been released!

But I was surprised to find how many snubs as well as surprises there were this year!

So, I think I'll start in the "Best Picture" category. The nominees are:

The Black Swan

 

The Fighter 

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

127 Hours

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winters Bone

There aren't any surprises here, all the movies were very high Oscar contenders. Though I don't really have an opinion, since I've only seen Inception and The Kids Are All Right, (In my defense 127 Hours comes out here in two weeks The Black Swan came out last week and The Fighter is coming out in a week and I don't even know when True Grit and The Kings Speech are coming out) but from what I've heard my bet is, it's gonna' be The King's Speech. With 12 nominations it seems to be the most promising in the bunch, also it's a war movie which seems to fly well with the academy (The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Avatar etc...). Otherwise I think The Social Network has a good chance, though I was surprised to find it was only nominated in 8 categories even though I thought it might reach 12 like The King's Speech. Personally I'd like Inception to win, since I think it should have received more than just 8 nominations.

In the Best Actor category following nominees have been announced:

Jeff Bridges in True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network

Colin Firth in The King's Speech

James Franco in 127 Hours

Javier Bardem in Biutiful

Okay, so James Franco, Colin Firth, Jesse Eisenberg and Jeff Bridges were sort of predictable, but Javier Bardem?! Who saw that coming? I actually think it's pretty cool that he was nominated and would really like him to win, even though I think this one's probably going to Colin Firth. That is, him or James Franco. I don't think they'll give Jeff Bridges a second one in a row and I personally feel annoyed by Jesse Eisenberg so, my bet's on those three. I have a question though, why didn't Leonardo DiCaprio get nominated for Shutter Island? Why does the academy hate him? It's almost impossible to be such an awesome actor, get nominated three or four times and not win! I was really disappointed after reading the list of Best Actor nominees and not finding him on there!

Another major category is the one for Best Actress, the nominees are:

Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole

Natalie Portman in The Black Swan

Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone

Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine

The actresses in this category are less predictable, except for Natalie Portman in The Black Swan, she probably will even win the oscar. Although I want either Jennifer Lawrence or Michelle Williams to win. I haven't seen Blue Valentine, but Michelle Williams is a very good actress and therefore I trust in the fact that she has what it takes. As for Annette Bening and Nicole Kidman there has been less hype about them than the others, therefore I think they have a lesser chance. On the other hand I watched The Kids Are All Right and Annette Bening was very convincing as a lesbian, so it's really anyone's game.

Moving on. Next is the Best Supporting Actor's category, the nominees are:

Christian Bale in The Fighter

John Hawkes in Winter's Bone

Jeremy Renner in The Town

Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush in The Kings Speech

This category has the most surprises in my opinion. Aside from Christian Bale and Geoffrey Rush, who both gave exceptional performances, I wouldn't have thought any other of these actors would have been nominated. Because of the great praise and Golden Globe Christian Bale got for his believable drug addict performance in The Fighter I think he'll take home the gold, though I'd really like it to be Jeremy Renner, since he was practically robbed last year or Geoffrey Rush, because he's pretty cool. Otherwise Mark Ruffalo also acted very well in The Kids Are All Right , as for John Hawkes, I had never heard of him before this nomination and haven't watched Winters Bone, so I can't really judge...

Now to the Best Supporting Actresses:
Amy Adams in The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech

Melissa Leo in The Fighter

Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom

Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit

And more shockers, with the nominations of Hailee Steinfeld (who I'm so jealous of) and Jacki Weaver. Although it's been said that it's really only between Melissa Leo and Amy Adams I beg to differ, I think all of the contenders have a fair chance, though it'd be cool if Hailee Steinfeld, being only 14 or Jacki Weaver, being totally new to the academy, winning. Otherwise I love Helena Bonham Carter, so I'd like her to win too. So when it comes to the Supporting Actresses of this year, I'm neutral.

Now for the last category I'm blogging about: the Best Animated Picture Category.
(I know, most people would have chosen the Best Director category, but it amounts to the same thing as Best Picture)
Anyways, here are the contenders:
Toy Story 3

The Illusionist

How to train your Dragon

The reason I'm blogging about this category is because we all know Toy Story 3 has this one in the bag, but I'd really like The Illusionist to win. Even though it's the Secret of Kells of this year, it's very amusing and nicely made. Therefore I would just like to express my sadness towards that fact.

On a more brighter note, I've started a poll about whom you think should win. Please vote!
Regards,
Elle