Oscar 2010: Final Words

"At the end, he called me to his deathbed. He could barely speak, but he took the trouble to tell me one last thing. He pulled me close, and I could only make out one word. 'Disappointed'." - Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) from Inception

We can now leave 2010 to the past, and stop dwelling in it with anger and desperation. The awards season is over, and much like Maurice Fischer in Inception, I am too am disappointed. If there's one thing that last night's Oscar telecast showed us, it's how pathetic 2010 in film was compared to 2009. I was part of the most delusional Oscar party in America, with people who honestly felt that 2010 was a modest improvement, both in respects to the films and the ceremony. I wasn't a fan of 2009's mixed up and frantic show, last night's show was all over the place. It was as corny and frantically emotional as the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, the second worst Oscar winning film of this year. But thinking back to the films released, there is a noticeable rift in quality.

The King's Speech and Inception both walked away with four nominations, the latter in all technical categories and the former only in the big eight categories. The Social Network only walked away with three, all of which were well deserved awards. Some of the most disappointing awards decisions were based solely on the politics of the show. Banksy definitely deserved to win for Exit Through the Gift Shop, but the Academy was without a doubt fearful that he would ruin their precious little show, as if they needed any help with that. I'm a moderately understanding person, but I just don't stand for giving awards out to anything less than the best in each category. It didn't help that there just weren't many interesting films out this year. Probably the most disappointing upset was Roger Deakins being snubbed from Best Cinematography once again. The man just can't seem to catch a break, even after all these years.

I guess that's the way things are meant to go. The best films of the year go by under-appreciated, and the obvious crowd-pleasers are the victors. It wasn't always like this, as the Academy decided in the past two honor the best, not compromising for the sake of flash. 2007 may have been the best Oscar year in the past ten years, with films like Juno, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood pushing audiences once again to widen their horizons. If this year were more like that year, the five nominees for Best Picture would be Winter's Bone, Black Swan, The Social Network, True Grit, and The Fighter, not even mentioning The King's Speech. Those great days are past us, but I sill manage to hope that changes this year.

If things seem somewhat sparse here for the next week, it's because I'm quite honestly busy catching up with my real life. I need a break from this mania, and what better way to do it than immerse myself completely in this year. The next month offers some exciting features, and even if they turn out to be merely unintelligent diversions, that will be a welcome break from the over-intellectualized ramblings we Oscar prognosticators have been partaking in over the past few months. It all boils down to one night, and that night has to deliver. This year, it just didn't. I leave you with my guiltiest pleasure from last night's show.

Oscar 2010 Predictions: Makeup

I'm not going to deny that Alice in Wonderland's absence from the makeup nominations didn't shock me a bit. I'm not going to say that I appreciated it on an artistic level, but with all the buzz that's been going for it in the precursors, I totally expected it to make an appearance here. I'm not upset that the film now stands little to no chances of winning anything on Oscar night, but it complicates the race a bit. It makes me wonder exactly what film will win, based on the Academy state of mind. What would seem like the initial winner, and is indeed what most people are pegging for the win, is The Wolfman, but I'm not so sure.

The lack of Alice in Wonderland in this category clearly shows the Academy's adherence to quality, and not obvious appeal. The only makeup job that comes to mind in terms of The Wolfman is the titular creature, and I don't think I'm alone when I talk about how cheesy and stupid it looks. I wouldn't vote for that, and certainly not against some of the other clear choices. The Way Back has its only nomination here, so the Academy may indeed point their attention there, giving the overlooked treasure some recognition. The film I'd like to see win, and is fully deserving of it, is Barney's Version. It surprised us with its inclusion on the shortlist, and later when it actually made it into the nominations. I think that it could go all the way to the win. It's the film I'm predicting to win, because I want the bragging rights. I'm predicting a surprising Oscar night, which may or may not happen.

1. Barney's Version
2. The Way Back
3. The Wolfman

Will/Should Win: Barney's Version
Potential Upset: The Wolfman
Should Have Been Nominated: True Grit

Oscar 2010: Final Nomination Predictions (Part 1: Technical Categories)

We're less than a week away from the announcement of the nominations for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, so it's a good idea to go over our predictions for what will and won't be nominated. If you want to skip this explanation, you can just skip over to the Oscar Prediction page as we update it over the weekend, although I obviously recommend that you read our drawn out explanation. Today we'll be covering the technical categories. Tomorrow we'll be going through the acting nominations. Monday, we'll go over the top race of Best Picture, Director, Animated Feature, Documentary, Foreign Language Film, and the Screenplay races. So lets get started, shall we?

It's been a pretty slow week, and that's probably a good thing since I had a lot of settling in to do. It gave me some time to take a closer look at the technical categories, and as set in stone as they may seem, I feel like we're going to get some surprises. The obvious frontrunner in the technicals is Inception, which has some pretty solid locks in Score, Cinematography, Art Direction, Visual Effects, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing. There's no qualms or quibbles about the film making its due. It was snubbed out of the Makeup category, which it had a minor chance at because of old Saito. I hoped for Costume Design to be surprise nomination for this one, but it's probably not going to happen.

Alice in Wonderland is a film nobody wants to honor, yet it somehow deserves those honors. It had a fantastic team on Makeup, Art Direction, and Costume Design, so it'll take some kind of miracle for it not to take home anything. The Wolfman will be securing a nomination in Makeup, but nothing else. Rounding out the makeup category is a rather difficult choice between The Way Back and Barney's Version, though I'm rooting for the latter. God forbid Jonah Hex walk away with an undeserved nomination. The only categories I can't really do any advising on are Sound Editing and Mixing. TRON Legacy is probably going to get some nods, but I've not a clue beyond that.

Only slightly more insightful am I at Costume Design, which I keep placing I Am Love in because I can't see why it should be nominated. The King's Speech is a lock, not to mention the frontrunner against Alice in Wonderland for the win. Burlesque could make it in for obvious reasons, but I don't really see why it should. Heading into the categories I'm more well associated with, Original Score is a bit of an obsession of mine. The ultimate battle will be between Inception and The Social Network, but as far as filling out the other nominees, it's a bit harder. John Powell will probably get a nod for How to Train Your Dragon, and as for the rest, I'm hoping that Alexandre Desplat doubles for two of his films. The King's Speech will obviously make it in, but I hold onto my belief that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 will make the cut.

Speaking of Deathly Hallows: Part 1, I still think that this will be a great year for the fantasy franchise. It'll definitely snag a Visual Effects nomination, but it's more of a struggle to get nods in Cinematography, Art Direction, and Original Score. It probably won't happen, but I hold out hope that it will. Black Swan is another one to watch for, properly becoming a presence in Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Cinematography. Perhaps the most extreme prediction I have is that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will make the Visual Effects race over Alice in Wonderland. Probably won't happen, but I hope it will.

Rounding out the technical categories is Film Editing, which is the most straight forward in terms of predictions. The Social Network, Inception, Black Swan, and 127 Hours are all practical locks, but my guess to fill out that final slot is The Fighter. Of all the aspects of that film, the aggressive way it was edited was the thing I loved the most. That just about covers the technical achievements, albeit in a jumble and non-routine way. For the simple rundown of my guesses, check out our Oscar Predictions page as it is updated over the weekend. In the meantime, please comment on which films you think will or should be nominated come Tuesday morning!

Oscar 2010: Seven Makeup Finalists

One of our final glimpses into the look of this year's Oscars before the nominations are announced, we now have the finalists for the makeup race, and it certainly is a bit surprising. For one thing, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was strangely snubbed from the category. I suspect that won't be the case next year with Part 2, but it's still a bit surprising. Jonah Hex has no real chance of being nominated, so I don't think anybody is putting that forward to be nominated. Alice in Wonderland is a pretty sure bet at this point, and we now have confirmation that Barney's Version and The Way Back are indeed eligible contenders in this year's race. I just hope the taste of the Academy rolls above The Wolfman, but it probably won't.

"Alice in Wonderland"
"Barney's Version"
"The Fighter"
"Jonah Hex"
"True Grit"
"The Way Back"
"The Wolfman"

Positively Schlocking: Worst Films of 2010

It was a pretty depraved year at the movies in 2010, and so it was relatively easier to fill out this list than the list of the best films of the year. We had so many colossal disappointments this year, I didn't even get the chance to see them all. Sure, I did have the anything-but-unique opportunity to see Alice in Wonderland and Nightmare on Elm Street, but I missed out on Jonah Hex, Marmaduke, and most recently, Yogi Bear. I'm not about to say that I've suffered most, but I have suffered. So, to get it all out of the way, here is my list of the worst films of 2010!

5. The Other Guys

For most of the films on this list, there was never any reason to believe that they would be the slightest bit good, mostly due to their reputation or director. The Other Guys didn't really have any of that bad blood going against it. I've liked everything Adam McKay has put out so far, so I'm dismayed that this film ended up being so bad. On the way back home from seeing this one, the dread filled in of how disappointing this project was. One of the most important things to holding a film together is a coherent narrative, and I wasn't able to understand any of what happened in this film. If you asked me to give you a quick recap of the plot, I honestly would fail miserably. Mark Wahlberg gives one of the most irritatingly self-explanatory performances of his career, the screenplay is so poorly made with the run-on gags that take up most of the time and just aren't funny. I wish Will Ferrell's performance could redeem it, but this was quite simply a train wreck.

4. The Wolfman

You can be forgiven for not remembering this film, as it feels like so long ago since it was released. Or maybe you forgot because it's just so forgettable. This horror remake had mixed responses when it came out, with some despising it with a passion for the same reasons I did, and some liking, or even more amazingly loving it for the simple reason that it's a gothic horror film. I for one hated it, because it was so damn corny and trashy. With a score by Danny Elfman and a powerful cast behind it, I still don't quite know how it failed so badly. They had Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving, but none of them managed to impress. The makeup job they did on the Wolfman made him look like Chewbacca. It's hard to believe in a tragedy when the lead character is so dull and wooden. This is the main reason why I'm so worried about the Captain America film, because Joe Johnston is directing it just like he directed this. I actually believe Thor is going to end up being the solid view of the two.

3. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Unless Bill Condon turns out to be some sort of God who is able to turn something rapidly unappealing into something enjoyable, there will always be a Twilight film on this list until the series ends. I do try my best to avoid films that have a likelihood of sucking, but I manage to make an exception for this series. So what's to hate about this chapter of the series? The characters, to start with, are two-dimensional figures who could only find a happy home as cardboard cutouts. If I found one for an affordable price, I would snatch up a Taylor Lautner cutout in a heartbeat. The story is a simple rehash of New Moon, which is a simple rehash of Twilight, so if you've seen either of those films, you've seen this film already, only better. The thing that frustrates me the most about this film is that it doesn't care about what we care about. Towards the end of the film, there is a 10 year old girl who was just turned into a vampire. And "our heroes" stand aside as her short life is brutally ended for no reason. Nobody cares about the leads if they're so quick to sacrifice the lives of the weaker. This is a series about sad things happening to pretty people, and I just couldn't care less about it. And how does the film end? Well I honestly can't tell you, because I left the theater enraged before the final scene.

2. Saw 3D

The Saw films have had a standard going on for a while, and it's a standard that I've been more than alright with. Don't expect any narrative quality. Don't expect any quality acting. Don't expect any supreme technical advantages. All you're ever going to get is blood and gore delivered in style (kind of). The latest, and apparently last, Saw film didn't deliver any of that, and so it made all the faults of the film shine through so much more. The cinematography is quite literally the worst cinematography of any film made this year. I can't really comment on the music, because it was utterly forgettable. The acting was stale as a cracker, the direction was a non-factor, and the screenplay was dumb as all hell. Even the traps managed to disappoint. One of the traps was just a bunch of foot tall spikes with a good two feet in between each other, and a man tangling just a few feet above them. Instead of just landing, he flails around like an idiot, which is pretty much what this film does.

1. The Last Airbender

You can sit through endless pointless schlock and never reach the level of disappointment or dread that this film instilled in me. Never before has a film with so much potential failed in such a disastrous fashion. M. Night Shyamalan already had one foot in the grave before he made this film, but if studios allow this man to continue making films, they're only hurting themselves. Personally, I was so excited to see a feature film made out of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the anime television show that I devoted a good amount of my childhood to. I was never able to quite understand why people were so aggressive against the new Star Wars trilogy and the fourth Indiana Jones, though I can't deny that The Phantom Menace was painful to sit through. However, now I truly know what those men in their forties meant when they said that George Lucas raped their childhoods, because Shyamalan just raped mine.

This film failed in almost every aspect possible. The cinematography, which was simple and uninviting to begin with, had been glossed over with poor color conversion, to the point where it looked like they just put blue cellophane on the camera. The visual effects felt unrealistic and like a ripoff of D-War, which is just a new low. The action actually managed to make my adrenaline plummet, because it was just plain boring and stupid. The acting is perhaps the worst in any film I've ever seen, even from the Slumdog Millionaire kid. The direction was aimless and almost bent on making this the most difficult film to ever sit through. The script took any important and emotional moments of the first season of the show, and either threw them out or gave them two minutes of screen time with the most cliche dialogue you'll ever hear. They somehow even managed to mispronounce every single name in the series, especially the name of the main character. I must beg you never to subject yourself to this, because it will literally make your brain cells die within seconds. This is the worst of the worst, and gives the audience nothing in return for their time and money.