With the Oscars quickly approaching on March 7th, everyone is scrambling to predict their picks for such awards as Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress, and all kinds of other prestigious awards. The system of selecting the Oscar winners has been changed this year, as has the nomination process, which has many people wondering about whether all of the movies are worthy of nomination.
In the past, only five films have been nominated for Best Picture, but starting this year the nominations have been extended to ten films. The change seems odd because it takes away from the exclusivity of the nominations, and also seems to let films of a lesser caliber into the running for the Oscar. Films such as Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, The Blind Side, and Up in the Air meet standards for an Oscar worthy film, the others simply do not seem to be of the same quality. Despite the adorable nature of “Up”, it does not provide the controversial or adult-oriented plot that screams Oscar nomination.
As far as my picks for the Oscars, Avatar is going to dominate the awards. With nominations in Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Music (Original Score), Film Editing, Directing, Cinematography, Art Direction, and Best Picture, Avatar is poised to make a splash on Oscar night. It is my prediction that Avatar will win Visual Effects, Music (Original Score), Directing, Art Direction, and Best Picture. Despite its excellent Cinematography, Inglurious Basterd’s excellent camera angles and Film Editing will win out over heavily artistically-based Avatar. As far as best Actor and Actress, Morgan Freeman (Invictus) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) are going to take these Oscars, just as Christoph Waltz(Inglourious Basterds) and Penelope Cruz(Nine) will win the Supporting Actor/Actress awards.
The Oscars ought to be an exciting event once again with some musical performances and excellent Red Carpet fashion. My picks are made, to make your own, log onto Oscar.com and print out your own ballot to cast your predictions, and watch to see how well you know the Academy on March 28th on ABC.
