Who's Excited for Oscar Weekend?!

It's that time of the year again, time for the Oscars, where the best movies of the past year compete for a little golden man trophy! This year there are some interesting nominees and some close races, plus the Best Picture category was extended from 5 nominees to 10 this year for the first time since 1943. I'm going to list the 6 main categories and my predictions for who is going to win below.


Best Picture:
Avatar - My pick
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

I'm rooting for Avatar to win the main prize for sure. Not only is it the highest grossing movie of all time at the box office, it is also the most visually stunning and the most entertaining, fun, and memorable movie I've saw in years. Sure The Hurt Locker is also a great movie and in a year without Avatar, I would say it was going to win 100%, but in my opinion Avatar > all the other nominees.

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart - My pick
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

All signs point to Jeff Bridges winning this one. George was great in Up in the Air but I don't know, it seemed like such an effortless performance. Jeremy gave a gripping performance in The Hurt Locker but it doesn't have the heart that Jeff Bridges performance does. Jeff Bridges gives an authentic, emotional, and he totally brings this tragic alcoholic into reality.

Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia - My pick

I feel this is a tight race and everyone nominated deserves it, but we all know the race is truly only between Sandra and Meryl. I love both of these actresses and in fact they are my two current favorite actresses. Meryl is like the definition of Oscar, having been nominated a record 16 times, having won only 2 though and she hasn't taken one home since 1983. Sandra is a veteran actress who has always been more of a crowd-pleaser actress; she has done a lot of commercial fare(such as Miss Congeniality and Speed) and this is her first nomination. Honestly, I want Sandra to win, I would love to see her win, she has always been one of my favorite actresses, but I have this feeling Meryl is going to finally take home another Oscar, which isn't a bad thing and I'll be happy if Meryl wins too, but I'd rather see Sandra take it, I just feel like Meryl will, so she is my pick for the win.

Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds - My pick

Best Supporting Actress:
Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’Nique, Precious - My pick


This year the supporting actor/actresses races are over before they even really began. We all know who is going to win both of these categories because the two clear front-runners gave such gripping, mesmerizing, fantastic performances. Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique are of course who I am talking about. Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, is so good it scares me. Every scene he is in, it makes me nervous, I can feel the tension in the room. It was a gripping performance and he totally deserves to win, the same with Mo'Nique. Her performance as Mary Jones in Precious makes me feel the same as Col. Hans Landa. Mo'Nique's performance was undeniably crazy and was transformed into a monster and showed so much emotion. So yeah, these two categories aren't even a race, however I'd like to say I loved Vera and Anna in Up in the Air, especially Vera, my runner-up choice.

Best Director:
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker - My pick
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Another tight race, and this time it is between exes. Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron, both great directors, their movies are like total opposites, David vs. Goliath-type thing. Avatar the 700 million dollar+ visually stunning, beautiful, blockbuster vs. the 13 million dollar gritty, indie war action-drama. I want Cameron to win this just because I love Avatar so much and I feel he did a phenomenal job creating this fascinating world, but I think Kathryn will probably win. Not only will she be the first female director winner, but she has swept almost all the pre-oscar award races, plus much of Hollywood think James Cameron is an egotistical prick. I want Cameron to win, but Bigelow is my pick for who is going to win.

Well that's the six main Oscar categories. Agree or disagree with my picks? It is going to be an interesting Oscar night either way, be sure to tune on Sunday @8:30PM EST on ABC for the telecast!