My 2011 Oscar Picks

It’s that time of year again, people! The nominees for the 2011 Academy Awards have been announced, and its time to once again start the debate of who will be the big winners for the night. I’ve seen the majority of the contenders this year, and suffice to say, the members of the Academy have a tough job ahead of them; there were a lot of really, really good flicks released this year. But without further delay, here are my predictions for the winners of the Oscars on February 27th.

Art Direction: Inception

Cinematography: Black Swan.

Costume Design: The King’s Speech

Documentary (Feature): Restrepo (FYI this is totally a guess as I’ve not seen any documentaries this year)

Documentary (Short): Sun Come Up

Film Editing: Black Swan

Foreign Language Film: Biutiful

Make-Up: The Wolfman

Music (Original Score): The King’s Speech

Music (Original Song): “If I Rise” from 127 Hours

Short Film (Animated): Day & Night

Short Film (Live Action): The Crush

Sound Editing: Inception

Sound Mixing: Inception

Visual Effects: If it doesn’t win at least this category, the Academy officially hates Chris Nolan. Inception

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Social Network. Usually whenever the Coen Brothers are nominated for this, they win. But The Social Network will be winning more than one Award, and Best Adapted Screenplay will probably be one of them. Its current, interesting, and speaks volumes about who we are now that everyone is connected of the world wide web.

Writing (Original Screenplay): The Kids Are Alright. Sure, Inception more than deserves to win it, but the Academy snubbed Tarantino last year for Precious. The Kids Are Alright is just a safer bet, not to mention that it really is a well written film. Plus, the Academy loves a lesbian flick.

Animated Feature Film: How to Train Your Dragon. My rule is that you never bet against Pixar, but Toy Story 3 is such an over worked piece of unoriginal crap that I think its time to pass the torch.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Melissa Leo in The Fighter

Though I am openly not a fan of the film, The Fighter brought a couple of truly great performances to the screen this year. One of the best is that of Melissa Leo as Alice Ward. She turned her character into the kind of no good mother in denial that you can’t help but love. No other performance is better than Leo’s, and I think she has a good chance at bringing it home.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale in The Fighter

Its going to be close. Geoffrey Rush is brilliant in The King’s Speech, and deserves the Oscar just as much as Bale. However, I would consider Christian Bale’s portrayel of Dicky Eklund the best in his entire career. Not to mention, the Academy loves a good controversial character, and you can’t get much more controversial than a crack addicted ex-boxer.

Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman in Black Swan

This is a tough one. The Academy loves stories about the gay community and politically motivated flicks, and Annette Bening totally rocked in The Kids Are Alright. But I’m going with my gut on this one…Portman brought the house down as Nina Sayers. She was snubbed a few years ago for her role in Closer, and she won the Golden Globe for Black Swan this year…I think it may finally be her time.

Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth in The King’s Speech

This is a given. If you’ve seen The King’s Speech, you know what I mean. Firth’s portayel of King George VI is the stuff that actors dream of being able to accomplish. He speaks as though he’s had a stutter his entire life in the film, and puts on display both the majesty and tragedy of being the King of an Empire. Colin Firth is the only real choice here.

Best Director: Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan

This is another gut choice. The Academy usually likes to give the Oscar for Best Director to the same movie they give the Oscar for Best Picture to, and though it very well could win it, I don’t think that Black Swan will win Best Picture. Its does, however, have a shot at Best Direction. Aronofsky is a genius at his craft; no one can produce a beautiful tragedy like he can. No one is a better director. He was overlooked for Requiem for a Dream, and he was overlooked for The Wrestler. It would be a shame if he is yet again overlooked for a masterpiece like Black Swan.

Best Picture: Alright! Let’s talk about the big cheese. I’m still not a huge fan of the expanded category, but at least certain films got an honorable mention that they never would have gotten otherwise; Inception, The Kids Are Alright, 127 Hours, and True Grit are all good films, but they’re definitely not Best Picture.

Toy Story 3 has no business being nominated. Whoever came up with that idea is just stupid.

That leaves us with Black Swan, The Fighter, The King’s Speech, The Social Network, and Winter’s Bone. If we’re honest with ourselves, neither The Fighter or Winter’s Bone have a chance. So that leaves us with the big three. Each one could very well end up sweeping the entire Academy Awards Ceremony, but I really hope it doesn’t happen that way. Its time for the Academy to spread the wealth a bit; more than one film deserves to be recognized.

Any of these three deserve it, but as in The Highlander, there can be only one. I won’t pick Black Swan because I think Aronofsky will get his due with Best Director.  And though I may regret it because of all the buzz it has received, I can’t pick The King’s Speech. It is more about the acting and the characters than the total production. So, my choice for the Best Picture of 2011 is The Social Network. David Fincher brought together top performances, a great soundtrack, and a tremendous script to create a film that, in a way, completely defines our modern lives. Its a story of love, betrayel, success, and abandon. You don’t get better chances at an Oscar than that.

Yeah, I know I’m going to disappointed on the outcome of a few of my picks, but I believe each one is pretty close. Let me hear YOUR picks, and we’ll talk some more after February 27th.