Well, as expected the new 10 Best Picture Nominees format allowed for such popular films like District 9, Up and The Blind Side to compete against the usual suspects…but the biggest surprise was the inclusion of the Coen Brothers’ unfairly little seen (and the ‘Spin’s Best Picture of the Year at The Davies) A Serious Man. Had any “man” film made it to the dance, I would’ve bet money on A Single Man instead. It’s nice to be surprised sometimes.
Here are your 10 Best Picture Nominees:
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- The Hurt Locker
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
- A Serious Man
- Up
- Up in the Air
Click here for the IMDB’s complete list of nominees.
And what were the biggest snubs? No love for Emily Blunt? No love for Abbie Cornish?
Oh well, girls…at least you are young and have years ahead of you to get your eventual just “reward”.
Feel free to share your predictions on who you think will take home the big prize!
The Schleicher Spin 
Hi Dave:
Glad you got a pleasant surprise. Personally, I’m not sold on the 10-nominee lineup. Although movies like “District 9” and “The Blind Side” got nominated, it’s pretty clear they won’t win.
Historically, a film that is nominated for best picture but not best director has almost no chance of winning, meaning the actual contenders are …
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“Up In the Air”
If we see four or five years of populist films being nominated but not winning, I think the public could sour on the awards even more. It won’t take long for everyone to figure out that they’re just being thrown a bone.
On the other hand, I’m sure studios love this because now they can get even more marketing mileage out of the deal.
Cheers!
Forrest, in my mind it is just three contenders: Avatar (The King of the World) vs The Hurt Locker (the little movie that could directed by the King’s ex-Queen) vs Inglourious Basterds (the hipster dark-horse). And I agree with you about the director thing…but it was nice to see A Serious Man thrown a bone for best pic!
I would like to see The Hurt Locker, or Inglourious Basterds (I know, not too many would bet their money on Tarantino) to win.
But it might just turn out to be a populist vote and as much as I hate to say it, Avatar will win.
Let’s wait and watch!
Prakash, while I don’t think Tarantino has a shot in hell at best director…his film might be a dark horse worth betting on. –DHS
I haven’t seen either movie yet but I have this feeling that “Avatar” will win Best Picture but Kathryn Bigelow will win Best Director. I’m hoping to check out “Avatar” this weekend if we don’t get rocked by snow and I’ll rent “The Hurt Locker” post haste as well. Outside of that, the only investment I have in the awards this year is in Best Supporting Actor, where I hope Christoph Waltz takes the prize.
Christopher, I have a strong inkling there will be a split just as you describe. And Waltz…well, he’s waltzing away with the little gold man for sure. –DHS
Giving the Best Picture to “Avatar” may be a win-win for the Academy. Obviously a popular picture with the public and not an embarrassing choice either. As I mentioned over at ‘Watching Shadows on the Walls’ I just don’t want to see Cameron win best director and have to potentially listen to hear him say “King of the Universe!”
I also think Bigalow deserves the prize and would really like to see “The Hurt Locker” win Best Picture.
John, I agree very much with your best pic theory…giving AVATAR Best Pic makes them look like they recognize the “public choice” while giving Bigelow the Best Director win will make it clear they still know how to be cutting edge and make history (and also award the right person…I can’t think of the last time it was so obvious who really deserves it…THE HURT LOCKER was only great because of Bigelow’s hands — truly an auteur picture, though she did not write the screenplay…she “wrote” the movie with her direction). –DHS
BTW, that’s a funny shot of the Waltz for this article. Excellent!
John, yeah, I thought so. Thanks! –DHS
David: There are basically two theories out there at this point, and both have Kathryn Bigelow winning the Best Director prize. The first theory is that THE HURT LOCKER will overcome its meagre box-office performances and come away with the big prize, almost on the coat tails of Ms. Bigelow, much in the way that THE DEPARTED won a few years ago as a kind of “extension” of Scorsese’s popular win as Best Director. The fact that THE HURT LOCKER has won the five most significant critics’ prizes (New York, Los Angeles, National Society, Boston and Chicago) has the effect of impressing on the Oscar voters that this is a seriously ‘important’ film. Of course, Cameron himself, with his big ego, is not particularly popular with Oscar voters, and he’s already taken home the big prize once before. Also, in a general sense, the Best Picture and Best Director prizes usually go to the same film. I stress ‘usually’ here, not ‘always’ as we’ve had more than a few occasions where they’ve split.
The other scenario is the one broach here where AVATAR, a spectacularly popular film, will take home the Best Picture prize in large measure because everyone has seen the film, and it has rejuvenated the industry in a number of ways that will impact many well into the future. In this situation, Bigelow would still win Best Director, as many do want to award this prize to a woman, and she’s a scaled back and humble artist. I am not sure definitively which of the two will unfold, but it should become more apparent in the upcoming weeks.
I too David applaud the unexpected if ceremonial inclusion of A SERIOUS MAN in the main category, as I do UP and DISTRICT 9, but like you I am dumbfounded if not downright angry that Abbie Cornish, Paul Schneider, Jane Campion and BRIGHT STAR – my favorite film of the year – was ignored.
Sam, though I know it would offend you greatly…I’m still secretly routing for an Inglourious Basterds upset for Best Pic (it did win the SAG for best ensemble)…though even in that scenario I still see Bigelow walking home with Oscar. –DHS