2010 Oscar Pics

About a month ago, I wrote down my Oscar pics for this year so I could compare them to the Academy Award nominations once they were announced. I saw forty of the movies that were released in 2009 but I didn't see all of the favorites. Here are some of the movies that I missed that other people have loved: Crazy Heart, Inglorious Bastards, The Hurt Locker, The Messenger, Invictus, A Single Man, The Lovely Bones, A Serious Man, and An Education. Nine and The Last Station are movies that received great reviews but which don't really appeal to me. I'm sure I'll see all these movies in the next year though Netflix or HBO and maybe they'll bump some of my favorites off the list. But until then, here is my opinion of the best movies and performances of the year based on what I saw.

My Best Pictures:
1. District 9- If you haven't seen it go see it. Great sci-fi movie with a great story and plenty of action and drama to keep you glued to your seat the entire time. No huge Hollywood names just fantastic directing and acting. It won't win because no one famous is in it but at least it got a Best Picture Nominations. I can't understand why no Best Directing Nomination.

2. Star Trek- Yes it lived up to the hype. I've never seen an episode of Star Trek in my life and I loved it. No idea why the Academy chose to snub this one in all of the major categories. Should get Best Picture and Best Director nods at a minimum.

3. Avatar- Great special effects. Not so subtle message within a good story. Not sure why there is so much controversy over this one. Well deserved nominations for Best Picture and Best Directing.

4. Julie & Julia- Who knew Julia Child and some random blogger could be so interesting. Meryl Streep has the best actress performance for sure this year.

5. Away We Go- A total surprise. Two comedy actors show that they can do drama. Great story about love and all the tough decisions that come after college. An Oscar Snub not a surprise for such a small market film.

6. Precious- Heart wrenching. Hard to believe Gabourey Sidibe has never acted before. A well deserved best actress nomination for her and for Mo'Nique who is a shoe-in to win best supporting actress.

7. The Blind Side- Yeah the movie had an obvious Disney touch to it but it was still a really good movie. I don't think the writers glossed over how difficult the transition was for an underprivileged black kid to move in with a rich white family in the south. I think they choose to focus on all the positive things that happened to him after he made that transition and I'm okay with that. We don't need a three hour epic cry fest for every "overcoming adversity" story out there. Sandra Bullock deserves the Best Actress Nomination but she should not win.

8. Up- Way to go Disney. Not just for the kids. A really good movie with some great voice actors and fantastic story. Thanks Academy for not overlooking an animated movie as a Best Picture nominee.

So the Academy agreed with 5 of my pics. Not bad. I did see Up in the Air but it wasn't nearly as good as everyone said it was going to be. If you want to throw a nomination to George Clooney for Best Actor I'm okay with that but there is no way this was one of the best 10 movies of the year. The other 4 movies that were nominated are on my list of movies I haven't seen yet and I sure at least 2 of them are better than or as good as the 8 best movies on my list. It's hard to argue with the Best Actor and Supporting Actor nominations with such highly acclaimed performances even though I haven't seen most of the movies. I just hope the star power behind Up In the Air doesn't get it more awards than it deserves.

The Hangover is a movie that people think should have been nominated for an Oscar but the entire movie was ruined by the previews and trailers weeks before the movie was even released. I saw the movie within a week of its release and there was not one funny scene that I didn't know about ahead of time. If it weren't ruined for me then maybe it would have made the list but a comedy movie isn't all that funny when someone has told you all the punch lines ahead of time.

The Oscars are the only award show that I watch religiously every year. I hope there are a few surprises and not just all the big names winning. I can't wait to hear about all the documentary, independent and foreign films that I have never heard of but will add to my Netflix list shortly after the broadcast. Happy movie watching.