My 2010 Oscar picks

Yeah, I know this image SEEMS inappropriate, but I did a double take at first. I thought that was Faye Dunaway on the right! ¶ Yes, it's time again to predict the Oscars. Shouldn't be hard this time: I'm thinking Avatar's going to sweep everything it's nominated for. No acting awards, but even if it did get some the elite Oscar voting block wouldn't pick Sam Worthington or Zoe Saldana or... whoever else. I first had this realization when Schindler's List got dissed for the acting by the Oscar voting block. Now they just don't nominate the actors involved at all, like with Lord of the Rings 3.
As for 2007's big winners, well, you never know! There might be an accounting error, or maybe a solid voting bloc will vote the least expensive Best Picture winner out of protest... something like that. There's some leftover goodwill from NCFOM apparently amongst the nominating bloc. Not so much for, say, M. Night Shyamalan, for some reason. Anyway, Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep seem to be shoe-ins. Sandra Bullock wants that Oscar so bad she can taste it, but I don't think the baby boomers are yet ready to relinquish their might. After all, 60's the new 30! Mo'Nique's the odds on fave in supporting actress. Waltz of Inglourious Bastids is the odds-on fave for supporting actor; otherwise, it's anyone's guess. Disney's going head to head against itself with Up and The Princess and the Frog. I'm thinking Pixar will still take home the prize, but Crazy Heart will win for song. Gotta; just gotta... then again, maybe not! And once again I'm using the weighted system. A ten means it's most likely to win, a one is least likely. Just my opinion. We'll see how well I do out of 121 points. Sorry to dis you, Clooney, but this isn't 2005, and Up in the Air's not the it film. Otherwise, you're still the man, man! And as always, for the short films and documentaries, I go with the best sounding title, just like the Oscar voters themselves.
Awright! On to the picks:

Best Motion Picture of the Year
10# Avatar (2009) - James Cameron (I); Jon Landau (I)
9 # A Serious Man (2009) - Joel Coen; Ethan Coen
8 # The Hurt Locker (2008) - "tbd"
7 # An Education (2009) - Finola Dwyer; Amanda Posey
6 # District 9 (2009) - Peter Jackson (I); Carolynne Cunningham
5 # Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Lawrence Bender
4 # Up (2009) - Jonas Rivera
3 # The Blind Side (2009) - "tbd"
2 # Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) - Lee Daniels (I); Sarah Siegel-Magness; Gary Magness
1 # Up in the Air (2009/I) - Daniel Dubiecki; Ivan Reitman; Jason Reitman

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
5 # Crazy Heart (2009) - Jeff Bridges (I)
4 # The Hurt Locker (2008) - Jeremy Renner
3 # A Single Man (2009) - Colin Firth
2 # Invictus (2009) - Morgan Freeman (I)
1 # Up in the Air (2009/I) - George Clooney

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
5 # Julie & Julia (2009) - Meryl Streep
4 # An Education (2009) - Carey Mulligan
3 # The Last Station (2009) - Helen Mirren
2 # Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) - Gabourey Sidibe
1 # The Blind Side (2009) - Sandra Bullock

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
5 # Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Christoph Waltz
4 # The Last Station (2009) - Christopher Plummer (I)
3 # The Lovely Bones (2009) - Stanley Tucci (I)
2 # Invictus (2009) - Matt Damon
1 # The Messenger (2009/I) - Woody Harrelson

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
5 # Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) - Mo'Nique
4 # Nine (2009) - Penélope Cruz
3 # Up in the Air (2009/I) - Vera Farmiga
2 # Crazy Heart (2009) - Maggie Gyllenhaal
1 # Up in the Air (2009/I) - Anna Kendrick (I)

Best Achievement in Directing
5 # Avatar (2009) - James Cameron (I)
4 # The Hurt Locker (2008) - Kathryn Bigelow
3 # Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) - Lee Daniels (I)
2 # Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Quentin Tarantino
1 # Up in the Air (2009/I) - Jason Reitman

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
5 # The Hurt Locker (2008) - Mark Boal
4 # A Serious Man (2009) - Joel Coen; Ethan Coen
3 # The Messenger (2009/I) - Alessandro Camon; Oren Moverman
2 # Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Quentin Tarantino
1 # Up (2009) - Bob Peterson (III) (screenplay/story); Pete Docter (screenplay/story); Thomas McCarthy (I) (story)

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
5 # Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) - Geoffrey Fletcher
4 # An Education (2009) - Nick Hornby (I)
3 # District 9 (2009) - Neill Blomkamp; Terri Tatchell
2 # Up in the Air (2009/I) - Jason Reitman; Sheldon Turner
1 # In the Loop (2009) - Jesse Armstrong (I); Simon Blackwell; Armando Iannucci; Tony Roche (I)

Best Achievement in Cinematography
5 # Avatar (2009) - Mauro Fiore
4 # Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Robert Richardson (I)
3 # Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) - Bruno Delbonnel
2 # The Hurt Locker (2008) - Barry Ackroyd
1 # Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009) - Christian Berger (I)

Best Achievement in Art Direction
5 # Avatar (2009) - Rick Carter (I) (art director); Robert Stromberg (art director); Kim Sinclair (set decorator)
4 # Sherlock Holmes (2009) - Sarah Greenwood (I) (art director); Katie Spencer (I) (set decorator)
3 # The Young Victoria (2009) - Patrice Vermette (art director); Maggie Gray (set decorator)
2 # The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) - David Warren (I) (art director); Anastasia Masaro (art director); Caroline Smith (II) (set decorator)
1 # Nine (2009) - John Myhre (art director); Gordon Sim (set decorator)

Best Achievement in Costume Design
5 # The Young Victoria (2009) - Sandy Powell (II)
4 # Nine (2009) - Colleen Atwood
3 # Coco avant Chanel (2009) - Catherine Leterrier
2 # The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) - Monique Prudhomme
1 # Bright Star (2009) - Janet Patterson (I)

Best Achievement in Sound
5 # Avatar (2009) - Christopher Boyes; Gary Summers; Andy Nelson (I); Tony Johnson (II)
4 # Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) - Greg P. Russell; Gary Summers; Geoffrey Patterson (II)
3 # Star Trek (2009) - Anna Behlmer; Andy Nelson (I); Peter J. Devlin
2 # The Hurt Locker (2008) - Paul N.J. Ottosson; Ray Beckett
1 # Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Michael Minkler; Tony Lamberti; Mark Ulano

Best Achievement in Editing
5 # Avatar (2009) - Stephen E. Rivkin; John Refoua; James Cameron (I)
4 # The Hurt Locker (2008) - Bob Murawski; Chris Innis
3 # District 9 (2009) - Julian Clarke
2 # Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Sally Menke
1 # Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009) - Joe Klotz

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
5 # Avatar (2009) - Christopher Boyes; Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
4 # The Hurt Locker (2008) - Paul N.J. Ottosson
3 # Up (2009) - Michael Silvers; Tom Myers (II)
2 # Star Trek (2009) - Mark P. Stoeckinger; Alan Rankin
1 # Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Wylie Stateman

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
3 # Avatar (2009) - Joe Letteri; Stephen Rosenbaum; Richard Baneham; Andy Jones (VI)
2 # Star Trek (2009) - Roger Guyett; Russell Earl; Paul Kavanagh (II); Burt Dalton
1 # District 9 (2009) - Dan Kaufman (I); Peter Muyzers; Robert Habros; Matt Aitken (I)

Best Achievement in Makeup
3 # The Young Victoria (2009) - John Henry Gordon; Jenny Shircore
2 # Il divo (2008) - Aldo Signoretti; Vittorio Sodano
1 # Star Trek (2009) - Barney Burman; Mindy Hall (I); Joel Harlow

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
5 # Crazy Heart (2009) - Ryan Bingham (I); T-Bone Burnett
- For the song "The Weary Kind".
4 # The Princess and the Frog (2009) - Randy Newman (I)
- For the song "Down in New Orleans".
3 # The Princess and the Frog (2009) - Randy Newman (I)
- For the song "Almost There".
2 # Nine (2009) - Maury Yeston
- For the song "Take It All".
1 # Faubourg 36 (2008) - Reinhardt Wagner (music); Frank Thomas (XV) (lyrics)
- For the song "Loin de Paname".

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
5 # Avatar (2009) - James Horner
4 # Sherlock Holmes (2009) - Hans Zimmer
3 # Up (2009) - Michael Giacchino
2 # The Hurt Locker (2008) - Marco Beltrami (I); Buck Sanders
1 # Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - Alexandre Desplat

Best Short Film, Animated
5 # French Roast (2008) - Fabrice Joubert
4 # Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' (2008) (TV) - Nick Park (I)
3 # Logorama (2009) - Nicolas Schmerkin
2 # Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (2008) - Nicky Phelan; Darragh O'Connell
1 # La dama y la muerte (2009) - Javier Recio Gracia

Best Short Film, Live Action
5 # The New Tenants (2009) - Joachim Back; Tivi Magnusson
4 # Istället för abrakadabra (2008) - Patrik Eklund (I); Mathias Fjällström
3 # Miracle Fish (2009) - Luke Doolan; Drew Bailey
2 # The Door (2008) - Juanita Wilson (II); James Flynn (IV)
1 # Kavi (2009) - Gregg Helvey

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
5 # China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (2009) (TV) - Jon Alpert; Matthew O'Neill (III)
4 # The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant (2009) (TV) - Steven Bognar; Julia Reichert (I)
3 # Music by Prudence (2010) - Roger Ross Williams; Elinor Burkett (I)
2 # The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner (2009) - Daniel Junge; Henry Ansbacher (II)
1 # Królik po berlinsku (2009) - Bartosz Konopka; Anna Wydra

Best Documentary, Features
5 # Food, Inc. (2008) - Robert Kenner; Elise Pearlstein
4 # The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009) - Judith Ehrlich; Rick Goldsmith
3 # Which Way Home (2009) - Rebecca Cammisa
2 # The Cove (2009) - "tbd"
1 # Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land (2008) - Anders Østergaard; Lise Lense-Møller

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
5 # Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)
- Germany,
4 # Ajami (2009)
- Israel.
3 # El secreto de sus ojos (2009)
- Argentina.
2 # La teta asustada (2009)
- Peru.
1 # Un prophète (2009)
- France.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
5 # Up (2009) - Pete Docter
4 # The Princess and the Frog (2009) - John Musker; Ron Clements
3 # Coraline (2009) - Henry Selick
2 # The Secret of Kells (2009) - Tomm Moore
1 # Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - Wes Anderson (I)


Whew! Long list... I ain't hyperlinking all that!!!!!