2011 Oscars: The Winners

The winners of the 83rd Academy Awards have been announced. My 2011 Oscars predictions were announced earlier. This year I successfully predicted 7 of 8 in the big categories and 15 of 24 over all (20 of 24 if you count second guesses).

I was pretty happy with this year's awards. My favorite film of the year Inception won the most Oscars (four: Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects), tied with The King's Speech (Picture, Director, Actor, Original Screenplay). My hope for Best Picture was The Social Network, which won 3 Oscars (Editing, Score and Adapted Screenplay). Interestingly, Alice in Wonderland won 2 important awards (Art Direction and Costume), denying The King's Speech any kind of sweep. It was sad to see True Grit lose 10 Oscars, the most of the night, but I was glad The King's Speech lost 8, 127 Hours lost 6 and both The Fighter and The Social Network lost 5.


The biggest disappointment was Tom Hooper winning Best Director instead of David Fincher (or, hello!, Christopher Nolan), followed by Natalie Portman winning Best Actress (I wanted Annette Bening to win).
The best moment was Inception winning Best Cinematography. I still don't understand how anyone can listen to the nominated scores and think Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' for The Social Network is better than Hans Zimmer's Inception.

Here are the 2011 Oscar winners:

Best Picture: The King's Speech (2nd: The Social Network)
Director: David Fincher (2nd: Tom Hooper)
Original Screenplay: The King's Speech (2nd:Inception)
Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network (2nd: Toy Story 3)
Actor: Colin Firth (2nd: Jesse Eisenberg )
Actress: Natalie Portman (2nd: Annette Bening)
Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo (2nd: Helena Bonham Carter)
Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (2nd: Geoffrey Rush )
Editing: Black Swan (2nd: The Social Network)
Art Direction: The King's Speech (2nd: Inception) Alice in Wonderland
Sound: Inception (2nd: The King's Speech)
Sound Editing: Inception (2nd: Toy Story 3)
Cinematography: True Grit (2nd: Inception)
Costumes: The King's Speech (2nd: Alice in Wonderland )
Documentary: Inside Job  (2nd: Exit Through The Gift Shop)
Foreign Language: Biutiful (2nd: In a Better World)
Animated Film: Toy Story 3 
Animated Short: Day & Night (2nd: Madagascar) The Lost Thing
Live Action Short: God of Love (2nd: Wish 143)
Documentary Short: The Warriors of Qiugang (2nd: Poster Girl) Strangers No More
Makeup: Wolfman
Score: Inception (2nd: The King's Speech) The Social Network
Song: "We Belong Together" (from Toy Story 3)(2nd: "Country Strong")
Visual Effects: Inception (2nd: Alice in Wonderland

OSCARS 2011: MadProfessah Predicts The Top 8 Categories

Here are my predictions for this Sunday's 83rd Academy Awards, known as the Oscars. This year I was 91% accurate in predicting the nominations in the Top 8 categories. Last year I correctly predicted 6 of 8 of the top categories and 17 of 24 overall.

Best Picture

“Black Swan”

“The Fighter”

“Inception”

“The Kids Are All Right ”

“The King’s Speech”

“127 Hours”

“The Social Network”

“Toy Story 3″

“True Grit”

“Winter’s Bone”

Should Win: The Social Network

Will Win: The King's Speech

Best Direction

Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan”

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”

David Fincher for “The Social Network”

Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech”

David O. Russell for “The Fighter”

Should Win: David Fincher

Will Win: David Fincher

Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”

Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”

Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”

James Franco in “127 Hours”

Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”

Should Win: Colin Firth 

Will Win: Colin Firth

Actress in a Leading Role

Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”

Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”

Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”

Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”

Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Should Win: Annette Bening 

Will Win: Natalie Portman

Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale in “The Fighter”

John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”

Jeremy Renner in “The Town”

Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”

Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Should Win: Christian Bale 

Will Win: Christian Bale 

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams in “The Fighter”

Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”

Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”

Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”

Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Should Win: Helena Bonham Carter 

Will Win: Melissa Leo 

Adapted Screenplay

Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for “127 Hours”

Aaron Sorkin for “The Social Network”

Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich for “Toy Story 3″

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”

Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini for “Winter’s Bone”

Should Win: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Will Win: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Original Screenplay

Mike Leigh for “Another Year”

Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson for “The Fighter”

Christopher Nolan for “Inception”

Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for “The Kids Are All Right”

David Seidler for “The King’s Speech”

Should Win: Christopher Nolan, Inception

Will Win: David Seidler, The King's Speech 

OSCARS 2011: The King's Speech Set For Sweep

The Oscars race has become clearer in the last few weeks as the main guilds, the Producers Guild (PGA), Directors Guild (DGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG), have all awarded The King's Speech their highest award, making an Oscar night of historic proportions seem like an inevitability.

Director Tom Hooper, a first-time DGA nominee won the DGA award and is probably a frontrunner for the Best Director Academy Award despite critical clamor for The Social Network's David Fincher. The top PGA award went to The King's Speech, which is significant because, like the Oscars, 10 films were eligible for the top honor. At the SAG Awards Colin Firth continued his sweep of the pre-Oscar awards for Best Actor and the film won the Best Ensemble award.

Other frontrunners for Oscars are Natalie Portman (Black Swan) for Best Actress and Christian Bale (The Fighter) for Best Supporting Actor. Some people think Melissa Leo (The Fighter) is also a lock for Best Supporting Actress, but I have my doubts.

OSCARS 2011: Nominations Announced

The 83rd Academy Award nominations were announced this morning. The King's Speech leads with 12, followed by True Grit with 10 and The Social Network and Inception with 8 and The Fighter with 7. More analysis later on. but for now here are the top 8 categories:

Best Picture
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right ”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3″
“True Grit”
“Winter’s Bone”

Best Direction
Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan”
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
David Fincher for “The Social Network”
Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech”
David O. Russell for “The Fighter”

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
James Franco in “127 Hours”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Adapted Screenplay
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for “127 Hours”
Aaron Sorkin for “The Social Network”
Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich for “Toy Story 3″
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini for “Winter’s Bone”

Original Screenplay
Mike Leigh for “Another Year”
Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson for “The Fighter”
Christopher Nolan for “Inception”
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for “The Kids Are All Right”
David Seidler for “The King’s Speech”