I have a confession to make. I am a huge Academy Award nerd. I have always loved watching the show to see which male and female takes the award for a worthy acting performance, and which movie the academy deems to be the best picture of the year. I am especially excited for this year’s award show because for the first time in a while I’ve actually seen most of the movies that are generating Oscar buzz. Here are the people/movies I think will win/get nominated for awards (or just the people I really want to win).
Best Actress:
Natalie Portman- Hands down I think she deserves this Oscar. Her performance in “Black Swan” was haunting and very well researched. This is her year. And if the tradition follows of the Best Actress winner at the Golden Globes also taking home the Oscar in that category, as it did last year for Sandra Bullock (love her!), she’ll get it.
Hailee Steinfeld- She played a resolute and determined young girl out for revenge in “True Grit,” one of my favorite movies of the holiday season, and I’d love to see her nominated in this category (she did much more for this movie than Abigail Breslin did for “Little Miss Sunshine” and she got a nom at such a young age), though I’d be dissapointed if she took the award from Natalie.
Best Actor:
Again following in the tradition set by Colin Firth’s win at the Golden Globes I hope he wins the Oscar as well for his work in “The Kings Speech,” a movie I did not expect to like but by which I was very pleasantly surprised.
I also hope Mark Wahlberg gets nominated in this category. Even though Christian Bale out shined him for sure in “The Fighter,” he played his character very believably and with a lot of heart. Also expect to see Jeff Bridges up there for “True Grit” (wonder if he could possibly win the Oscar two years in a row?)
Best Picture:
True Grit- I want this movie to win best picture purely because I LOVE the Coen Brothers. But I’d also be happy to see “Black Swan” or “The Kids are Alright” take home the Oscar. I doubt “Kids” will win but it will be a shame if this movie doesn’t get a nom.
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams was flawless in “The Fighter.”
Mila Kunis for “Black Swan” (love that she’s doing more serious stuff).
Best Supporting Actor:
I think this category will be a viscous battle between Geoffrey Rush and Christian Bale. They were both phenomenal in “The King’s Speech” and “The Fighter” respectively.
Best Animated Feature:
I really hope “Despicable Me” at least gets a nomination for Best Animated feature even though “Toy Story 3” is clearly going to win.
Movies I want to see before the Oscars:
The Social Network (seeing as this is probably going to win Best Picture I feel like I need to see it)
127 Hours
The date is February 27th. Can’t wait!