You’ve seen the Oscars, I listed my top ten, now it’s time for my nominations. Some of these the Academy got right, others not so much. Here is what my personal ballot for 2010 would look like.
Best Picture:
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – Winner
Shutter Island
Inception
The Social Network
Black Swan
Un Prophete
Another Year
Toy Story 3
How To Train Your Dragon
Carlos
No film was as much fun as Pilgrim. Easy choice this year.
Best Director:
Edgar Wright – Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World – Winner
Martin Scorsese – Shutter Island
Christopher Nolan – Inception
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
David Fincher – The Social Network
Wright is why Pilgrim is as great as it is.
Best Actor:
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network – Winner
Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine
Tahar Rahim – Un Prophete
James Franco – 127 Hours
Edgar Ramirez – Carlos
Eisenberg had stiff competition, but he is more complex than I think he’s given credit for.
Best Actress:
Natalie Portman – Black Swan – Winner
Lesley Manville – Another Year
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine
Portman’s always been good, but she explodes on screen in her best role ever.
Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale – The Fighter – Winner
Armie Hammer (with an assist from Josh Pence) – The Social Network
John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone
Niels Arestrup – Un Prophete
Andrew Garfield – The Social Network
Bale completely transforms into Dicky. Virtually unrecognizable.
Best Supporting Actress:
Melissa Leo – The Fighter – Winner
Amy Adams – The Fighter
Ellen Wong – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Greta Gerwig – Greenberg
Olivia Williams – The Ghost Writer
Weak year for this category and with Hailee and Lesley in Lead, Leo wins for her fiery turn.
Best Original Screenplay:
Inception – Winner
Another Year
Black Swan
Un Prophete
Mother
You invent Inception and then we can talk about whether it deserves this.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Social Network – Winner
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Toy Story 3
How To Train Your Dragon
True Grit
Tight and quotable. Great work from Sorkin.
Best Editing:
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – Winner
Inception
Shutter Island
The Social Network
Black Swan
Seamless and yet exciting and kinetic.
Best Cinematography:
Shutter Island – Winner
Black Swan
Inception
True Grit
The Social Network
Richardson tops himself again with this haunting piece of work.
Best Art Direction:
Inception – Winner
The Ghost Writer
True Grit
Black Swan
Shutter Island
Building dream worlds and classing up the place with it’s slick designs.
Best Score:
Inception – Winner
Tron: LEGACY
The Social Network
Black Swan
How To Train Your Dragon
One word…BWAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! It never gets old people!
Best Song:
Tangled – “I See The Light” – Winner
How To Train Your Dragon – “Sticks and Stones”
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – “We Are Sex Bob-Omb”
Very weak year for songs, but Tangled’s plays during one of the best scenes of the year, so by default.
Best Costume:
True Grit – Winner
Inception
Tron: LEGACY
Shutter Island
Black Swan
Westerns don’t get enough credit. Everyone’s outfit was perfectly suited to their character. Pepper’s chaps, LaBeouf’s spurs etc.
Best Make-Up:
Black Swan – Winner
The Way Back
Shutter Island
A lot of it had some computer assist, but still, the body horror was great and the simple white with black wing eyes was great as well.
Best Sound Editing:
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – Winner
Inception
Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
Tron: LEGACY
Love all the little 8-bit sounds and references sprinkled throughout the kicks and whooshes.
Best Sound Mixing:
Black Swan – Winner
Inception
The Social Network
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Shutter Island
The final sequence really brings it all home with the blasting score, audience anticipation, and backstage drama.
Best Visual Effects:
Inception – Winner
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Tron: LEGACY
The Social Network
Shutter Island
Hallway fight alone wins this.
And I’m gonna go ahead and skip the shorts, docs, foreign and animated feature categories.
The Tally:
Scott Pilgrim – 4 wins – 9 Nominations
Inception – 4 wins – 11 Nominations
Black Swan – 3 wins – 11 Nominations
The Social Network – 2 wins – 11 Nominations
The Fighter – 2 wins – 3 Nominations
True Grit – 1 win – 5 Nominations
Tangled – 1 win – 1 Nomination
Shutter Island – 1 win – 9 Nominations
How To Train Your Dragon – 5 Nominations
Un Prophete – 4 Nominations
Tron: LEGACY – 4 Nominations
Another Year – 3 Nominations
Toy Story 3 – 3 Nominations
Carlos – 2 Nominations
Blue Valentine – 2 Nominations
Winter’s Bone – 2 Nominations
The Ghost Writer – 2 Nominations
The Way Back – 1 Nomination
127 Hours – 1 Nomination
Greenberg – 1 Nomination
Mother – 1 Nomination
I did not like Scott Pilgrim as much as you, obviously.
Well, what would have been your picks?