Ranking the Oscars

I have not seen all the nominees, but I've seen most of them. Here, I will give my predictions and picks for the major Oscar categories.

Best Picture

Nominees: Avatar, An Education (haven't seen), The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, The Blind Side, District 9, Precious (haven't seen), A Serious Man (haven't seen), Up, Up in the Air.

My Pick: This is a difficult category to judge as several movies are worthy of the award. However, only one pushed film into the next generation and therefore Avatar is my pick for Best Picture.

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Best Director

Nominees: James Cameron (Avatar), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), Lee Daniels (Prescious).

My Pick: While Cameron's Avatar was a masterpiece in technology, I do not think it is worthy of Best Director this year, although it will likely still win. My choice is Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds for a fresh take and different angle on an all-too-familiar topic.

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Best Actor

Nominees: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart — didn't come to Watertown), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man — didn't come to Watertown), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).

My Pick: While, I haven't seen two of the performances — and most likely, you haven't either — I'll go based on what came to Watertown. It's really a tough one for me because I wasn't blown away by any of the performances in this category. That said, I would have to go with Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.

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Best Actress:

Nominees: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Helen Mirren (The Last Station — haven't seen), Carey Mulligan (An Education — haven't seen), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious — haven't seen), Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia).

My Pick: I am no judge for this category since I have seen only two of the five films. Based on the buzz, it's between Meryl Streep and Gabourey Sidibe. I say Meryl Streep, but that may be because of her overall body of work in 2009.

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Best Supporting Actor:

Nominees: Matt Damon (Invictus), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger — haven't seen), Christopher Plummer (The Last Station — haven't seen), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones — haven't seen), Christopher Waltz (Inglourious Basterds).

My Pick: Again, I haven't seen the majority of the films in this category, but Christopher Waltz's efforts in Inglourious Basterds cannot go unnoticed nor will it be easy to top.

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Best Supporting Actress:

Nominees: Penelope Cruz (Nine — haven't seen), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), Mo'Nique (Precious — haven't seen), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart — haven't seen).

My Pick: It is beginning to be a bit of a theme, here. The independent films earned a lot of nominations, and perhaps Watertown will take notice when Precious or Crazy Heart clean house. I've only seen Up in the Air here, and between Kendrick and Farmiga, the award goes to Vera Farmiga.