I got most everything right here. I don’t think I’m exceptionally good at this, they were just really easy to call this year. But there were a few surprises, mainly that the foreign press was not wildly in love with The Ghost Writer. It’s a Bush-hating diatribe from the thoroughly respected Roman Polanski and it couldn’t score a single nomination? You’re kidding. And OK, maybe I was a little out there in expecting some nominations for Get Him to the Greek (though it did manage to score a Best Comedy nomination at the Broadcast Film Critics awards). So I’ll bold what I got correct and recap each category.
BEST PICTURE (DRAMA)
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
What I missed: The foreign press apparently loves good underdog stories as much as Americans do, and as I’m predicting for the Oscars, The Fighter‘s going to be a major player.
BEST PICTURE (MUSICAL/COMEDY)
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids are All Right
Red
The Tourist
What I missed: Everything, because I forgot this lot likes to nominate complete crap sometimes. Alice in Wonderland was a worldwide phenomenon, so I can understand that. And Burlesque is the only real musical this year. But The Tourist has gotten horrible reviews stateside, but the espionage thriller has star wattage, which is the only thing that matters here. And while I enjoyed Red, it’s not really major award-worthy.
BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter
What I missed: Exactly what I missed in the Best Picture category.
BEST ACTOR (DRAMA)
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter
What I missed: No love for True Grit? OK, the Western is a strictly American thing. But Javier Bardem in a gritty role gets no respect either? Way harsh, foreign press. But this is big news for Blue Valentine, which successfully appealed it’s NC-17 rating and is on its way to bigger and better things.
BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Halle Berry, Frankie & Alice
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
What I missed: Mike Leigh is not a favorite apparently. Or maybe not enough members had seen Another Year. Halle Berry apparently still qualifies as a star (this is news to me) and the foreign press realized Michelle Williams is perhaps the best actress working today.
BEST ACTOR (MUSICAL/COMEDY)
Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp, The Tourist
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version
Jake Gyllenhaal, Love & Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack
What I missed: Johnny Depp times two, and in two of his worst performances to date, no less. (I’ve seen Alice, but I’m only going off the reviews of The Tourist).
BEST ACTRESS (MUSICAL/COMEDY)
Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love & Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone, Easy A
I should’ve known Angelina Jolie will get an automatic nomination, since she’s won three of these things already. But I’m happy I predicted Emma Stone, but more happy she’s going to get more attention these days.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
What I missed: The cancer card can get you a lot of places. But it’s gonna take a lot more for Douglas to get an Oscar for reprising his role as Gordon Gekko. Jeremy Renner picked up The Town‘s only nomination, but it’ll get more than that come Oscar time.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
What I missed: Hello, breakout performance. I can just kick myself for not predicting Mila Kunis but I’m surprised the foreign press nominated not one but two performances from The Fighter. It’s a sure sign of things to come.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids are All Right
David Seidler, The King’s Speech
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
What I missed: So they threw 127 Hours a bone. It deserves this award and a whole lot more. I’m glad Inception got some love, because it’s the most creative film of the year. Hopefully Nolan can tee up an Oscar nod with his nomination and some love from the Writers Guild.