If I rise

We're about 7 hours away from the 83rd Annual Oscar/Academy Awards. I have taken my leave of absence from work and though you may be appalled to know that I am skipping work for this, I just want to let you know that on Thursday and Friday, my work schedule was from 9am to 10pm. On both Saturday and today, I had worked from 11am to 6pm. So...shut up if you think that I dont deserve a Monday break.

Where was I?
Ah..Oscar!

I think for the first time ever, I managed to catch all of the Best Film contenders. Wow...how much money have I contributed to the industry? Shit, let's not go there. Anyway, here's what we going to do (as usual on this time of the year). I'm going to release the nominees and pick a winner - totally based on my observations and biases :)

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"

Academy's Fav: Black Swan, The King's Speech

Ed's Pick: Inception (though I dont think it's Academy's favourite. Pooh!!). By the way, Winter's Bone...I want my money back!


Best Actor
Javier Bardem, "Biutiful"
Jeff Bridges, "True Grit"
Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network"
Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"
James Franco, "127 Hours"

Academy's Fav: Colin Firth

Ed's Pick: I have not seen 'Biutiful' and I think Leo diCaprio is SEVERELY snubbed. I love Franco but I think it's not his year yet. Jeff Bridges was just his drunken self. Eisenberg... hmm..maybe. Gaah. The non-J will take it. Colin Firth.


Best Actress
Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"
Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"
Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"
Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"

Academy's Fav: Natalie Portman

Ed's Pick: Jennifer Lawrence makes me want to kill myself. Why is she even here? I know Portman might just bag it...but I have a soft spot for Kidman. So yes, I pick a (losing battle) Nicole Kidman.


Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, "The Fighter"
John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone"
Jeremy Renner, "The Town"
Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right"
Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech"
James Franco's right hand, "127 Hours"

Academy Fav: Christian Bale

Ed's Pick: Andrew Garfield and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are snubbed! I'll go with the academy on this. Christian "I'm British but I'm an American psycho!" Bale


Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, "The Fighter"
Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"
Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"
Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit"
Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"

Academy's Fav: Melissa Leo

Ed's Pick: I would have picked Mila Kunis but wait..she's not here. It's Hailee Steinfeld for me.

Director
Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"
David O. Russell, "The Fighter"
Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech"
David Fincher, "The Social Network"
Joel and Ethan Coen, "True Grit"

Academy's Fav: Darren Aronofsky

Ed's Pick: Great injustice to Christopher Nolan. How can he be snubbed? Did they watch Inception? Fuck shit. I'm going to side with David Fincher on this.


Adapted Screenplay
"127 Hours," Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
"The Social Network," Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
"Toy Story 3," Screenplay by Arndt, Story by Lasseter, Stanton and Unkrich
"True Grit," Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"Winter's Bone," Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Academy's Fav: The Social Network

Ed's Pick: This is purely biased as I am a huge Boyle fan - 127 Hours!


Original screenplay
"Another Year," Written by Mike Leigh
"The Fighter," Screenplay by Silver,Tamasy & Johnson
"Inception," Written by Christopher Nolan
"The Kids Are All Right," Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
"The King's Speech," Screenplay by David Seidler

Academy's Fav: The King's Speech

Ed's Pick: Nolan wrote a bat-shit crazy screenplay and he should win. Inception!


Cinematography
"Black Swan," Matthew Libatique
"Inception," Wally Pfister
"The King's Speech," Danny Cohen
"The Social Network," Jeff Cronenweth
"True Grit," Roger Deakins

Academy's Fav: I dont know...and I dont care.

Ed's Pick: One question - did you even see Inception??? INCEPTION


Original Score
"How to Train Your Dragon," John Powell
"Inception," Hans Zimmer
"The King's Speech," Alexandre Desplat
"127 Hours," A.R. Rahman
"The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Academy's Fav: 127 Hours by AR Rahman, if I am not wrong

Ed's Pick: Reznor and Ross in The Social Network


Original Song
"Coming Home" from "Country Strong"
"I See the Light" from "Tangled,"
"If I Rise" from "127 Hours"
"We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3"

Academy's Fav: Randy Newma's "We Belong Together"

Ed's Pick: 127 Hours' If I Rise


OKay. These are all the categories I bothered to list. I would like to know who win the short film cats also cause I have read the work of the nominatees. It's almost 0230hrs and so I must go to bed. Ryan Seacrest will appear on my TV screen at 0800hrs and I must be up and ready by then.

See you at the red carpet.

Or just here.


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