This post was written by Hatchet Reporter Kathryn Beard.
The biggest night in Hollywood is almost here, when the industry will honor the cinematic achievements of the past year at the Academy Awards. Amid Sunday’s glitz and glamour comes major changes: the best picture category now has 10 nominees, increased from five, in the hopes of attracting viewers with blockbuster films like “District 9” and “The Blind Side.” Only five of these nominees, however, are realistically in the hunt for Oscar gold.
1. “The Hurt Locker”
Telling the story of three members of a U.S Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (E.O.D.) unit, “The Hurt Locker” takes the audience into Iraq and the intensity of war. Director Kathryn Bigelow manages to blend together a somewhat non-traditional plot arranged solely around different missions and the daily lives of the soldiers. At the center is team leader William James, stirringly played by newcomer Jeremy Renner, who manages to play both a bomb-loving G.I. and a conflicted family man. The movie is not a pleasant experience, but it is an eye-opening entrance into the chaos and the dangers of war.
The movie has recently been slapped with a defamation lawsuit, and one of its producers was barred from the Academy Awards after he sent an e-mail to academy members asking them to vote for the film. Still, if all goes according to prediction, “The Hurt Locker” stands to be the night’s big winner, walking away with best picture and best director statues. If she wins, Bigelow will become the first woman to do so.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow), Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Jeremy Renner), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing.
2. “Avatar”
The movie opens on the mystical moon of Pandora, where the prospect of fame and fortune has brought humans to reap millions from the black rock lining the planet’s surface. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi tribe, aquamarine-hued creatures that blissfully live in communion with their natural world. To coerce the natives, the scientists exploring the moon create avatars, life-like Na’vi controlled by a DNA link to their human owner. Enter Jake Sully, fresh from a 5-year space fight and the scarring memories of a tour of duty gone wrong. Paralyzed, Sully thrives in his avatar landscape and, in a plot eerily similar to Disney’s “Pocahontas,” he meets and falls in love with Na’vi princess Neytiri. The somewhat recycled plot, weak script and the predictable ending does not damper this nearly three-hour-long epic in the slightest. The world director James Cameron creates is like nothing seen before and with the 3-D technology, every detail of the creatures and their forest habitat are brought to life.
The film is in a tight race with “The Hurt Locker” for both best picture and best director accolades. The stage is set for a “David vs. Goliath” match-up.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director (James Cameron), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects.
3. “Up in the Air”
“Up in the Air” begins with a motivational speech and a backpack, whose contents symbolize the relationships and burdens of one’s daily life. According to Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), the lighter the backpack, the easier one’s life will be. This philosophy summarizes the existence of Bingham, a consultant and part-time motivational speaker literally paid to fire people. As the continual bearer of bad news, Bingham navigates the country, surviving on the simple pleasure of earning frequent flier miles. His perfect isolation is interrupted by the introduction of new trainee Natalie (played by “Twilight”‘s Anna Kendrick) and sensual frequent flyer Alex (Vera Farmiga). The film succeeds on the quick-witted script penned by director Jason Reitman and the acting of leading man George Clooney, who radiates in a performance that almost seems too easy and too natural.
“Up in the Air” has lost some of its early Oscar season buzz, and now seems likely to go home with only one award: best adapted screenplay.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actor (George Clooney), Best Director (Jason Reitman), Best Supporting Actress (Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga), Best Adapted Screenplay.
4. “Precious”
“Precious” recounts the story of Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), an obese, illiterate 16-year-old single mother, eking out a meager existence in a Harlem tenement. After her second pregnancy, due to sexual abuse from her father, Jones enters a reform school. There, in the hands of a kind-hearted teacher played by Paula Patton and a concerned social worker, played by a de-glamourized Mariah Carey, she begins to turn her life around. The film succeeds in not only detailing the hardships and struggles of the teen, but also revealing the pain through the eyes of the girl herself, illustrated through elaborate dream sequences. A clever one depicts Jones as a superstar headlining her own music video. The buzz from this film centers around the performances of its two leading ladies: Sidibe in her film debut and Mo’Nique as her abusive mother, who converts herself seamlessly into an evil villain and an ugly monster.
Mo’Nique is the clear frontrunner in the best supporting actress field, while Sidibe is just pleased to be nominated for her acting debut.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director (Lee Daniels), Best Actress (Gabourey Sidibe), Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing.
5. “Inglorious Basterds”
Quentin Tarantino’s latest cinematic spectacle centers around two assassination schemes aimed at killing Nazis. One plot revolves around a team of Allied Jewish soldiers helmed by the eccentric Lieutenant Raine (Brad Pitt). A parallel scheme is led by French cinema owner Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent), who is seeking revenge for the death of her family at the hands of German Col. Hans Landa (played ingeniously by Christoph Waltz). What results is a topsy-turvy blood-stained ride through German enemy lines. Critically praised, the film displays Tarantino at his best as he creates a twisted and fantastical story.
Waltz is heavily favored in the best supporting actor race and appears destined to walk away with Oscar gold.
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director (Quentin Tarantino), Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound.
