Cannes Predictions

Palme: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Grand Prix: La Havre
Jury Prize: The Artist
Director: Joseph Cedar, Footnote
Actor: Thomas Doret, The Boy With a Bike / Antonio Banderas, The Skin I Inhabit
Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Screenplay: Drive

I imagine it will be some sort of combination of the above. I was thinking one of the unprecedented four female directors in competition could take a prize, but with all but Kevin (which should assure a safe win for Swinton rather than director Lynn Ramsey) underwhelming in reviews, it doesn't look like it'll happen. Pedro Almodovar is arguably the most overdue and recognizable of names in the lineup but I'm not sure if he can get it this year with such a fringey genre piece which some consider a bit over the top, but he definitely has a shot if Ceylon's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, already at a disadvantage with such a late screening date, manages to disappoint. Otherwise Aki Kaurismaki's Le Havre seems like a safe frontrunner, although perhaps a bit too light for the jury to throw the top prize at.

Although the atmosphere of a Cannes festival can change by hours at a time (see: the implosion at the otherwise surprisingly accessible-seeming Melancholia at the hands of Lars von Trier's terrible attempts at comedy), just as last year when I was able to predict the victories of such films and figures as Uncle Boonmee and Juliette Binoche only the day they handed out their prizes.

The general wildcard will appear to be whether there's a sense to reward Terrence Malick, although it's reported that Olivier Assayas was the only jury member largely enamored by The Tree of Life. It's go big or go home for the film, which I doubt will take anything less than the very Palme D'Or should it win anything at all (a possibility I'm currently leaning against). Read more!

April Fool's Predictions

I know we just got over Oscar season, but keeping track of the kinds of things being predicted this early in the year does allow one to know which movies to be on the lookout for later this year and judge for yourself. It's also kind of fun just looking back at the end of it to see how wrong you were. So, let's see how wrong I'll be.

I'll only do Picture, Director, and the Acting categories. Because otherwise, naturally, I haven't the slightest clue.

Best Picture:
A Better Life
Beginners
Carnage
A Dangerous Method
The Ides of March
J. Edgar
My Week With Marylin
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Young Adult

When you think of the kinds of things that appeal to the Academy, you have to look at several factors; the pedigree of the director and how dependable their track record is in appealing to the Academy, the actors involved (actors by far making up the largest branch of voters), those behind distribution (I would not predict My Week With Marylin without the Harvey factor), and some wild guesses at the token indie slots. Last year there were two slots for movies that really embodied the indie "spirit" in The Kids Are All Right and Winter's Bone. One was a gay comedy released in the summer and the other was a quiet and somber study of a lesser represented region of this country also released in the summer in Winter's Bone. In fact, there were four movies nominated last year released in the summer — Inception and Toy Story 3 joining the two indies mentioned. Those were two significant blockbuster films, as there were two blockbuster films nominated the year before in District 9, from that Summer, and, of course, Avatar from that Winter. These predictions include three movies to be released this summer — Beginners, A Better Life, and The Tree of Life; technically all indies, but the latter with something like a $200 million budget. War Horse is another expected blockbuster to be released later in the year.

Beginners, like The Kids Are All Right, is a gay themed comedy. Of course, I'm not only predicting the movie parallel to The Kids Are All Right's nomination last year, but because of the pedigree of the actors — many people would love to see Christopher Plummer not just nominated, but winning while they still have the chance to reward the 81 year old who only just received his first nomination two years ago for The Last Station. Ewan McGregor and Mélanie Laurent have also been in films successful with the Academy before, and with an indie film like this, despite what you might think it takes away from the indie "spirit," you need actors of a certain caliber to bring it Academy attention (as The Kids Are All Right had done with the likes of Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo). A Better Life, I compare to Winter's Bone because of what seems like its subdued nature as well as its dealings with themes of poverty (manifested through the issue of immigration in A Better Life). What convinces me to predict this, again, is not its similarities to Winter's Bone but because of Dave Karger's insistence that it's a film that should appeal to the Academy despite its low key nature. Remember, Dave Karger was at one time the ONLY pundit predicting The King's Speech to win Best Picture which, ultimately, it of course did, while The Social Network had been winning every award known to man until that point.

Meanwhile, The Tree of Life looks slated to take the spot of the summer blockbuster hit that was also critically reviewed assuming Malick does not disappoint with this film that those paying attention have been waiting years for. Another completely possible idea is for the second installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with good enough reviews and even better box office than expected, to take the slot with the help of tech branches trying to reward the very lucrative and iconic series as a whole. There is often, too, an animated feature that could feature in the slot as Toy Story 3 and Up have the past two years and the likes of WALL·E, Ratatouille and Finding Nemo could well have done prior. Funny thing is, those are all Pixar films, and unless Cars 2 highly exceeds the expectations set by their more underwhelming original, I don't think they'll repeat their success this year. And if they can't do it, I don't think any of the other animated films this year will, either. The other blockbuster I am predicting, however, is Steven Spielberg's War Horse. Of a grander scale than anything he's done recently, it seems as though Spielberg can make something serious when he wants to and get it Oscar nominated even though he refuses to campaign. Refusing to campaign, Schindler's List still swept the Oscars. Refusing to campaign, he still won Best Director for Saving Private Ryan. Refusing to campaign, even with lesser reviews and little talk of the possibilities, motherfucking Munich still brought him nominations for both Picture and Director. If he's serious about this, even if it's not that good, I feel like War Horse is very possible to feature in next year's Oscar show.

Going beyond that, of course, is slightly harder to prognosticate. I have My Week With Marylin featured because of an all star cast, a lot of British interest and a Harvey Weinstein endorsement. These are all the same factors evident in The King's Speech, although with less bait-inducing factors to its story (though still perfectly up the Academy's alley). That seems to check off plenty of demographics that one would have to perform strongly with to get nominated. Carnage is the upcoming Roman Polanski film based on the Pulitzer winning play with strong actors — John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz — playing strong roles. I expect it to be highly lauded and for the actors and director to bring a lot of attention and adoration for the picture. Many seem eager for David Cronenberg to break through at the Academy Awards, as he's slowly been getting closer to all his career, and seems like it's possible with this year's A Dangerous Method — a biopic featuring Freud and Jung starring an illustrious cast including Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, and Michael Fassbender (who will be in no less than five movies this year and seeming overdue for Hollywood star status after a sudden spout of several great consecutive years of performances). George Clooney also looks slated to have a banner year starring in the ever popular Alexander Payne's upcoming The Descendants, but more importantly acting and directing The Ides of March — another play adaptation with a killer cast (Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Clooney, Marisa Tomei) with thinly veiled political messages as well. If you ask me, it could be the film to get Ryan Gosling an Oscar and the whole film could go all the way as well. Clint Eastwood's been less successful with the Academy lately, but he hasn't come up with anything nearly as baity as J. Edgar in a long time with a central performance as Oscar-hungry as DiCaprio's is destined to be. Not to mention a screenplay penned by already Oscar winning Dustin Lance Black, and juicy looking supporting performances by Judi Dench and Armie Hammer. And, last but not least, Young Adult seems like it could be a continuation of Jason Reitman's stunning hot streak of Picture, Director, and performance nominations that seemed at its apex two years ago with Up in the Air.

What are some other possibilities? I'd actually look out for some foreign fare to finally break through in the top 10 with many high profile international filmmakers bringing work out this year. Consider Oscar winner Almodovar's The Skin I Inhabit this year, or Berlin winning Iranian film A Separation which, it seems — thrilling news for me — a new height reached for the Iranian film scene never before matched.

Naturally, the director nominees will come from this list. Who will be the five who stand out? In my opinion:

Best Director:
George Clooney - The Ides of March
Clint Eastwood - J. Edgar
Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life
Roman Polanski - Carnage
Steven Spielberg - War Horse

Of course, though, this list does seem a bit too "all-star." There's usually a Tom Hooper thrown in for good measure. But I'm just going with names I know they love. The director's branch is kind to actors turned directors, and everyone loves George Clooney. They just do. The Academy also loves Eastwood and Spielberg. If Malick hits Tree of Life out of the park then I don't see how he isn't nominated. As for Polanski, well, not only do they love/support him but I think they'll genuinely love the film. Also consider, however, some comedic directors in the form of Alexander Payne for The Descendants or Jason Reitman for Young Adult. Remember, Reitman even got Director nominated for Juno. Juno. Not that it wasn't one of the most refreshing choices of the past decade, but...it's Juno. Director nominated film Juno.

Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Demián Bichir - A Better Life
Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender - A Dangerous Method
Ryan Gosling - The Ides of March
Gary Oldman - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

A Better Life is overall a bit of a gamble for me, but as I said, these categories aren't always simply all-star names. And sometimes, if a film really connects with voters, an lesser known central performer will reap the benefits as such. As I said before, DiCaprio is bloodthirsty for an Oscar, Fassbender has five films this year and I can only hope his good talents are finally recognized this year for a baity project, and Gosling looks to be working on a juicy role that he can completely nail (potentially as perfectly as he embodied Dean in Blue Valentine — high praise coming from me, mind you). Gary Oldman, however, is of the perfect age to win an Oscar and many have been astounded for two decades that the man has yet to be nominated. Going simply on technical factors, Oldman would look to be the one to beat. That said, many people are awaiting Johnny Depp (also beloved by the Academy) to even potentially win for The Rum Diaries. Although, if you ask me, the film's delay from last year to this year seems like a bad omen (apparently they didn't want him to compete with himself in The Tourist — color me skeptical). Also, as I mentioned before, if The Skin I Inhabit does well then look for Antonio Banderas to continue Bardem's tradition of nominated spanish speaking roles.

It could be my own favoritism speaking, here, but I think Peter Mullan could very well be the Javier Bardem of this year. That is to say, someone who simply gets in on the merits of their performances being that good. And, if you ask me, Mullan is even better than Bardem was. Although Bardem did have heavy Hollywood support and active campaigning from the likes of Julia Roberts. We'll see, though (he needs critics' support, although I learned last year not to trust them to reward the rightfully inspired performances).

Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs
Jodie Foster - Carnage
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Charlize Theron - Young Adult
Michelle Williams - My Week with Marylin

First, my suspicions: this list skews particularly old. It would be a refreshing change, but the starlets always break through. It's never too young, but consider Sidibe and Mulligan '09. Consider Lawrence and Williams and Portman '10. However, this is a list I have trouble straying from. Glenn Close is consider one of the most overdue actresses for an Oscar win, ever, and in Albert Nobbs she crossdresses in World War II England. Any questions? There shouldn't be any doubt that people desperately want Meryl Streep to win a third Oscar, let alone the one Glenn Close doesn't yet have, as evidenced by her string of consecutive nominations for any vaguely caricature performance a la The Devil Wears Prada, Doubt or Julie & Julia. Each time she ran arguably in second place. Playing Margaret Thatcher, she's one I would think of as even safer for a nomination than Glenn Close (although I don't think she'll win her third until she plays a more natural, humane character a la Adaptation. which I think she can get in a few years with August: Osage County). Jodie Foster will have a very good year also directing The Beaver which, despite the Gibson factor, people seem to be enjoying. Meanwhile she's won two Oscars already and shows no sign of wain in talent, and there's no evidence that she won't give a terrific performance at the hands of the performance maestro who is Roman Polanski. And Charlie Theron would consider the Reitman tradition of nominated central performers – Ellen Page, George Clooney, and now Charlize Theron.

And then there's Michelle Williams. In my opinion, undoubtedly the most talented actress of her generation. No one her age has given a performance as good as Brokeback Mountain, or Wendy & Lucy, or (and especially) Blue Valentine. She was very shaky on getting a nomination this past year but Harvey Weinstein got her there, and much of her campaigning then was around the premise of awaiting her turn as Marylin Monroe in My Week With Marylin. Many people question whether she can simply do it — whether she can mimic the sex appeal that dripped out of Monroe. However, when Michelle Williams talked about her difficulty and how much scrutiny she put into analyzing the ways Monroe would manipulate her physicality, it seems like Williams is well aware. And, frankly, she's a talented enough actress to pull it off more than actress who may bear a superficial resemblance to Monroe. Two pictures have been released so far of Williams' role — one looked more like Marylin than the other — but the fact remains that she'll have the full force of Harvey Weinstein behind her and she is more of the mold of the standard actress winner — the younger, hotter starlet. In a biopic role. With a Weinstein-driven campaign. Not to mention, just how talented this young starlet is. It frankly reminds me of the talk Colin Firth had for The King's Speech while he was campaigning for A Single Man. And we all know how that ended up.

There is a lot to look out for, though. Look out, for example, for Elizabeth Olsen in the Sundance hit Martha Marcy May Marlene. Yes, Elizbeth Olsen, as in the younger sister of the Olsen twins who had two indie movies premiere at Sundance to stunning notice. Past starlets to have been nominated after Sundance premieres include Jennifer Lawrence, Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe. Also from Sundance is Felicity Jones from Like Crazy — which one the biggest prize (as did Winter's Bone and Precious). People are also hoping Kirstin Dunst could have a major comeback playing the usual tortured woman in a Lars Von Trier (director of Antichrist, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, etc.) flick and be the first woman since Emily Watson in 1996 to be nominated for a Trier film.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
Jessica Chastain - Take Shelter
Judi Dench - My Week With Marylin
Vanessa Redgrave - Coriolanus
Marisa Tomei - The Ides of March
Kate Winslet - Carnage

Jessica Chastain looks like she'll shine in Malick's The Tree of Life, but we have to remember that Malick's never directed a nominated performance ever. She also, however, has a performance in what looks like a good (don't know about baity, though) Take Shelter. But you can interchange that performance with hers in The Tree of Life for the purposes of these predictions. Same with Judi Dench, who will also be in J. Edgar. I'm not sure which role will be more substantial, though. Vanessa Redgrave is said to be astounding in Ralph Fiennes' Iraqi update of the Shakespearean play, while Kate Winslet plays an extraordinarily difficult role in Carnage that I trust she will pull off. Consider Marisa Tomei a hunch considering just how brilliantly she plays supporting roles again and again, whether nominated or not (although in the slightest of baity films, she tends to get nominated). Mia Wasikowska has also had a highlight couple of years, however, and you can look out for her this year in Albert Nobbs as well.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
John Hawkes - Martha Marcy May Marlene
Viggo Mortenson - A Dangerous Method
Brad Pitt - The Tree of Life
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
Christoph Waltz - Carnage

This category is the most difficult for me to pin down. I think John Hawkes' role is one that seems tailor made for this category, and could end up being the frontrunner for the top prize after breaking through last year (Oscar-wise) with Winter's Bone. Ironically, I think Mortensen will be nominated for the role Waltz dropped out of (for which Cronenberg called Waltz a "coward") while Waltz can still very well get nominated this year for what's a lead role, really, but someone needs to go supporting! As I said, Plummer's old as hell. Meanwhile, it is a gamble to predict a Malick performance, but Pitt's going to have a busy year as well with Moneyball and this seems to be a category with room for him. Although, this is all ignoring the likes of Armie Hammer, who will be playing J. Edgar Hoover's right hand man and love interest in J. Edgar, and David Thewlis who could sneak in as an only acting nomination for Spielberg's War Horse. Read more!

BAFTA Awards

Potentially the most significant of awards precursors to the Oscars is coming this upcoming Sunday, when the British Academy of Film and Television Awards are handed out. Due to differences in voting procedures the results don't necessarily align 100% with the actual Academy's itself, but there is the largest overlap of voters from any body and could often be indicative of larger voting trends at play which can prove to be a deciding factor in an open race.

In this case, there isn't all that much excitement to be had. It's clear that The King's Speech is even more of a phenomenon in the UK than it is in this country, and that's saying something considering its trifecta sweep of the guilds. But a sweep here isn't necessarily so safe — all it means is that Best Film is perhaps the least competitive category of the bunch.

BEST FILM:
Nominees:
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Will Win: The King's Speech
Could Win: Nothing else, really.
Should Win: Only in my humble opinion, The Social Network. But it doesn't stand a chance in hell here, making very little splash at the box office and with very few nominations even compared to the likes of fellow competitors Inception and Black Swan which will probably pull ahead of it.

People often misconstrue this for meaning that the category for Best British Film — in which The King's Speech is also nominated — is also locked up. After all, how can it be the best film if it's not the best British film? Well, this category is voted upon by a separate jury that has its own unique tastes; often for the quirky and independent. Never has a British film that won Best Film also win for this category — it's almost as if they intentionally avoid it. Slumdog Millionaire lost it. The Queen lost it. Atonement lost it. It just doesn't happen.

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM:
Nominees:
127 Hours
Another Year
Four Lions
The King's Speech
Made in Dagenham

Will Win: Four Lions fits the prototypical winner in this category to a T, more or less.
Could and Should Win: It would be lovely to see Another Year win, here, although I haven't seen the supposedly hilarious Four Lions.

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Nominees:
The Arbor
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Four Lions
Monsters
Skeleton

Will Win: My brain says The Arbor, my heart says semi-sensation Monsters.
Should Win: I haven't seen most of the contenders, here (should be getting to The Arbor pretty soon), but it's always an interesting prospect to give Banksy (Exit Through the Gift Shop) an award.

DIRECTOR:
Nominees:
Danny Boyle, 127 Hours
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network

Will Win: Even barring wishful thinking, this category often splits because it's just those in the directors' branch voting for this. They often go with the more accomplished auteur, in which David Fincher clearly fits the bill for The Social Network. But I guess you can never count Tom Hooper out.
Could Win: As I said, Tom Hooper, but don't count out accomplished Brit Christopher Nolan, either!
Should Win: I would love to see David Fincher take this.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Nominees:
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech

Will Win: David Seidler's got this one sewn up for The King's Speech
Could Win: WGA winner Inception
Should Win: Another Year, but the BAFTA writers don't seem as enamored with Leigh's writing process as the AMPAS writing branch to nominate it.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Nominees:
127 Hours
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit

Will Win: No matter what you think of The Social Network, it's difficult difficult lemon difficult to deny Aaron Sorkin of this prize for his work.
Could Win: True Grit is the only other Best Film nominee here, but evidently the Brits really love Dragon Tattoo.
Should Win: I would actually vote for Toy Story 3, here. But I'd still feel very bad for Aaron Sorkin if he lost.

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Nominees:
Biutiful
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
I Am Love
Of Gods and Men
The Secret In Their Eyes

Will Win: I just have a hankering that they would respond really well to Biutiful
Could Win: Any of them, really. Dragon Tattoo is a European cultural phenomenon, Tilda Swinton's in I Am Love, Of Gods and Men is French and the only nationality the Brits love more than themselves is the French, and The Secret In Their Eyes is thoroughly entertaining.
Should Win: These nominees kind of blow.

ANIMATED FILM:
Despicable Me
How To Train Your Dragon
Toy Story 3

Will Win: Toy Story 3
Could Win: Uhh, I guess Annie sweeper How To Train Your Dragon
Should Win: If it were up to me, I would make it a tie between Toy Story 3 and write-in candidate (and inexplicably left off) The Illusionist.

Funny how Leading Actor seemed to match up with the Academy lineup 5/5. Last season, the BAFTA provided a rare source of inspiration by rewarding Colin Firth's work in A Single Man — quite frankly one of the best performances ever Oscar nominated in this category (although he lost out most of the season to Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart).

LEADING ACTOR:
Nominees:
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

Will Win: Colin Firth seems slated for an easy back-to-back win.
Could Win: Javier Bardem's deeply affecting performance in a foreign language, which the BAFTAs have historically been kinder to.
Should Win: Jesse Eisenberg, for the Shakespearean cadence with which he delivered his deeply Sorkinian dialogue.

With a Bening upset at this week's London Film Critics Awards, people are thinking of a possible Bening upset in the Leading Actress category over Natalie Portman. Can it really happen?

LEADING ACTRESS:
Nominees:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Noomi Rapace, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Will Win and Should Win: You bet against Natalie Portman and her film's 12 nominations at your own risk.
Could Win: I actually think Bening's co-star sharing this category with her is a bit of a deathwish for Bening's chances, for a vocal group of voters who prefer Moore will almost surely take votes away from her. I'd say Steinfeld might actually be second in line.

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Nominees:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Pete Postlethwaite, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Will Win: Clearly it's a race between Welsh fave Bale and heart of BP fave Rush. Considering the Melissa Leo snub, which I think has less to do with Leo's name recognition than a lack of enthusiasm for The Fighter itself (if Amy Adams and Christian Bale were only nominated by name recognition, that's not saying much good for the film), and a lot of people genuinely just not knowing that Bale is, in fact, British (to his credit!), I'm gonna take the odds on Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech the way he won for Shakespeare in Love over a decade ago.
Could and Should Win: I already mentioned Christian Bale, but if it's really that close of a race and they split I think former BAFTA winner and hometown darling Andrew Garfield will win his 3rd hometown prize for his performance in The Social Network. But I won't get my hopes up.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Nominees:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Barbara Hershey, Black Swan
Lesley Manville, Another Year
Miranda Richardson, Made in Dagenham

Will and Should Win: I get the sense that filling the void for the snub of Melissa Leo and likely runner-up Hailee Steinfeld promoted to lead, that Lesley Manville — my favorite performance of the year — wins the same way that Melissa Leo's been winning American prizes. Older but less recognized but dependable country character actress in an incredibly flashy and showy role. Something tells me if she made it far enough for a top five mention in a category she could have otherwise split votes for herself from in Round I and then making it to Round II's shortlist that she has enough strength to take the win.
Could Win: Helena Bonham Carter could very well coattail this thing to an Oscar, a road to which this would be a crucial prize to win.

ORIGINAL MUSIC:
Nominees:
AR Rahman, 127 Hours
Danny Elfman, Alice in Wonderland
John Powell, How To Train Your Dragon
Hans Zimmer, Inception
Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech

Will Win: Musicians voting here deeply admire Desplat, and the BAFTA voting public at large loves The King's Speech. Looks to me like a match made in heaven.
Could Win: Musicians are also rather obsessed with AR Rahman, and particularly his score for 127 Hours. The category also includes the song he was Oscar nominated for this year, which BAFTA doesn't have a separate category for.
Should Win: John Powell's soaring melodies for How To Train Your Dragon.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Nominees:
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Will and Should Win: The BAFTA history of this category suggests more artistic and darker choices, of which I think Black Swan fits best.
Could Win: Oscar favorite True Grit, or just The King's Speech if it sweeps.

EDITING:
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

Will and Should Win: I honestly have no idea, but this is more or less The Social Network's only tech nomination and one I can see Editors appreciating enough to give it a win. Something tells me that's off, though.
Could Win: Oscar snubbed Inception.

PRODUCTION DESIGN:
Nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Will Win: Seems too easy to not give to The King's Speech
Could Win: Production designers themselves might very much admire the sets of Inception or go with the easy bait of Alice in Wonderland.
Should Win: For my money, True Grit.

COSTUME DESIGN:
Nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
The King's Speech
Made in Dagenham
True Grit

Will Win: Honestly I can't think of a reason not to just throw this one at The King's Speech.
Could and Should Win: Made in Dagenham

SOUND:
Nominees:
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Will Win: Looks like Inception.
Could Win: I can't see anything else winning.
Should Win: Black Swan would be cool, but honestly anything other than The King's Speech would be deserving, here.

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS:
Nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1
Inception
Toy Story 3

Will and Should Win: Inception. Signed, sealed and delivered.

Makeup and Hair:
Nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1
The King's Speech
Made in Dagenham

Will Win: I don't even know. I guess Alice in Wonderland?
Could and Should Win: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1

RISING STAR AWARD:
Nominees:
Gemma Arterton
Tom Hardy
Andrew Garfield
Aaron Johnson
Emma Stone

Will Win: Actors from public phenomena tend to fare best here, as Kristen Stewart won last year with the help of Twihards. Inception's Tom Hardy should fare well, here.
Could Win: Gemma Arterton's a hottie.
Should Win: The man who's already beat Tom Hardy for a BAFTA once before, and has undoubtedly had a better year, Andrew Garfield. Read more!

Oscar nominations

There is nothing left to look for between now and Tuesday when Oscar nominations will be released. The Globes have set frontrunners, the BAFTA have given a barometer to how potentially half of the Academy's acting branch will have voted. I swear, this will get back to a regular film review blog soon, but, y'know, 'tis the season to be jolly or whatnot. Here are my final, yes, final, predictions for Oscar nominations.

Let's start slow. You know. Not giving all my cards out at once kinda thing. Here are some categories people forget about — the shorts. But let's...not really count these in my overall tally, unless I turn out to be really correct. Learning curve!

Live Action Short
Ana's Playground
God of Love
Little Children, Big Words
Na Wewe
The Six Dollar Fifty Man

Admittedly, I haven't seen any of these besides God of Love and interviewing director Luke Matheny. But there are some factors you can look at to predict these kinds of categories. For instance, in Matheny's case, he's already been shown a strong contingent of support from the sorts of industry insiders who will be packed into the room screening these movies and then deciding their votes on the spot. His film won the Student Academy Award this past year and won top prize at the Angelus Film Festival, which has a jury of insiders across a spectrum of entertainment industries. The other ones either seem socially conscious or generally tug at the heartstrings. Ana's Playground and Na Wewe take place in war torn areas of the world while both and Little Children, Big Words and The Six Dollar Fifty Man additionally center their narratives around children. And I mean, that's always nice. Right?

Animated Short
The Cow Who Wanted To Be a Hamburger
Coyote Falls
Day & Night
Let's Pollute
The Silence Beneath the Bark

Pixar's shorts introducing their blockbuster successes aren't usually assured nominations, here, but they're the ones that usually have the most popular momentum going for them since they obviously would be the most seen of the nominees (you probably remember Day & Night having introduced Toy Story 3). I'm predicting The Cow Who Wanted To Be a Hamburger almost solely for Bill Plympton — partially because I'm personally rooting for him, and partially because he just happens to be an icon in the animation industry at this moment with a lot of momentum being shortlisted in both this category and the Animated Feature category. This at least shows love for him as an industry figure, I reckon, and there's no way his feature film can make it into a competitive field of just 3 nominees. So here I have him, even though the style seems completely bizarre. Let's Pollute just seems like a fun little diddy with semi socially conscious messages behind it and The Silence Beneath the Bark is said to be entirely memorable.

Documentary Short
Born Sweet
Living for 32
Killing in the Name
Strangers No More
The Warriors of Qiugang

Complete guesswork. No harm, no foul — right?

Documentary Feature
Exit Through the Giftshop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waiting for Superman

We move back into feature films, where this category seems a bit more tangible and familiar. But the Documentary voting branch often likes to throw curveballs, and in such a banner year for the category who knows what kind of films would make it in. The unorthodox Exit Through the Gift Shop might be the most rewarded so far of the season, and while before I would not have pegged it for being up the alley of this particular branch's tastes I figure it being shortlisted means they liked it just fine. Inside Job is a bit of a festival favorite, and much more in this branch's liberal preferences than the more mainstream Waiting for Superman, although the film has a fantastic marketing team behind it and one of the best PR campaigns we've seen this season. Call Gasland a hunch. I'm still displeased that Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work and The Oath were not shortlisted, though.

Best Foreign Language Film
Canada - Incendies
France - Of Gods and Men
Iraq - Sons of Babylon
South Africa - Life, Above All
Turkey - Bal

Perpetually the most perplexing and controversial category in this entire awards, it's not always the high profile arthouse flicks that make it in. It's a completely unique system with a very defined set of voters, whose tastes are usually distinguishable...after they've snubbed the films everyone expected to get in. The only entry I've seen of these predictions is France's, which I'm not the biggest fan of. But France is a perennial favorite, with the film as visually striking but as narratively slow as might be their cup of tea, and new rules skewing influence to festival hits almost assures this a nomination. Sons of Babylon is supposedly exactly the kind of father/son roadtrip movie that could make that film a frontrunner to win this year, while Roger Ebert — who tends to be an accurate barometer of traditional Academy sensibilities — highly praised South Africa's entry Life, Above All. Turkey's Bal, or Honey, seems to have that child-focused narrative that tugs at the heartstrings as well as having been a winner at the Berlin festival earlier in the year. Canada's Incendies is just presumed to be a frontrunner, but when the shortlists come out we may well see some of these very choices miss out. Other options could be Mexico's Biutiful from Alejandro González Iñárritu (whose films have been nominated in the category before), although I still think the film is much too miserablist for their tastes, or recent Golden Globe winner In a Better World from Danish auteur Suzanne Bier (these do tend to skew more European, after all).

UPDATED: UMMM the shortlists came out and it turns out that 3 of these didn't make the cut at all. Damn. I'm terrible at this.

New predictions:
Algeria - Outside the Law
Canada - Incendies
Denmark - In a Better World
Mexico - Biutiful
South Africa - Life, Above All

Best Original Song
"If I Rise," 127 Hours
"Pretty Girls," Despicable Me
"I See the Light," Tangled
"We Belong Together," Toy Story 3
"Shine," Waiting for Superman

Another fickle branch of the Academy is the music branch. A jury of voters watches each qualifying song as it plays in the movie it belongs to and gives it a certain score of which it must pass a threshold to be nominated — which has led to some pretty shocking snubs in the past. There could be as few as two nominees, or even none in a given year. I do think there are enough songs from this year to suit their fancy, however, for a full five-nominee category. Music star Dido's haunting voice sings to A.R. Rahman's melody that this branch and the Academy at large proved to like 2 years ago with Slumdog Millionaire at a crucial plot point in 127 Hours. It's the kind of stuff Best Song nominations are meant for. Alan Menken is so beloved in this category that he's won eight Oscars in six years (!!!) at the height of the Disney renaissance in the early 90s, and had three nominations from Enchanted as early as 2007. This year, he's only submitted one song, as to prevent him from splitting votes from himself and potentially winning a ninth Oscar for Tangled. Randy Newman's another music legend adored by the Academy, with a great song in a great film that plays over the humorous credits. "Shine" by John Legend has the air of social importance that got Melissa Etheridge an Oscar in 2006 for An Inconvenient Truth — a documentary from the same director as Waiting for Superman. I just have "Pretty Girls" as kind of a surprise inclusion because Pharell did a great job with the Despicable Me soundtrack and, in recent years, the branch has been kind to hip hop stars (puzzlingly enough). He may even be a threat to win if he does overcome to hurdle to be nominated.
Other songs with chances include a limit of two for Burlesque, a beautiful Jónsi song from How To Train Your Dragon and the perfectly lovely "Chanson Illusioniste" from The Illusionist — considering the song mention for Chomet's last film, The Triplets of Belleville.

Best Original Score
127 Hours
Inception
The King's Speech
Never Let Me Go
The Social Network

I think Rahman's now officially a member of the club, which means he'll rack up as many nominations as possible as long as he keeps scoring potential Picture contenders (or, just Boyle films). Rachel Portman is in that same club for Never Let Me Go, and The King's Speech seems like a good excuse to reward both that film and Desplat's career year (in which he produced highly superior scores to the likes of The Ghost Writer and Harry Potter 7.1. Inception and The Social Network both just happen to be the most rewarded scores of the year, with The Social Network actually having more wins than the already iconic Inception soundtrack. This group historically is not kind to rock stars like Trent Reznor, but if they already considered him qualified (they could have disqualified him the way they did to Johnny Greenwood for There Will Be Blood) then perhaps it means they like him. Besides, it's in a Picture frontrunner with the score having some resemblance (besides being much better and all) than that of The Hurt Locker, nominated last year.

Best Sound Mixing
Inception
Iron Man 2
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit

Best Sound Editing
127 Hours
Inception
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
Unstoppable

I'll be the first to admit that I don't have the best ear for spotting the difference between sound mixing and sound editing. Ultimately, from what I understand, sound mixing is the sounds that are made and sound editing is how those sounds are incorporated into the movie. Animated films, and particularly Pixar films, tend to be popular in these categories. Often they only get one or the other, but I figure if that's the case then it's probably safer to predict Toy Story 3 in both instead of picking the wrong one. Sound mixers are said to be astounded by the soundtrack of The Social Network, from the club scene where you can still perfectly hear dialogue despite the overwhelming noise of the music or Fincher getting as detailed as the perfect sound of Zuckerberg's flip flops. I think it'll get nominated in both. The other slots and choices, particularly Inception, comes from people's general perception that "louder" is "better" in this category.

Best Makeup
Alice in Wonderland
Barney's Version
The Wolfman

Rick Baker's the stuff of legends and his work on The Wolfman is said to be of all-time great level. Alice in Wonderland provides opportunity for very baity makeup work, and the aging done on the actors of Barney's Version is particularly up this branch's aisle. Although this category is often known for curveballs as well. You might see something like The Fighter make it here, or perhaps Black Swan. Those would be in place of Barney's Version, as I think the other two are quite safe.

Best Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1
Inception
Iron Man 2
TRON: Legacy

It's hard to go very wrong in this category, since the branch oddly released a bakeoff of seven eligible films for it this year. They've always done that, but this year is the first in which the category is extended from three to five. The only ones not here that were included were Hereafter and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Seeing the latter there would be a fabulous surprise, but I don't have my hopes up.

Best Editing
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The Social Network

Another reason I can't put Pilgrim in my visual effects category is because I already have my delusions predicting it here in a shock. Generally this category includes 4 Picture nominees and an extra slot for some really fancy editing. This slot in the past has gone to District 9 and The Bourne Ultimatum. I figure editors know better than anyone how brilliant and innovative the use of editing was in Scott Pilgrim, the same way cinematographers were able to recognize the brilliance of The White Ribbon last year against everyone's predictions. Before her passing Sally Menke had even remarked highly of the use of editing in that movie.
The other four nominees are just ACE nominees and Picture contender.

Best Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

Colleen Atwood doing fantasy, Sandy Powell doing period, a ballet flick and an old Western flick. Seems pretty standard to me.

Best Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Similar rules from above apply here. Just call The Social Network a hunch, though.

Best Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Inception and True Grit are locks and frontrunners. The King's Speech and The Social Network could make it in just based on the strength of them being BP frontrunners. Black Swan is just hella impressive and has been a critics' darling of sorts (the way The White Ribbon was last year).

Best Animated Film
How To Tran Your Dragon
My Dog Tulip
Toy Story 3

Again, call My Dog Tulip a hunch as well (too many of those?), but the branch here really likes fringey out there animation and aren't afraid to nominate something totally obscure at a moment's notice. Not to mention its brilliant campaign to draw attention to itself in Hollywood. It could be replaced by The Illusionist, as they liked Sylvain Chomet's work last time, but he sadly wasn't BAFTA nominated. The support could be weaker than we think.

Best Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

It's either 127 Hours or The Town in that last slot. Both were WGA nominated, but that's probably because Winter's Bone wasn't eligible. BAFTA nominated 127 Hours, but I don't know how much of an overlap there is with BAFTA writers (certainly not as much as the acting branch).

Best Original Screenplay
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech

Alright, look. I'm sensing a major upset here, I just don't know where. I think the two K's are pretty locked in, as is Inception. Neither Black Swan nor The Fighter seem like much of writer's movies, but Black Swan especially seems like more a feat in directing and acting than anything else. But what could slip in? Four Lions could potentially pop up as this year's In the Loop. Another Year wasn't nominated at BAFTA for its screenplay but then again, the Academy recognized Happy-Go-Lucky which was shut out in BAFTA nominations. But that film also had more precursor support. AGGGH!! Animal Kingdom also seems very written, and Blue Valentine seems like perfectly indie fare to reward here as it was cresting at just the right time for awards momentum (in spite of much of the film being improvised).

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Lesley Manville, Another Year
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

It may seem ballsy, but I'm allowing BAFTA to justify my ballsiness here. This was always the most open category all season, and a shakeup is in order. Amy Adams and Helena Bonham Carter are locks after their nominations at the BFCA, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTAs. Melissa Leo is a lock as well with her wins at the Globes and the BFCA, as well as a likely SAG win. Once we get beyond that, there are two open slots. Jacki Weaver missed out on the SAG. Mila Kunis missed the BAFTA in favor of her co-star, Barbara Hershey. Lesley Manville missed out on most things and has category confusion. But from the very first round of BAFTA voting, which includes enough members of the Academy to get her a spot in such a free-for-all year, Manville landed in the top five. And in the top five she remains, and potential frontrunner for the win in this category. Weaver's small Australian film was the first screener sent out which, from my experiences, can be very telling of that film's chances come nomination morning. Think The Savages, the first screener of 2007 which went unnoticed all season until Laura Linney's nomination for Best Actress. Think District 9 last year. Plus, seeing her on the campaign circuit all of a sudden in all her sweetness makes it hard for me to imagine she misses. I would love for Mila Kunis to get in, however, Barbara Hershey making that spot over her at the BAFTA was very telling. She was never all that safe to begin with, and if she has that kind of formidable internal competition at play then I think they may well both cancel each other out. And we'll get to Hailee Steinfeld in a moment.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Number's game. Rush and Bale are the two locks getting nominations from all the BFCA, Globes, SAG and BAFTA. Garfield, Renner and Ruffalo all have three of those four off their checklist, which keeps them relatively safe. Although Postlethwaite's posthumous (say those two words five times fast) BAFTA nomination makes me worried of Renner's chances with that internal competition. Postlethwaite was an honored and respected character actor on the other side of the pond, as well, and in spite of it being pretty solely almost shamefully sentimental I can see those two canceling out the way I foresee for both Kunis and Hershey. And I am getting the growing sense that SAG nominated John Hawkes can still sneak in. It'd be a good NGNG pick, but I think Winter's Bone might be rather doomed as a film...

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

I figured with Steinfeld's lead placement at BAFTAs longlists alone would put her in serious contention for the final lead nomination slot at the Oscars, but with a shiny new BAFTA nomination now actually to her name it seems all the more clear. I can actually kind of foresee Kidman missing before Steinfeld, whereas before I was worried Steinfeld might split votes between the Lead and Supporting category. Rabbit Hole, on the other hand, missed out on a WGA mention for its Pulitzer and Tony Award winning writer, the film's made a dismal box office showing, and no one outside of Kidman seems to be nominated for the film. Are people even watching it at this point? They might just be putting her name down for her being Kidman. Michelle Williams may have hope yet!

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Robert Duvall, Get Low
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

Duvall missed a Globe nomination, and he missed a BAFTA nomination. Generally, though, you want to try to not sway so much away from the SAG nominations (which aligned with Oscar nominations last year 19/20), so I'm keeping this pretty much the same. With Bridges getting BAFTA nominated again, I see him joining the safe club along with Firth, Eisenberg, and Franco. My dream would be for Blue Valentine to really break through replacing one of those last slots on the Picture list, with Gosling over Duvall, Williams over Kidman, and the screenplay over something else. It could happen but all those elements would have to come together perfectly and I'm just not willing to take the risk of breaking that far away from precedent (which I've already done plenty of). Another possible upset to look for is Javier Bardem's humane performance in Biutiful which received high profile endorsements at the height of voting season and a BAFTA nomination this morning.

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, True Grit
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network
Christopher Nolan, Inception

I had predicted David O. Russell to get the DGA nomination over the Coen brothers. But in the past decade the DGA has only aligned with the Academy's nominations twice, one of which being last year. It definitely seems too soon for that to happen again, meanwhile many DGA ballots were sent before True Grit's fantastic performance at the box office nevermind the fact that the DGA was always more of a populist voting body to begin with. I can't see any on the line auteurs like Mike Leigh or Peter Weir making it in here, or even a woman like Lisa Cholodenko or Debra Granik following Bigelow's shattering of the glass ceiling last year. I think they're all probably in the top ten with Russell, but pretty far behind.

Best Picture
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit

I've finally taken Winter's Bone off my list. It got shutout at the BAFTAs and hasn't made much of a guild appearance at all, unlike both 127 Hours or The Town. Neither of which got the top BAFTA nomination but they both got enough to suggest the support to get them in over Winter's Bone (especially that nomination for Danny Boyle). Blue Valentine also got shutout but I see that potentially appealing to a lot of voters that only got to see it after the unusually early SAG balloting where it did very well in limited release as ballots were released. So I guess those are two upset options.

The Social Network - 11 nominations
Inception - 10 nominations
The King's Speech - 10 nominations
True Grit - 9 nominations
127 Hours - 7 nominations
Black Swan - 7 nominations
The Fighter - 6 nominations
Toy Story 3 - 6 nominations
Alice in Wonderland - 4 nominations
The Kids Are All Right - 4 nominations
The Town - 2 nominations
Winter's Bone - 2 nominations Read more!

BAFTA Awards

The British Academy of Film and Television is the British equivalence of the Oscars and Emmys rolled into one, essentially. They've had a long tradition of handing out awards, as such national Academic bodies do, but only since 1999 have they started to reward their films prior to the Oscars and have, in the years since, proven to be a crucial indicator as a precursor to the Academy Awards. They can be the deciding factors in breaking ties or deciding a very open race.

Look at 2007, for example. National treasure Julie Christie lost out on their Lead Actress prize to French darling Marion Cotillard after what had grown into a real two-way horse race (with Ellen Page as a possible upset). Marion Cotillard managed to take the Oscars. The real clusterfuck that year, however, was in the Best Supporting Actress category where Amy Ryan had been a critics darling for Gone Baby Gone, Cate Blanchett was the industry favorite after having won the Golden Globe for gender bending in I'm Not There, elderly veteran character actress Ruby Dee had won the Screen Actor's Guild prize for essentially a cameo in American Gangster and Tilda Swinton won the BAFTA for Michael Clayton. Guess who won the Oscar that year?

In Round 1 of voting, the BAFTA members release a longlist of 15 names and films per category that, in Round 2, they whittle down to 5. They denote, however, which films made the top 5 in each category except for Best Film in Round 1, which tends to mirror the final nominations about 75% of the time. The final nominations for the BAFTA should be released close to 3 a.m. EST, so I feel like I might as well attempt to predict them even though I've never done such a thing. So don't take these very seriously.

Best Film
Another Year
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

Director
Danny Boyle, 127 Hours
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network

Leading Actor
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jim Broadbent, Another Year
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Leading Actress
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Carey Mulligan, Never Let Me Go
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Noomi Rapace, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Tilda Swinton, I Am Love

Supporting Actor
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Pete Postlethwaite, The Town

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Lesley Manville, Another Year
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Miranda Richardson, Made in Dagenham

Original Screenplay
Another Year
Black Swan
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours
The Ghost
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit

Animated Film
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Original Music
127 Hours
How To Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Production Design
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1
Inception
The King's Speech

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
The King's Speech
Made in Dagenham
True Grit

Editing
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

Sound
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
Toy Story 3
True Grit

Special Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1
Inception
Monsters
TRON: Legacy

Make up & Hair
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1
The King's Speech Read more!

The Golden Globe Awards

Well, the Critic's Choice Awards last night was a complete snoozer, with no unexpected wins. But that's rather expecting coming from the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Does that differ much from the Globes, whose choices just tend to be dumber than everyone else's? Remains to be seen, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

Here are my choices ranked from most likely to least likely to win:

Best Drama Picture:
1. The King's Speech
2. The Social Network
3. The Fighter
4. Inception
5. Black Swan

Best Comedy/Musical Picture:
1. The Kids Are All Right
2. Alice in Wonderland
3. Burlesque
4. Red
5. The Tourist

Best Director:
1. David Fincher
2. Christopher Nolan
3. Darren Aronofsky
4. David O. Russell
5. Tom Hooper

Best Drama Actor:
1. Colin Firth
2. Jesse Eisenberg
3. James Franco
4. Ryan Gosling
5. Mark Wahlberg

Best Drama Actress:
1. Natalie Portman
2. Nicole Kidman
3. Michelle Williams
4. Jennifer Lawrence
5. Halle Berry

Best Comedy/Musical Actor:
1. Kevin Spacey
2. Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland)
3. Paul Giamatti
4. Jake Gyllenhaal
5. Johnny Depp (Tourist)

Best Comedy/Musical Actress:
1. Julianne Moore
2. Annette Bening
3. Emma Stone
4. Anne Hathaway
5. Angelina Jolie

Best Supporting Actor:
1. Christian Bale
2. Geoffrey Rush
3. Michael Douglas
4. Andrew Garfield
5. Jeremy Renner

Best Supporting Actress:
1. Helena Bonham Carter
2. Amy Adams
3. Melissa Leo
4. Mila Kunis
5. Jacki Weaver

Best Screenplay:
1. The Social Network
2. The Kids Are All Right
3. The King's Speech
4. Inception
5. 127 Hours

Best Score:
1. Inception
2. The Social Network
3. Alice in Wonderland
4. The King's Speech
5. 127 Hours

Best Song:
1. "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"
2. "Bound to You"
3. "Coming Home"
4. "I See the Light"
5. "There's a Place for Us"

Best Animated Picture:
1. Toy Story 3
2 (tie). How To Train Your Dragon/The Illusionist/Tangled
5. Despicable Me

Best Foreign Language Picture:
1. I Am Love
2. Biutiful
3. The Concert
4. In a Better World
5. The Edge Read more!