Oscar Preview: 83rd Annual Academy Award Predictions

Who will take home gold on Oscar sunday? picture from oscars.org

The Oscars are this Sunday and the 83^rd Annual Academy Awards will be hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco. Every year we see new faces rise with recognition while familiar ones receive honors of their own. The question is will any of your favorites get to bring home the gold?

 Best Picture – 127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are Alright, The King’s Speech, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone

Prediction – The Academy always falls in love with two things, period pieces and English accents, conveniently this film has both. For months it looked like The Social Network would dominate awards season, but we’ve seen it fall into the shadow of The King’s Speech which has all the momentum (12 Oscar nominations) and buzz to take home the big prize.

Actor in a leading role –Javier Bardem for Biutiful, Jeff Bridges for True Grit, Jessie Eisenberg for The Social Network, Colin Firth for The King’s Speech, James Franco for 127 Hours

Prediction – Jeff Bridges was brilliant as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit but the Academy isn’t going to crown him for the second year in a row (a feat only Tom Hanks has pulled off). Jessie Eisenberg made The Social Network a fascinating film and James Franco wowed in 127 Hours, but both actors have long careers ahead of them. Last year Colin Firth was nominated in this category for the first time for his role in A Single Man, but it was Bridges’ award to lose, this time the tables are turned and it should be Firth who goes home with the Award.

Actress in a leading role – Annete Benning for The Kids Are Alright, Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence for Winter’s Bone, Natalie Portman for Black Swan, Michele Williams for Blue Valentine

Prediction – All the nominees in this category are worthy of the category but none carry the momentum of Natalie Portman’s performance in Black Swan. She’s brilliant in the film and it’s the sort of role the academy loves to recognize (meaning its a little crazy). Few nominees are as much of a lock as Portman is here.

Bale recieved a best supporting actor nod for The Fighter, picture from screenrant.com

Actor in a supporting role – Christian Bale for The Fighter, John Hawkes for Winter’s Bone, Jeremy Renner for The Town, Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are Alright, Geoffrey Rush for The King’s Speech

Prediction – Christian Bale steals the show in The Fighter, his performance is stunning and it should be enough to grant his victory. Jeremy Renner was another scene stealer in The Town but his performance may not be close enough to the front of voter’s mind’s to make him a serious dark horse. The man who could challenge Bale here is Geoffrey Rush, who’ll benefit simply from being in the spot light the awards season has put on The King’s Speech.

Actress in a supporting role – Amy Adams for The Fighter, Helena Bonham Carter for The King’s Speech, Melissa Leo for The Fighter, Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit, Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom

Prediction – Here it’s Melissa Leo in The Fighter who has the most buzz and she does give a performance worth of recognition. Another name to watch is Hailee Steinfeld for her role in True Grit, the Academy likes to dote on new comers in this category and the 14 year old certainly fits that bill. Steinfeld is worthy of recognition but the crime here is that she is no supporting actress, you’d think being the only actress with a major speaking role and being in every scene of the film would make her a lead actress… I guess the Academy feels otherwise. Watch for Leo’s name to be pulled from the envelope on Sunday night but don’t be surprised if Steinfeld gets called to the stage either.

Christopher Nolan is the missing nominee for Best Director, photo from obsessedwithfilm.com

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

Prediction – Another category where all the nominees are worthy of recognition but after winning the Directors Guild Award for The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper has this one practically gift wrapped. This doesn’t upset me, what upsets me is who’s wasn’t nominated. Christopher Nolan’s Inception was one of the most original films in year and was recognized with eight nominations, but not this one. Again the academy denies Nolan a nomination because he makes big budget films and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Movie Review: Social Network

Social Network stars Jessie Eisenberg as the creator of Facebook, picture from news.cnet.com

Like many movies, “The Social Network” starts with a bad date. For Mark Zuckerberg this date ends his relationship but puts into motion the events that lead him to creating facebook and becoming one of the world’s youngest billionaires. David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin skillfully craft a quality movie and get the most of a talented cast. For the most part the movie is told through flashbacks, Zuckerberg is being sued in two separate cases and we watch the movie unfold from the stories told during each delegation.

The movie centers around Zuckerberg, and understandably so, and Jessie Eisenberg turns in a performance worthy of the focus. Eisenberg has been landing bigger roles over the last few years but it’s this one that will separate him from his peers. He plays Zuckerberg as an out of the loop yet incredibly in touch individual that’s fascinating to watch. He pulls off having the intelligence of the Harvard student that creates facebook without losing Zuckerberg’s awkwardness. It’s amazing to watch Zuckerberg know what people want, he’s clearly a keen observer, yet he can’t seem to connect to the people closest to him. Eisenberg walks a fine line in this performance and he walks it well.

But Eisenberg’s isn’t the only role that makes this movie such a great watch. New to the scene, Andrew Garfield plays Zuckerberg’s best friend, Eduardo Saverin. It seems he’s the only real friend Zuckerberg has, and Zuckerberg knows it, after all its Saverin that he looks too to finance the website that becomes the facebook we all know and use today. Saverin tries to be the voice of reason but through their run ins with Sean Parker, played by Justin Timberlake, ends up being cut out of the giant he helped create.

Timberlake turns in an interesting performance as Parker, the name you might not know, but you all know of his creation, Napster. Parker knows what Zuckerberg wants to hear and his contacts in the world make it easy for him to take Saverin’s place and eventually cut out Zuckerbergs old friend completely. What makes this role so interesting is the development of the character. When we first meet Parker he comes across as very cool and charismatic, it’s understandable to see how his image can seduce anyone. But watch him, watch the places Parker goes, Timberlake can do more than make a hit song, the man can act too.

The movies creators are no slouches either. We know director David Fincher from such create movies as “Se7en”, “Fight Club”, and “Zodiac”, his skills as a director have never been questioned and with “The Social Network” this streak will continue. He gets the most from his actors and balances Sorkin’s fabulous script with excellent visuals and even some digital wizardry in the Winklevoss brothers.

Jessie Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield have a complicated relationship in Social Network, photo from altiusdirectory.com

Aaron Sorkin has had quite the career himself; he wrote movies like “A Few Good Men” and “Charlie Wilsons War” as well as being the brain behind television shows like “The West Wing.” His script matches the intelligence of its characters and his dialogue comes across as not only believable but decipherable for those of us who don’t understand computer algorithms.

Together they’ve created something special. Now some people call into question the legitimacy of this film, saying that much of it is very exaggerated or even made up to add drama to what’s otherwise a boring story. I look at this film and say who cares? After all it’s a great film and it tells a great story, I don’t go to the film to watch history, I go to be entertained. “The Social Network” does an excellent job of just that.