Since Sunday is the most anticipated day in movie history (dating back to January 1, 2010), I have decided to once again bore you with my predictions and hopes for the people and films who will acquire a golden naked man statue. As I lack knowledge in most of the 24 Oscar categories, I am offering my amateur expertise in the important ones (sorry Best Achievement in Costume Design).

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

This is a surprisingly tough category. Hans Zimmer created a masterfully intense score for Inception that also played a major role in the plot of the film. However, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross should not and cannot be denied acknowledgment for their touching, hearty Social Network soundtrack.

Want to win: The Social Network; Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Will win: The Social Network; Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Best Achievement in Cinematography

There should be absolutely no doubt about this one. However, the Academy is sometimes very stupid and likes to snub movies that aren’t about stammering monarchs. Roger Deakins and Wally Pfister have amassed 13 noms between them with zero wins. In my eyes, this is a travesty due to the visually inspiring films they have helped to create. It is my hope that one of them is permitted to break this glaring oversight and accept an award. As much as I hate to see Deakins ignored again, I think it is definitely Wally’s turn as Inception, to me, is the clear choice in this category.

Want to win: Inception; Wally Pfister
Will win: Inception; Wally Pfister

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Another easy one. Toy Story 3 should easily dominate. And I will not disagree with that. My only complaint is that Tangled wasn’t recognized, as it is a better movie than How to Train Your Dragon.

Want to win: Toy Story 3
Will win: Toy Story 3

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Good competition in this category, but Aaron Sorkin’s Social Network outshines the rest by about 100,000 ohms.

Want to win: The Social Network; Aaron Sorkin
Will win: The Social Network; Aaron Sorkin

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

I think that as much as The Social Network stands out in the Adapted category, Inception makes its presence known in this one. Christopher Nolan’s script is a perfectly and tediously concocted story built on multiple levels while maintaining a structure simple enough for the audience to follow. Sadly, The King’s Speech has been receiving much more praise. And since the Academy refuses to modernize itself in any way by recognizing something truly original and clearly superior, it will undoubtedly vote for the same old conventional story.

Want to win: Inception; Christopher Nolan
Will win: The King’s Speech; David Seidler

Best Achievement in Directing

The absence of Christopher Nolan on this list may be the most disgraceful and unwarranted snub I have ever seen. I omitted my choices in the Editing category because of the lack of acknowledgment for Inception‘s phenomenally edited product. I can’t ignore this category however, as it is too important. I realize now that Nolan will never be recognized by the old elitists who control the awards shows. As a film maker, I’m sure it is much more rewarding to receive high acclaim from the audience anyway. So fuck it. With that being said, David Fincher is also one of the best directors of the era and absolutely should not be denied an Oscar this year.

Want to win: Christopher Nolan; Inception
Will win: David Fincher; The Social Network

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

This is somewhat of a toss-up for me as I very much liked both supporting female roles in The Fighter. Due to greater screen time and opportunity for character development, my uncounted vote goes to Amy Adams.

Want to win: Amy Adams; The Fighter
Will win: Melissa Leo; The Fighter

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Over the past few years, my favorite acting performances have come from people in supporting roles. Christoph Waltz, Heath Ledger, Javier Bardem, Mo’Nique, and Tilda Swinton are a few examples of supporting acting dominating lead roles in the past five years. This year is no different as the best acting performance of the year was that of Christian Bale in The Fighter. Bale is an actor of incredibly wide range, and his turn as the crack-addicted and eccentric Dickie Eckland is a far cry from any other role he has undertaken.

Want to win: Christian Bale; The Fighter
Will win: Christian Bale; The Fighter

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Coming into 2010, this seemed to be the most hyped category as Blue Valentine was on the festival circuit and Black Swan and Rabbit Hole were building a lot of hype. Now that it’s down to the wire, it seems that Natalie Portman is the clear choice to take the trophy this year. I have always thought very highly of Portman as an actress, as she is one of the few names who will draw me to a theater. No role I have ever seen her in has disappointed me, and I am glad that she is receiving such high acclaim for her best performance yet. I must also acknowledge Michelle Williams for her convincing turn in Blue Valentine.

Want to win: Natalie Portman; Black Swan
Will win: Natalie Portman; Black Swan

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

This may very well be the weakest of the acting categories this year. My personal choice would be Jesse Eisenberg as I believe he stepped out of his normal character to portray a very convincing and cocky Harvard entrepreneur. I also can’t deny that Colin Firth single- handedly carried The King’s Speech on his back. His performance as King George VI was actually quite impressive as he didn’t allow the speech impediment to define the character. I would not be disappointed if he were to win.

Want to win: Jesse Eisenberg; The Social Network
Will win: Colin Firth; The King’s Speech

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Okay, so most years the Best Picture category comes down to two contenders. Usually I love one and I hate one. This year, I love two and hate the hype of the potential winner. Once again, Inception should win. Obviously that isn’t going to happen. So it comes down to two: The Social Network and The King’s Speech. One is a film that defines the 2000s and helps us transcend into the next decade. The other is another period piece about British royalty. It kind of amazes me that there were enough British monarchs that we get a new movie about one of them every year. The Social Network should undoubtedly be etched into film history with an Oscar win.

Want to win: Inception
Will win: The Social Network

That’s enough of that.

Full list of nominations for the 83rd annual Academy Awards provided by IMDB.com here

For us movie nerds, this is the moment we wait for all year. The Oscar nods. We wait to see how many, if any, nominations our favorite movies of the year receive. But what tends to be most interesting for me is seeing what was, in my humble opinion, snuffed, forgotten, neglected of recognition, given flase accalade or just plain passed over. FOR EXAMPLE:

INCEPTION was not nominated for direction or editing – the two awards I think it deserved most.
THE KING’S SPEECH was nominated for anything. Which it does not deserve.
127 HOURS’ Danny Boyle was nominated over Christopher Nolan and was nominated for best picture.
TRUE GRIT’s Co Bros were nominated over Chris Nolan. Now, I love everything Coen Brothers. They’re prob’ly my favorite director/writer/editor ever. But TRUE GRIT was not their strongest film of recent.
Lastly, but not leastly, a good surprise: DOGTOOTH getting a nod for best foreign language film. Awesome.

In short – The Oscars are useless. Who cares what wins? I claim not to, but if THE KING’S SPEECH sweeps I’ll fucking vomit.

KAZAAM!

The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Some would say this is Y2K II. ThatWasJunk’s very first Fivegoo!

Now in this very first Fivegoo, we decided to get together and do a little post-Oscars wrap-up and discussion about what went down last night. In short, we were pleased. As Dave mentions at the beginning of this video, we will be doing Fivegoo’s every month about random movie subjects. If you’d like a more comprehensive idea of wtf a Fivegoo is, click right here.

The video is almost 10 minutes, so if anyone actually watches the entire thing, we’ll be surprised. This is very early on in the Fivegoo territory, so we’ll try and make them more interesting, funny, informative, entertaining, etc. as we go along. If you have any comments whatsoever about the Fivegoo as a function of the site, our opinions expressed within, or whatever.. please leave a comment or suggestion and we can battle it out. Hopefully you enjoy what we have to say. To make it more interesting, we encourage readers to put the Closed Captions on for the video and read along to the poorly transcribed and ultimately hilarious youtube beta closed captioning. It’s maximum comedy.

One small note before we go, there was quite a bit of Slumdog Millionaire bashing that got edited out of the finished product. Just want readers to know just how much we think that movie blows.

So I figured it was about time I offered my evaluation of this year’s Academy Awards. I’m not interested in making predictions. Instead, I am going to say what I personally think deserves to win.

Best Animated Feature Film- Up
I am no fan of Pixar. I am one of the few who believes in old fashioned, non-computer generated animation. Nonetheless, I would have to say that Up is the best choice for Animated Feature this year.

Best Screenplay, based on previous material-Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
As much as I loved District 9, I would have to say that the emotion in Geoffery Fletcher’s script not only captured the emotion in the book but surpassed it as well.

Best Screenplay, written for the screen- Inglourious Basterds
I think its safe to say I am a huge Coen brothers fan, as I like just about everything they have ever done. A Serious Man is another great film in their collection. But I think that this year, Quentin Tarantino has outdone himself with his multi-language script for Inglorious Basterds.

Best Achievement in Directing- Kathryn Bigelow- The Hurt Locker
Yes, James Cameron directed an entire movie basically on an empty set while using only his imagination. But I think the clear best of the year is his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow. The Hurt Locker was brilliantly directed, with a strong documentary-type aura about it. Throughout the movie, the direction made it seem as if we were actually following bomb-defusing soldiers throughout the course of a month.

Best Achievement by a Supporting Actress- Mo’Nique- Precious
There is absolutely no doubt about this one. While the other actresses were very good in their own rights, Mo’Nique displayed a talent that far surpasses her competition. She made it so easy to hate her in Precious. Her final scene in the movie, a scene in which you can’t tell if her character is legitimate in her emotion or fighting for her money, is enough to earn her the statue this year.

Best Achievement by a Supporting Actor- Christoph Waltz- Inglourious Basterds
Another easy decision for me. Again, the other nominees were exceptional in their performances (Stanley Tucci should be noted). But the four languages that Waltz was forced to deliver his evil character’s dialogue in were each as frightening as the next. Just like Mo’Nique, Chrisoph Waltz should be winning his Oscar for his ability to make the audience hate him.

Best Actress- Meryl Streep- Julie and Julia
Over the past few weeks, I changed my opinion in this category. For a long time I supported Gabourney Sidibe for her brilliant turn as the title character in Precious. However, I can not deny Miss Academy Award for her perfect interpretation of Julia Child. I am very interested to see who pulls out the victory in this one.

Best Actor- Jeff Bridges- Crazy Heart
What a sad category for me this year. Two of my favorite actors in two of their greatest performances, and one of them has to lose. Morgan Freeman could not have captured the true Nelson Mandela any better than he did in Invictus, but I think it’s about time that Jeff finally wins one. After five nominations in four decades, Bridges may have brought out his most award-worthy performance yet (not considering my Big Lebowski bias). If Jeff Bridges wins the Academy Award this year, I will stand and applaud him as if the Phillies won another World Series.

Best Motion Picture- Inglourious Basterds
I am so happy with the Best Picture category this year. And it was honestly a tough choice as to what my favorite actually is. Precious, The Hurt Locker, District 9, Up in the Air, and A Serious Man all deserve high regard in my book. That doesn’t mean I am discounting the other nominees either. With this ten movie selection though, I have decided to go with Inglourious Basterds as my ultimate favorite. Tarantino never ceases to produce a movie that can keep your attention. Everything about Basterds impressed me immensely. It was clever, funny, well-acted, and had a great story too. Not to mention the brilliance it took to have consistent dialogue in four seperate Europeon languages. If all goes right, this is the year Tarantino is finally recognized for his filmmaking ability.

There you have it. A special post from Dave. Hope it helped your Academy Award enjoyment.

Below are my picks and predictions for the 2010 Academy Awards.  I’ll be updating this over the next few weeks. I’m still in the process of seeing things and picking which I think should win, and which I think will win.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

---

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Animated Feature Film

• “Coraline” Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
• “Up” Pete Docter

I may get some slack for this one but, I’m on the fence about both Up and The Secret of Kells.  I like the story of Up.  I think Up looks bright and colorful, a typical Pixar movie. But I REALLY like the animation in the Secret of Kells, but don’t really care for the story. 

Directing

• “Avatar” James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

This one was another tough decision.  I love Tarentino’s Inglorious Basterds.  I think Tarentino is an amazing director and defiantly has a very “Tarentino” way of directing things but, I was blown away with a lot of Bigelow’s the Hurt Locker.  I got a good sense that I was there.  Like I was standing behind these army specialist watching them execute their tasks.  

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Based on the short film “Alive in Joburg” by Neil Blomkamp  the movie, written in half-documentary half-movie style, was Mr. Blomkamp’s first feature.  Well written and emotional, this movie reminds us to step back and look at the little man.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

I think Tarentino has this one wrapped up with his dark and sometimes silly screenplay for Inglorious Basterds. Tarentino is a great writer.I think it’s about time for him to receive another Oscar for writing.  For a moment I thought Up had a chance of winning, but Disney doesn’t seem to have a winning streak with best original screenplays.

This one was hard. I’m all for the Coens winning with A Serious Man. It’s a very unique script and an awesome movie, but I, personally, enjoyed Inglorious Basterds more.

Best Picture

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

With 10 nominees, it’s hard to tell who will likely be the winner.  There are lots of good movies up for winning (ok really like 5) and many truly deserve to win.  But with all the hype from the “revolutionary,” animation and character design in Avatar, I believe there is a very good chance that Avatar will win.  Sad, but true.  Many people don’t need a good story or good acting for a movie to be good.  It just has to look pretty and be in 3D and boom, 2 billion world wide and an Oscar.

Anything But Avatar
If Avatar won it’d be one of the funniest wins in Oscar history.  It’s part of the reason I want Avatar to win.  But really, I’d love it if A Serious Man, Precious, Inglorious Basterds, or The Hurt Locker won.  But I’m voting for the Hurt Locker.

After the jump, the rest that don’t really matter but matter to me.

Foreign Language Film

• “Ajami” Israel
• “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
• “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
• “Un Prophète” France
• “The White Ribbon” Germany

The Secret in Their Eyes

Short Film (Animated)

• “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
• “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Logorama
Logorama is simply awesome! It takes place in a world where everything is a logo.  The people are the AIM logo, the buildings are logos, the cars are logos, the animals are logos, everything is a logo.  There really isn’t a coherent story to this and is the most R-rated of it’s competitors. It starts off with a high speed chase between Ronald McDonald and the Michelin man (but all Michelin men are cops.) While being chased, an earthquake happens and then the world begins to fall apart. It’s essetually Grand Theft Auto meets 2012. With it’s 90s PC game look, random, story, and constant vulgarity, I can’t see anyone giving this one a second look over. (Side Note: Kudos to Nicolas Schmerkin for his use of the same end of the world song used in Bioshock)

Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
• “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

TBD

Visual Effects

• “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

I love the character design and the movements of the “prawns” in District 9 so much more than that of the Navi in Avatar.  The visuals in District 9 felt organic and “natural” and not forced and overwhelming like they are in Avatar.

Documentary (Feature)

• “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
• “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Espionage and cute little dolphins? This has Oscar all over it.

TBD