My Oscar Picks for Sunday

One of my favorite awards sites, the New York Times' "Carpetbagger" blog, has posted its picks for the Oscars on Sunday. That post and the New York Times' outstanding coverage of the Oscars in general, got me thinking about what my own picks would be, if I could vote. So, here are my picks (and not necessarily who I think will win):

Picture: "The Hurt Locker" (my other favorites: "A Serious Man", "An Education", "District 9")

Director: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"

Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart" (also loved: Colin Firth in "A Single Man", George Clooney in "Up in the Air")

Actress: Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, "Precious" (also loved: Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air")

Adapted Screenplay: Nick Hornby, "An Education" (also loved Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, "Up in Air")

Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker" (other favorite: Joel & Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man")

Animated Feature: "Fantastic Mr. Fox"

Some of my picks go against the grain, so I feel like I have to justify them. As much as I like "Avatar" (I saw the movie twice, and find it brilliant), I have to say that "The Hurt Locker" touched me more, is more important and current, and is absolutely fantastic, from a cinematic standpoint. It's also an action movie with a message about the foolishness (and addiction) of war.

Meryl Streep's performance is head and shoulders above everyone else's in her category. She has only won twice, the last time in 1983, and has been nominated 16 times! She has shown an incredibly diverse range, from drama to comedy, along three different decades! Give her the Oscar already!

Nick Hornby's screenplay for "An Education" is lovely and literary in a way that "Up in the Air" is not. Hornby is a fantastic novelist, and the tone his screenplay sets for "An Education" is a marvel. I absolutely love "Up in the Air", which I also watched twice, but it's more of an auteur movie. If anything, Jason Reitman would be more deserving of the director Oscar. However, adapted screenplay will be his consolation prize, and I'm totally OK with that.

I'd give original screenplay to Mark Boal, a fellow journalist, for his incredible, powerful storytelling in "The Hurt Locker". Boal spent more than a year embedded with a bomb squad in Iraq, and his understanding of the war, the work those people do, and the characters involved in it is absolutely superb. Quentin Tarantino came up with a very original screenplay and take on World War II, but his movie somehow didn't completely come together for me. "Inglourious Basterds" has three of the best movie scenes I've ever seen, but the whole is lacking, in my opinion.

Finally, as much as I liked "Up", I still thought it was a movie done by committee: "Let's see if we can use the Pixar formula to its best effect once again". "Fantastic Mr. Fox", on the other hand, is absolutely personal from beginning to end, and brought me so much enjoyment and glee while I was watching it. Everything in it is clever, cute, smart, funny, and I never felt like they were trying too hard or manipulating my emotions.

So, there you have it! Let the discussion and polemic begin!