Oscar is back!

As a sort of companion post to my friend's new blog, which you can find here, I thought I best give my personal summary of what I want to win and what I think will win big tonight. I posted this originally on a forum I frequent, but I'll change it a bit to suit here.

Black Swan for Best Picture. I started watching it thinking I wouldn't enjoy it too much, I was more intrigued by it, because I'd heard from people who had seen it that it was "insane" and "fucked up". And, considering it's effectively a film about ballet to the outsider (when you finish it, however, you realise it's definitely NOT a ballet film!), I didn't have high hopes. After it finished, well, more like as soon as it started, I was absolutely blown away by it. I loved every second of it. From the way it's directed, the lighting, the attention to detail, the acting, it's very nearly the (well, my) perfect film.

However, though I haven't seen it (I wish I had though), I do think The Fighter might pull up a shock victory on this one because of all the things I've heard about it. I don't think The Social Network should be counted out either, thinking about it, another film I absolutely adored. We'll have to see.

James Franco for Best Actor. Colin Firth is nearly definitely going to win this one, let's face facts, but for me James Franco shouldn't be counted out and, for me, should win it. Franco managed to carry a pretty much 2 hour film, 127 Hours, almost entirely on his own with the most of the film in a cave, with him rambling on and on to his slowly dying camera, fighting off a cloud of insanity that gradually sets in and grows stronger. You can see with every passing minute in the film, Ralston (the character) is slowly giving up trying to get out, until one surge of positive insanity leads him to cutting his own arm off, easily the most important decision Ralston himself has made in his lifetime.

Side note, one has to think that Ryan Reynolds for Buried missed out on a nomination too, seen as the basic ideas are both very similar, except that Franco is helped out slightly by short scenes from Ralston's past - in Buried, Reynolds is literally on his own for the entire film, only talking to people on the phone and seeing one person via a video through his phone for quite literally a few seconds. Though admittedly, Reynolds's performance isn't quite as remarkable as Franco's because Buried is more a pure survival story, compared to Franco battling off his own mental demons.

Natalie Portman for Best Actress. Hands down my favourite and a clear favourite in general, her performance is remarkable. It seems Oscar likes his mental problems in performances, and Portman's is exceptional. Her transfer from this image of perfection (her White Swan) to a more let loose, free Black Swan is unbelievable. Portman's ability in Black Swan

Geoffrey Rush for Best Supporting Actor. I thought he was the strongest point of The King's Speech if you ask me, the way he held Firth's Bertie together at his weakest moments was amazing, how he stays calm when it would be so much easier to just scream back at the incredibly frustrated King. I did not enjoy King's Speech as much as I should've, but I can appreciate a good performance when I see one, and Rush's is exactly that.

Supporting Actress is a bit more of a challenge for me to choose because I've only seen the always fantastic Helena Bonham Carter performance (but in The King's Speech I didn't really get that blown away by her performance, it was good definitely, but Oscar worthy is another matter entirely). I'll have to skip this one for now, but I can see myself wanting Amy Adams to win it, we'll see.

Side note, I have to ask why Barbara Hershey for her role as Nina Sayer's (Natalie Portman) mum in Black Swan is beyond me. She's magnificent. She's just as mentally troubled as her daughter in that she used to be The Swan Queen, and now her own daughter is, she goes to incredible lengths to get Nina to be "perfect". She loses her rag completely, and she's wonderful at it.

Toy Story 3 for Best Animated Picture. Without a shadow of a doubt. Normally sequels to films are never as good as the original, but somehow, Pixar actually made 2 better than 1, and then somehow made 3 better than 2. Absolutely remarkable. Any film that can reduce and 18 year old to near tears is good enough to win in my book. I think I loved this even more because I actually grew up with the film, I saw the first one in the cinema when I was 3, and relived it an incredible amount of times since, I saw 2 in the cinema when I was 7 (this one I can actually remember going to the cinema to see, because it was one of the few occasions my Dad came along to watch a film in the cinema with us as a family) and waited 11 years for the conclusion to one of, if not the, best trilogy of all time, alongside Lord of the Rings and Back To The Future (for me, anyway).

Darren Aronofsky for Best Director. I think he should walk away with this one, simply for his attention to detail when making it (I love the use of mirrors in every single scene, for example), the clothing choice, and his over-the-shoulder, single camera filming technique, as seen in his other fantastic sports epic, The Wrestler, suits the film's dark tone perfectly. The use of one camera for the most high-tempo scenes putting you right into the action. Plus, I loved how the shots in the film were either very in your face, right up close to the actors, or far away, looking down or in on a scene (the arguments between Nina (Portman) and Thomas (portrayed incredibly well by Vincent Cassell are up close, and when he storms out, we cut to a distance shot of her on her own in a ballet studio, completely surrounded by mirrors). Definite contender.

David Fincher won the BAFTA for this one, so he shouldn't be ruled out by any stretch, I think he's actually the favourite, and though I did love The Social Network, I didn't see too much actual direction involved in comparison to Black Swan or The King's Speech. One thing I will note though is why isn't Christopher Nolan nominated for this one AT ALL? To quote my favourite film critic Mark Kermode, "Inception is the MOST directed film of the year" and he's absolutely right. Every shot is absolutely key to the story (how difficult it is to see Cobb's ring finger for example (people who've seen it will know what I mean as to how important it is)). Oscar missed a trick on that one.

There we have it. My comprehensive round up of the 7 big awards that'll be revealed gradually over the next 6 or so hours. Enjoy!