Oscar Picks

A year's worth of sitting in the dark, and it comes down to Sunday, February 27th. Academy Awards time. Who shall win Oscar?

I look back at 2010 as a so-so year for movies, and yet when I look at the nominations, I think, "Wow. That one was great. Or such a superb performance. Or I could watch that one again." So, I think 2010 was a good year for a small number of really fine films. It was "eh!" for the medium grade - entertaining and worth your money, but not awesome. There's been a whole lot of crap made and I think films are being cranked out to fill the DVD and instant viewing pipeline. With that said, let me give an opinion on key categories.

Ballot courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

Best Picture: All worthy contenders. I think The King's Speech will win - it fits the Oscar sensibility. Well filmed, well acted, and British accents. As far as innovation - Inception or Black Swan should take the statue. And for sheer joy to watch again and again - Toy Story 3.

Best Actor: Colin Firth, hands down. Jeff Bridges won last year and gets better and better. Jesse and James - young brilliant actors who shall build great careers. Javier - sorry, didn't see you. But I bet you were good.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman has grown through the years and I think she was excellent in her ballerina breakdown. I give her the statue, but I'm fine if Annette Bening wins. She's so dynamic on the screen.

Best Supporting Actress: This is so tough. Melissa Leo started out ahead, but I think Hailee Steinfeld might just pull the final punch. I'd award the whole lot of 'em. (Jacki Weaver is a surprise gem in a wee Aussie film - whew!)

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale went full tilt into his role and came up a winner. But Geoffrey Rush could ride that King's Speech momentum and he was awfully key to Colin's performance.

Best Director - David Fincher - Social Network. The old split the award from picture trick and I think that's okay. We'll see.

Best Original Screenplay - either King's Speech or Inception (that was darn good creative writing)

Best Adapted Screenplay - Aaron Sorkin knocked it out with Social Network. This movie captures 2010 with his language and pacing.

Just working on this post makes me want to re-watch these movies and performances. Hollywood is still alive and brings magic to the darkness.

Roll film...............