2010 ACADEMY AWARDS Nominations

BEST PICTURE:
Avatar (20th Century Fox), A Lightstorm Entertainment Production, James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
The Blind Side (Warner Bros.), An Alcon Entertainment Production, Nominees to be determined
District 9 (TriStar), A Block/Hanson Production, Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
An Education (Sony Pictures Classics), A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production, Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), A Voltage Pictures Production, Nominees to be determined
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company), A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte lsberg Production, Lawrence Bender, Producer
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (Lionsgate), A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production, Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
A Serious Man (Focus Features), A Working Title Films Production, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
Up (Disney•Pixar), A Pixar Production, Jonas Rivera, Producer
Up in the Air (Paramount), A Montecito Picture Company Production, Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

DIRECTING:
James Cameron - Avatar (20th Century Fox)
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air (Paramount)
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (Lionsgate)
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company)

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney - Up in the Air (Paramount)
Colin Firth - A Single Man (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman - Invictus (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren - The Last Station (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan - An Education (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia (Columbia Pictures)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Matt Damon - Invictus (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger (Oscilloscope)
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones (Paramount)
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Penelope Cruz - Nine (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air (Paramount)
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air (Paramount)
Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (Lionsgate)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
District 9 (TriStar), Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
An Education (Sony Pictures Classics), Screenplay by Nick Hornby
In the Loop (IFC Films), Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (Lionsgate), Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
Up in the Air (Paramount), Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), Written by Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company), Written by Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger (Oscilloscope), Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
A Serious Man (Focus Features), Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Up (Disney•Pixar), Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Ajami (Kino International), An Inosan Production, Israel
El Secreto de sus Ojos (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haddock Films Production, Argentina
The Milk of Sorrow, A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production, Peru
Une Prophéte (Sony Pictures Classics), A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production, France
The White Ribbon (Sony Pictures Classics), An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production, Germany

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Coraline (Focus Features), Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox Searchlight), Wes Anderson
The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney), John Musker and Ron Clements
The Secret of the Kells (GDKIDS), Tomm Moore
Up (Disney•Pixar), Pete Docter

ART DIRECTION:
Avatar (20th Century Fox), Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Sony Pictures Classics), Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
Nine (The Weinstein Company), Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
The Young Victoria (Apparition), Art Direction: Patrice Vermette, Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Avatar (20th Century Fox), Mauro Fiore
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros.), Bruno Delbonnel
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company), Robert Richardson
The White Ribbon (Sony Pictures Classics), Christian Berger

COSTUME DESIGN:
Bright Star (Apparition), Janet Patterson
Coco Before Chanel (Sony Pictures Classics), Catherine Leterrier
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Sony Pictures Classics), Monique Prudhomme
Nine (The Weinstein Company), Colleen Atwood
The Young Victoria (Apparition), Sandy Powell

FILM EDITING:
Avatar (20th Century Fox), Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
District 9 (TriStar), Julian Clarke
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company), Sally Menke
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (Lionsgate), Joe Klotz

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
Burma VJ (Oscilloscope Laboratories), A Magic Hour Films Production, Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
The Cove (Roadside Attractions), An Oceanic Preservation Society Production, Nominees to be determined
Food, Inc. (Magnolia Pictures), A Robert Kenner Films Production, Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (First Run Features ), A Kovno Communications Production, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
Which Way Home, A Mr. Mudd Production, Rebecca Cammisa

MAKEUP:
Il Divo (MPI Media Group through Music Box), Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
Star Trek (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
The Young Victoria (Apparition), Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

ORIGINAL SCORE:
Avatar (20th Century Fox), James Horner
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox Searchlight), Alexandre Desplat
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer
Up (Disney•Pixar), Michael Giacchino

ORIGINAL SONG:
"Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname" from Paris 36 (Sony Pictures Classics), Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from Nine (The Weinstein Company), Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

SOUND MIXING:
Avatar (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company), Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
Star Trek (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount), Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

SOUND EDITING:
Avatar (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson
Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company), Wylie Stateman
Star Trek (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
Up (Disney•Pixar), Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

VISUAL EFFECTS:
Avatar (20th Century Fox), Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
District 9 (TriStar), Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
Star Trek (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

DOCUMENTARY SHORT:
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province, A Downtown Community Television Center Production, Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner, A Just Media Production, Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, A Community Media Production, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
Music by Prudence, An iThemba Production, Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
Rabbit à la Berlin (Deckert Distribution), An MS Films Production, Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

ANIMATED SHORT FILM:
French Roast, A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production, Fabrice O. Joubert
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (Brown Bag Films), A Brown Bag Films Production, Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte), A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production, Javier Recio Gracia
Logorama (Autour de Minuit), An Autour de Minuit Production, Nicolas Schmerkin
A Matter of Loaf and (Aardman Animations), An Aardman Animations Production, Nick Park"

WHAT SURPRISED ME:

The Blind Side for Best Picture (you know Memphis is gonna squeeze everything they can outta this; I am proud, however, for the Touhys though I do not know them personally)
District 9 for Best Picture
Up for Best Picture (it is not only the 2nd animated film in history to be nominated in the Best Picture category, but it is also the 1st completely computer-animated film to be nominated for Best Picture; also the first Pixar film to be nominated for Best Picture)

WHAT ANGERED ME:

No Star Trek for Best Picture, Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay (based on the TV series "Star Trek" created by Gene Roddenberry) or Costume Design? (I guess that was a false dream)
How did a Harry Potter movie get Best Cinematography?
No Robert Downey Jr. nomination for Sherlock Holmes (even though the man won the Golden Globe for it; though it was in "Comedy" which we all know the Academy loathes.)
Speaking of the Academy loathing comedy, not a single nomination for The Hangover which is the highest-grossing comedy of all time.

THE LOVELY BONES examined by royalty!

From ComingSoon.net:

"The Lovely Bones, based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, and directed by Academy Award-winner Peter Jackson, has been selected for the Royal Film Performance 2009. The World Charity Premiere will take place in late November in Leicester Square.

The Lovely Bones stars Academy Award-nominee Mark Wahlberg (Jack Salmon), Academy Award-winner Rachel Weisz (Abigail Salmon), Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon (Grandma Lynn), Stanley Tucci (George Harvey), Michael Imperioli (Len Fenerman) and Academy Award-nominee Saoirse Ronan (Susie Salmon), many of whom are expected to attend along with members of the Royal Family.

The Lovely Bones is a DreamWorks and Film4 presentation of a Wingnut Production and is distributed by Paramount Pictures worldwide, on general release in the UK in January 2010. The film centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.

CTBF President David Murrell said: 'We are delighted to be able to premiere a film of such distinction for the Royal Film Performance 2009. This will be a truly world-class event, attended by an internationally acclaimed director and cast and members of the Royal Family. We are truly grateful to Paramount Pictures for arranging this special premiere two months ahead of UK release and to the Royal Family for their unstinted support of this exceptional fundraising event.'

Director Peter Jackson added: 'I am honored that The Lovely Bones has been selected to be this year's Royal Gala film, in support of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund. This film has been an extraordinary journey, for myself as a filmmaker and for all of those who worked on it. On behalf of everyone involved, we are thrilled that Their Royal Highnesses and the CTBF audience will be amongst the first people in the world to see it.'"

Pip-pip! Cheerio and whatnot!

Also, this is a great time to use the new The Lovely Bones poster:

THE LOVELY BONES gets limited...

From ComingSoon.net:

"....Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, which the studio will release in limited theaters on December 11th. It then expands into more theaters on Christmas Day before going wide on January 15th. Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, the film centers on a young who has been ed and watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal."

AWWW!!! I hope it comes to Memphis (and the area surrounding it) quickly!!

THE LOVELY BONES gets a lovely trailer

From ComingSoon.net:

"DreamWorks Pictures has now revealed the full trailer for Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, opening in theaters on December 11.

Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, the film centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. Oscar® nominee Mark Wahlberg and Oscar® winners Rachel Weisz and Susan Surandon star along with Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli and Oscar® nominee Saoirse Ronan.



Unusual follow-up from The Lord of the Rings and King Kong but nevertheless it shows Peter Jackson's enormous versitilty. It walks a great fine line from fantasy to murder-mystery/thriller. I'm already looking forward to this movie. Are you?

Extremely Early THE LOVELY BONES test screening reviews!

From AintItCool.com:

SPOILERS

"The film doesn't come out until December of this year, so I'm sure it's still rough days yet. But the powers that be test screened the movie last night and we got two people to write in about it.
The first contact we got was very simple, saying that it was a very, very good movie and they can't wait to see it again. I asked this person to elaborate on the film, the performances and the state of the effects (especially what Jackson's vision of 'heaven' is) and the first review is what I got back. Here it is:

'Oh sure, this is my first time... The movie was BETTER than I expected, and that's saying a lot because it's Peter Jackson... First the movie on a whole made me feel wonderful, which I didn't expect with such a dark premise, but Pete and crew are amazing with that kind of stuff. They tell you in the beginning what's going to happen, even so, there are parts that make you grip your chair with anticipation, or cringe with disgust even though you knew it was coming, and then the stuff you weren't prepared for, well it just blows you away. All the performances were fantastic, all the characters emotions felt so real, which I think is difficult with this kind of subject matter, no one can imagine this sort of thing happening to them. But Suzy Salmon, the main character, is superb. This character needed a strong actress and she shines through the whole movie, it's her that pulls you in a makes you care. You instantly feel for all the characters, even the bad one, which is strange... And the effects, which I would say hit about 25-30 minutes in, but I was so enthralled it's hard to say. But once the effects hit they are there apart of the movie and it feels so right. I didn't know what to expect of 'heaven' but once you saw it you knew that's exactly what it was supposed to look like. It's actually like you get the pay off of the movie in the beginning, but it last the whole movie. While I was watching, there were moments that would make think of a different movie, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but every time I thought that, I'd immediately note how this movie has done it 10 times better. I know you want more details on 'heaven', but it really should be a surprise, but I'd say, and I'm no expert, but it seems all the effects are CG, no 'physical' effects from what I could tell. When you were in 'heaven' with Suzy it seemed real, and then something entirely impossible and beautiful, or scary would happened and you'd be reminded it wasn't reality. I'd say the whole movie had a slightly 'other world' look to it, and a variety of camera work of the likes I don't think I've seen from Pete. This movie is definitely more in the vein of Heavenly Creatures which we expected, but this has something more, a new movie and style for Pete Jackson and I love it. I think the less you know the better, but anyway you see it, you're in for a real treat this December (hopefully)...'

Now the below review is certainly not as positive as the above review. It reads a tad on the snarky side to me, but the below review is just as valid a view-point as the above. I will say that it sounds as if the source material itself wasn't up this person's alley as many of their complaints stem from the novel. The only area of concern for me personally is the talk about Jackson's camerawork and editing being jarring. I hope that's not the case... it's definitely not Jackson's M.O.
Anyway, here's the second review, the other side of the coin:

'Last night I saw a test screening of Lovely Bones. It was said to be a work in progress with missing effects shots and the editing process was still ongoing. I don't know, I didn't see any scenes where there was obviously a CGI monster missing or anything. There were a few effect shots that didn't look finished and a bunch of spots that could use some color correction. But I usually feel that way walking out of a finished movie and this wasn't any more so. I know the score is usually one of the last elements to be added but I'm under the impression this was the Brian Eno score and not a temp. The story is about a bright and sensitive preteen girl (Saoirse Ronan) who loves photography; then she gets savagely murdered by a child abductor. She is consequently taken to a magical afterlife of imaginative wonder while her family is torn apart by overwrought drama. And they also are trying to find her killer. The same killer whose identity we learned an hour ago. This child abductor character was played by Stanly Tucci who I did not recognize and literally looked like he was dressed as a child molester for Halloween. He had a child molester mustache, a child molester hairline, child molester glasses, and he spoke with a child molester speech impediment. If he were a pirate he'd have an eye patch and three peg legs.
There's a line when Ronan's character is exploring this fantastical new afterlife of wonder and she decides it's not quite heaven and not quite the world of the living 'but a little bit of both'. That's the film's issue in a nut shell. It's two completely different things and they go together about as poorly as possible. The editing and camera work are jarring, blunt and clumsy. I've never seen Jackson (He's the director so I shoulda mentioned him by now) work like this, he keeps yanking me out of the scene and I hate it. There's lots of cross cutting between the two settings; the girl is lost in a forest of butterfly wings meanwhile her dad (Mark Wahlberg who I haven't mentioned) has a nervous breakdown and screams at his wife (a very unlikable Rachel Weisz) until they both cry. C'mon, I'm trying to escape to a world of magic here.'" Apparently they're aiming for a PG-13 , that's baffling. Lovely Bones is like a PG film and an R forced together in a shot gun wedding. I could see young girls really loving parts of this movie. Too bad the other parts are about a young girl being abducted and murdered. Might be kind of a tough sell. This cut had all these parts that don't fit. Why is Susan Sarandon in this movie? Why does the film turn into Rear Window at the 11th hour? Why does the murdered girl have an Asian sidekick in the afterlife? That's about as far as I'm willing to go in ripping this unfinished film. I definitely see how this is a work in transition and I hope this cut is like the missing link to the good film they end up making. There's emotionally effective bits, impressive visual accomplishments and Saoirse Ronan is quite good in the lead (except it stops being the lead half way through). They need to pick a direction, dial down the shrieking sound design they use to cover up the absence of suspense and tone down the heavy handed camera work and editing. If they address all those issues in a final cut I'd definitely be interested in giving this film another look.'"

Huh. Two different issues. Honestly, I'm willing to trust Peter Jackson. I mean, come on, you can't expect everything Peter Jackson does to be Lord of the Rings or King Kong.