Now for the technical awards!
Now, I don’t want to hear anyone complain about watching these awards being presented. Seriously. A few years ago, when they tried to speed up the ceremony by handing out so-called “minor” awards in the aisles or putting all the nominees on the stage before the announcement, I was so angry I wanted to throw something at the television. There are so many people who contribute to a film’s significance, and they all deserve to be recognized for their hard work and artistry.
Let’s take a look at some of the possible nominees in the technical categories.
Best Cinematography:
- 127 Hours, Antony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak
- Black Swan, Matthew Libatique
- The King’s Speech, Danny Cohen
- Inception, Wally Pfister
- True Grit, Roger Deakins
[Okay, I’ll be honest. This is exactly the same list as the Critics Choice Movie Awards. I used their list as a reference because cinematography is not exactly a buzzed about category, so my only strategy for predicting this category is my knowledge of the films and their previous nominations. I’ve seen The King’s Speech, and would definitely agree that it deserves a nomination for its inventive visuals. I know this probably makes no sense, but there was something so British about the camerawork. Don’t ask me what I mean by that. It was just my weird gut reaction mixed with my weird brain. Anyway, I think Inception‘s wild visuals also warrant recognition. Antony Dod Mantle won the Academy Award for Slumdog Millionaire‘s cinematography, so he’s a sure bet, and based on word of mouth and the trailers for Black Swan (I haven’t seen it — I’m kind of scared), it’s likely to get a nomination. And Roger Deakins has worked with the Coens multiple times, plus on a slew of other brilliant productions, so he’ll likely get a nod. The winner? I honestly don’t know, because I haven’t seen all the films, and, again, there isn’t a lot of buzz surrounding the category. So I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.]
Best Art Direction:
- True Grit, Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh
- Inception, Guy Hendrix Dyas
- Alice in Wonderland, Stefan Dechant and Robert Stromberg
- The King’s Speech, Eve Stewart
- Black Swan, Therese DePrez and Tora Peterson
[Okay, this time I didn’t even look at the Critics Choice list before making my picks, and they matched up perfectly. Of course, just because the critics and I think these are the most deserving doesn’t mean they’ll be the nominees. I’m just saying… Anyway, this category usually belongs to period pieces and fantasies. That applies to, well, four of them, but Black Swan certainly seems to set a tone with its surroundings. Something tells me Inception‘s elaborate dreamscapes might take the prize, but I could be wrong.]
Best Costume Design:
- Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood
- Black Swan, Amy Westcott
- True Grit, Mary Zophres
- Burlesque, Michael Kaplan
- The King’s Speech, Jenny Beavan
[So, four out of these five coincide with the Critics Choice Awards (I didn’t peek first this time either). There are only four nominees at the Critics Choice Awards, but the Oscars will probably have five nominees. My prediction for the fifth nominee is Burlesque. I mean, there are a lot of flashy outfits in that. As for the others, if Colleen Atwood designed for a film she’s almost certain to be nominated. Period pieces True Grit and The King’s Speech call for great design, and Black Swan has those elaborate ballet outfits. As for the winner? I’ll narrow it down to Wonderland and True Grit.]
Best Editing:
- 127 Hours, Jon Harris
- Black Swan, Andrew Weisblum
- Inception, Lee Smith
- The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
- True Grit, Roderick Jaynes
[The first four match up with the Critics Choice category, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and choose True Grit as my final nominee. 127 Hours and Black Swan make sense because they’re built on suspense and shock value. Inception is such a complex film that its success depends on deft editing. The Social Network had to piece together different time periods, flashbacks, and retellings. And True Grit, based on all its other buzz, seems like the right fit for the category. It’s all about the justification, see. Who’ll win? I can’t really say, because I haven’t seen all the films. We shall see.]
Best Makeup:
- Alice in Wonderland
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One
- Black Swan
[I’m only putting down three nominees here, because the category is usually limited to just three. These choices are self-explanatory. One only has to look at Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, or Natalie Portman — well, whatever’s going on with her in Black Swan — to understand why these films deserve recognition. Should there be four nominees, True Grit is a likely candidate.]
Best Visual Effects:
- Inception
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Alice in Wonderland
[This category usually only has three nominees as well. Let’s face it. Inception is pretty much sure to win, right? If there happen to be more nominees, Tron: Legacy and Ironman 2 are possible candidates.]
Best Sound Editing/Sound Mixing:
- Inception
- True Grit
- 127 Hours
- Black Swan
[Okay, I don’t really understand the difference between sound editing and sound mixing. Okay, I kind of get it. Either way, I’m not enough of an expert on sound — well, I’m not any kind of expert on it — to predict these categories separately, so let’s put down a few likely nominees. I know I sure liked that “BWARRR” sound in Inception. But I guess that was part of the score…]
Best Score:
- Inception, Hans Zimmer
- The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
- The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
- Alice in Wonderland, Danny Elfman
- 127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
[So, this year I predict that this category will be teeming with big name composers. And who’ll win? I don’t know how anyone can beat Hans Zimmer for Inception. Once again, that “BWARR” gets me every time.]
I’m excluding my predictions for a few categories, namely Best Foreign Language Film, Best Documentary, the Best Short categories, and Best original song, because I don’t feel I know enough about this year’s available nominees to predict them. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay attention when they’re announced.
Remember to look for the Oscar nominations early in the morning on January 25, and watch the Oscars on February 27 on ABC with hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco. And before that, watch the Critics Choice Movie Awards January 14 on VH1, and the Golden Globes January 16 on NBC. That was all from memory. I’m a little obsessed with these things, in case you haven’t noticed. Oh yeah, and see some of these movies!
Pop and Ceremony 