Best of 2009

I am getting tired of Best of 2009, and want to rid myself of it. I did Best Supporting Actress and Lead Actress in separate posts, but I feel I will never finish if I keep doing it like that. So, without further ado, here is my best of 2009!

Best Picture

1st place: (500) Days of Summer
2nd: An Education
3rd: Up in the Air
4th: Inglourious Basterds
5th: Avatar

Best Director

1st: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
2nd: Marc Webb, (500) Days of Summer
3rd: James Cameron, Avatar
4th: Lone Scherfig, An Education
5th: Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

Best Actor

1st: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer
2nd: George Clooney, Up in the Air
3rd: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
4th: Logan Lerman, My One and Only
5th: Sam Rockwell, Moon

Best Actress

1st: Carey Mulligan, An Education
2nd: Zooey Deschanel, (500) Days of Summer
3rd: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
4th: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
5th: Renee Zellweger, My One and Only

Best Supporting Actor

1st: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
2nd: Peter Sarsgaard, An Education
3rd: Brad Pitt, Inglourious Basterds
4th: Dominic Cooper, An Education
5th: Christopher Plummer, The Last Station

Best Supporting Actress

1st: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
2nd: Mo'Nique, Precious
3rd: Marion Cotillard, Nine
4th: Rosamund Pike, An Education
5th: Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds

Best Cast

1st: Inglourious Basterds
2nd: An Education
3rd: Nine
4th: Up in the Air
5th: Duplicity

Special Award
Up - I couldn't fit this into my limited categories, so I will give it a special award because it truly is fantastic.

Rundown
An Education 7 nominations, 1 win
Inglourious Basterds 5 nominations, 2 wins
Up in the Air 5 nominations, 1 win
(500) Days of Summer 4 nominations, 2 wins
The Hurt Locker 2 nominations, 1 win
Avatar 2 nominations, 0 wins
My One and Only 2 nominations, 0 wins
Nine 2 nominations, 0 wins
Precious 2 nominations, 0 wins
Up 1 nomination, 1 win
Duplicity 1 nomination, 0 wins
Julie & Julia 1 nomination, 0 wins
The Last Station 1 nomination, 0 wins
Moon 1 nomination, 0 wins


Boy do I feel relieved. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Share!

Oscar Nomintations!

Of course, you aren't reading the news on this blog first, but who said being late was a bad thing? I'm still trying to get my best of 2009 ready! So many afterthought, so little time...

Barreling through the nominations I have these conclusions:

Ten Best Picture nominees was a positively horrid and awful awful awful idea. The Blind Side...?

Sandra Bullock...? No thanks. Carey Mulligan? Thank you very much!

Best Actor/Supporting Actor had zero surprises. Boring. Good job Christopher Plummer!

Penelope Cruz over Marion Cotillard? Damn Weinsteins and their stupid campaigning process that tried to get Marion for lead.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, thanks for being a surprise. Anna Kendrick, please try and win this category! It seems rather impossible to beat Mo'Nique though, but we can pray.

No (500) Days of Summer? This sucks.

Golden Globe Nominations (Comedy) and Supporting/Director

Continued from an earlier post! Let's see what Musical/Comedy has for us.

Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
(500) Days of Summer, The Hangover, It's Complicated, Julie & Julia, and Nine

Only 3/5 with this batch. In the Loop and A Serious Man are apparently fading faster than I had believed. The Hangover, really? I know it was funny but it certainly did not live up the hype around it. Oh well. The Globes certainly do have weird taste.

Best Actress - Musical/Comedy

Sandra Bullock The Proposal, Marion Cotillard Nine, Julia Roberts Duplicity, Meryl Streep It's Complicated, Meryl Streep Julie & Julia

Like everybody else, I predicted Meryl Streep for the double nom. Also like everybody else I overlooked Julia Roberts in Duplicity. I had Michelle Pfeiffer in her slot and Zooey Deschanel in place of Sandra Bullock (or vice versa...it really doesn't matter). Goodbye Oscar nomination, Michelle Pfeiffer. If you can't get a Globe nod for the comedy category, you're done. And Sandra Bullock certainly is feeling the love from the Hollywood Foreign Press. She's without an Oscar nomination her entire career and as of today she has double Globe nods in just one year. Surely one of those (most likely The Blind Side) will result in an Oscar nomination, won't it? It pains me to say it but she just got a major profile boost. Nothing is certain until the SAGs though, which are more accurate in terms of Oscar because they have only five slots to fill, not ten.

Best Actor - Musical/Comedy

Matt Damon The Informant!, Daniel Day-Lewis Nine, Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes, Joseph Gordon Levitt (500) Days of Summer, Michael Stuhlbarg A Serious Man

5/5! That's always fun. Only two of these films are represented in the Best Picture category for Musical/Comedy. It's surprising given their love for The Hangover that Bradley Cooper didn't make the cut. Daniel Day-Lewis and Robert Downey Jr. seem to be the ones to beat in this category. Especially since A Serious Man failed to get a nomination anywhere else (ouch).

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz Nine, Vera Farmia Up in the Air, Anna Kendrick Up in the Air, Mo'Nique Precious, Julianne Moore A Single Man

5/5 again? That's sort of surprising because Vera Farmiga has been quite the question mark for awhile. She seems like more of a Globe nominee than an Oscar nominee. I can't see her right now making it to Oscar's shortlist. Oh SAG, where are you when we need you?

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon Invictus, Woody Harrelson The Messenger, Chirstopher Plummer The Last Station, Stanley Tucci The Lovely Bones, Chirstoph Waltz Inglourious Basterds

I had Jude Law replacing Stanley Tucci. giving me a 4/5. The Lovely Bones certainly hasn't been helped out critically, so why did the Globes go for Tucci's part in that over his delightful turn in Julie & Julia? Alfred Molina is not here, which can go either way for his Oscar chances. He could turn out to be like a Michael Shannon who gets snubbed by the Globes and continues on, or he could stop here. If he lands the SAG nomination the path to Oscar should be restored. I'm surprised Jude Law isn't here. He's a big name in what looks to be a charming movie, opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Rachel McAdams. Oh well.

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker, James Cameron Avatar, Clint Eastwood Invictus, Jason Reitman Up in the Air, Quentin Tarantino Inglourious Basterds

Kudos James Cameron. I missed you in favor of Rob Marshall, giving me 4/5. Clint over Rob Marshall is interesting seeing as Nine seems to have its Best Picture category locked and Invictus didn't get a nomination for Best Picture - Drama. Quentin Tarantino establishes himself as a serious contender, and the whole Cameron vs. Bigelow ex-spouse thing will lead to an interesting awards season if they keep getting nominated together.

So, what are your thoughts on the Globe nominations? Surprised? Got them all right? Other? Tell me in the comments!