oscar tabulational stuff

the new yorker has a pretty decent if brief run down of some oscar hustle and bustle in their latest issue, but the real neat part of hendrik hertzberg's talk of the town article is the differences in the way that the votes are tabulated.

we're all aware that the best picture category got expanded from 5 to 10 (all the better to include the blind side!), but did you know that this year people are ranking their votes hierarchically, as opposed to the previous method of simply marking only their choice for best picture?

read the article and adjust your oscar pool decisions accordingly.

I GOT OSCAR FEVER!!

Quick note: The posters don't reflect the stuff i think is gonna win, they're just there to gussy the post up. Jus' Sayin.

Best Picture



* Avatar
* The Blind Side
* District 9
* An Education
* The Hurt Locker
* Inglourious Basterds
* A Serious Man
* Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
* Up
* Up in the Air

Best Director



* Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
* James Cameron – Avatar
* Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
* Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
* Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

Best Actor



* Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
* George Clooney – Up in the Air
* Colin Firth – A Single Man
* Morgan Freeman – Invictus
* Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

Best Actress



* Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
* Helen Mirren – The Last Station
* Carey Mulligan – An Education
* Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
* Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor



* Matt Damon – Invictus
* Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
* Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
* Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
* Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress



* Penélope Cruz – Nine
* Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
* Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
* Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
* Mo'Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

Best Original Screenplay



* The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal
* Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
* The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
* A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
* Up – Bob Peterson and Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay



* District 9 – Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
* An Education – Nick Hornby
* In the Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Ianucci and Tony Roche
* Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire – Geoffrey Fletcher
* Up in the Air – Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best Animated Feature



* Coraline – Henry Selick
* Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson
* The Princess and the Frog – Ron Clements and John Musker
* The Secret of Kells – Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey
* Up – Bob Peterson and Pete Docter

Best Foreign Language Film



* Ajami (Israel) in Hebrew – Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani
* El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina) in Spanish – Juan José Campanella
* The Milk of Sorrow (Peru) in Spanish – Claudia Llosa
* A Prophet (France) in French – Jacques Audiard
* The White Ribbon (Germany) in German – Michael Haneke

9 Foreign Films Advance to the Next Stage of the Oscars

9, out of 65, films have advanced in the Academy's Oscar race. Out of these choices only 5 will make it to the final cut.

The nominees are:

• Argentina, “El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” Juan Jose Campanella, director;
• Australia, “Samson & Delilah,” Warwick Thornton, director;
• Bulgaria, “The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner,” Stephan Komandarev, director;
• France, “Un Prophète,” Jacques Audiard, director;
• Germany, “The White Ribbon,” Michael Haneke, director;
• Israel, “Ajami,” Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, directors;
• Kazakhstan, “Kelin,” Ermek Tursunov, director;
• The Netherlands, “Winter in Wartime,” Martin Koolhoven, director;
• Peru, “The Milk of Sorrow,” Claudia Llosa, director.

I'm absolutely floored that Almodovar's 'Broken Embraces' didn't even make the shortlist and had hoped it would at least become an augmented choice. But Spain has won 4 times now so I suppose I can understand cutting them out but I can't believe there are no Asian countries in the final round. South Korean Bong Joon-Ho's 'Mother' certainly deserved a final spot as did the Vietnamese director Nhat Minh Dang's 'Don't Burn It.' But alas....

I think it's safe to say that 'White Ribbon' will come away with the win but I can't decide which 4 movies will get dropped from the final round though I do believe both 'Ajami,' and 'Kelin' will make the cut.