Oscar Time!

Oscar time is upon us again! Last year, the Academy Awards moved from five to ten nominees for Best Picture. Whatever your feelings on the matter, it can at least be said that going out to see ten Best Picture films is more than a little daunting. No worries, though because between the two of us we’ve see all ten. Below are some quick hits of every nominee to help you with your Oscar ballot — complete with brief synopsis, and what each movie has working for and against it. In fact, this year we’ve ranked all ten films from least to most likely to win. Be sure to check out our should win/will win picks (link to the should/wills) not only for more details on our Best Picture predictions, but all the acting, writing and directing awards as well.

10. 127 Hours:
127 Hours tells the true story of Aaron Ralston (James Franco), a 27-year-old American mountain climber who is trapped by a boulder in a Utah canyon and forced to go to extreme measures to survive and eventually escape his predicament — that is, he must amputate his own arm with a dull knife. Director Danny Boyle uses the frenetic style he perfected with Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire to bring Ralston’s tale to life. The result is a dazzling, pulsating ride through Ralston’s harrowing experience — a ride that is buoyed even further by a bold performance by Franco. Despite this, 127 Hours lacks the breadth and prestige of many of the other nominees. Many see it as a brilliant character-study, rather than a complete cinematic experience. For this reason, 127 Hours is a major underdog.

9. Winter’s Bone:
Set in the Ozarks, the film follows Ree (Jennifer Lawrence), a tough teenager who needs to find her meth-addicted father before his court date so her family won’t lose their house and land. As the caretaker of two young siblings and her incapacitated mother, Lawrence delivers a gritty performance, which has rightfully earned her a Best Actress nomination. Despite this harrowing portrait of a pocket of America rarely seen, the film is ultimately slow moving and some plot holes about Ree’s relationship with some other characters can make it a little tiresome. Winter’s Bone was a huge hit with critics, but it seems unlikely that Hollywood’s power elite (a significant portion of the Academy) will be quick to award a small film with a barely known cast and director (Debra Granik).

8. The Kids Are All Right:
Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) are a lesbian married couple stuck in a marriage rut. Their lives are turned upside down when their kids (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) reach out to start a relationship with their sperm donor father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). As Paul becomes a more prominent figure in their family’s lives, Nic and Jules’ marriage begins to crumble, culminating in an affair between Jules and Paul. Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, the film certainly has a lot of lighthearted moments, but viewers learn quickly that is doesn’t shy away from the drama and more difficult aspects of marriage and family life. Perhaps the most relatable portrayal of an American family in crisis since American Beauty (another Bening work), The Kids Are All Right is a touching and moving film. As a smaller movie than a lot of the other nominees, The Kids Are All Right also came out fairly early in the awards season and gained a lot of early buzz — especially for its lead actresses. However, much of that has kind of died out as the Oscars have drawn closer.

7. Toy Story 3:
Nineties child and toy-owner Andy (voice of John Morris) is all grown up and ready to head off to college, leaving Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and other members of the gang to be donated to Sunnyside Daycare. At first, Sunnyside seems to be an idyllic place for the toys to start anew. However, it turns out things are not nearly as “sunny” as they seemed and soon the toys plan to escape in time to reach Andy before he leaves. Pixar has essentially perfected the family film, using exciting visuals and vibrant stories to make movies smart enough for adults, but playful and innocent enough for children. Toy Story 3 is no exception. However, many in the Academy still perceive it as a “kid” movie competing in the big leagues — one reason why an animated movie has never won Best Picture. While surely Toy Story 3 has a large fan base in the Academy, it doesn’t really have the gravitas to win the night’s biggest prize.

6. Inception
The difficult act of “inception” — implanting an idea into someone else’s subconscious —becomes the primary task for Dom Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) and his crew of extractors, or dream thieves. While navigating through the dangers of various dream layers, Cobb is also battling personal demons over the death of his wife Mal (Marion Cotillard). When these two things come together, the risks increase for everyone involved in this complex and compelling thriller from writer/director Christopher Nolan. Perhaps the most innovative film this year, it is also the summer blockbuster of the bunch. Considering that Nolan was snubbed in the Best Director category – not to mention the Academy’s aversion to main stream box-office smashes (e.g. Avatar, The Dark Knight, every Pixar film ever made) – an Inception win would be a shock.

5. Black Swan:
Director Darren Aronofsky says he always saw Black Swan as a companion piece to his 2008 hit The Wrestler (link: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1646763/black-swan-director-darren-aron...). Where the Wrestler tracks one man’s dedication and brutal physical commitment to the lowest of art forms, Black Swan follows a young ballerina’s similar obsession with the highest art. That ballerina is Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a young on-the-rise dancer who is cast as both the White and Black Swans in a re-envisioning of Swan Lake. Nina’s perfectionist technique makes her perfectly suited for the role of the White Swan; however, her choreographer Thomas (Vincent Cassel) wants her to tap into the wilder, more uncontrolled part of her soul to unleash her inner Black Swan. The result is a dark twisted foray into the mind of a young girl on the brink of catastrophe. Where The Wrestler was brutal in its realism, Black Swan — in the always-unpredictable hands of Aronofsky — is brutally surreal. Unfortunately, the fantastical aspects of Black Swan are what preclude it from being a serious Best Picture contender. For every Academy voter who loves Aronofsky’s stylistic proclivities, you can bet there is one who hates them. With such a strong field this year, Swan’s divisiveness will sink it.

4. The Fighter:
Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is a welterweight boxer from a tight-knit yet overbearing family. Managed by his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) and his former-boxer-turned-crack-addict brother Dicky (Christian Bale), Micky tries to find a way to balance his love for his family with his boxing ambitions. He takes his career into his own hands with the help of new girlfriend, Charlene (Amy Adams). Feel-good sports movies’ storylines can sometimes be a little cheesy (although that didn’t seem to hurt Rocky, which captured the Best Picture prize), but The Fighter’s acting is so above and beyond that it becomes more a portrait of one family’s dysfunction and binding love, rather than a movie about achieving athletic glory. It also gets points stylistically for detailing the time period and location. For the fight scenes, director David O. Russell tried to recreate an HBO Boxing broadcast — complete with lighting and camera movement — giving the audience the feeling they are watching live bouts. While a highly enjoyable film, in the end, The Fighter is more likely to be rewarded for its strong acting than an overall Best Picture win.

3. True Grit:
Don’t call it a remake. The Coen Brothers’ vision of Charles Portis’ novel (famously made into a film starring John Wayne in 1969) is uniquely theirs. Hewing closer to Portis’ original story, the brothers’ first true Western follows Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) as she searches for her father’s killer (Josh Brolin) with the help of a headstrong Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) and a drunk but ruthless U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). A PG-13 rating and wide demographic appeal has made True Grit the Coens’ biggest mainstream hit to date. It’s also been a hit with critics who’ve praised the Coens’ stylistically sparse storytelling and lauded great performances by Damon, Steinfeld and Bridges, last year’s Best Actor winner. Nevertheless, it’s hard to see this film seriously competing for the big prize. If The King’s Speech and The Social Network are in the major league, then True Grit is Triple-A at best. Still, if one wanted to put money on a dark horse, Grit would probably be the smartest choice.

2. The Social Network:
While an undergraduate at Harvard University, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) creates Facebook, a social networking site geared toward college students and emphasizing exclusivity. Mark finds himself involved in two lawsuits over the site — one with his former best friend and business partner, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), and another with the Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer) and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella), who insist that Mark stole their idea. What some figured would be a boring film about a website turned out to be a Shakespearean tale of ambition, allegations and betrayal. Incredible acting from a fairly young and relatively unknown cast, a sharp script by Aaron Sorkin, and the deft direction of David Fincher have all contributed to the film’s critical success. Like Facebook, The Social Network is hip and modern, in terms of content, style and storytelling. Although considered by some to be this generation’s defining movie, with its keen grasp of the disparate-impersonal times in which we live, The Social Network may not leave such a poignant impression on some of the more traditional Academy voters.

1. The King’s Speech:
Prince Albert, Duke of York (Colin Firth) has struggled with a stammering problem since childhood. His wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham-Carter), seeks out the services of the unconventional speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) to assist her husband. Albert’s life, and his need to remedy his stammer, becomes more pressing when his brother (Guy Pearce) gives up the throne. Albert becomes king and must address the nation as World War II looms on the horizon. From cast to writing to subject matter, The King’s Speech is basically the definition of an Oscar movie; it is a wonderful film, simultaneously epic and intimate. Although the movie itself can be a bit slow moving, with recent SAG, BAFTA, DGA and PGA wins, there doesn’t seem to be much holding it back come Sunday.