OSCAR Nominations: Expected & Unpredictable!

'The King's Speech' & 'True Grit' LEAD...
'The Social Network' makes a respectable showing with 8 nominations!

"The King's Speech" dominated the Oscar nominations on this early morning, earning 12 nods including best picture and best lead actor for Colin Firth as King George VI, who battles to eradicate his stammer before he unexpectedly takes the throne.

Joel and Ethan Coen's spirited remake of the western "True Grit" surprised many, following with 10 nominations, including best picture. "The Social Network" and "Inception" scored eight apiece.

Below are the nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards...let us see how well I did!

Best Motion Picture

127 Hours

Black Swan

Inception

The Fighter

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone

 

Prediction - 10 out of 10

Actor - Motion Picture

Jeff Bridges, "True Grit"

Robert Duval, "Get Low"

Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network"

Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"

James Franco, "127 Hours"

 

Prediction - 4 out of 5 (Remove Duval, and replace with Javier Bardem, "Biutiful")

Actress - Motion Picture

Anette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"

Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole" 

Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"

Natalie Portman, "Black Swan" 

Michelle William, "Blue Valentine"

Prediction - 5 out of 5

Supporting Actor - Motion Picture

Christian Bale, "The Fighter"

Andrew Garfield, "The Social Network"

Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right" 

Jeremy Renner, "The Town"

Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech"

 

Prediction - 4 out of 5 (Remove Garfield, and replace with John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone")

Supporting Actress - Motion Picture

Amy Adams, "The Fighter"

Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"

Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"

Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit"

Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"

 

Prediction - 5 out of 5 

Directing

Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"

David Fincher, "The Social Network"

Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech"

Christopher Nolan, "Inception"

David O. Russell, "The Fighter"

 

Prediction - 4 out of 5 (Remove Nolan, and replace with Joel & Ethan Coen, "True Grit")  

Adapted Screenplay

Ben Affleck, Peter Craig & Aaron Stockard, "The Town"
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich, "Toy Story 3"
Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, "True Grit"
Debra Granik & Anne Rosselini, "Winter's Bone"
Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network"

 

Prediction - 4 out of 5 (Remove "The Town", and replace with "127 Hours")  

Original Screenplay

Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg, "The Kids Are All Right"
Keith Dorrington, Eric Johnson, Scott Silver & Paul Tamasy, "The Fighter"
Mike Leigh, "Another Year"
Christopher Nolan, "Inception"
David Seidler, "The King's Speech"

 

Prediction - 5 out of 5  

FILM EDITING

Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
Inception (Lee Smith)

The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar)
The Social Network (Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall) 

 

Prediction - 4 out of 5 (Remove "Inception", replace with "127 Hours") 

ANIMATED FEATURE
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

 

Prediction - 3 out of 3  

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
"Biutiful" (Mexico)
"Dogtooth" (Greece)
"In a Better World" (Denmark)
"Incendies" (Canada)
"Outside the Law" (Algeria) 

 

Prediction - 5 out of 5  

A vast majority of this years nominees are no stranger to Oscar, though this years nominations show a notable infusion of new blood, including Eisenberg, Lawrence and Steinfeld.

Notably missing from the performance list of nominees: 

• Ryan Gosling for lead actor in "Blue Valentine" 
• Andrew Garfield for supporting actor in "The Social Network" 
• Mark Wahlberg for lead actor in "The Fighter"
• Mila Kunis for supporting actress in "Black Swan."

One of the biggest snubs and shock came in the directing category. Christopher Nolan, who is nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for "Inception," failed to earn an Oscar nomination in that category. He did receive a nod for his screenplay for the surreal thriller.

On the flip side, the film academy shared the wealth this year, doling out nominations in the major categories to movies big and small. Nominated alongside blockbusters such as "Inception" & "Toy Story 3" are independent features such as "Winter's Bone" and "Animal Kingdom"; both receiving critical acclaim but had limited release.

All of our burning questions will be answered when the envelopes are open on the 83rd Academy Awards, airing live on Feb. 27, from the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland. Actor nominee, James Franco and Anne Hathaway host the star-studded event!