GIMMICKLESS OSCAR PREVIEW 2010-11: DAY 3

The Other Awards (i.e. why the broadcast takes so long). On the subject, has anyone thought that this thing might better be made a 3 day affair. Technical awards day 1, these awards that no one cares about day 2, big names day 3. We'd all get to bed at a more reasonable hour. Except for the writers, who deserve garlands thrown at their feet.

Animated Feature Film
• “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
• “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich
SHOULD WIN: Despicable Me
WILL WIN: Toy Story 3
COMMENT: Every year Pixar makes an animated film it gets nominated for best picture. No other animated film gets nominated. The result is that there is little reason not to announce the winner in advance. That said, I never dug the Toy Story films. Despicable Me was more fun and funnier. In fact, I sort of preferred Tangled to all these films as well.

Art Direction
• “Alice in Wonderland”
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
• “Inception”
• “The King's Speech”
• “True Grit”
SHOULD WIN: Tron Legacy – I'm not an art expert, but I know what I like. No one can honestly say that any of the nominated films have the same iconic imagery that Tron Legacy will be remembered for. I should also send some love out to Tangled's lantern scene...I'd use the word magical...but I'm a grown man.
WILL WIN: The King’s Speech – An English period piece. They just can’t help themselves.

Cinematography
• “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
• “Inception” Wally Pfister
• “The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
• “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
• “True Grit” Roger Deakins
SHOULD WIN: The Book of Eli - Terrific use of color and the attention to detail in masking the twist was award-worthy. Also, The American could also use a bit of nomination-love.
WILL WIN: The King’s Speech

Costume Design
• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King's Speech” Jenny Beavan
• “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” Mary Zophres
SHOULD WIN: I confess I neither know nor care. As anyone who has seen my wardrobe can attest, the answer is, “Not Justin.”
WILL WIN: The King’s Speech

Documentary (Feature)
• “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
• “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley
SHOULD WIN: Waiting for Superman. Hollywood is a huge union town, so there was no way the year's obvious winner was going to get nominated for calling out the teacher's union for holding back meaningful educational reform even if it was made by an arts community dynasty (Guggenheims).
WILL WIN: Inside Job. Hollywood is not as big of a Wall Street town

Visual Effects
• “Alice in Wonderland”
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
• “Hereafter”
• “Inception”
• “Iron Man 2”
SHOULD WIN: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I know that the words would choke in the presenter's mouth, but again, this isn't an award for best script.
WILL WIN: Inception - The only blockbuster to live up to the hype this year has to win at least one token award.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
• “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
SHOULD WIN: Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network
WILL WIN: Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network
COMMENT: Sorkin's a big name and there was plenty of sharp dialog to earn him his trophy.

Writing (Original Screenplay)
• “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• “The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler
SHOULD WIN: Christopher Nolan - Inception
WILL WIN: Christopher Nolan – Inception – It’s such a clever idea, so well executed. It would be a shame if it got lost in the King’s stuttering Speech.