It’s been said that this is perhaps the easiest Academy Award season to handicap in a very long time. Ironic, given that the field was opened up this year to ten Best Picture nominees.

The Daily Helping would like to weigh in on it’s picks…not only who should win, but who deserves to win.

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’nique, Precious

Mo’nique should win and will win. The role has elevated the comic and television star to the next level and it’s likely we will see her in more films down the road.

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

This is another slam dunk. Christoph Walz has been collecting acclaim and acting awards for the past four months. He wins his oscar within the first 15 minutes of Tarantino’s incredible film.

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side (oy!)
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

This is the year that Sandra Bullock wins an Oscar with the great Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren among the nominees.  The Blind Side was a very popular movie and Streep and Mirren provided forgettable performances.  This is one of those times where the award rewards someone for what the film industry holds dear…box office. Bullock put a lot of butts in the seats and so expect to see her win.

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

Jeff Bridges has won a few awards lately for his performance as a down and out singer/songwriter.  Having secured nearly every critical award as well as the SAG and Golden Globe; Bridges has momentum over the likes of Clooney and Renner.

Best Director
James Cameron, Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

A lot of people believe this is a two horse race. Cameron has helmed an innovative blockbuster that took nearly a decade to make, if you believe the story that he needed to invent the technology in order to make his movie.  Challenging him for the top Director’s award is his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow who brought us the most effective and entertaining movie about the Middle Eastern conflict to date.  The Daily Helping anticipates Cameron will win this award in lieu of the Best Picture.

It’s also worth mentioning that the director who should win…is Quentin Tarantino, who provided a truly original and powerful film.  The Hurt Locker was suspenseful, but Inglorious Basterds was all that and more.

Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, & Thomas McCarthy, Up

Tarantino should win this. It would be nice if the Coen’s were recognized for their incredible film, but Basterds is perhaps Tarantino’s best script since Pulp Fiction.

Adapted Screenplay
Neil Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Ianucci, & Tony Roche, In the Loop
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

This may be the only award that Up in the Air wins on Oscar night.   For much of the year, this was considered a strong contender for Best Picture.

Foreign Language Film
Ajami (Israel)
El secreto de sus ojos (Argentina)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)

The Daily Helping admits to seeing none of the nominees.  We won’t even guess.

Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Up will win. It’s been a runaway critical success since the film opened many months ago.  After premiering at Cannes, all other animated efforts seemed to be respectable efforts.  Coraline is a distant second and Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox failed to find a much deserved audience.  The Secret of Kells has had limited release here in America and may surprise everyone.

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Like Jeff Bridges, The Hurt Locker has momentum. It was released last summer and so it stood the likelihood of being forgotten, but has enjoyed terrific word of mouth and after having just won Ms Bigelow the Director’s Guild award…it’s hard to imagine Avatar or Basterds taking the top prize.

The Daily Helping would like to be on the record as one of the few who could easily accept Tarantino’s revisionist war movie as the best of the year.  As powerful as The Hurt Locker may be….Inglorious Basterds will be a movie that will likely be considered over time to be the superior picture.  Kind of like the year (1980) when Ordinary People won best picture over Raging Bull.