Final Predictions

The day is here. Tonight, some lucky folks will be named the best in their respective crafts by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Here are my predictions for who those people will be:

BEST PICTURE

Nominees: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter's Bone

Prediction: The King's Speech

Upset: The Social Network

My pick(s): Inception was undoubtedly my favorite 2010 movie. The Social Network is a close second and certainly was the most technically well-crafted film across the board. The directing, writing, acting, music, everything worked together so well. Toy Story 3 was pretty darn good, too, if I do say so myself.

BEST DIRECTOR

Nominees: Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Coen Bros. (True Grit), David Fincher (The Social Network), Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), David O. Russell (The Fighter)

Prediction: David Fincher, The Social Network

Upset: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech OR Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

My pick(s): Out of the nominees, David Fincher, quite easily. The not-nominated Christopher Nolan (Inception) also did a fabulous job.

BEST ACTOR

Nominees: Javier Bardem (Biutiful), Jeff Bridges (True Grit), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), James Franco (127 Hours)

Prediction: Colin Firth, The King's Speech

Upset: Javier Bardem, Biutiful

My pick(s): Jesse Eisenberg gave my favorite performance, but Colin Firth was quite good as well.

BEST ACTRESS

Nominees: Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

Prediction: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Upset: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

My pick(s): Uh... I'm so behind with performances from the ladies this year. Not only have I seen none of these, I haven't really seen any non-nominees worth mentioning.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Nominees: Christian Bale (The Fighter), John Hawkes (Winter's Bone), Jeremy Renner (The Town), Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right), Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

Prediction: Christian Bale, The Fighter

Upset: Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech -- This could very well happen

My pick(s): Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) wasn't nominated, so I'm going to go with Geoffrey Rush, who was great.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Nominees: Amy Adams (The Fighter), Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Prediction: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Upset: Well... Jacki Weaver would be an upset. The favorites are Melissa Leo and Hailee Steinfeld.

My pick(s): Again, I'm behind with these performances. I've seen Steinfeld, but she shouldn't win. She was the lead and simply good, not great.

The rest are just predictions.

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Toy Story 3

BEST ART DIRECTION

The King's Speech

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

True Grit

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Alice in Wonderland

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Inside Job

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

Strangers No More

BEST FILM EDITING

The Social Network

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Incendies

BEST MAKEUP

Barney's Version -- Yay for random guessing!

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Social Network

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"I See the Light" from Tangled

BEST ANIMATED FILM (SHORT)

Day & Night

BEST SHORT FILM

Na Wewe

BEST SOUND EDITING

Inception

BEST SOUND MIXING

Inception

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Inception

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Social Network

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The King's Speech

The British are coming! The British are coming!

That's right. The BAFTAs are tonight. Tune in to BBC to see The King's Speech clean up.

Review: State of Play (2009)

This is a review I wrote for my school's newspaper last year.

In the year 2003, BBC One broadcasted a BAFTA-winning six-hour miniseries about political corruption in London and the journalists who attempt to uncover it. In 2009, this critically acclaimed TV drama was slimmed down to a two hour film adaptation, moving across the pond to Washington, D.C.

The plot revolves around the aftermath of the death of Sonia Baker, the mistress of a Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck). Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), a Washington Globe reporter and longtime friend of Collins, suspects that the girl’s demise was no accident, and is intent on getting to the bottom of the event. To aid him in his mission, his boss (Helen Mirren), teams McAffrey up with up-and-coming blogger Della Frye (Rachel McAdams). Together, they seek the truth being hidden by dishonest politicos and a corporate cover-up.

This is a well-made film. Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) keeps it taut and fast-paced, but still coherent, which is a quite a feat considering how many twists and turns this thing takes. The press is presented as a detective, looking for clues, desperate to solve the mystery, not in order to physically condemn the criminal, but to convict them in the minds of the readers, to achieve justice in that way; the glory of getting the story first does not hurt either. It is the element of “whodunit” and the process of finding out just that that has always made journalism films so fascinating, and that is certainly true of this one. The audience is kept engaged by the tense atmosphere that Macdonald creates through his use of music and sometimes shadowy, sometimes dusty cinematography; dimly lit scenes reflect the characters’ situations of being in the dark, not knowing what they are getting into, with bright ones signaling the revelation of something new. The director assures us that State of Play is in good hands with these types of subtleties, leaving it to the actors to really bring it home.

The performances are good - not great - all-around. Crowe is convincing as the smart, determined writer who would do anything to find out what really happened, as is McAdams as the naïve sidekick, eager to work on her first big story. Legendary British actress Helen Mirren is typically good as the newspaper editor who cares less about details and more about deadlines, bringing wit and charisma to the part. Ben Affleck and Robin Wright-Penn (The Princess Bride, Forrest Gump), are believable as a couple forced to have dignity and grace amidst a scandal that strains their already rocky relationship. Everyone does a fine job, but there is nothing especially noteworthy among the actors – that is until a little over an hour into the film, when one Mr. Jason Bateman (Arrested Development, Juno) shows up in a bit-part as an eccentric, fast-talking, pill-popping PR man who may have just the information needed to find the missing piece of the puzzle. Here, Bateman creates an interesting character that sticks in the mind after his short appearance is over, giving a reminder of the unimportance of how “small” a part is.

State of Play's screenplay keeps it from becoming a great film. Not to be mistaken, the script is intelligently written and impressive bearing in mind the expanse of the source material. However, there are two main problems: the characterization of supporting players and the plot twists. More information on the characters - aside from Cal - would have been helpful in attaching to them, specifically in the case of Della Frye; having a deeper sense of her personality and life may have lent more tension to scenes in which she is endangered, as well as more interest in her in general. The latter issue mentioned is the larger one. With each plot twist, the film turns out to be less probable, and the viewer less involved.

Even with the aforementioned hindrances, the film does not sink. We receive a motion picture that does not insult our intellect with simplistic dialogue and plot devices; the themes of the movie call upon us to think about the significance of our news publications in shaping our ideas about politics, crime, and big business, and how they should be responsibly handled. While it may not be destined to become a classic, State of Play is a picture that is worth a watch for the questions it raises in sharp manner. B