2011 Academy Awards Winners

Who I think should win the academy awards on Sunday.  I don't do  predictions but the people who vote on this do not share my thoughts on what makes a good move or a good movie performance.  My low opinion of the academy members was once again validated this year by the numerous nominations for the movie "The kids are all right", which was a terrible movie.

The best actors and actresses were in the supporting roles this year.  In Supporting actress category, any of the actresses deserve to win and I would be happy with any of them.  Christian Bale also was incredible but I would be happy with any of his competitors except Mark Ruffalo who was in a bad movie.

THE LIST:
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Black Swan  Tied with Inception for best picture.  Everyone should see this movie
The Fighter  Great acting and interesting story but it comes in fourth.
Inception   Tied for first with Black Swan.  The most interesting subject matter of all the movies.
The Kids are All Right.  Absolutely horrible movie.  Don't see it, shun those that have seen it and might tell you about it. The movie "The Town" should be here instead...an excellent movie!
The King's Speech:  Excellent movie.  Great for the whole family.  Put this on you "must see" list.
The Social Network.  Very good movie but not good enough to hit my top 5
127 Hours:  A good movie but not great
Toy Story 3  You got to love this movie if you enjoyed the first two.  
True Grit  The performances were better than the movie but worth a look
Winter's Bone:  Excellent acting and a compelling story but very, very, very depressing.

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)  Bad performance in a lousy movie
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole):  Missed this one, I didn't want to see any more depressing movies after Winter's Bone and Blue Valentine
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)  Excellent job but doesn't come close to Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)  The Winner by far.  An incredible performance in a great movie
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)  Excellent performance in a depressing movie.  Not as good as Natalie though

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem (Biutiful):  Didn't see this movie, from the reviews I've seen a very depressing movie
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) He does a great job but the movie was good but not great.
Colin Firth (The King's Speech):  Winner by a large margin.  Colin Firth was perfect for this role.
James Franco (127 Hours):  A good job in a good movie but not great.
Jeff Bridges (True Grit):  Great job!  Second to Colin Firth but loses out still.

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale (The Fighter):   Winner!  Incredible performance in a very good movie.
John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)  A good performance in a depressing movie.
Jeremy Renner (The Town):  Also a great performance but doesn't beat Christian Bale
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right):  A good performance in a lousy movie.
Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)  If he wins I wouldn't be disappointed he did an excellent job in a great movie.

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams (The Fighter)  Excellent job, tied for second with the other three
Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech) Excellent job, tied for second with the other three
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)  Winner!  Best of the bunch in a very strong field
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) Excellent job, tied for second with the other three
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom) I didn't see this movie

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
How to Train Your Dragon:  Good but not as good as Toy Story
The Illusionist:  I didn't see this movie
Toy Story 3  Winner!

Achievement in Directing
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan):  Winner!  Would be tied with Inception if Chris Nolan was nominated.
David O. Russell (The Fighter)
Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)  My choice for a close second place, wouldn't mind if he won
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)
The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin) Second Place, I wouldn't mind if this wins
Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)
True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
Winter's Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini)  Winner! the best story of the bunch even if it was depressing

Original Screenplay
Another Year (Mike Leigh)  I didn't see this movie
The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silverand Paul Tamasy)
Inception (Christopher Nolan)  Winner!  What an incredible story that I'm still trying to figure out.
The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko)
The King's Speech (David Seidler)  Second place

No Strings Attached 3 stars

This is a wonderful romantic comedy that was much better than I expected.   It is also raunchier than I expected.   It probably didn't need to be that raunchy.  Without it you would have had a funny and sweet movie that you could take a date to.   Now, you would have to gauge your date's tolerance for bad language and adult situation.  Both Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher do an excellent job, particularly Kutcher who could have looked silly next to the excellent actress Portman.  He more than held his own though.  Keven Kline also does a great job as Ashton's lecherous father. I absolutely loved it and would go see it again in a heartbeat.  It's been awhile since they made a romantic comedy this good.

The Mechanic 2.5 stars

Typical Jason Stratham movie.  He's tough, a loner, and beats the stew out of bad guys.  In this movie he doesn't do as much beating (which is why this isn't as good as his other movies).  Instead he focuses on inventive killing.   The story is pretty silly and without the bad guy beat downs that we have grown to love, this is just an okay movie.  

If you want to watch great Jason Stratham movies then rent The Transporter and the two Crank movies.  The latter movies are insanely great.

The Way Home 3 Stars

It's such a shame that such an excellent movie will be seen by so few people.  Ed Harris stars in a movie about a handful of men sentenced to years of hard labor at a Soviet Gulag.   They realized it's a death sentence so they decide to escape.  Unfortunately, when they escape they are in the center of northern Russia in the middle of winter!  They decide the must head south so they walk all the way to China.  There they find out that China is communist so they decide to walk to Nepal.  Once there they realize that they can not stay there so they walk to India.  If you think I might have given anything away, I have not.  This is a great movie and I highly recommend it to everyone.  It's a true story too!  Colin Farrell also stars and does a fantastic job as one of the escapees.