2010 Academy Awards

Just saw the list for the nominations for the Academy Awards.  I didn't get to see all the pictures nominated so I may have some gaps in my knowledge of the films.

Best Picture

1.  The King's Speech - This in my opinion was the best picture of the year.  I only saw it a couple weeks ago but it won me over.  The story, acting, everything was great about this movie.  If you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend it.

2. True Grit - Based on a book this film tells the story of revenge.  I really liked this movie too. The acting was great and the story was good.

3.  Toy Story 3 - This Pixar film had a great story.  I had low expectations when I saw this movie because of all the trouble I had heard in the pre-production (i.e. The Disney/Pixar conflict that is now resolved).

The only other movie on the list that I saw was Inception.  It was a entertaining Sci-Fi adventure but not in my opinion best picture material.

I didn't see Social Network yet.  I heard that it was the best picture of the year from several friends so I am looking forward to seeing it.  I didn't see any of the other pictures so I can't rate them.

Best Director

I only saw two of the films listed so I have to say in my opinion The King's Speech director Tom Hooper was the best of what I saw.  Although I won't be too disappointed if the Coen Brothers wins for True Grit.


Best Actor

Colin Firth - Again since I haven't seen all the pictures nominated my knowledge is limited to what I saw.  I was impressed with Colin Firth's performance as King who had trouble giving speeches.

Best Actress

I have not seen any of these movies yet.  I plan on seeing Blue Valentine soon so I'll let you know what I thought of Michelle Williams performance.

Best Supporting Actor

Geoffory Rush owned the part of the speech therapist for the king in The King's Speech.

Best Supporting Actress

Helen Bonham Carter gave the best performance I've ever seen her do in The King's Speech.  Hailee Steinfeld was great in True Grit as the daughter looking for justice. I still leaning towards Carter's performance as the winner in this category.

Well those are my present thoughts about the upcoming Academy Awards.  Gotta run.  Go see The King's Speech and True Grit if you haven't already! 

UPDATE: Just saw most of Blue Valentine.  After an hour and a half of torture I went and got my money back.  What a painful movie.  If there was some message to this film it was lost on me.  I can't fault the actors.  Both Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling turn in good performances.  The story while trying to be real life lost its power by continually making me dislike both the lead characters.  Others may find this story moving I found it boring and painful to watch.

My vote for best picture of 2010 is still: The King's Speech!