September Oscar Predictions Part IV: The Rest

Animated Film
1. Up
2. Ponyo
3. Coraline
4. 9
5. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
6. The Princess and the Frog
7. A Christmas Carol
8. Monsters vs. Aliens
9. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
10. Planet 51

Does anyone really doubt that Up will win this one? Miyazaki is a God to them, so a nomination for Ponyo is assured. Coraline feels like the safest bet for the third slot.

Foreign Language Film
1. The White Ribbon (Germany)
2. Mother (Korea)
3. Prince of Tears (Hong Kong)
4. Police, Adjective (Romania)
5. Nobody to Watch Over Me (Japan)
6. No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (Taiwan)
7. The Silent Army (The Netherlands)
8. Kelin (Kazakhstan)
9. Flowers of the Sky (Sri Lanka)

These are the only 9 countries to submit so far, so this list will definitely change. I wonder if the Academy will really embrace Haneke and Bong?

Documentary
1. The Cove
2. Capitialism: A Love Story
3. Food, Inc.
4. It Might Get Loud
5. One Minute to Nine
6. Earth
7. Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Honestly the rules for this category are so confusing, that until they announce the shortlist in October, I barely bother to try. I expect The Cove, and the new Michael Moore film, to be shoo-ins though.

Cinematography
1. The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
2. Nine (Dion Beebe)
3. The Hurt Locker (Barry Ackroyd)
4. The Lovely Bones (Andrew Lesnie)
5. Public Enemies (Dante Spinotti)
6. Invictus (Tom Stern)
7. Inglourious Basterds (Robert Richardson)
8. The Road (Javier Aguirresarobe)
9. A Serious Man (Roger Deakins)
10. Bright Star (Greg Frasier)

Malick’s films are always visually stunning so The Tree of Life should be fine. They love Dion Beebe, and musicals. The Hurt Locker is simply undeniably great. Jackson’s sepia look on Lovely Bones could easily get Lesnie noticed, and Spinotti is one of the best, and Public Enemies has great work. The rest could easily move up though.

Art Direction
1. Nine (John Myhre, Gordon Sim)
2. Inglourious Basterds (David Wasco)
3. Sherlock Holmes (Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer)
4. Bright Star (Janet Patterson)
5. The Lovely Bones (Naomi Shohan)
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Stuart Craig; Stephanie McMillan)
7. Amelia (Stephanie Carroll; Gordon Sim)
8. Avatar (Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg)
9. Public Enemies (Nathan Crowley; Rosemary Brandenburg)
10. The Tree of Life (Jack Fisk; Jim Erickson)

I’m as confident as I can be at this point for the top four. The rest are a toss up.

Costume Design
1. Nine (Collen Atwood)
2. Inglourious Basterds (Anna B. Sheppard)
3. Bright Star (Janey Patterson)
4. Amelia (Kasia Walicka-Maimone)
5. Where the Wild Things Are (Casey Storm)
6. Public Enemies (Colleen Atwood)
7. Sherlock Holmes (Jenny Beavan)
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Jany Temime)
9. The Young Victoria (Sandy Powell)
10. Chéri (Consolata Boyle)

These guys always pick some pitiful costume drama everyone hates, so who really knows at this point?

Film Editing
1. Nine (Claire Simpson)
2. The Hurt Locker (Chris Innis, Bob Murawski)
3. The Lovely Bones (Jabez Olssen)
4. Star Trek (Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey)
5. Invictus (Joel Cox, Gary Roach)
6. Avatar (John Refoua, Stephen E. Rivkin)
7. Public Enemies (Jeffrey Ford, Paul Rubell)
8. District 9 (Julian Clarke)
9. Inglorious Basterds (Sally Menke)
10. The Tree of Life (Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa)

Bank on the first two, but the rest are really more of guesses right now.

Make-Up
1. District 9
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
3. Star Trek
4. The Imaginarium of Dr. Pernassus
5. Nine
6. The Road
7. Watchmen
8. Drag Me to Hell
9. Sherlock Holmes
10. The Young Victoria

They have to nominated District 9 here, right?

Original Score
1. Avatar (James Horner)
2. Up (Michael Giacchino)
3. The Tree of Life (Alexandre Desplat)
4. Amelia (Gabriel Yared)
5. The Princess and the Frog (Randy Newman)
6. A Christmas Carol (Alan Silverstri)
7. Coco Avant Chanel (Alexandre Desplat)
8. Broken Embraces (Alberto Iglesias)
9. Public Enemies (Elliot Goldenthal)
10. The Informant (Marvin Hamlisch)

The biggest old boys club category. Only bet on people who have already been nominated in the past.

Original Song
1. Nine - Take it All
2. Nine - Cinema Italiana
3. Precious - I See in Color
4. The Princess and the Frog - Down in New Orleans
5. The Princess and the Frog - Never Knew I Needed
6. Where the Wild Things Are - All is Love
7. Up in the Air - Up in the Air
8. Up in the Air - Help Yourself
9. The Young Victoria - Only You
10. 2012 - (Adam Lambert)

A crapshoot.

Sound Editing
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2. Avatar
3. Star Trek
4. Up
5. The Hurt Locker
6. Public Enemies
7. District 9
8. Inglourious Basterds
9. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
10. 2012

They like it really LOUD for this category.

Sound Mixing
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2. Nine
3. Star Trek
4. Up
5. The Hurt Locker
6. Avatar
7. 2012
8. District 9
9. Public Enemies
10. Sherlock Holmes

Similar to the other sound category, but here they also like music.

Visual Effects
1. Avatar
2. Star Trek
3. District 9
4. The Lovely Bones
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
6. 2012
7. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
8. Sherlock Holmes
9. Where the Wild Things Are
10. Watchmen

They don’t like to repeat themselves here, so sequels are a tough sell.