The Nominees:

An Education
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air

Who Will Win?

It seems Hollywood will be giving itself a massive pat on the back tonight by rewarding the film that made it the most money and told the rest of the industry that 3-D = cash. Yes, Avatar will probably take home the big award which is a real shame. It’s not that I dislike Cameron’s opus. it’s just that it’s a mediocre film that looks phenomenal – but not the best film as a whole. Give it all the technical awards (except editing, it’s a really baggy film) but this award would be undeserved. There’s still a strong chance that The Hurt Locker will grab it at the last minute, but Avatar will remain the favourite up to the moment the winner is announced.

Who Should Win?

Now this may not be a widely popular opinion, but my favourite amongst the nominees is the Cohen brothers’ A Serious Man. Their masterpiece No Country For Old Men triumphed two years back (where I believed it should have lost to There Will Be Blood) but this time around it was a bit of a pleasant surprise they were even nominated. If the films were ranked from 1-10 when the winner is announced I’d expect it to come in around 4th or 5th, but a win is unfortunately well beyond it.

The Dark Horse?

It’s the first Pixar film to get a nomination in this category and not just the animated category (I still can’t believe Wall-E missed out last year) and Up may have the best chance from the ‘extra’ films nominated with the category extending to ten nominees. The first ten minutes were enough to convince many cinema-goers and critics that it was their favourite film of last year. Should it win it would be a great boost to the animated genre and would be fully deserved for Pixar’s body of work.