It’s Almost Oscar Time
Posted by prof e on February 22, 2010
The 82nd Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards show, aka the Oscars, is just 12 days away. For the first time since 1943, ten films are up for Best Picture. Some speculators are predicting that Avatar will take home the gold. But there are some reasons to doubt. Avatar didn’t win a best screenplay nomination and none of the actors were nominated for their roles.
There will be awards for best actor, best actress, best director, best costume design, best makeup, best editing, best visual effects, best sound mixing, best…well, you get the idea. This is a big party and lots and lots of accolades will be distributed to the best and the brightest. For a partial list of nominees, see the Oscar website.
Two of the films up for best director are Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Both films have been nominated in eight categories in addition to Best Director. Directors James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow are not only competitors, they were husband and wife for a couple of years about 20 years ago.
As a fan of documentary films I will be watching to see which film wins in this category. I’m pulling for Food, Inc. Here’s a documentary that will make you want to go out and buy five acres, some chickens, goats, steers and take up farming and ranching. Any documentary that can make me reconsider eating meat (or at least meat produced on factory farms) deserves some kind of award.
The hosts of this years show are Steve Martin and Alex Baldwin. The broadcast, by ABC TV network, will air on Sunday, March 7th and will originate from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California.
prof. e. 
Anna DeRose said
The Oscars is an event where people can connect with the stars for one night. It is where the best of the best are showcased. This night is special for many people. From the handy man on the movie set, to the make-up and wardroe assitants, to the directors and actors. The country gets to see who is honored with the title of the best. I love to watch the Oscars because I find it exciting to see the outfits, make-up, and accessories the stars are wearing. One thing that does frustrate me about the Oscars is that some of the time I do not agree with the nominating committee with who the winner should be. I do not have any experiece or right to be the one to make that call, but being in the audience of one of these films makes me feel like I also have a say. One day I dream of being in a profession involving the film and fashion industry and the Oscars is the place where both are showcased on such exquisit terms.
Andre Blackwell said
If Avatar were to win Best Picture it would speak to the Film Industry utilizing technology to tell the most primitive story. Avatar is at its core a story about love, an underdog story, and ‘good’ winning over ‘evil’. “Pictures are for entertainment, messages should be delivered by Western Union.” -Samuel Goldwyn If we were to take Sam Goldwyn’s statement to heart, than Avatar is by far the ‘Best Picture’.
Quaneisha Collins said
I personally do not get very wrapped up into the Oscar watching. I think that the judging commitee who are choosing the people to win the nominations are not always accurate. When they choose the winner they have so much more to think about in their judging then just who the people like the best. But I think that the nominations for this years awards Avatar, and the hurt locker, are two really good examples of this. I personaly have heard good things about Avatar and nothing about Hurt locker.
Shawna Ballman said
I enjoy watching the Oscar’s, however, I have not seen Avatar or Hurt Locker. But I have heard good reviews on Avatar. I enjoy watching the Oscar’s mostly to see who is wearing what.
Chelsea Reese said
I am excited for the Oscars this year and I am pulling for Avatar to win ‘Best Picture’ because I thought it was a pretty fantastic movie. It took a lot of imagination to create that movie and I’m glad Cameron waited as long as he did to give the movie the special affects that it deserved. However, I haven’t seen many of the other movies up for the title so my opinion is pretty biased.
I am also a fan of seeing what everyone is wearing, and I will probably only watch bits and pieces for those 2 reasons.
Mario L. Garcia said
I have never been the type of guy to watch the oscars, i don’t see the entertainment in watching celebrities dressed very nice receiving awards. Although i do not enjoy the oscars i still think it is very important to have them each year. The “talent” (actors & actresses) and directors deserve a night all about them considering the time and practice it takes to make a movie. I have a lot of respect for all of them because i know i couldn’t do half as good a job as them.
Patrick Smith said
I have watched the oscars for the past 10 years or so. I think that everybody else gets awards for their hard work. So now it is time for the poeple that do the other work deserse their chance. They are the one that make everything else seem worthwhile. Like the editors are the ones that have the abilty for the story to make sense. So, we will see Sunday what happens.
Kameron Wilhite said
I one hundred and one percent agree with what mario said. I to am not the type of guy to watch the oscars, but I do think that they are a big important part of our society to have every year. Everyone in the film industry actors, actresses, producers, etc works very hard to do a great job and everyone in the industry needs a special night dedicated to them. I am a huge fan of Avatar I seen it twice and I still want to be an Avtar but I am not one of those freeks that needs to see a doctor for it! But the film itself is going to change the movie industry in my opinion because after seeing it in 3D made the movie so much better! It kind of puts you in the movie and kept your attention througout the movie. All I can say is James Cameron is a very talented man he now has the number one and number two movies of all time.
Patrick Carey said
The Oscars are the one time of the year where i watch any type of award show. I was a big fan of the movie The Hurt Locker I felt that it deserved the attention and the awards that it won it was a much better quality movie than the Avatar. It may not get the recognition or even be remembered years from now but it was the best movie from 2009.
Josiah Rodriguez said
I have a very interesting comparison you might like. If Avatar wins best picture, which I am guessing it will, would it not be like the Yankees winning the world series? Hear me out.
It is the biggest budget film on the list, with an use of modern technology, electronic projection, and a prominent story written by veteran James Cameron. It’s like the Yankees who use the biggest salaries, best facilities, and biggest names to help win a World Series every year. Being a baseball guy, I really hope that films like The Hurt Locker win simply because it’s the small guy, the underdog, winning the big prize. It did not have a big budget, big name director, or star studded cast and special effects. It was an Oscar worthy story though. I don’t see this as films against films only, I see it as little guys going up against the big dogs in film.
(Written February 20)
jose lozano said
Avatar is the highest grossing film in history. if it doesnt win best picture it ill be such a shock. i personallly havnt seen it. but te film industry is an entertainment industry and according to the numbers it has entertained more people than any other movie in history.
Robert Garcia Jr said
The Oscars are intriguing and all but they drag on too long. The having of 10 Best picture Nominees is crazy when we all know we the front runners are so that shouldnt be too long lasting. I love how they do the lead actors and actresses by having one of the closest peers talk about the nominees. I was also glad to see Avatar not getting what it deserved. It was a great visual movie but to put that with the Best Pictures of the past wouldve been crazy and I wouldve never watched another Oscar again. We’ve seen the movie before without the visuals is how i looked at it. It was no Titanic which one Cameron an Oscar for the best picture. Bigelow in my mind deserved it more then Cameron but i thought Taratino shouldve gotten the prize but congrats to the first woman to recieve the honor and maybe Hollywood will have more faith in putting their films in charge of a woman.