83rd Annual Academy Awards Nominations, Predictions, Polls, and Pre-Ceremony Analysis (UPDATED WITH RESULTS)

The 83^rd annual Academy Awards ceremony will be broadcast live on Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 8 PM EST; James Franco and Anne Hathaway will host the presentation. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), largely comprised of filmmaking professionals and executives who vote on the Oscars, announced this year’s nominations on January 25, 2011. To view previous years’ nominees, winners, and analysis, click here.

Included below is the list of Oscar nominees. I ranked the nominees in order of how likely they are to win in their respective categories, NOT in order of my preferences. Nonetheless, I have written some thoughts, notes, and perspectives (under some categories) regarding the nominees’ chances, histories, and which are my favorites.

Also, DON’T FORGET TO VOTE! – Please vote as if you were an AMPAS member and casting your own ballot, regardless of my predictions and what you think will win. Vote for what/who you think is the best in each category.

* I shall update this post after the presentation on February 27, 2011 to highlight the winners (in red). *

Film Review: The Way Back

Even before I heard that Hollywood had plans to make The Way Back, the story behind it piqued my interests. When I found out that acclaimed filmmaker Peter Weir had been attached to direct the film, it went on my list of movies-to-see. It is loosely based on Slawomir Rawicz’s ghost-written book The Long Walk, which is an allegedly true story about his and six fellow Siberian Gulag prisoners’ escape and trek to freedom. Several critics of the book have continuously called its accuracy into question. Unfortunately, Soviet records revealed that Rawicz’s true story is different from what is accounted for in the book; in other words, the novel’s veracity has been debunked (according to many). While I was disappointed to learn that the film is basically a work of fiction, as Weir stated, this fact does not take too much away from The Way Back – it is still a good movie that features solid performances, breathtaking cinematography, and an inspiring story. However, it fails to fully engage the viewer’s emotions; if it had, the film could have been a great one.

Film Review: Another Year

I have yet to see any of Mike Leigh’s other films, such as Secrets & Lies (1996), Vera Drake (2004), and Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), so I cannot comment on how his latest writing and directorial effort fares in comparison. In fact, before critics lauded Another Year, I had not even heard of Mike Leigh or his films. They highly commended Lesley Manville’s performance in the film to the point of even identifying it as an Oscar front-runner over Natalie Portman’s one in Black Swan; however, Manville did not receive a nomination and Portman appears set to win Best Actress. Nonetheless, she is at the heart of the film and a big part of the reason why it works. Another Year is an intriguing and tragic examination of familial and friendly relationships and the happiness or loneliness underneath each person; it is a bittersweet movie as life-like as it can be, but it has a scarce plot and may turn off many viewers.