2010 Oscar Nominations in Numbers (plus my comments)

Alright I did the math and for starters let’s see how I did in the only categories I dare to predict.

An Oscar Predictions Tally

Best Picture: Guessed Right 9 of 10
Best Director: Guessed right 5 of 5
Best Actress: Guessed right 5 of 5
Best Actor: Guessed right 5 of 5

Not bad at all as guessed right 24 of 25.

So let's check some data about the films with nods.

Films with Multiple Nominations

The Hurt Locker 9
Avatar 9
Inglourious Basterds 8
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire 6
Up in the Air 6
Up 5
District 9
Nine 4
Star Trek 4
Crazy Heart 3
An Education 3
The Princess and the Frog 3
The Young Victoria 3

With 2 nods each
The Blind Side
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Invictus
The Last Station
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Sherlock Holmes
The White Ribbon

Who could think that Precious was going to tie Up in the Air? Not me. Think I should share with you all that Precious could be a good movie but I didn’t like it because of the story, it was too much for me and had to stop watching as I was getting sick.

Most news say that having 10 nominated films for Best Picture was –at least this year- a good idea because there is “something for everyone”. Probably they are right and ratings for the Awards show will be high as the films will generate wider interest; but we have to be honest, the category has five (real) nominations and the award will go to any of the films directed by the nominees in the Best Director category. Still, the Academy has a high record of awarding the Best Picture and Best Director to different films and I think is his way of honoring two movies instead of just one; but there have been exceptions and if you ask me right now before having watch The Hurt Locker, I really hope the film gets both honors so Cameron’s Avatar gets none. Think that Quentin lost media buzz who has concentrated between the ex-spouses, but I would not mind at all if he or his film surprises us.

I’m sort of dying to watch Colin Firth in A Single Man and I’m sure that will delay until the very last minute watching Crazy Heart that will watch just because the nominations; Clooney had an average to ordinary performance for me and definitively loved Freeman in Invictus. But we all know that the award will go to Jeff Bridges, so that’s it.

The best actress category is just like I imagined and the only film that haven’t seen is The Last Station but obviously will watch as soon as possible because I simply love Helen Mirren, like Christopher Plummer and want to see a Tolstoy story. I’m afraid that the award will go to BullocK and I think she had a great performance in The Blind Side, but I definitively believe that Meryl Streep was SUPERIOR in Julie & Julia. The award should go to Streep.

The Best Supporting Role Female and Male Actors are a given and if they don’t win will be because between yesterday and the closing of the final vote something happens. If the award was given today I’m sure that Mo’Nique and Christoph Waltz win and both are very well deserved for their ‘evil’ characters.

Last take a look at the 2009 yearly Domestic Gross Income (USA only) for each of the ten nominated films. The source is Box Office Mojo and you can check the complete chart with the first 150 movies here.

Avatar - $598,453,037 (open December 18) Ranking: #1
UP - $293,856,559 (open May 29, close November 5) Ranking: #5
The Blind Side – $238,142,163 (open November 20) Ranking: #8
Inglourious Basterds - $120,540,719 (open August 21 close December 17) Ranking: #25
District 9 – $ 115,646,235 (open August 14, close November 1) Ranking: #27
Up In The Air - $73,474,763 (open December 4) Ranking: #43
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push by Sapphire’ - $45,469,462 (open November 6)Ranking #66
The Hurt Locker - $12,671,105 (open June 26, close November 19) Ranking: #130
A Serious Man - $9,228,768 (open October 12, closed January 7) Ranking: #142
An Education - $8,795,228 (open October 9) Ranking: #144

As you can easily notice there are blockbusters or box office successes in this year’s nominees for Best Picture. The real push from being nominated will be for the last three films, but some are already released in DVD so money will come from more sales or rentals.

Well I really lost track of time because when I review charts I see stories (lol!) and was reading all the worldwide data, but I won’t bother you with all I saw.

That’s it.