Oscar Predictions

This year, we only saw about half of the movies/performances that were nominated for awards. So I will pick from what we saw.


Best Picture

We saw Slumdog, Harvey Milk, Benjamin Button and Doubt (yeah, I know it was not nominated, but I thought it was a great movie as well). I thought Benjamin Button was a good movie, but not a great movie. I enjoyed it, but would not have nominated it for best picture. Both Doubt and Harvey Milk were excellent movies with superb acting performances. But I have too say that I was more impressed with the acting than the actual movies.

I would pick Slumdog Millionaire as best picture. Although the other movies were excellent, I thought Slumdog was a little better. The acting was very good, but nothing stood out. In an odd way, I think it made the picture better. I enjoyed the overall movie better than individual acting performances.

Best Director

I would give this award to Danny Boyle. Especially without standout acting performances, the movie relies more on the director to create an outstanding movie.

Best Actor

Sean Penn was great. During the movie, I forgot that I was watching Sean Penn, I thought I was watching Harvey Milk. At the end of the movie, they showed pictures of the actual people. Up until they showed Harvey Milk, I enjoyed seeing what the real people looked like. When they showed Harvey Milk, I thought “That is not Harvey Milk. The real person looks more like Sean Penn!” Oops, clearly a sign of a great acting performance.

I should comment that I have heard great things about Mickey Rourke’s performance in The Wrestler. I wish I had seen this movie, but for now, I will have to rate Sean Penn’s performance at the top.

Best Actress

Well, the winner here is obviously Meryl Streep. Of course she is the only nominated actress that I have seen this year! However, she was incredible in her role in Doubt, so I have no problems with giving her the award this year.

Personally, I think Meryl Streep is the best actress alive today. She plays such radically different roles, yet she nails them every time. This performance was one more in a string of highlights in her acting resume.

Best Supporting Actor

This year, I saw the performances of Josh Brolin, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Heath Ledger. Brolin was very good, Hoffman was excellent, but Ledger was off the charts. Hoffman’s performance could have won in just about any other year, but he had the bad fortune of being in the same year as Ledger’s maniacal Joker. And I don’t say this just because of his untimely death; the performance was truly that good.

Best Supporting Actress

In this category, I saw 4 of the nominees (Adams, Cruz, Davis and Henson). I thought they were all good, but none seems to really stand out to me. If forced to make a pick, I would probably go with Amy Adams from Doubt. However, I would guess that the academy will go with Penelope Cruz from Vicky Christina Barcelona.

Best Animated Film

I have only seen one of the picks, but Wall-E was so good, I would be shocked if any of the other films won. In fact, I would not have been surprised if Wall-E had been nominated for best picture.

Best Documentary

We only saw Man on a Wire, but it was very good.

Most Underrated Film

I really liked The Visitor with Richard Jenkins. Jenkins is a fine actor and the whole film was really good. Not a flashy, big movie. But a quiet powerful movie.

Most Overrated Film

I enjoyed Benjamin Button, but I don't believe that it deserved a best picture nomination. I liked Doubt, The Visitor and Vicky Christina Barcelona better.