Mr. Blume: “Now, for some of you it doesn’t matter. You were born rich, and you’re going to stay rich. But here’s my advice to the rest of you: take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs. And take them down. Just remember: they can buy anything. But they can’t buy backbone. Don’t let them forget that. Thank you.”
Rushmore, 1998
Rushmore, 1998. Starring Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel, Brian Cox, Mason Gamble (Director: Wes Anderson)
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Plot: Wunderkind Max Fischer (Schwartzman), a sophomore at upscale Rushmore Academy and the president of myriad school clubs, sees his world turn topsy-turvy when he’s smitten with widowed first-grade teacher Rosemary Cross (Williams). To win her heart, Max enlists the aid of self-made steel magnate and school benefactor Herman J. Blume (Murray), only to end up vying with the millionaire industrialist for Rosemary’s affections.
Best Picture:
- Black Swan
- The Fighter
- Inception
- The Kids Are All Right
- The King’s Speech
- The Social Network
- True Grit
- Toy Story 3
- Winter’s Bone
- 127 Hours
(My thoughts: The Ghost Writer or The Town could replace 127 Hours or Winter’s Bone slot. Looking over these films makes me proud of how great of a year 2010 was for cinema.)
Best Director:
- Christopher Nolan for Inception
- Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
- David Fincher for The Social Network
- David O. Russell for The Fighter
- Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech
(My thoughts: Would not mind Joel and Ethan Coen for True Grit or Danny Boyle for 127 Hours taking David O. Russell’s slot but I doubt it since the Coens won Best Director in 2008 and Danny Boyle won in 2009.)
Best Actor:
- Colin Firth for The King’s Speech
- James Franco for 127 Hours
- Jeff Bridges for True Grit
- Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network
- Ryan Gosling for Blue Valentine
(My thoughts: Javier Bardem for Biutiful or Robert Duvall for Get Low could easily take Ryan Gosling’s or Jeff Bridge’s spot. It does not really matter though since Colin Firth will win. Everyone else who gets nominated should just be glad they were thought of.)
Best Actress:
- Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right
- Jennifer Lawrence for Winter’s Bone
- Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine
- Natalie Portman for Black Swan
- Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole
(My thoughts: Would not be surprised if Julianne Moore for The Kids Are All Right or Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit took Williams slot. In my mind it’s still a battle between Bening vs. Portman even if Portman has won more awards and is worthy of the Oscar, but still… it’s Annette Bening. Also, I wish more people acknowledged Tilda Swinton’s performance in I Am Love but she’ll be overlooked once again just like last year when she was unnoticed in Julia.)
Best Supporting Actor:
- Andrew Garfield for The Social Network
- Christian Bale for The Fighter
- Geoffrey Rush for The King’s Speech
- John Hawkes for Winter’s Bone
- Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right
(My thoughts: Replaced Jeremy Renner for The Town with John Hawkes since I think it will be a ~*shocker*~ nomination. Hawkes was better in comparison to Renner in my opinion, however Renner could certainly take Garfield’s spot - I hope not though. I will get infuriated if Justin Timberlake or Armie Hammer get a nomination over Garfield in The Social Network. For some reason I had a dream the other night that they did though. Let’s hope it doesn’t come true.)
Best Supporting Actress:
- Barbara Hershey for Black Swan
- Helena Bonham Carter for The King’s Speech
- Melissa Leo for The Fighter
- Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom
- Olivia Williams for The Ghost Writer
(My thoughts: Personally, I think this is the most toughest category of the year since there has been several performances by actresses in supporting roles that all deserve a nomination. It’s absolutely tight packed this year. The nominees probably won’t look like this at all, but this is what I’m wishing for. I’m almost positive Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit will land a nomination if the Academy doesn’t place her in the lead actress category and of course the lovely Amy Adams for The Fighter will get a nomination as well and maybe even Mila Kunis for Black Swan - even though I think both of their nominations are extremely underserving. Still think that either Hershey or Williams will get a ~*shocker*~ nomination. In addition, I find it funny how 3 of the nominations I chose are played by “sinister mothers.”)
