At the Academy Awards this past Sunday, The Cove, a documentary which details the annual killing of dolphins in a National Park at Taiji, Wakayama, Japan, took home the 2009 Oscar for Best Documentary. In a category that is often filled with heart-felt stories about important issues, this writer felt it important to highlight elements about the film that made it worthy of taking the trophy home. Read the full story

To continue on the Oscars,  Here are some of the top ten films that they missed when handing out the nominations about a month ago.

Here are the rules: If a film is nominated already for something I cannot use it.  Even if it’s that the film wasn’t nominated for the proper award. Therefore I can only nominate films that have completely omitted from the list at this year’s awards ceremony. Read the full story

With the expansion to ten Best Picture nominees, many thought that “anything has a shot now!” But that is, of course, horrifically incorrect seeing as how the still-five-nominees-Best Director category essentially reveals what the “real” Best Picture nominees are. Read the full story

This year Meryl Streep is up for her 16^th Oscar nomination for her work in Julie and Julia. If you read my previous article on Streep you would know I don’t support this nomination or a win. Streep has been much better before and if she truly wants a third Oscar she is going to need to be much riskier in her acting choices. The last few years we have seen the actress slumming around in middle-of-the-road comedies and Oscar bait. Her Julia Child impersonation is adequate but it is not the type of role that calls for a third Oscar.

For months it seemed Streep was unstoppable, until her tie at the Critic’s Choice Awards with Sandra Bullock. Bullock then went on to claim both the Golden Globe and SAG award for her portrayal of the do-gooding, right-wing football fanatic Leigh Ann Tuohy in The Blind Side. Much has been said about whether or not Bullock’s performance is up to par with the title of Best Actress, but when considering previous wins for Reese Witherspoon, Gwenyth Paltrow and Halle Berry it hardly seems dubious to reward Bullock. She is a very likable star who has given great performances before (her turn in Infamous is much better than Catherine Keener’s Harper Lee in Capote, but unfortunately Bullock was in the other Truman Capote movie) and achieved incomparable success this year with The Proposal and The Blind Side. If it between Bullock and Streep, I would have to go with Bullock for the sheer fact that she will probably never have another opportunity at the golden guy and to send a message to Streep that she is going to have to do more than show up to the set to earn another statue. Bullock’s film gaining a Best Picture nomination over Julie and Julia doesn’t bode well for Streep’s chances either.

Newcomers Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan gave the two best performances out of the nominees but haven’t gained enough precursor support to have a real shot at winning the award. It is possible for one of them to pull ahead if Streep and Bullock cancel each other out much like the win for Adrien Brody over Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis in 2002. Mulligan benefits from being a demure, thin, white woman and should have no problem finding her way back into the Oscar race if she is given the right projects. I would love more than anything if the Academy would reward Sidibe, the best of the nominees, for her haunting portrayal in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire but it is highly unlikely due the prejudices in place against someone of her race and size.

Helen Mirren’s nomination is similar to that of Charlize Theron in North Country or Jodie Foster in Nell; a recent Best Actress winner filing the fifth slot despite the quality of the work. She doesn’t stand a threat to win but serves more as a validation of her recent win. Filler nominations such as these make it hard to accept snubs of much greater work. It’s hard to believe they couldn’t find room for someone like Tilda Swinton in Julia or Michelle Pfeiffer in Cheri yet Mirren was able to squeak in with a film hardly anyone saw or seemed to have much passion for.

Will Win: Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
Should Win: Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Should Have Been Nominated: Tilda Swinton for Julia

In less than a month we will be sitting in front of our televisions watching the Academy Awards. Some of us will be running straight to our laptops to type away in an angry fervor as to why the geek favorite didn’t win all 20 awards. However, now is not the time for this. With time still on our side, let’s have an open and honest discussion. Read the full story

It looks like Hairspray director Adam Shankman, along with Bill Mechanic, arre looking at many different ways to keep the 2010 Academy Awards running smooth this March. Reuters is reporting that all Oscar nominees are being asked to prepare two separate speeches for the ceremony. One speech will be for the new backstage “Thank You Cam”. After accepting the award onstage, where nominees have been “advised to make it more about what winning the Oscar means to them”, they will head backstage. Here they can list off every last person who they want to thank or anything they want to say. These videos will be able to be seen online by anyone after the ceremony. Read the full story

Kathryn Bigelow recently made history as the first woman to win the Directors Guild of America award and became only the fourth woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. Along with the DGA award, Bigelow has taken home accolades at the BFCA, PGA and NSFC awards in addition to a slew of regional critic’s awards (including the rare feat of garnering both the LA and NY prizes). With all of these precursor awards it would be shocking if Bigelow didn’t end up taking the little golden guy home at next month’s Oscar ceremony but with Avatar surpassing Titanic in domestic box office totals there is always the looming threat that the academy might want to reward James Cameron for another job well done. Read the full story

Jeff Bridges is the face of Crazy Heart, made by first-time writer-director Scott Cooper and adapted from Thomas Cobb’s 1987 novel. The fantastic soundtrack, which celebrates a classic country sound too far removed from the billboard charts, has also garnered critical praise. Read the full story

Roger Ebert once said that if Charlize Theron didn’t win the Oscar for her performance in Monster than they should just retire the award. I would further that if Meryl Streep wins the Oscar for Julie and Julia they should just retire the award out of shame.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Meryl Streep. No, really, I do.

However,with the fervor surrounding her potential 3rd Oscar win for her performance as famed chef Julia Child in Nora Ephron’s Julie and Julia I feel it is necessary to rain on the Streep parade. She is capable of very great things but is often over-praised for mediocre works (Doubt, Music of the Heart and One True Thing). With the celebrated actress gearing up for her 16^th Oscar nomination for her performance as famed the late, great chef and the deafening tune of her supporters claiming that now is the time for her coveted 3^rd Oscar, I must let my anti-Streep flag fly. Read the full story

Precious, a film that critics rallied for and audiences followed suit, is a powerful film anchored by powerhouse performances in key heart-tugging scenes. At the forefront of this awards season in the acting categories are actresses Gabourey Sidibe in the title role of the downtrodden, pregnant teen and comedienne Mo’Nique as her abusive, savage mother. Read the full story