82nd annual Oscars: complete list of winners and how my picks stacked up

The director of Point Break finally got her big break tonight. Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker won six awards including Director, Original Screenplay, Sound Editing/Mixing, and Best Picture. I couldn't be happier. On top of that, Jeff Bridges, Pixar, and Sandra Bullock all got some overdue appreciation for all the great films they've made throughout the years. Thanks to hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, they were remarkably watchable as well. 

Earlier today I posted my 2010 Oscar predictions. Below, I have every category listed, followed by my pick and then the actual winner. To avoid confusion, I colored the winners blue. How festive. At the end of the article, I will tabulate the numbers and see how my picks faired against the competition. 

Best Actor

Nominees

• Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)
• George Clooney in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Colin Firth in "A Single Man" (The Weinstein Company)
• Morgan Freeman in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)
• Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)

My pick: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart 

Winner: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Supporting Actor

• Matt Damon in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)
• Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger" (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
• Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones" (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
• Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)

My pick: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Winner: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress

• Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)
• Helen Mirren in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Carey Mulligan in "An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
• Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia" (Sony Pictures Releasing)

My pick: Helen Mirren, The Last Station

Winner: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Like I said in my Oscar picks post, Bullock was a shoe-in for this award. I still think Helen Mirren deserved it more. I like Bullock, but wasn't blown away by her performance. 

Best Supporting Actress

• Penélope Cruz in "Nine" (The Weinstein Company)
• Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)
• Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)

My pick: Mo'Nique, Precious

Winner: Mo'Nique, Precious

Best Animated Film

• "Coraline" (Focus Features)
• "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (20th Century Fox)
• "The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney)
• "The Secret of Kells" (GKIDS)
• "Up" (Walt Disney)

My pick: Up

Winner: Up

Best Art Direction

• "Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
• "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "Nine" (The Weinstein Company)
• "Sherlock Holmes" (Warner Bros.)
• "The Young Victoria" (Apparition)

My pick: Avatar

Winner: Avatar

Best Cinematography

• "Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
• "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Warner Bros.)
• "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
• "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
• "The White Ribbon" (Sony Pictures Classics)

My pick: Avatar

Winner: Avatar

Best Costume Design

• "Bright Star" (Apparition)
• "Coco before Chanel" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "Nine" (The Weinstein Company)
• "The Young Victoria" (Apparition)

My pick: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Winner: The Young Victoria

The Academy seems unable to crown a winner in this category that isn't a period piece. I predicted The Young Victoria would win. I still think it shouldn't have. 

Best Director

• James Cameron, "Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
• Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
• Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
• Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
• Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

My pick: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Winner: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Kathryn Bigelow is now the first woman to ever receive the Best Director Oscar. Even better, she beat out her ex-husband, James Cameron.

Best Documentary

•  "Burma VJ" (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
• "The Cove" (Roadside Attractions)
• "Food, Inc." (Magnolia Pictures)
• "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers"
• "Which Way Home"

My pick: Food, Inc. 

Winner: The Cove

I was wrong on this one, as I was most of these short films, foreign films, and documentaries. I bet I could do better if there was a decent way to watch them! Guessing only gets you so far.

Best Documentary Short Subject

•  "China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province"
• "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner"
• "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant"
• "Music by Prudence"
• "Rabbit à la Berlin" (Deckert Distribution)

My pick: China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province

Winner: Music by Prudence

As I said, I voted for the China one because it sounded interesting. 

Best Film Editing

• "Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
• "District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
• "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
• "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)

My pick: The Hurt Locker

Winner: The Hurt Locker

A deserving winner! The tension in this film rivals any big budget production.

Best Foreign Language Film

•  "Ajami"(Kino International), Israel
• "El Secreto de Sus Ojos" (Sony Pictures Classics), Argentina
• "The Milk of Sorrow", Peru
• "Un Prophète" (Sony Pictures Classics), France
• "The White Ribbon" (Sony Pictures Classics), Germany

My pick: The White Ribbon

Winner: El Secreto de Sus Ojos

The title means "The Secret in Their Eyes." It looked good based on the footage shown.

Best Makeup

•  "Il Divo" (MPI Media Group through Music Box), Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• "Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• "The Young Victoria" (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

My pick: Star Trek

Winner: Star Trek

The Academy agreed with me! Star Trek has good makeup. I blushed when I heard this.

Best Original Music Score

•  James Horner, "Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
• Alexandre Desplat, "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (20th Century Fox)
• Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
• Hans Zimmer, "Sherlock Holmes" (Warner Bros.)
• Michael Giacchino, "Up" (Walt Disney)

My pick: Hanz Zimmer, Sherlock Holmes

Winner: Up

As I said, Up is very deserving. I had a feeling it might win, but Zimmer's score is the most memorable. Check out my Movies and Melodies podcast to hear tracks from all five Best Score nominees.

Best Original Song

•  "Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• "Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• "Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36" (Sony Pictures Classics), Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• "Take It All" from "Nine" (The Weinstein Company), Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

My pick: "The Weary Kind," Crazy Heart

Winner: "The Weary Kind, Crazy Heart

Lovely song.

Best Animated Short Film

• "French Roast"
• "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" (Brown Bag Films)
• "The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)"
• "Logorama" (Autour de Minuit)
• "A Matter of Loaf and Death" (Aardman Animations)

My pick: Logorama

Winner: Logorama

Watch this one. It's 16 minutes of your life well spent. You can watch all five of these nominees at Getthebigpicture.net. 

Best Live Action Short Film

•  "The Door" (Network Ireland Television)
• "Instead of Abracadabra" (The Swedish Film Institute)
• "Kavi"
• "Miracle Fish" (Premium Films)
• "The New Tenants"

My pick: Kavi

Winner: The New Tenants

My wild guess was inaccurate. Rats.

Best Sound Editing

• "Avatar" (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
• "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
• "Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• "Up" (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

My pick: Avatar

Winner: The Hurt Locker

As I said "I never get these right," meaning sound awards. What the hell was I smoking when I voted for Avatar here? The Hurt Locker had amazing sound. I made a mistake.

Best Sound Mixing

•  "Avatar" (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• "Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

My picks: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Winner: The Hurt Locker

Again, what was I smoking? Should have gone with The Hurt Locker. Hindsight is so clear.

Best Visual Effects

•  "Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
• "District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• "Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)

My pick: Avatar

Winner: Avatar

This shouldn't have even been a category this year, on account of predictability. Also, shouldn't Up be in this category? Avatar was pretty much an animated movie itself. 

Best Adapted Screenplay

• "District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• "An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• "In the Loop" (IFC Films) Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

My pick: Up in the Air

Winner: Precious

I thought Precious would win, and it earned it, but Up in the Air is pretty great... Perhaps I need to actually read these screenplays?

Best Original Screenplay

• "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal
• "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company) Written by Quentin Tarantino
• "The Messenger" (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• "A Serious Man" (Focus Features) Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• "Up" (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

My pick: Inglourious Basterds

Winner: The Hurt Locker

Hurt Locker fever took over this year. I suppose it was a good script, but did they kill Hitler or fight in a basement? No. They did not.

Best Picture

•  "Avatar" (20th Century Fox) 
• "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)
• "District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• "An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
• "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
• "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
• "A Serious Man" (Focus Features)
• "Up" (Walt Disney)
• "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

My pick: The Hurt Locker

Winner: The Hurt Locker

This means that you all will actually have a chance to see The Hurt Locker. Great film. It's odd. I saw this film months ago and thought it was fantastic, but had no idea I'd just seen the film of the year. I think it really is the most deserving, however. Good job Academy.

The Final Tally

Total Categories: 24

Correct Picks: 13 (54%)

Incorrect Picks: 11

Incorrect Picks I knew were wrong but picked anyway: 3

I'm going to have to brush up on foreign films, documentaries, sound, and screenplays for next year.