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. 

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My 2010 Oscar picks (just in time)!

It's Oscar predicting time again. I am very fortunate to have seen all ten films nominated for Best Picture this year, and most other films that aren't in a short and/or foreign language category. I have to say, it's an odd year, but most of these films are quite deserving, except for The Blind Side. How the hell did that get in there? My favorite film of the year, 500 Days of Summer, got snubbed, but I don't control the universe so I can't complain.

So here's how this is going to work. I'm going to pick my favorites for each category. If I feel the need to spout off about a category, I will. These are my picks for what films/actors should win. These aren't necessarily what films/actors I think will win. The Oscars air tonight at 9 p.m. Okay, here we go.

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Movies and Melodies #1 - 2010 Best Score nominees

I'm trying something new. This is the first edition of a new podcast I'm debuting here on Cinema Soldier. It'll air every weekend on TalkLansing.net and MIentertainment.biz--two new internet radio stations in my area (Michigan, US). I produce several shows, write, and run their websites. Click play to listen, or download the MP3 at the bottom of this post. Let me know what you think! Feedback is appreciated.

Movies and Melodies is a weekly show celebrating beautiful and cinematic music on and off the screen. In my first show, I play some of my favorite tracks from all five of this year's Best Original Film Score nominees: Sherlock Holmes, Avatar, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Hurt Locker, and Up. If you like anything you hear, there are links below to purchase or preview all of the music in the show.

• Sherlock Holmes (Original Soundtrack)
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (Original Soundtrack)
• Avatar (Original Soundtrack)
• The Hurt Locker (Original Soundtrack)
• Up (Original Soundtrack)

Click here to follow this show's podcast feed. It will be on iTunes soon. Please shoot me an email if you have a directory where I can't be found.

Movies and Melodies #1 - Nominees for Best Score

Review - G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra **

I’m not sure if I just watched a film or a collection of cutscenes to a very fun, action-packed video game. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is such a computer generated onslaught to the eyes that Michael Bay should be jealous. In fact, you could remove all spoken dialogue from G.I. Joe and probably end up with the same overall experience.

2009 is turning into a year for absolutely lame blockbusters. First we got X-Men Origins: Wolverine, then Transformers 2, now G.I. Joe. Each is more ludicrous than the last, has a plot that’s more nonsensical, and relies even more on CGI graphics and huge fiery explosions to do the heavy lifting where the story fails.

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Funny People tops box office, Harry Potter holds on to #2 (Weekend Report)

It's a decent weekend for Judd Apatow, but Potter fans should be happier. Funny People, starring Adam Sandler as a comedian wrestling with death, managed to reach the top of the box office, but not by much. It made $23,439,565 through the weekend. It will be interesting to see if it trended up or down through the weekend. Final numbers are not out yet. (My review of Funny People is here.) If this follows the trend of the last two Apatow movies, or last three Sandler movies, it will break the $100 million mark, and possibly inch toward $200 million.

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Super crime fighting hamsters beat Harry Potter at the box office (Weekend Report)

Say it ain't so! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been dethroned after one weekend. Bummer. Perhaps if the movie was better this wouldn't happen. Nonetheless, Disney's new 3D superhero animated hamster movie, G-Force, edged out Potter, taking in $31,656,934 to Potter's $29,462,187. This is despite the fact that Potter (4,325) was in 600+ more cinemas than G-Force (3,697). Half-Blood Prince dropped 62% from last weekend. For context, Order of the Phoenix lost about 58% of its audience during the second weekend.

On a sadder note, The Ugly Truth debuted in third with $27,605,576, despite showing in 800 less theaters than G-Force (2,882). Why is this sad? Well because it actually had a higher per-theater average than the other two! Don't go see this, you won't like it, and I'm not a romantic comedy hater. It deserves a swift fall off the charts.

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