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David Ansen’s Top 10

Posted by Ryan Adams On December - 21 - 2008

Newsweek’s David Ansen with another of this year’s classy-but-useless-for-predicting-Oscar Top 10.

1. Let the Right One In
“Stunning from first shot to last, Tomas Alfredson’s mesmerizing Swedish coming of age/love story/horror film redefined the vampire genre.”
2. Encounters at the End of the World
3. Wendy and Lucy
4. Frost/Nixon
5. Man on Wire How
6. Silent Light
7. The Wrestler
8. Tropic Thunder
9. Wall-e and Waltz With Bashir (tie)

(pet peeve. ok, I’m over the inability of lazy typesetters to use the easily insertable “·” to format the title properly, but there’s really no excuse for a major publication to wreck the acronym WALL·E by making it look like a movie about some sort of IKEA room partition.)

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    5 Responses for "David Ansen’s Top 10"

    1. Dan December 21st, 2008 at 12:13 pm 1

      Interesting. And now I really want to see Wendy and Lucy.
    2. Alexander Coleman December 21st, 2008 at 12:28 pm 2

      A list more exotic than most. Gosh, I have to see Silent Light and as Dan says, Wendy and Lucy.
    3. Seankgallagher December 21st, 2008 at 9:23 pm 3

      It won’t make my top 10, but I admire him for choosing something like LET THE RIGHT ONE IN as his favorite film.
    4. Michael Greenwaldt December 22nd, 2008 at 3:51 am 4

      LET THE RIGHT ONE IN was great, but not quite as great as some would have you believe. I’m still thrilled to see it making lists though.

      Very pleased to see WENDY & LUCY on the list.
    5. CP December 22nd, 2008 at 7:17 am 5

      Let the Right One In – Just watched it yesterday. I couldn’t agree more with its number 1 placement. Of the films I’ve seen this year – it definitely tops my list so far.

      Excellent film.

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    • 82nd Oscar Ceremony

      Hosts: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin
      Producers: Adam Shankman, Bill Mechanic
      Director: Hamish Hamilton
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      Quentin Tarantino
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      Ampas Breakdown

      Actors-1,205
      Producers-462
      Executives-436
      Sound-405
      Writers-382
      Art Directors-373
      Directors-375
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      Total Voting Members -approx 5,777


    • 82nd Oscar Ceremony

      Hosts: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin
      Producers: Adam Shankman, Bill Mechanic
      Director: Hamish Hamilton
      Music: Marc Shaiman

      Quentin Tarantino
      Pedro Almodovar

    • Tuesday, December 1, 2009: Official Screen Credits forms due

      Monday, December 28, 2009: Nominations ballots mailed

      Saturday, January 23, 2010: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT

      Tuesday, February 2, 2010: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater

      Wednesday, February 10, 2010: Final ballots mailed

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      Tuesday, March 2, 2010: Final polls close 5 p.m. PT

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    • Words

      “While I’m obviously not ruling it out, I don’t think Avatar will win Best Picture, and the new preferential voting system is precisely why. Had they stuck with just having each member vote on their favorite of the nominees, it might have won, but something tells me that there are a lot of people within the Academy who are part of the backlash against the film, and will therefore place it at #10 on their ballots. You have to keep in mind that from now on, the movie with the most #1 votes is not necessarily the movie that wins. It’s easy to imagine Avatar will get a lot of #1 votes, but it’s equally easy to imagine it will get a lot of #10 votes as well, and that will really hurt it.

      So you kind of have to think more along the lines of which movie will have the least against it, rather than the most for it. The Hurt Locker will undoubtedly get a lot of #1 votes as it is the frontrunner, and while I’m sure there will be those who put it at or near the bottom of their ballots, it seems to me that it will have a lot less low-end placements than Avatar will, and so The Hurt Locker easily has the edge over Avatar in that respect.

      Inglourious Basterds also seems like the kind of movie that will split voters. It’ll get a lot of #1 and #2 votes, but probably also a lot of #9 and #10 votes. So I don’t think it’ll win (though again, I’m not ruling it out). Precious will probably get less 9’s and 10’s, but I frankly don’t think it will get enough 1’s and 2’s to pull off a win. I think it’ll get mostly mid-range votes. Same goes for Up in the Air, though I imagine even that will get more 1’s and 2’s than Precious will.

      So to sum it up, I think The Hurt Locker, while not an absolute, no-turning-back lock, is still the clear frontrunner in this race. If we’re talking about a potential upset though, why not really factor in the new preferential voting system and try to imagine how much that could end up benefiting a film like, say, Up? While it might not get too many #1 votes, I can easily see it getting a lot of 2-4 votes, and who know? If the frontrunners all develop strong enough backlashes, then it could be that this year’s Best Picture will go not to the movie that is the most liked, but rather the movie that is the least DISliked. Just saying.”
      by Jean-Paul

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    • Contender Tracker

      Awards So Far

      NBR Winner+      /top ten*
      LAFCA Winner+
      BFCA Critics Choice Win+/Nominee*
      NYFCC Winner +/*
      SEFCA Winners+/*
      Golden Globes Nominee+/*
      SAG Winner+/Nominee*
      National Society of Film Critics winners+
      Producers Guild Winner+/Nominees*
      Directors Guild Winners+/Nominees*
      Art Directors Guild Nominees*
      Writers Guild Nominees*
      American Cinematographers Society*
      American Cinema Editors*
      Cinema Audio Society*
      BAFTA Nominations*


      Best Picture
      The Hurt Locker*+++**+++******
      Avatar*+********
      Inglourious Basterds***+****
      Up in the Air+*+*******
      Precious******
      District 9*****
      A Serious Man*****
      An Education*****
      Up****
      The Blind Side

      Best Actor
      Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart++++*
      George Clooney, Up in the Air+*++***
      Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker**+*
      Colin Firth, A Single Man****
      Morgan Freeman, Invictus+***

      Best Actress
      Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side+++
      Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia++++**
      Carey Mulligan, An Education+****
      Gabby Sidibe, Precious****
      Helen Mirren, The Last Station**

      Best Supporting Actor
      Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds+++++++*
      Woody Harrelson,The Messenger+***
      Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones****
      Matt Damon, Invictus***
      Christopher Plummer, The Last Station*

      Best Supporting Actress
      Mo'Nique, Precious+*+++++*
      Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air+****
      Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air****
      Penelope Cruz, Nine**
      Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart

      Best Director
      Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker++++*++*
      Jim Cameron, Avatar*+**
      Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds****
      Jason Reitman, Up in the Air***
      Lee Daniels, Precious**

      Best Original Screenplay
      Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds+*
      Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man+*+*
      Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker***
      Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Up*
      Oren Moverman, Alessandro Camo The Messenger

      Best Adapted Screenplay
      Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air+++++*
      Armando Iannucci, In the Loop+
      Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious**
      Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell, District 9**
      Nick Hornby, An Education*

      Best Editing
      Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron, Avatar+**
      Chris Innis, Bob Murawski, The Hurt Locker***
      Julian Clarke, District 9**
      Joe Klotz, Precious
      Sally Menke, Inglourious Basterds**

      Best Cinematography
      Mauro Fiore, Avatar+**
      Christian Berger, White Ribbon+++*
      Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker***
      Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds***
      Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter

      Best Art Direction
      Avatar+**
      Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus*
      Nine*
      Sherlock Holmes
      The Young Victoria

      Best Sound Mixing
      Avatar+**
      The Hurt Locker***
      Star Trek* **
      Inglourious Basterds
      Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen*

      Best Sound Editing
      Avatar
      The Hurt Locker
      Up
      Star Trek
      Inglourious Basterds

      Best Costume Design
      Sandy Powell, The Young Victoria +*
      Catherine Leterrier,Coco Avant Chanel*
      Janet Patterson, Bright Star**
      Colleen Atwood, Nine*
      Monique Prudhomme, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

      Best Original Score
      Michael Giacchino, Up+*
      Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, The Hurt Locker!
      James Horner, Avatar*
      Alexandre Desplat, The Fantastic Mr. Fox
      Hans Zimmer, Sherlock Holmes*

      Best Foreign Language Film (submissions)
      A Prophet, France+*
      The White Ribbon, Germany**
      El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina
      Ajami, Israel
      The Milk of Sorrow, Pru

      Best Documentary Feature
      The Cove++**+
      Food, Inc.**
      The Beaches of Agnes++*
      Burma VJ*
      The Most Dangerous Man in America
      Which Way Home

      Best Animated Feature
      Up+++**
      The Fantastic Mr. Fox+*+***
      Coraline****
      The Princess and the Frog***
      The Secret of Kells

      Best Visual Effects
      Avatar+*
      District 9* *
      Star Trek**
      Best Makeup
      The Young Victoria**
      Star Trek*
      Il Divo*

      Best Song
      The Weary Kind – T Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham, Crazy Heart ++
      Down in New Orleans, The Princess and the Frog
      Almost There – Randy Newman, The Princess And The Frog***
      Loin de Paname, Paris 36

      Best Live Action Short
      The Door
      Instead of Abracadabra
      Kavi
      Miracle Fish
      The New Tenants

      Best Animated Short
      French Roast
      Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
      The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
      Logorama
      A Matter of Loaf and Death

      Best Documentary Short
      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 a la Berlin





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