Academy Awards 2011 Preview

While the Golden Globe goes with “The Social Network, ” it’s not surprising to me “The King’s Speech” leads the Academy Awards pack with 12 nominations. Both are outstanding films, but the Golden Globe tends to go with the “popular kid” on the block as opposed to the “dark horse” (“The Hurt Locker” vs. “Avatar,” “The Departed” vs. “Babel,” “Crash vs. “Brokeback Mountain”).

“Inception” finally gets the recognition it so well deserves, sharing the spotlight equally with “The Social Network” at 8 nominations each.

If Best Picture goes to “The King’s Speech” and Best Director to David Fincher, “The Social Network,” I’d like to at least see that Christopher Nolan, “Inception” (snubbed for Best Director) goes up for Best Original Screenplay, although “The King’s Speech” is also favored in this category.  At the very least, his film should win in a couple of categories; Best Visual Effects/Cinematography, Best Original Score/Sound Editing/Mixing.

As far as screenplay goes, Aaron Sorkin’s writing is the main reason that “The Social Network” became one of the best pictures of 2010, so it should be for Best Adapted Screenplay since the movie is based on a book, “The Accidental Billionaires.”

“Black Swan,” would be deserving of Best Cinematography (if not, Film Editing) if it takes home the trophy, even though it would be an upset win to critics’-favored, “True Grit.”

Best Actor and Best Actress nods stand for Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech” and Natalie Portman, “Black Swan” (although there’s a very slight chance that Annette Bening, “The Kids are All Right,” might pull an upset, having been beaten by Hilary Swank twice in the Oscar race). “The Fighter” should be content leading in the supporting acting category.

Check out the full list of the Academy Award nominations at http://oscar.go.com/ The 83rd Academy Awards, hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway, is this Sunday, February 27 on ABC.

Watch the youtube link for the 10 top movies running for Best Picture:

Nathalia Aryani is a business manager, foreign language translator, lifestyle/travel writer and film columnist. She can be reached at [email protected]. Nathalia owns a movies blog, The MovieMaven (http://themoviemaven.posterous.com).