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It’s been so long since I actually ranked the Best Picture contenders (given that we did away with the charts some weeks back), that when I sat down to do so for this week’s Gurus o’ Gold update at Movie City News, I really didn’t know which way was up. It’s liberating to stop thinking about things in reductive terms, but I gave it a go, as did 14 other pundits, and this is what we came up with. Sasha Stone also has charts from past years up for comparison.
It seems like USA Today’s Anthony Brenican is the only guy who got his votes in after the big “Crazy Heart”/Jeff Bridges news, but suffice it to say the film would likely be a bit higher on the Best Picture chart and certainly Bridges and Gyllenhaal would be formidable in the lead actor and supporting actress fields.
“Up in the Air” is leading the pack, though “Precious” isn’t that far behind. My top 10 matches the Gurus’ exactly, except rather than Quentin Tarrantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” I’ve placed a bet on James Cameron’s “Avatar” (which sits at #11 on the chart). Intriguingly, Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is close to the bubble, at #12. I’d say that’s too high, frankly, but critics adore the movie.
Head on over to Movie City News for the full spread.
10 responses so far
1 11-06-2009 at 11:41 am
Ryan said...
I noticed “Up” was listed as a top-tier candidate for Best Picture as well Best Animated Feature. Would it be possible for the film to receive a nod in both categories simultaneously? Or is there an element of mutual exclusivity built into the nominating process?
2 11-06-2009 at 11:47 am
Guy Lodge said...
Of course it’s possible. No rules preventing it, just as films can be nominated simultaneously for Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film.
3 11-06-2009 at 12:22 pm
JAB said...
So is it Crazy Heart or Crazy Love?
4 11-06-2009 at 12:31 pm
Guy Lodge said...
Crazy Heart.
(Crazy Love was that 2007 documentary about the acid-burn victim who married her attacker.)
5 11-06-2009 at 2:17 pm
AmericanRequiem said...
give in to inglorious kris, you must!
6 11-06-2009 at 3:11 pm
Donna said...
Who gets the Popcorn Slot for Best Picture?
Avatar?
District 9?
Star Trek?
That’s the only race I care about.
7 11-06-2009 at 3:31 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
Crazy Heart, JAB. Mistake at MCN.
8 11-06-2009 at 4:11 pm
SHAAAARK said...
It looks like there’s a number of serious mistakes among the predictors. Farmiga is not lead in Up in the Air, Sarsgaard is confirmed supporting for An Education, and Cruz is DEFINITELY NOT lead for Nine. Can’t these so-called “experts” get their facts right? Pathetic.
9 11-06-2009 at 4:25 pm
The Other James D. said...
That’s the silly pundits for you, SHAAAARK. At least it gives you cause to doubt the cumulative predix.
Unlike with “Waltz with Bashir” last year, which made it in Foreign but got the shaft in Animated to make room for “Bolt” (I was pleased, especially with it being superior to “Kung-Fu Panda”), I don’t think “Up” would get snubbed in Animated. If anything, voters will not place it high or at all on their Top 10, in order to make room for more live-action films, thus relegating it once again to its own category. They’re snobby about such things, hence my reservations in predicting it here.
10 11-06-2009 at 6:13 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
SHAAAARK: Ease up, kid. It’s not “pathetic” just because every single surveyed pundit isn’t as obsessive about this stuff as some of us are.