Awards -- INTERNATIONAL PRESS ACADEMY -- Golden Satellite Nominees

No true Oscar prognasticator should ever take these nominations seriously. But every year, they are the first group to announce, and it's always at the very least, interesting, to see where they put the glory. I especially love the fact that several films in the "Top Ten" list aren't even nominated in the picture categories. That right there tells you exactly how this group work. But whatever, so here they are...

Best Picture (Drama)
Bright Star
An Education
The Hurt Locker
The Messenger
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
The Stoning of Soraya M.

Best Picture (Musical/Comedy)
The Informant!
It's Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine
A Serious Man
Up in the Air

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow "The Hurt Locker"
Neill Blomkamp "District 9"
Jane Campion "Bright Star"
Lee Daniels "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire"
Rob Marshall "Nine"
Lone Scherfig "An Education"

Best Actor (Drama)
Jeff Bridges "Crazy Heart"
Hugh Dancy "Adam"
Johnny Depp "Public Enemies"
Colin Firth "A Single Man"
Jeremy Renner "The Hurt Locker"
Michael Sheen "The Damned United"

Best Actor (Musical/Comedy)
George Clooney "Up in the Air"
Bradley Cooper "The Hangover"
Matt Damon "The Informant!"
Daniel Day-Lewis "Nine"
Michael Stuhlbarg "A Serious Man"

Best Actress (Drama)
Shohreh Aghdashloo "The Stoning of Soraya M."
Emily Blunt "The Young Victoria"
Abbie Cornish "Bright Star"
Penelope Cruz "Broken Embraces"
Carey Mulligan "An Education"
Catalina Saavedra "The Maid"

Best Actress (Musical/Comedy)
Sandra Bullock "The Proposasl"
Marion Cotillard "Nine"
Zooey Deschanel "(500) Days of Summer"
Katherine Heigl "The Ugly Truth"
Meryl Streep "Julie & Julia"

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson "The Messenger"
James McAvoy "The Last Station"
Alfred Molina "An Education"
Timothy Spall "The Damned United"
Christoph Waltz "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt "Sunshine Cleaning"
Penelope Cruz "Nine"
Anna Kendrick "Up in the Air"
Mozhan Marno "The Stoning of Soraya M."
Mo'nique "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire"

Best Original Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer -- Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Bright Star -- Jane Campion
The Hurt Locker -- Mark Boal
A Serious Man -- Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Up -- Bob Peterson & Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay
District 9 -- Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell
An Education -- Nick Hornby
Julie & Julia -- Nora Ephron
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire -- Geoffrey Fletcher
Up in the Air -- Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner

Best Animated or Mixed Media
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Princess and the Frog
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

Best Cinematography
Inglourious Basterds
It Might Get Loud
Nine
Public Enemies
Red Cliff
A Serious Man

Best Film Editing
2012
District 9
The Hurt Locker
It Might Get Loud
Nine
Red Cliff

Best Art Direction & Production Design
2012
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Public Enemies
Red Cliff
The Road
A Single Man

Best Costume Design
Cheri
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Red Cliff
The Young Victoria

Best Sound (Mixing & Editing)
2012
It Might Get Loud
Nine
Red Cliff
Terminator: Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Visual Effects
2012
District 9
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Red Cliff
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Original Score
Amelia
The Informant!
Public Enemies
Up
Up in the Air
Where the Wild Things Are

Best Original Song
"Almost There" -- The Princess and the Frog
"Cinema Italiano" -- Nine
"Down in New Orleans" -- The Princess and the Frog
"I Can See in Color" -- Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
"We Are the Children of the World" -- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
"The Weary Kind" -- Crazy Heart

Best Foreign Language Film
Broken Embraces (Spain) (tie)
I Killed My Mother (Canada)
The Maid (Chile) (tie)
Red Cliff (China)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Winter in Wartime (Netherlands)

Best Documentary
The Beaches of Agnes
The Cove
Every Little Step
It Might Get Loud
The September Issue
Valentino: The Last Emperor

Top Ten Films
(500) Days of Summer
Bright Star
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
A Serious Man
The Stoning of Soraya M.
Up in the Air

Tesla Award (Visionary Achievement)
Roger Deakins

Auteur Award
Roger Corman

Best Ensemble Film Cast
Nine

Best Ensemble TV Cast
True Blood

Outstanding Guest Star
Kristin Chenoweth "Glee"

Outstanding New Talent
Gabourey Sidibie "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire"

Predix...

Working on my predictions at the moment, should be up in the next day or two.

Also, very excited about the next few weeks. I have screenings set up for THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, A SINGLE MAN, NINE, & AVATAR.

NEWS -- The DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Shortlist

The field has been narrowed down to 15, and 5 films will be chosen as the nominees from these finalists. A few noticeable films missing, particularly "Anvil! The Story of Anvil", "Capitalism: A Love Story", "It Might Get Loud", and "Tyson".

The finalists are:

The Beaches of Agnes
Burma VJ
The Cove
Every Little Step
Facing Ali
Food, Inc.
Garbage Dreams
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors without Borders
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Mugabe and the White African
Sergio
Soundtrack for a Revolution
Under Our Skin
Valentino: The Last Emperor
Which Way Home

This list puts The Cove, Every Little Step, and Food Inc. soundly in the driver seat for the Oscar this year. I thought all 3 were fantastic and all worthy.

We Will Have 5 Nominees for ANIMATED FEATURE

The Academy has released the shortlist of all eligible contenders in the Animated Feature category, and due to the number of entries, we will have 5 nominees in the race this year. This is only the 2nd time in the category's history that we have more than 3 nominees, and the first time since 2002.

The eligible films are:

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Astro Boy
Battle for Terra
Cloudly with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Disney's A Christmas Carol
The Dolphin - Story of a Dreamer
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Mary and Max
The Missing Lynx
Monsters vs. Aliens
9
Planet 51
Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure
A Town Called Panic
Up

My preditions as of right now are:

Coraline
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
Up

The ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Gods have spoken, and here are who they are considering as front-runners in the main categories.

BEST PICTURE

Frontrunners
The Hurt Locker
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Precious
Up in the Air

Other Possibilites
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
A Serious Man
Up

Long Shots
An Education
It's Complicated
A Single Man
Star Trek
Where the Wild Things Are


BEST DIRECTOR

Frontrunners
Kathryn Bigelow "The Hurt Locker"
Peter Jackson "The Lovely Bones"
Jason Reitman "Up in the Air"

Other Possibilities
James Cameron "Avatar"
Joel & Ethan Coen "A Serious Man"
Lee Daniels "Precious"
Clint Eastwood "Invictus"
Rob Marshall "Nine"

Long Shots
J.J. Abrams "Star Trek"
Jane Campion "Bright Star"
Tom Ford "A Single Man"
Spike Jonze "Where the Wild Things Are"
Quentin Tarantino "Inglourious Basterds"


BEST ACTOR

Frontrunners
George Clooney "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman "Invictus"

Other Possibilities
Matt Damon "The Informant!"
Daniel Day-Lewis "Nine"
Robert De Niro "Everybody's Fine"
Jeremy Renner "The Hurt Locker"
Michael Stuhlbarg "A Serious Man"

Long Shots
Paul Bettany "Creation"
Ben Foster "The Messenger"
Viggo Mortensen "The Road"
Clive Owen "The Boys Are Back"
Michael Sheen "The Damned United"


BEST ACTRESS

Frontrunners
Carey Mulligan "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe "Precious"
Meryl Streep "Julia & Julia"

Other Possibilities
Abbie Cornish "Bright Star"
Marion Cotillard "Nine"
Penelope Cruz "Broken Embraces"
Helen Mirren "The Last Station"
Saoirse Ronan "The Lovely Bones"

Long Shots
Emily Blunt "The Young Victoria"
Sandra Bullock "The Blind Side"
Michelle Monaghan "Trucker"
Hilary Swank "Amelia"
Robin Wright "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee"


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Frontrunners
Alfred Molina "An Education"
Stanley Tucci "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz "Inglourious Basterds"

Other Possibilities
Alec Baldwin "It's Complicated"
Matt Damon "Invictus"
Woddy Harrelson "The Messenger"
Anthony Mackie "The Hurt Locker"
Christopher Plummer "The Last Station"

Long Shots
George Clooney "The Men Who Stare at Goats"
Zach Galifianakis "The Hangover"
Brian Geraghty "The Hurt Locker"
Peter Sarsgaard "An Education"
Paul Schneider "Bright Star"


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Frontrunners
Anna Kendrick "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique "Precious"
Julianne Moore "A Single Man"

Other Possibilities
Mariah Carey "Precious"
Penelope Cruz "Nine"
Judi Dench "Nine"
Vera Farmiga "Up in the Air"
Susan Srandon "The Lovely Bones"

Long Shots
Patricia Clarkson "Whatever Works"
Melanie Laurent "Inglourious Basterds"
Samantha Morton "The Messenger"
Paul Patton "Precious"
Rachel Weisz "The Lovely Bones"