On Wednesday, I offered my predictions for the Oscars.
Now it’s time for something different: my ballot, if I had one. Which I don’t. I mean, I have a facsimile ballot that looks like the Oscar ballot, but if I’d tried to return it they would have tossed it into that super-confidential PricewaterhouseCoopers Oscar shredder where AMPAS secrets go to die.
So instead, I’ll publish it. I’ve now seen every nominee in every category (makeup nominee “Il Divo” on Netflix Instant being the final piece of the puzzle), and here’s what I’d vote for.
Best Picture of 2009: “An Education”
Here’s the nice thing about the preferential system of voting – on my ballot, I can rank my favorite 2009 film, Lone Scherfig’s lovely, deft coming-of-age story, in the number one spot without hurting “The Hurt Locker,” which I’m hoping will win.
I’ll rank “Hurt Locker” second, knowing that after a couple of rounds of counting, “An Education” will likely be eliminated from contention, and my vote will shift to Kathryn Bigelow’s taut Iraq drama. And that, I imagine, is where it would stay.
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
I love Jeremy Renner’s and Colin Firth’s performances, and nobody could have made “Up in the Air” work the way George Clooney makes it work. But as I wrote when I first saw “Crazy Heart” back in early November, I spent years covering rock ‘n’ roll and hitting the road with musicians, some of them nearly as down-and-out as Bad Blake – and there is not a false note in Bridges’ performance, which is true and modest and lived-in.
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
I was going to say that I would have preferred the un-nominated Christian McKay in “Me and Orson Welles,” but then I watched “Inglourious Basterds” again and realized, hell no. Waltz is just flat-out undeniable.
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
It’s a close contest between Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious,” but in the end the young British actress, beguiling and nuanced and touching, gets my vote.
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
I fully understand that this would be a wasted vote: Mo’Nique will win for “Precious,” and I can’t really argue with that. But Farmiga pulls off a tricky, delicate, unflashy role and makes it look effortless; Anna Kendrick gets the fireworks in the movie, but Farmiga quietly brings it home.
Animated Feature: “Up”
If “Mary and Max” had gotten nominated, this would have been a tough choice. But it didn’t, so this is easy.
Art Direction: “Avatar”
There are certain areas in which “Avatar” is untouchable, and art direction is one of them. As I said in my predictions piece, the other nominees designed spaces and rooms; “Avatar” designed a world.
