With the Oscars approaching, we decided to make a list of the movies nominated, including their IMDB ratings and Amazon links.

I have not included Avatar in the movies below, since this list is made to help you decide what to watch (possibly) at home. Avatar deserves to be watched in IMAX 3D and that you cannot get at home. Also, make sure you read up on the Gaia Hypothesis (wikipedia), Solaris (amazon, wiki) or Dune (amazon, wiki) before or after seeing it.

Here’s the summary of the movies to watch so that you know what’s going on, with links to Amazon and IMDB:

Title (2009)	Genre	imdb	Nominations
Ajami	Drama	7.1	Foreign (Israel)
Avatar	Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi	8.6	Art Direction, Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Score, Picture, Sound editing, Sound Mixing, Visual FX
The Blind Side	Biography | Drama | Sport	7.8	Leading Actress, Picture
Bright Star	Biography | Drama | Romance	7.3	Costume
Coco Before Chanel	Biography | Drama	6.6	Costume
Crazy Heart	Drama Music Romance	7.9	Leading Actor, Supporting Actress, Song
District 9	Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller	8.3	Film Editing, Picture, Visual FX, Adapted Screenplay
An Education	Drama	7.7	Leading Actress, Picture, Adapted Screenplay
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance	7.4	Cinematography
The Hurt Locker	Action | Drama | Thriller | War	8.0	Leading Actor, Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Score, Picture, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Screenplay
Il Divo (2008)	Biography | Drama	7.4	Makeup
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus	Adventure | Fantasy | Mystery	7.4	Art Direction, Costume
In the Loop	Comedy	7.7	Adapted Screenplay
Inglorious Basterds	Drama | Thriller | War	8.4	Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Picture, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Screenplay
Invictus	Biography | Drama | History | Sport	7.6	Leading Actor, Supporting Actor
Julie & Julia		7.3	Leading Actor
The Last Station	Biography | Drama | History	7.3	Supporting Actor, Leading Actress
The Lovely Bones	Drama | Fantasy | Thriller	6.7	Supporting Actor
The Messenger	Drama | Romance | War	7.6	Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay
The Milk of Sorrow	Drama | Music	7.1	Foreign (La Teta Asustada) Spain
Nine	Drama | Musical | Romance	6.5	Supporting Actress, Art, Costume, Song
Paris 36	Drama | Music	6.3	Song
Precious: Based on ‘Push’ by Sapphire	Drama	7.6	Leading Actress, Supporting Actress, Directing, Film Editing, Picture, Adapted Screenplay
A Prophet	Crime | Drama	8.2	Foreign (Un Prophète) France
The Secret in Their Eyes	Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller	8.5	Foreign (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) Argentina
A Serious Man	Comedy | Drama	7.5	Picture, Original Screenplay
Sherlock Holmes	Action | Adventure | Crime | Mystery | Thriller	7.6	Art, Original Score
A Single Man	Drama	8.1	Leading Actor
Star Trek	Adventure | Sci-Fi	8.6	Makeup, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual FX
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi	6.1	Sound Mixing
Up	Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family	8.4	Animated, Original Score, Best Picture, Sound Editing, Original Screenplay
Up in the Air	Comedy | Drama | Romance	8.0	Animated feature, Score, Picture, Sound Editing, Original Screenplay
The White Ribbon	Crime | Drama | Mystery	8.2	Cinematography, Foreign (Das Weisse Band) Germany
The Young Victoria	Biography | Drama | History | Romance	7.2	Art, Costume, Makeup

I have not included all the animation and documentaries above. I will now comment on the possible winners, while trying to mute my personal choices. These are coming up in another article, as I have not watched all the movies yet.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

The Academy is dominated by actors and they will surely choose whomever they see as the best actor from an actor’s perspective. I’m inclined to go with Morgan Freeman, though I have yet to see any of them performing. Based solely on the “buzz” I’ve been getting this far, Colin had an awesome performance.

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

I only had a chance to see Christoph and though he had a great performance, I wonder what the others had given us. The Academy might let Christopher waltz away with the big O, not only because of his acting, but also because of his seniority.

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Meryl is an amazing actress, as everybody knows, and she already had her share of Oscars. Her movie might not be watchable had it been a more “normal” actor in her role. Yet the others might have their own wonderful performances.

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

I’ve only seen a few sequences with Mo’Nique and Maggie and they were both just great. I can’t wait to see the others.

Animated Feature Film

• “Coraline” Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
• “Up” Pete Docter

I only had a chance to watch Up and it was beautiful and touching. Its theme addresses an audience a bit more mature than pre-schoolers and the voting professionals might find themselves drawn into it.

Art Direction

• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

I have watched Avatar and Sherlock Holmes, but I’ll stop here. Not only I’m running out of time, but I need to research more of these movies. One way to do that is to watch all the trailers below.

Cinematography

• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
• “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Happy Valentine’s!

Costume Design

• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

 

Directing

• “Avatar” James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

 

Documentary (Feature)

• “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• “The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
• “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

 

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• “Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

 

Film Editing

• “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• “District 9” Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

 

Foreign Language Film

• “Ajami” Israel
• “The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)” Peru
• “A Prophet (Un Prophète)” France
• “The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina
• “The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)” Germany

 

Makeup

• “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

 

Music (Original Score)

• “Avatar” James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
• “Up” Michael Giacchino

 

Music (Original Song)

• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

 

Best Picture

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
• “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

 

Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
• “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

 

Sound Editing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

 

Sound Mixing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

 

Visual Effects

• “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

 

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Sources / More info: oscars-2010, wikipedia: Gaia Hypothesis, Solaris-novel, wiki-Solaris-movies: 68, 72, 02, wiki-Dune: novel, film 1984, yt-Oscars