AVATAR

AVATAR (Nominations: 9)

I have taken a couple days to get these next two reviews written because they are the most important. Everyone would agree that the Oscar races for Best Picture and Director only have two contenders: Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Avatar is by far the most impressive film of the year, perhaps the decade. James Cameron has time and again taken filmmaking to the limit. A couple examples would be The Abyss, Terminator 2, and of course his last outing, Titanic. Every time he decides to make a film, he decides to do something no one has ever done before.

Avatar is the epitome of this filmmaking strategy. Cameron spent over a decade creating the world where Avatar is set, waiting for the technology to catch up to his vision. The result is the most beautiful film I have ever seen. The fact is you could watch this film on mute and it would still be fantastic because it is visually that stunning. I think most fans who are rooting for Avatar at the big show might be a little blinded by that spectacle. In the technical categories, Avatar should take home most of the awards for which it is nominated: Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects. I would not be surprised to see one or two upsets in there (probably from The Hurt Locker) but Avatar is the front runner.

As for the two biggest awards though, based on the guild voting so far, Avatar is not necessarily the lead dog. My guess is that there will be a split between Avatar and The Hurt Locker with Avatar taking Best Picture and The Hurt Locker taking Best Director, however, it could easily go the other way, or one could take both.

PREDICTED WINS: 7