Cinema Vortex: February 2010

Best motion picture of the year
“Avatar” A Lightstorm Entertainment Production
James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers (20th Century Fox)
“The Blind Side” An Alcon Entertainment Production
Nominees to be determined (Warner Bros.)
“District 9” A Block/Hanson Production
Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers (Sony Pictures Releasing)
“An Education” A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production
Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Hurt Locker” A Voltage Pictures Production
Nominees to be determined (Summit Entertainment)
“Inglourious Basterds”
A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production
Lawrence Bender, Producer (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures)
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production
Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” A Working Title Films Production
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers (Focus Features)
“Up” A Pixar Production
Jonas Rivera, Producer (Walt Disney)
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
A Montecito Picture Company Production
Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Achievement in directing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures) Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year
“Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter

Adapted screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell - “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Nick Hornby - “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche - “In the Loop” (IFC)
Geoffrey Fletcher - “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner - “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring and DW)

Original screenplay
Mark Boal - “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Quentin Tarantino - “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman - “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope)
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - “A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter - “Up” (Walt Disney)

Achievement in cinematography
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design
“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Classics) Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell

Best documentary feature
“Burma VJ” A Magic Hour Films Production (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” An Oceanic Preservation Society Production (Roadside Attractions)
Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” A Robert Kenner Films Production (Magnolia Pictures)
Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America” A Kovno Communications Production
Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” A Mr. Mudd Production
Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary short subject
“China’s Unnatural Disaster” A Downtown Community TV Center Production
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” A Just Media Production
Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” A Community Media Production
Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence” An iThemba Production
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” An MS Films Production (Deckert Distribution)
Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Achievement in film editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year
Israel - “Ajami”
An Inosan Production (Kino International)
Argentina - “El Secreto de Sus Ojos”
A Haddock Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)
Peru - “The Milk of Sorrow”
A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production
France - “Un Prophète”
A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)
Germany - “The White Ribbon”
X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production (Sony Classics)

Achievement in makeup
“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Almost There” (Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Down in New Orleans” (Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Loin de Paname” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas from “Paris 36”
“Take It All” (The Weinstein Company)
Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston from “Nine”
“The Weary Kind” (Theme from "Crazy Heart") (Fox Searchlight)
Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best animated short film
“French Roast” A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production
Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” A Brown Bag Films Production
Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper” Kandor Graphics & Green Moon Production
Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” An Autour de Minuit Production
Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” An Aardman Animations Production
Nick Park

Best live action short film
“The Door” An Octagon Films Production (Network Ireland Television)
Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra” A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production (Swedish Film Institute)
Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi” A Gregg Helvey Production
Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish” A Druid Films Production
Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants” A Park Pictures and M & M Production
Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
"Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount with Hasbro)
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Achievement in art direction
“Avatar” (Twentieth Century Fox)
Set Decoration: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Art Direction: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro
Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros)
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition)
Art Direction: Patrice Vermette
Set Decoration: Maggie Gray