An Immediate Reaction

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YES.
(Even if I got the prediction wrong.)
I also liked how giddy Annie was the whole evening.

I have nothing else to say, really. Because I am a polite optimist*.

(* - I am not a polite optimist.)

VD's Final Oscar Winners Predictions

LIKE IT OR NOT, we're here once again. There's still about 24 hours till showtime, and I couldn't put this off wait any longer. These aren't really going to change or anything; my thoughts are pretty cemented. I think it's a pretty good year overall, and I somehow managed to love the vast majority of the BP nominees, which impresses me. Shut up.

As is customary, I don't even try to do the short categories, so here are my predictions for the other twenty-one categories! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

Updated with Winners
14/21 - 66% correct
(I haven't done this badly since 2007's 12/21 score.)

Best Picture
Will Win: The King's Speech
Could Win: The Social Network
Should Win: Black Swan

It would be a rather beautiful miracle if TSN grabbed it back, but of course that's not gonna happen so, everyone, just live with it.

Best Director
Will Win: David Fincher, The Social Network
Could Win: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Should Win: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

The British biggies are always weaker with this, so Fincher really SHOULD PROBABLY WIN IT.

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Will Win: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Could Win: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Should Win: James Franco, 127 Hours

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Will Win: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Could Win: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Should Win: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Yay redundancy!

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Could Win: Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
Should Win: Christian Bale, The Fighter

To be honest I don't see Rush winning even if TKS won LITERALLY everything else. Bale is just too goddamn strong.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Could Win: Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Should Win: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

If Steinfeld wins this, I will fuck a girl, I swear to god. NOT HAPPENING.

Best Original Screenplay
Will Win: David Seidler, The King's Speech
Could Win: Christopher Nolan, Inception
Should Win: Christopher Nolan, Inception

British BPs, even if they lose Director, nearly always win for their writing. AMPAS don't care 'bout Chris Nolan anyway.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Will Win: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Could Win: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Should Win: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Sorkin losing this would be the single most scandalous snub in QUITE a while, considering he's won everything and undeniably deserves it.

Best Animated Feature Film
Will Win: Toy Story 3
Could Win: Toy Story 3
Should Win: Toy Story 3

*yawns*

Best Foreign Language Film
Will Win: In a Better World
Could Win: Incendies
Should Win: n/a

Outside the Law seems like it COULD be the Departures/Secrets of the year, but without a heavily known frontrunner or two for it to beat (Biutiful doesn't count - though it does tonally), I'm not sure treating it like that would work. Not a great theoretical year.

Best Documentary Feature Film
Will Win: Inside Job
Could Win: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Should Win: n/a

I don't care if I'm being too obvious; I also don't really care.

Best Art Direction
Will Win: Eve Stewart, The King's Speech
Could Win: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Inception
Should Win: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Inception
Actually Won: Robert Stromberg, Alice in Wonderland

I really wish the gay porn thing came out sooner, but it's not an undeserved win. Inception is so much FUNNER though.

Best Cinematography
Will Win: Roger Deakins, True Grit
Could Win: Wally Pfister, Inception
Should Win: Matthew Libatique, Black Swan

God help us if Deakins doesn't win. But I REALLY don't think he'll lose to TKS? That would be way too indulgent a win. Inception, backed with incredible work by a DP that THEY WON'T STOP NOMINATING, is more likely to steal it.

Best Costume Design
Will Win: Colleen Atwood, Alice in Wonderland
Could Win: Jenny Beavan, The King's Speech
Should Win: Mary Zophres, True Grit

Nathaniel's touting of the 'Atwood and Sandy Powell only win when the other is nominated' formula rings too true, tbh. It made a billion dollars, and she's AT LEAST never won for a Burton film. TKS isn't flashy or colorful or corset-y.

Best Film Editing
Will Win: Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter, The Social Network
Could Win: Tariq Anwar, The King's Speech
Should Win: Andrew Weisblum, Black Swan

I actually trust TSN winning this. But who knows.

Best Original Score
Will Win: Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
Could Win: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Should Win: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Social Network

This would be one of the easier things for TKS to pick up in the event of a sweep; Desplat's overdue (but for this?). I hope Reznor/Ross can sneak this, though. That would be fucking amazing.

Best Original Song
Will Win: "If I Rise", 127 Hours
Could Win: "I See the Light", Tangled
Should Win: "I See the Light", Tangled
Actually Won: "We Belong Together, Toy Story 3

I REALLY HAVE NO CLUE. This is the lamest thing ever.

Best Make-Up
Will Win: The Way Back
Could Win: Barney's Version
Should Win: n/a
Actually Won: The Wolfman

Sorry, THIS is the lamest thing ever.

Best Sound Mixing
Will Win: True Grit
Could Win: Inception
Should Win: Inception

I'm going with TG since it won the CAS. IDK.

Best Sound Editing
Will Win: Inception
Could Win: True Grit
Should Win: Inception

I guess.

Best Visual Effects
Will Win: Inception
Could Win: Inception
Should Win: Inception

Well this is a bit blatant, innit. Plus, it's been forty years since a Best Picture nominee nominated for its special effects has lost to a non-nominee. In case it qasn't clear enough that it's not gonna lose.

So, everyone's thoughts? Blah blah.

VD's Best Music of 2010, Part III

This is probably the most uneventful portion of the countdown, but I felt it needed to be done anyway - for all the underdeveloped and mismanaged little tracks out there. Yup, I'm doing b-sides and bonus tracks now! FUN!!!

I love b-sides; I wish more artists actually did them, especially when they're more than worthy of their existence. And not just like, British people. Bonus tracks, as well, can just as easily be lazy and unnecessary (hence why they're 'bonus') as overwhelming brilliant (aka WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM/THE LABEL/GOD etc). I feel when they need to be heralded, that is exactly what should happen.

This is gonna be odd.

VD's Best B-Sides of 2010
10. Scissor Sisters, "Sex Exciter" ("Any Which Way")
It's basically an afterthought, but what a delicious little afterthought. That's co-written and contains backup vocals by Allison Goldfrapp. WIN.

09. Alex Gardner, "Superfree" ("I'm Not Mad")
His breathy vocals more or less make this. He's a fucking sexy talented lad, I wish fate would be kinder to him.

08. Delphic, "Sanctuary" ("Doubt")
I don't listen to Delphic enough. Somehow I can more easily recall this song more easily than a lot of the album. I'm not exactly sure what that MEANS but anyway.

07. The Saturdays, "Ready to Rise" ("Missing You")
Eons better than the A-side. That chorus is FIRE. Good lord the Sats are so inconsistent, it's stunning sometimes, really.

06. Hurts, "Confide in Me" ("Stay")
A live cover of Kylie's dark masterpiece, and they definitely do it justice. Completely stunning, and an interesting masculine version of it, too. (See also - I never would've expected them to be so into each other.)

05. Kylie Minogue, "Go Hard or Go Home" ("All the Lovers")
Basically simple cheese, but it's just blissfully Kylie.

04. Joe McElderry, "If You Love Me" ("Ambitions")
I understand why it's a b-side (it's a bit inconsequential, innit), but I wish the album had a few more full-out electropop rush spots like this.

03. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, "Sophia Loren" ("Bittersweet")
Odd that this was gonna be the still-unreleased album's lead single at one point. It's so disarmingly lightweight and CUTE. The synths are so bouncy, the lyrics so thematically clever and easy-to-swallow for a love song. Also, Cathy Dennis! DISCO DISCO ITALIANO.

02. Cheryl Cole, "Just Let Me Go" ("Parachute")
Possibly the single best moment of the 3 Words era, entirely because of how 'FUCK YEAH DANCE-POP' it is - a philosophy she fully embraced on her follow-up (which greater results). It's dark, and a bit emotional, albeit in its icy, dancefloor intoxicated form. Quite impressive.

*druuuuuuuuuuuuuuum roll plz*

01. Hurts, "Affair" ("Wonderful Life")
True story: I bought the CD single just to own this. Six and a half minutes of swirling, depressingly romantic, purely retro synthpop that makes my heart FLUTTER every time I hear it. So fucking beautiful.

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VD's Best Bonus Tracks of 2010
(aka an excuse to talk about the #1)
05. Savage Skulls & Douster feat. Robyn, "Bad Gal"
(from the iTunes version of Body Talk Pt. 2)
This is, as far as I can tell, the only place this track has officially shown up - which is odd, since there's a video now. It's a fantastically out-there track; Robyn is used expertly. I wish she'd do even more of these 'vocals for DJs/producers spinning gold' things. Cuz, I mean - my god, UH-OH.

03/04. Kylie Minogue, "Mighty Rivers" & "Heartstrings"
(from various and unconfirmable international versions of Aphrodite)
"Heartstrings" is probably better, but it seemed fair having them tied. They're both Xenomania-produced and they're both unfairly relegated. Sigh, they just haven't had a good run since Girls Aloud disbanded went on hiatus, even when they're putting out BEAUTIFUL work.

02. Alphabeat, "Telephone/Bad Romance"
(from the UK Amazon pre-order version of The Beat Is...)
The Beat Is... has four (!) bonus tracks overall, and this one is clearly the best, A wonderful mashup of two individually amazing GaGa songs (which assumedly only exists because they were The Monster Ball Tour's opening act for the UK leg). Stine's disturbingly crystal clear pronunciation of everything really makes it.

*anticlimactic rim shot*


01. Ellie Goulding, "Lights"
(from the iTunes version of Lights)
This is a perfect, perfect song, and I can't believe it WAS a bonus track. It blows everything else out of the water, and still does even after the re-release (Bright Lights) actually made the album better. I was debating whether to even classify it as a bonus track anymore, since it's the next single (to be released...at some point), which an AMAZING VIDEO and a not-terribly done remix (love the added drums) and those gloves. But it wasn't a single in 2010, WAS IT? Well it almost was. Either way, it counts. NOW BASK IN ITS BIFFCO-SANCTIFIED GLORY.

Note: I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being my #1 of 2011.

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So, yeah. Another part down; next up should be MORE IF NOT ALL OF THE SINGLES LIST. Be sure to look out for that sometime before July!