Favorite/Best Films of the 21st Century So Far

After looking over the NY Times’s list of the 25 Best Films of the 21^st Century to date, I starting think about what films would be on my list. It is tough. On one hand you have all your favorite movies, some are more objectively good and some are certainly not; and on the other hand, you have films that are great but not necessarily films you seek out to watch. I decided on a compromise. These are the films that I think are the best – but with my biases/loves built in, let run wild. I also included my favorite documentaries at the end. Ranking all these films is impossible (I narrowed it down to 103; 13 documentaries and 90 features). So, this list is organized by year for the features, followed by documentaries and finally my personal 25 favorites.

2000

American Psycho, directed by Mary Harron

2001

Amelie, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Black Hawk Down, directed by Ridley Scott

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, directed by Peter Jackson

No Man’s Land, directed by Danis Tanovic

The Royal Tenenbaums, directed by Wes Anderson

2002

The Hours, directed by Stephen Daldry

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, directed by Peter Jackson

The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski

2003

The Barbarian Invasions, directed by Denys Arcand

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, directed by Peter Jackson

Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola

Open Range, directed by Kevin Costner

2004

2046, directed by Kar Wai Wong

A Very Long Engagement, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Downfall, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuaron

Hotel Rwanda, directed by Terry George

House of Flying Daggers, directed by Yimou Zhang

The Life of Aquatic with Steve Zissou, directed by Wes Anderson

Million Dollar Baby, directed by Clint Eastwood

Sideways, directed by Alexander Payne

Spider-Man 2, directed by Sam Raimi

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, directed by Je-gyu Kang

2005

Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan

The Beat that My Heart Skipped, directed by Jacques Audiard

Munich, directed by Steven Spielberg

Pride & Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright

Serenity, directed by Joss Whedon

The Squid and the Whale, directed by Noah Baumbach

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, directed by Marc Rothemund

2006

Black Book, directed by Paul Verhoeven

Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuaron

Mission: Impossible III, directed by J.J. Abrams

Once, directed by John Carney

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, directed by Gore Verbinski

The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan

The Road to Guantanamo, directed by Michael Winterbottom

2007

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, directed by Andrew Dominik

Atonement, directed by Joe Wright

The Darjeeling Limited, directed by Wes Anderson

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, directed by David Yates

No Country for Old Men, directed by the Coen Brothers

There Will Be Blood, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

The Visitor, directed by Tom McCarthy

2008

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, directed by David Fincher

The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan

Forgetting Sarah Marshall, directed by Nicholas Stoller

Hunger, directed by Steve McQueen

Revolutionary Road, directed by Sam Mendes

Vicky Cristina Barcelona, directed by Woody Allen

WALL-E, directed by Andrew Stanton

2009

Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino

Up, directed by Pete Docter

2010

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, directed by David Yates

Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan

Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek

The Social Network, directed by David Fincher

True Grit, directed by the Coen Brothers

2011

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, directed by David Fincher

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, directed by David Yates

Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve

Jane Eyre, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga

Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams

2012

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon

The Dark Knight Rises, directed by Christopher Nolan

Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee

The Master, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow

2013

12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen

Her, directed by Spike Jonze

Short Term 12, directed by Destin Cretton

The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorcese

2014

The Babadook, directed by Jennifer Kent

Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher

The Grand Budapest Hotel, directed by Wes Anderson

The Imitation Game, directed by Morten Tyldum

Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan

2015

Avengers: Age of Ultron, directed by Joss Whedon

Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg

Brooklyn, directed by John Crowley

Carol, directed by Todd Haynes

Inside Out, directed by Peter Docter & Ronaldo Del Carmen

The Revenant, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Sicario, directed by Denis Villeneuve

2016

Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve

Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson

Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi

Manchester by the Sea, directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Silence, directed by Martin Scorsese

Documentaries

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons front the Life of Robert S. McNamara, directed by Errol Morris

Super Size Me, directed by Morgan Spurlock

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, directed by Alex Gibney

Why We Fight, directed by Eugene Jarecki

Man on Wire, directed by James Marsh

Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson

Magic & BirdL A Courtship of Rivals, directed by Ezra Edelman

The House I Live In, directed by Eugene Jarecki

The Imposter, directed by Bart Layton

Citizenfour, directed by Laura Poitras

13^th, directed by Ava DuVernay

O.J.: Made in America, directed by Ezra Edelman

Five Came Back, directed by Laurent Bouzereau

My Personal Favorite 25

The Dark Knight Trilogy

Lost in Translation

Inception

Inglourious Basterds

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the whole saga really)

Pride & Prejudice

Amelie

Spider-Man 2

Interstellar

The Prestige

Serenity

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

No Country for Old Men

The Lord of the Rings

Hunger

Zero Dark Thirty

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

The Darjeeling Limited

Atonement

The Royal Tenenbaums

There Will Be Blood

American Psycho

Gone Girl

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

My Personal Favorite 25 (Redux)

Within the NY Times rules of One Film per Director

The Dark Knight

Lost in Translation

Inglourious Basterds

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Pride & Prejudice

Amelie

Spider-Man 2

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Serenity

No Country for Old Men

Hunger

Zero Dark Thirty

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

The Darjeeling Limited

There Will Be Blood

American Psycho

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Life of Pi

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Arrival

Downfall

Her

Top 10 Film Scores, Shot Films and Designed Films of the Decade So Far (2010-2014) – March 2015

Here is LeapBackBlog’s list of the Top 10 Film Scores (or: the Hans Zimmer Award), the 10 Best Shot Films and the 10 Best Designed Films of the 2010s so far. I have put an “*” next to my favorite in each category.

Top 10 Films Scores:

Alexandre Desplat, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010-2011)

Alexandre Desplat, Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Harry Escott, Shame (2011)

Dario Marianelli, Jane Eyre (2011)

Rachel Porter, Never Let Me Go (2010)

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Hans Zimmer, Inception (2010)*

Hans Zimmer, The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave (2013)

Hans Zimmer, Interstellar (2014)

Top 10 Shot Films:

Sean Bobbitt, 12 Years a Slave (2013)

Manuel Alberto Claro, Melancholia (2011)*

Roger Deakins, True Grit (2010)

Hoyte Van Hoytema, Interstellar (2014)

Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life (2011)

Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman (2014)

Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi (2012)

Wally Pfister, Inception (2010)

Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Robert D. Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Top 10 Designed Films:

K.K. Barrett, Her (2013)

Donald Graham Burt, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Guy Hendrix Dyas, Inception (2010)

Stuart Craig, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010-2011)*

Nathan Crowley, The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Sarah Greenwood, Anna Karenina (2012)

Adam Stockhausen, Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Adam Stockhausen, 12 Years a Slave (2013)

Adam Stockhausen, The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Top 50 Films of the Decade So Far (2010-2014)

I have seen 785 films from the years 2010 through 2014. Here is my attempt at the fifty best, unbiased (if that is even possible), taking into account aesthetic/technical quality, performances, entertainment value, and dramatic depth. I have also included five must-see documentaries and my personal ten favorites.

2010

Black Swan, a character drama/thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky – Trailer

The Fighter, a character/sports drama directed by David O. Russell – Trailer

Fish Tank, a character drama directed by Andrea Arnold – Trailer

Inception, a crime action/adventure directed by Christopher Nolan – Trailer

The King’s Speech, a period character drama directed by Tom Hooper – Trailer

Never Let Me Go, a sci-fi drama directed by Mark Romanek – Trailer

A Prophet, a crime drama directed by Jacques Audiard – Trailer

The Social Network, a character drama directed by David Fincher – Trailer

True Grit, a western directed by the Coen Brothers – Trailer

2011

Beginners, a character/romance drama directed by Mike Mills – Trailer

Drive, a crime drama directed by Nicolas Winding Refn – Trailer

50/50, a dramedy directed by Jonathan Levine – Trailer

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a mystery thriller directed by David Fincher – Trailer

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, an action/adventure fantasy directed by David Yates – Trailer

Incendies, a mystery drama directed by Denis Villeneuve – Trailer

Jane Eyre, a gothic period romance drama directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga – Trailer

Like Crazy, a romance drama directed by Drake Doremus – Trailer

Martha Marcy May Marlene, a character drama directed by Sean Durkin – Trailer

Melancholia, a character drama directed by Lars von Trier – Trailer

Midnight in Paris, a romantic dramedy directed by Woody Allen – Trailer

Moneyball, a character/sports drama directed by Bennett Miller – Trailer

Shame, a character drama directed by Steve McQueen – Trailer

The Tree of Life, a character drama directed by Terrence Malick – Trailer

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a spy drama directed by Tomas Alfredson – Trailer

Warrior, a sports drama directed by Gavin O’Conner – Trailer

2012

The Dark Knight Rises, an action adventure directed by Christopher Nolan – Trailer

Django Unchained, a western directed by Quentin Tarantino – Trailer

The Intouchables, a character drama directed by Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano – Trailer

Life of Pi, an adventure drama directed by Ang Lee – Trailer

The Master, a period character drama directed by Paul Thomas Anderson – Trailer

Moonrise Kingdom, a romance comedy directed by Wes Anderson – Trailer

A Royal Affair, a period romance drama directed by Nikolaj Arcel – Trailer

Rust and Bone, a character drama directed by Jacques Audiard – Trailer

Zero Dark Thirty, a mystery thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow – Trailer

2013

Blue is the Warmest Color, a romance/character drama directed by Abdellatif Kechiche – Trailer

Her, a romantic drama directed by Spike Jonze – Trailer

The Hunt, a character drama directed by Thomas Vinterberg – Trailer

Inside Llewyn Davis, a period musical drama directed by the Coen Brothers – Trailer

The Past, a mystery drama directed by Asghar Farhadi – Trailer

Rush, a sports drama directed by Ron Howard – Trailer

Short Term 12, a character drama directed by Destin Cretton – Trailer

12 Years a Slave, a period character drama directed by Steve McQueen – Trailer

The Wolf of Wall Street – a crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese – Trailer

2014

Birdman, a character drama directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu – Trailer

Calvary, a character dramedy/mystery directed by John Michael McDonagh – Trailer

Gone Girl, a mystery thriller directed by David Fincher – Trailer

The Grand Budapest Hotel, a mystery comedy directed by Wes Anderson – Trailer

The Imitation Game, a period character drama directed by Morten Tyldum – Trailer

Interstellar, a sci-fi adventure directed by Christopher Nolan – Trailer

Whiplash, a character drama directed by Damien Chazelle – Trailer

Must-See Documentaries

The Act of Killing, directed by Joshua Oppenheimer – Trailer

Exit Through the Gift Shop, directed by Banksy – Trailer

The House I Live In, directed by Eugene Jarecki – Trailer

The Imposter, directed by Bart Layton – Trailer

Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson – Trailer

My Favorite 10 Films of the Decade So Far

The Dark Knight Rises

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Gone Girl

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Inception

Interstellar

Super 8

True Grit

12 Years a Slave

Zero Dark Thirty

Leonardo DiCaprio – Movies Spotlight – November 2011

Leonardo DiCaprio, 37, is still probably best known for his role opposite Kate Winslet in James Cameron’s Titanic. However, in recent years he has become one of the best leading men in Hollywood. This month he stars in the Clint Eastwood directed biopic J. Edgar about J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI.

Early Career:

DiCaprio began his career making appearances in commercials and educational films before getting his first break picking up a role in the soup Santa Barbara and a series regular role in Parenthood (the short-lived series based on the Ron Howard movie) in 1990. He continued to get TV work with roles on Roseanne and Growing Pains, and he got his first film role in 1991 on the sci-fi comedy Critters 3 and then another in Poison Ivy. His work on Parenthood garnered him a nomination for Best Young Actor from the Young Artist Awards. However, it was not until Robert De Niro chose him out of four hundred young actors to co-star with him that he had his real breakthrough. The film was 1993’s This Boy’s Life.

Breakthrough as a Child-Actor:

After This Boy’s Life, DiCaprio followed it up with another fantastic performance in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, co-starring and even upstaging Johnny Depp as Depp’s mentally handicapped brother. Director Lasse Hallstrom was reluctant to cast him at first, as he felt DiCaprio was too good-looking for the role, but found that he was the best among the auditions by far. He earned his first Oscar nomination for the performance. Next, he worked with Sam Raimi on the campy western The Quick and the Dead playing the cocky son of the town’s big man. DiCaprio’s performance is fun, the film does feature a few great actors (like Gene Hackman and Russell Crowe) and is entertaining in spots, but it does not hold up too well as a whole. He also made his next critical hit in 1995 with The Basketball Diaries, a biopic about Jim Carroll.

Titanic – Becoming the Biggest Star in the World:

DiCaprio had established himself as a good young actor, one that critics knew and praised, but he was not yet a star or box office draw. That changed in 1996 when he was cast opposite Claire Danes (who was the bigger of the two, star wise, at the time thanks to My So-Called Life) in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. Luhrmann updated the style and look of Shakespeare’s play to feel more modern and hip and cast Danes and DiCaprio in an effort to appeal to younger film goers, and it worked. Even today, the film is one of the most iconic romances of its generation. Next, he took a role in Marvin’s Room playing opposite Robert De Niro again, as well as Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton, truly testing his skills as an actor.  The film is okay, but DiCaprio came out of it being called an equal to the wonderful actors sharing the screen. Now having both critical praise and commercial appeal, he was ready to become a huge star. The film that did it for him was his next – Titanic. Before Avatar topped it, Titanic was the highest grossing film of all-time, and it won eleven Oscars including Best Picture. It made DiCaprio one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and also one of the main heartthrobs from teenage girls. However, the film also had some backlash for him, as it was too big and a little too sappy. Critics and some audience members seemed to dislike him purely due to his association with the film and line ‘I’m the king of the world’, which was on repeat in pop-culture after the film (and to some extent still is). He may never be quite as popular as he was around the time of that movie. Now, as a big star, studios started to place him in bigger films. First up was United Artists’ The Man in the Iron Mask, directed and written by Randal Wallace, coming off his big hit Braveheart (which he wrote). The movie was a failure critically but made money commercially. He then made Celebrity with Woody Allen, which is one of Allen’s lesser films, appearing in a self-mocking cameo. And then Fox put him in The Beach, the second of their two film experiment with director Danny Boyle that yielded two disappointments for them critically (though I am a fan of both The Beach and A Life Less Ordinary). However, the film was a success at the box office thanks to DiCaprio’s fame (and the same goes for The Man in the Iron Mask). Both films garnered him Razzie nominations (not because he is bad in them, but due to the Titanic backlash).

Collaborations with Martin Scorsese:

DiCaprio has had one of his most fruitful actor-director relationships with Martin Scorsese. They have made four films together, beginning with Gangs of New York in 2002. Scorsese initially had trouble getting a studio interested in the film, but when DiCaprio became interested in starring, coming off three box office hits in a row, Miramax jumped in to finance the project. However, the filming was plagued with creative disputes between Scorsese and the producers as well as multiple budget overflows. It is the most expense film Scorsese has made. Despite the issues, the film received critical acclaim (for the most part, though I would argue it is one of his lesser films) and ten Oscar nods including Best Picture. While DiCaprio is good in it, giving his first grown-up performance (so to speak), he is overshadowed by Daniel Day-Lewis’s magnificent performance. Their next picture together came in 2004 with The Aviator, a biopic about Howard Hughes. DiCaprio originally developed the project with Michael Mann, but he decided to leave the director’s chair and only produce as he had just made two biopics (Ali and The Insider) and did not want to take on a third just then. DiCaprio decided to pitch the script to Scorsese after having a good working relationship with him on Gangs of New York. He spent over a year preparing for the role, which was his most difficult to date (and probably still is). The film was a financial and critical success and DiCaprio received his second Oscar nomination. In 2006 the two worked together again on The Departed, a remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was highly anticipated and became the biggest hit critically and commercially among their films together. It won Best Picture and Scorsese a Best Director Oscar at the 2007 Academy Awards. They again reunited in 2009 to make Sutter Island (which was delayed until 2010). The film is much different than most of the work either had done previously, being a psychological thriller, but it yielded both DiCaprio and Scorsese their biggest box office opening weekend of their careers to date. The pair is currently working on a few upcoming rumored projects together.

Working with the Best Directors in Hollywood:

In addition to Martin Scorsese, DiCaprio has worked with many of the best directors in Hollywood since 2002 starting with Steven Spielberg on Catch Me If You Can. DiCaprio’s performance as Frank Abagnale Jr., a very skilled forger and con-man, seemed to make him cool again with many viewers put off by Titanic. And likewise, the film was a great international success (and one of Spielberg’s better films of the decade, second to Munich). He made Blood Diamond with Edward Zwick about the Sierra Leone Civil War in 2006. He played a South African and donned an Afrikaner’s accent. He received his third Oscar nomination for the film. In 2008 he made two films, first he worked with Ridley Scott on Body of Lies, a CIA spy Middle East thriller. DiCaprio liked the film because he viewed it as a throwback to the political films of the 1970s (things like The Parallax View and Three Days of the Condor). Then he reunited with Kate Winslet in Sam Mendes’s (her husband at the time) Revolutionary Road about a failing marriage in the 1950s. Both DiCaprio and Winslet had been reluctant to work on romances in the wake of Titanic, but had remained good friends. Thus, when Winslet came with the project to DiCaprio he agreed and production started quickly. Both are fantastic in the film (and it is one of the most underrated films of the year and possibly decade). In 2010 he starred in Christopher Nolan’s action thriller Inception, yet another critical and commercial success. These films have not only made DiCaprio one of the top leading men from a talent perspective, but also one of the biggest stars in Hollywood currently.

Future Projects:

DiCaprio has two films upcoming in 2012, both scheduled for a release on Christmas Day. First he is reuniting with his Romeo + Juliet director Baz Luhrmann for an adaptation of The Great Gatsby. It co-stars Carey Mulligan as Daisy and Tobey Maguire (who he worked with on This Boy’s Life) as Nick. Then, he takes on his first role as a villain in Quentin Tarantino’s southern western Django Unchained. It is about a slave turned bounty hunter who sets out to rescue his wife from a vicious plantation owner (played by DiCaprio). It stars Jamie Foxx and co-stars Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, and Kerry Washington (among others). DiCaprio is also rumored to be attached to Todd Fields’s new film Creed of Violence about two men in 1910 who try to stop an organized arms smuggling ring.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Career Highlights:

1)      What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) – supporting (DVD, Streaming)

2)      The Basketball Diaries (1995) – leading (Blu-ray, DVD)

3)      Romeo + Juliet (1996) – leading (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

4)      Titanic (1997) – leading (DVD)

5)      Gangs of New York (2002) – leading (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

6)      Catch Me If You Can (2002)* – leading (DVD)

7)      The Aviator (2004) – leading (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

8)      The Departed (2006)* – leading (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

9)      Blood Diamond (2006) – leading (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

10)   Body of Lies (2008)* – leading (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

11)   Revolutionary Road (2008)* – leading (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

12)   Shutter Island (2010) – leading (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

13)   Inception (2010)* – leading (Blu-ray, DVD)

*Editor’s picks

Oscars 2011 Predictions

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Nominees:
127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter's Bone

Who Will Win: The Social Network
Who Should Win: Inception
Winner: The King's Speech (0/1)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Javier Bardem for Biutiful, Jeff Bridges for True Grit, Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network, Colin Firth for The King's Speech, and James Franco for 127 Hours

Who Will Win: Colin Firth

Who Should Win: James Franco
Winner: Colin Firth (1/2)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Annette Being for The Kids Are All Right, Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone, Natalie Portman for Black Swan, and Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine

Who Will Win: Natalie Portman

Who Should Win: Natalie Portman
Winner: Natalie Portman (2/3)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Christian Bale for The Fighter, John Hawkes for Winter's Bone, Jeremy Renner for The Town, Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right, and Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech

Who Will Win: Christian Bale

Who Should Win: Christian Bale
Winner: Christian Bale (3/4)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Amy Adams for The Fighter, Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech, Melissa Leo for The Fighter, Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit, and Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom

Who Will Win: Helena Bonham Carter

Who Should Win: Hailee Steinfeld
Winner: Melissa Leo (3/5)

Best Achievement in Directing

Nominees:

Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan, Ethan & Joel Coen for True Grit, David Fincher for The Social Network, Tom Hooper for The King's Speech, and David O. Russell for The Fighter

Who Will Win: David Fincher

Who Should Win: Darren Aronofsky
Winner: Tom Hooper (3/6)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written for the Screen

Nominees:

Mike Leigh for Another Year, Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, & Keith Dorrington for The Fighter, Christopher Nolan for Inception, Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg for The Kids Are All Right, and David Seidler for The King's Speech

Who Will Win: David Seidler

Who Should Win: Christopher Nolan
Winner: David Seidler (4/7)

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Nominees:

Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy for 127 Hours, Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network, Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, & Lee Unkrich for Toy Story 3, Joel & Ethan Coen for True Grit, and Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini for Winter's Bone

Who Will Win: Aaron Sorkin

Who Should Win: Aaron Sorkin
Winner: Aaron Sorkin (5/8)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Nominees:

How to Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist and Toy Story 3

Who Will Win: Toy Story 3

Who Should Win: Toy Story 3
Winner: Toy Story 3 (6/9)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Nominees:

Matthew Libatique for Black Swan, Wally Pfister for Inception, Danny Cohen for The King's Speech, Jeff Cronenweth for The Social Network, and Roger Deakins for True Grit

Who Will Win: Wally Pfister

Who Should Win: Matthew Libatique
Winner: Wally Pfister (7/10)

Best Achievement in Editing

Nominees:

Jon Harris for 127 Hours, Andrew Weisblum for Black Swan, Pamela Martin for The Fighter, Tariq Anwar for The King's Speech, and Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall for The Social Network

Who Will Win: Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall

Who Should Win: Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall
Winner: Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall (8/11)

Best Achievement in Art Direction

Nominees:

Robert Stromberg & Karen O'Hara for Alice in Wonderland, Stuart Craig & Stephenie McMillan for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias & Douglas A Mowat for Inception, Eve Stewart & Judy Farr for The King's Speech, and Jess Gonchor & Nancy Haigh for True Grit

Who Will Win: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias & Douglas A Mowat

Who Should Win: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias & Douglas A Mowat
Winner: Robert Stromberg & Karen O'Hara (8/12)

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Nominees:

A.R. Rahman for 127 Hours, John Powell for How to Train Your Dragon, Hans Zimmer for Inception, Alexandre Desplat for The King's Speech, and Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for The Social Network

Who Will Win: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

Who Should Win: Hans Zimmer
Winner: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (9/13)