With Sunday's 82nd Annual Academy Awards quickly approaching, we here at SheWired thought it was time to share our excitement about "Hollywood's biggest night of the year" — and what we're looking forward to from the lovely leading ladies sent to face off as well as present come March 7.
This year, for the first time since 1943, the motion picture academy has opted to feature 10 films in its race for the year's best picture. They are: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up and Up in the Air.
So while there may be 10 nominees, we're going to go traditional with five things to look forward to at Sunday's big show!
1. Sandra Bullock vs. Meryl Streep
Since their tie at the Critics' Choice Awards in January, these two have been the talk of the lesbian town — and for good reason. Bullock surprised half of Hollywood with her nomination over A Serious Man's Julianne Moore in the best actress race for her portrayal of a gutsy Texas mom in the tearjerker The Blind Side. Streep, meanwhile, is, well, she's an Oscar goddess with 16 nominations and two wins and is nominated this year for her delicious portrayal of chef Julia Child in Julie & Julia. The best actress race, which also features The Last Station's Helen Mirren, An Education's Carey Mulligan and Precious' Gabourey Sidibe, isn't much of a contest for anyone other than Streep and first-time nominee and boxoffice favorite Bullock.
Prediction: Oscar loves a good upset; Sandra Bullock FTW!
2. Kathryn Bigelow vs. James Cameron
In the race for best director, it's The King of the World, better known as Titanic royalty Cameron — representing the visual effects masterpiece Avatar — going head to head with his ex-wife in The Hurt Locker's Bigelow. While Avatar made massive strides in visual effects — look for the story about 7-foot-tall Smurfs to sweep in the technical categories — the script was well, Dances With Wolves-esque and something we've seen on screen too many times to count. Bigelow, meanwhile, helmed a low-budget indie film about the Iraq War that was filmed using cameras the everywoman can pick up at Best Buy with a relatively no-name cast. While we love Avatar's Sigourney Weaver as much as the next Aliens’ fan, it's time for history. Should Bigelow win — her fellow nominees also include Precious' Lee Daniels, Up in the Air's Jason Reitman and Inglourious Basterds' Quentin Tarantino — it would mark the first time a female director has won Oscar gold.
Prediction: Ladies' night; Kathryn Bigelow FTW!
3. The Mo'Nique show
When it comes to the best supporting actress race, we hope Mo'Nique has a big trophy case because she's won every piece of hardware this awards season: Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Broadcast Film Critics, Satellite Award, Sundance's special jury prize and awards from every major critics' society across the nation. Her role as Mary Jones in Precious was monstrous and Oscar has a history of loving a good villain (see Charlize Theron's win in 2004 for Monster). What stinks the most when it comes to this category is that the incredible 1-2 punch from Up in the Air's dynamic duo Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick has been so overshadowed. Kendrick, who previously made a name as one of Kristen Stewart's non-vampire pals in Twilight, turned in an amazing performance opposite a certified movie star in George Clooney. And Farmiga, well, let's just say that the twist in Up in the Air was really well done. Other nominees in the category include Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart and Penelope Cruz for the musical dud Nine.
Prediction: Use this time to go get another glass of wine: Mo'Nique FTW.
4. Best Picture
Opening up the nominations to 10 films is one sure-fire way to make sure it's a diverse field. But the motion picture academy was really hoping that a more commercial film would sneak into the field: The Hangover or even Star Trek were two movies considered likely to do so. While neither did, Bullock did everything right in the run-up to the nominations and really won critics over left and right and her Blind Side snuck in. As well, the noms also include an animated film — Up — for the first time since the early 1990s. Precious, meanwhile, provides the best lesbian visibility in the big category this year as Paula Patton's Ms. Rain provided the film's much needed inspiration. The race, however, could go anywhere: SAG gave its big film ensemble prize to Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds while the Golden Globe for best drama went to Avatar and the Directors Guild went the other way and made Bigelow the first woman to win that award.
Prediction: Time to meet the Queen of the World: The Hurt Locker FTW!
5. The Show Surprises
The actual show should prove to be more than just pretty people reading from fancy parchment under the direction of Hairspray director Adam Shankman, who's openly gay.
The former dancer for Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson whose résumé also includes choreographing one of the Spice Girls' tours should inject lots of, well, gayness. Presenters so far include Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Tina Fey, Penelope Cruz, Queen Latifah, Charlize Theron … and Kate Winslet.
Prediction: Pretty, witty and GAY.
The 82nd Annual Academy Awards air Sunday, March 7 on ABC.
