Ironically, the year (2010) that the Academy decides to go 10 Nominations for Best Picture, they have a relatively weak showing from the 2009 qualifying year. HURT LOCKER is the strongest film on all levels directorial, screenplay, acting, cinematography, etc., but this film would have been trumped if it tried to compete last year with the likes SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, MILK, and CURIOS CASE or the year before with great films like NO COUNTRY and THERE WILL BE BLOOD. AVATAR is a technical masterpiece but lacks in its story which is simple and recycled; and it could be argued that AVATAR should only be nominated for technical awards for 3-D, Cinematography and Sound Design not Best Picture.
DISTRICT NINE, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, BLINDSIDE, AN EDUCATION are all very well made, well directed and extremely well acted but again, in a strong year these films would be limited to screenplay and acting awards, not Best Picture.
Why PRECIOUS, UP, A SERIOUS MAN, and UP IN THE AIR are even nominated for Best Picture is beyond me and several seasoned movie goers. PRECIOUS touches on a very important story but that is the most I can say about the film -- the rest of it appears to be made by a film student good at consolidating locations for cheap shooting. Mariah Carey's and Lenny Kravitz's cameo's are forgettable and so "I am trying just to be a humble actor, not a dancing pop star" and the rest of the performances, while not at all poor, are "Oh so important, so PRECIOUS".
UP should be in animation category not Best Picture. A SERIOUS MAN has strong acting, moments of humor, but is terribly dissatisfying and trivial in its futile existential message about the lack of meaning in life. UP IN THE AIR is just globally mediocre -- everything about it is at best passable and Reitman's writing and direction, just like JUNO, shows the hand of the filmmaker and makes you so aware that you are watching a movie. The writing in UP IN THE AIR is masturbatory, the acting sloppy, the direction almost non-existent (like a director afraid to try anything beyond the most basic coverage and slow camera pushes); something other than the quality of this film must give it a life -- perhaps the fact that Jason Reitman is Ivan Reitman's son!
INVICTUS is a strong film that got left out of the Best Picture Category this year and could have easily replaced UP IN THE AIR or SERIOUS MAN and given HURT LOCKER a fight. INVICTUS is extemely well directed, acted and is about the important rise of Mandela.
