"The Hurt Locker" Triumphs At A Lackluster Oscar Night

It was a night for "The Hurt Locker" at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards as Kathryn Bigelow made history becoming the first woman to ever win Best Director. Other wins for her film included Best Original Screenplay, a category where it beat out Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," Best Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Best Editing, which all added up to a Best Picture win.

Barbara Streisand took great honor in announcing the winner for Best Director as if she already knew the name inside the envelope. With a dramatic pause before announcing the name, she said, "Well, the time has come." It was the ceremony's biggest moment as Bigelow earned herself not only a standing ovation but a place in Oscar history.

"The Hurt Locker" lead the pack with its six wins followed by "Avatar" with four and "Precious," "Crazy Heart" and "Up" each with two. As expected, "Avatar" took mostly technical awards including Best Cinematography, Art Direction and Visual Effects. "Up" won for Best Animated Feature and its score by Michael Giacchino. "Crazy Heart" took its honors for Best Original Song and, of course, Jeff Bridges for Best Actor as he, too, garnered a standing ovation. Mo'Nique got herself one, as well, for her Best Supporting Actress win for "Precious."

The second win for "Precious" came with arguably the night's biggest upset. "Up in the Air" got zero love as it lost to "Precious" for Best Adapted Screenplay. This, however, brought about a rather moving speech from screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher.

And speaking of upsets, the Best Foreign Language Film category just keeps getting more unpredictable. Neither "The White Ribbon" nor "A Prophet" won as the award went to Argentina's "The Secret in their Eyes."

This wasn't the only strange happening throughout the evening's ceremony, though, which proved to be a long slog that lacked entertainment and was riddled with technical faults. But it was the the draw of "Avatar" lovers that boosted the number of viewers for this year's telecast even with its flaws.

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as hosts could've been something really special, but their opening monologue, which had them playing off each other's riffs, was surprisingly less amusing than originally expected.

There was an effort to cut down the ceremony's time, but it still clocked in at 3-and-a-half hours and included some unnecessary fluff that should've been removed.

One major downside with having 10 Best Picture nominees was that we were forced to watch extended clips from not 5 but 10 films, and these really dragged. Another accessory to the night was the new way in which the nominees for Best Actor and Actress were presented. Esteemed colleagues lined up on stage and praised the work of each nominee they worked with, but no time limit was set on these speeches. They became long-winded, especially at this point in the night when it was hitting past the 3-hour mark with the four big awards left. Just get on with it already! Had these come sooner and perhaps been scattered throughout the night, they could've been more tolerable.

In accepting her Best Actress award for "The Blind Side," Sandra Bullock became the first and only one of the night to cry. She had a nice speech prepared giving her deepest thanks to all the other nominees, and, as a bonus, she even told Meryl Streep what a good kisser she was referring to their moment at an earlier award show. Bullock earned herself a standing ovation as many people were pulling for her to win. She knew it and certainly dressed for the occasion.

So how long did the Meryl Streep vs. Sandra Bullock hype hold up? Not at all. Instead, the night's drama came from an unexpectedly small source. When the film "Music by Prudence" won for Best Documentary Short, there was a bizarre discrepancy as to who deserved the credit enough to take acceptance. It turned into an interrupting Kanye-inspired speech that proved to be the strangest moment of the night.

Well, maybe except for when Ben Stiller showed up in Avatar-inspired garb to present Best Makeup.

Strange, too, was the appearance of Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart presenting a completely irrelevant montage to horror movies. It was like the Academy's way of telling filmmakers to start making some better horror films, so the genre could make its way back into the award circuit. Saving this montage was a hilarious spoof beforehand of "Paranormal Activity" put on by the hosts.

The tribute to John Hughes was a touching moment as his literal actor "children" came walking out on stage after a montage that reminded us just how good all those classic teenage movies were. Likewise, the In Memoriam sequence had nice musical accompaniment by James Taylor. That is until they forgot to include Farrah Fawcett. Oops!

The appreciative length of the clips for acting made up for the fact that there were no clips for the Best Cinematography category. And, my question: What about any performances for Best Original Song? I like when those are brought to the stage. Instead, we received a horrifying tribute to the Best Score nominees that temporarily transformed the evening into an episode of "So You Think You Can Dance." After seeing that, I honestly would've preferred to watch Neil Patrick Harris dance and sing in a tuxedo again.

By the time Tom Hanks strolled out onto the stage to reveal "The Hurt Locker" as Best Picture, time was short and he ripped open the envelope without any delay for suspense. But, then again, it was getting really tiresome by that time anyway.

Hanks did take time to make a rather poignant observation. The last time the Academy included 10 Best Picture nominees was in 1943. In that year we were at war, and "Casablanca" took home the top prize. Now, 67 years later, we're at war, and "The Hurt Locker" triumphed. Striking, isn't it? I think we have a classic on our hands.

Out of the 21 categories in which I placed predictions, 17 of those were correct. That's not too shabby, right?

Check out the complete list of winners for the 2010 Oscars.

Oscar Nods '10

The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced early this morning, and leading the pack was a tie between James Cameron's "Avatar" and Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" with 9 nominations each, which heats up the already-brewing competition. Close behind was "Inglourious Basterds" with 8 nominations and "Up in the Air" and "Precious" each with 6.

This is, I believe, the most interesting Oscar race we've had in a while with a heightened drama at its center. The reality-based, low-grossing film on the war in Iraq, "The Hurt Locker," is faced up against the mammoth success story of "Avatar," a film also about war, except far detached from reality. And both of these films come from directors who used to be married. And now they're tied for nominations.

The big change this year was the expansion of the Best Picture category from 5 nominees to 10. The nominated films were "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Up in the Air," "Precious," "Inglourious Basterds," "Up," "A Serious Man," "An Education, "District 9," and, yes, "The Blind Side." How this last selection managed to sneak its way into the top category is beyond me. The fact that it did better at the box office than expected probably has something to do with it, along with Sandra Bullock's performance. She now, more than ever before, is a lock to win the award for Best Actress now that the film she starred in is nominated.

In my prediction, I had "The Blind Side" swapped out for "Invictus." The snubbing of Clint Eastwood still surprises me since usually the Academy views his work as Oscar-worthy. His film, however, didn't make the cut even with 10 slots available.

This brings us to Best Director and also to the reason why the 10 nominations don't really matter because there's still a clear real 5 nominees. Nominated for directing were Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air," Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds," Lee Daniels for "Precious," James Cameron for "Avatar," and Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker." Clint Eastwood is absent in this category as Lee Daniels appears to have taken his place, which makes Daniels the second African American to be nominated in the category. Everyone is rooting for Bigelow, especially her female comrades. Since her DGA win, she's a surefire front-runner.

So, take a look at those directors and the movies with which they match up. Those are the five Best Picture nominees that would've been chosen if the category hadn't been expanded. So, why the expansion? One can only wonder. To give popular movies like "The Blind Side" some more credit? Maybe. But I wouldn't say that "The Blind Side" is this year's "The Dark Knight." No way.

It's nice to see "A Serious Man" nominated along with its nomination for screenplay. And with the nomination for "Up," it finds itself in two categories but only winning in one. It has also gained the honors of being the first animated film nominated for Best Picture since "Beauty and the Beast."

This also marks a big year for sci-fi genre films. "Star Trek," "Avatar," and "District 9" all got note-worthy nominations. Usually comedies are the genre film to make a statement, but "The Hangover" and "(500) Days of Summer" both got snubbed. I was really expecting at least "(500) Days of Summer" to gather a Best Original Screenplay nomination. Guess not. Or even a Best Picture nod. "The Blind Side," really?

And, hey, whatever happened to "Where the Wild Things Are" and the musical score by Karen O? No honors there.

"Up in the Air" received some snubs, as well, most notably for Best Editing where "Precious" replaced it. In my opinion, "Up in the Air" had some really sharp editing. The lack of a nomination in this category sadly bumps it further behind in the competition. Other nominees for Best Editing included "Avatar," "District 9," "The Hurt Locker," and "Inglourious Basterds." It's a toss-up between "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" for this one, and it could be arguably stated that the winner of this one determines the winner of Best Picture.

No love for "Up in the Air" in Best Cinematography, either, as the nominees were "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," the black-and-white "The White Ribbon," "Inglourious Basterds," and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" as a nice addition. The latest in the "Harry Potter" series really was gorgeous.

There were zero surprises in the category for Best Actor. The nominees were, as expected, Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart," George Clooney for "Up in the Air," Jeremy Renner for "The Hurt Locker," Colin Firth for "A Single Man," and Morgan Freeman for "Invictus." Renner's nomination here puts "The Hurt Locker" one notch ahead "Avatar" as the latter received no acting nods.

Best Actress contained no surprises as Sandra Bullock got her nod for "The Blind Side," alongside Carey Mulligan for "An Education," Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious," Meryl Streep for "Julie & Julia," and Helen Mirren for her role as Leo Tolstoy's wife in "The Last Station."

Christoph Waltz led the way for Best Supporting Actor along with nominees Stanley Tucci for "The Lovely Bones," Matt Damon for "Invictus," Woody Harrelson for "The Messenger," and Christopher Plummer as Leo Tolstoy in "The Last Station."

Best Supporting Actress is where things get complicated. The nomination for Maggie Gyllenhaal for her role in "Crazy Heart" seemed to come out of left field. She probably bumped Julianne Moore of "A Single Man" right out of the last spot. Alongside Gyllenhaal is, of course, the front-runner Mo'Nique for "Precious," the two ladies of "Up in the Air," Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga, and, as another surprise, Penélope Cruz for her role in "Nine." My question: Why wouldn't Cruz get nominated for her role in "Broken Embraces" instead? But wait. Why wouldn't Marion Cotillard just get nominated for "Nine" instead? But wait again. What about either of the lovely ladies of "Inglourious Basterds" who both got snubbed?

For Best Original Screenplay, the nominees were Mark Boal for "The Hurt Locker," Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds," Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman for "The Messenger," Joel and Ethan Coen for "A Serious Man," and a slew of people for "Up." Pixar has found its spot among the writing category for the third time in a row, which is nice. "(500) Days of Summer" and "The Hangover" got squeezed out for "The Messenger," so it seems. This nomination for "The Hurt Locker" is another up it has over "Avatar" which got skipped out for writing. Did James Cameron crank out a too cliché of a script? Let's not go there.

The nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay were Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell for "District 9," Nick Hornby for "An Education," many writers for "In the Loop," Geoffrey Fletcher for "Precious," and Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for "Up in the Air." The last nominee in this category should be taking home the gold.

The sci-fi trio got nominated for Visual Effects: "Avatar," "District 9," and "Star Trek." It's no mystery who will win.

It's interesting to note, too, that both "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar" got nominated in the categories of Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. Among the other nominees were "Up," "Star Trek," "Inglourious Basterds," and look at that, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." I'm going to say that everything technical "Avatar" gets nominated for, it will win.

Foreign Language Film curiously left out "Broken Embraces," for "Ajami" from Israel, "El Secreto de Sus Ojos" from Argentina, "The Milk of Sorrow" from Peru, "Un Prophète" from France, and of course, Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon" from Germany.

"Avatar" also found itself nominated for Art Direction along with "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," "Nine," "Sherlock Holmes," and "The Young Victoria." There's another category it'll probably win.

Another completely random surprise came in the category of Animated Feature Film. Among the nomination for "Up" was "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Princess and the Frog," and something nobody has even heard of, "The Secret of Kells." What in the hell is that? Apparently it premiered somewhere just in time to be considered. Somehow this thing beat out "Ponyo."

The song "I See You" of "Avatar" remained absent from the category for Original Song while "The Princess and the Frog" got the love with two nominations for "Almost There" and "Down in New Orleans." Others included "Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," "Take It All" from "Nine," and expected winner, "The Weary Kind" from "Crazy Heart."

"The Hurt Locker" received acknowledgement in Original Score for Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, which proves perhaps the Academy's, dare I say love, for this film. Other nominees were James Horner for "Avatar," Alexandre Desplat for "Fantastic Mr. Fox," Hans Zimmer for "Sherlock Holmes," and Michael Giacchino for "Up."

So, what does it all mean? Well, it means that this year is going to be interesting. The playing field has been leveled as "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" each have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. My prediction? While "Avatar" will win more awards in the end, "The Hurt Locker" is going to be taking home the bigger prizes.

Go here for a full list of the 82nd Annual Oscar nominees, and be sure to stay tuned for more updates on the nominees and predictions.

And we're all looking forward to when this all comes to a close during the telecast of the 2010 Oscar ceremony on March 7. Yes, even me.

A Split For Director And Best Picture?

Director James Cameron poses with his current wife and the ex.

Kathryn Bigelow accepted the Directors Guild Award last night with very enthusiastic responses, even from her ex-husband, Cameron.

It's safe to say now that Bigelow is a lock for Best Director at the Academy Awards, and a good thing, too. She truly deserves it, and it's about time a woman director got some recognition.

Where does this leave "Avatar" and Cameron in the running?

Well, it is looking quite possible now that while Bigelow will be walking away with Best Director, "Avatar" could still swoop in with winning the likes of Best Editing, and, yes, Best Picture.

It could be that this is one of those years where the director who wins didn't necessarily direct the movie to win the top prize.

Stay tuned this Tuesday for my summary and analysis of the nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards!

"Titanic" Gets Sunk By The Unstoppable "Avatar"

Well, it's happened. "Avatar" has just surpassed "Titanic" at the international box office with $1.29 billion.

And on the domestic list, it won't be too long before "Avatar" also defeats the record for "Titanic" at $600.8 million.

Way to go, James Cameron, just cruising right along and outdoing not someone else, but rather, yourself. Wow. He has just claimed the crown of the top-grossing director on planet Earth. Too bad his head appears to be stuck in Pandora. Speaking the Na'vi language during an acceptance speech? Really?

It needs to stop. Please, please let some popular movie be released in the coming weeks that'll knock "Avatar" off its high horse for good. It's been number one for the sixth weekend in a row. That's quite enough.

I'll say it again: I love "Avatar," I truly do. But not this much. Stop seeing it, people. Please.

C'mon, James, let your ex-wife have some glory. The countdown to the Oscar nominations has begun. One more week.

"The Hurt Locker" Regains Its Chances

The Producers Guild of America announced the winners today for its annual awards, and "The Hurt Locker" ended up taking the prize over "Avatar," which is yet another mix-up in the award season predictions and buzz to add in along with the win for "Inglourious Basterds" at the SAGs.

This success for "The Hurt Locker" is a much-needed push for the film in its Oscar chances since the domination previously held by "Avatar."

The competition has heated up all over again, and thankfully so.

As for other winners, "Up" was awarded for Animation along with "The Cove" for Documentary.

Why "The Hurt Locker" Should Win

I love "Avatar," I really do. I think it is an amazing achievement in film, a changing moment in the way we look at films. I knew the HFPA wasn't going to pass it up. Now I'm going to explain why I think the Academy should and will.

I think Roger Ebert said it best in his Twitter:

"Yes, I love Avatar. Still do. But not for Best Picture. Hurt Locker, I'd say. Up in the Air. A film, not a phenomenon."

The HFPA will nominate and award a phenomenon, it's what they like to do. They did it last year with Danny Boyle and "Slumdog Millionaire," and they did it again this year with James Cameron and "Avatar." It was a sensation, a celebration of success and being in the moment.

By the time the nominations for the Academy Awards are released, and especially by the time there's voting, "Avatar" will finally start to lose some steam. There'll be many weekends between now and then where, yes, believe it or not, "Avatar" will not be number one at the box office. It's become almost commonplace now, and speaking of which, whichever movie does end up bumping it down to the number two spot is going to have quite the honor on its back.

In any case, the hype will have lessened by then, and things will start cooling down for "Avatar."

Kathryn Bigelow, I repeat, Kathryn Bigelow will not be ignored by the Academy. It's simply impossible at this point. She has churned out the best movie ever made about the war in Iraq, one of the best war movies ever made, and one of the best of the entire decade. She will also be the first woman director to win the award for Best Director if she does so happen to win. She will. This is my prediction.

Likewise, her film, "The Hurt Locker," I'm predicting will win for Best Picture. Yes, I personally believe "Up in the Air" was the best of the year, but timeliness isn't everything. "The Hurt Locker" is simply the best reviewed movie of the year.

The Academy seems to fit a pattern of switching back and forth between phases of awarding what's more sophisticated and what's more popular. Considering they followed the Golden Globes last year with "Slumdog Millionaire," I have a hunch that they're going to switch it up and skip "Avatar."

Why? The Oscars have categories for films like "Avatar" that the Golden Globes don't have. Editing, cinematography, visual effects, sound editing, they're all there, and "Avatar" can still win plenty.

Save Best Director and Best Picture for "The Hurt Locker."

The Globes Gone Blue: "Avatar" Takes The Top

Ricky Gervais did a fine job of hosting the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards, a return to hosting the event which always turns into a big, classy excuse for celebrities to get together and drink. I swear, they're all just waiting for the after parties. In any case, it was a night full of the expected outcomes and a few surprises and an embracing of big, Hollywood blockbusters, something I'm not quite sure the Academy will be replicating in their final decisions come March. The HFPA expressed their love for keeping with what's popular and awarded "Avatar" and James Cameron for Best Picture and Best Director, respectively.

The biggest surprise was that Kathryn Bigelow got snubbed out of her award for her direction in "The Hurt Locker." Standing on-stage to accept, even James Cameron was taken aback by the outcome. Once that came into fruition, there was no way "The Hurt Locker" was going to come out on top. It truly is a shame that this highly-accomplished film was forced to leave the night empty-handed. I do believe "Avatar" is worthy, but I just don't see it taking the top prize at the Oscars. It's nice to know that the Academy Awards sets aside technical categories which "Avatar" can fill while leaving open room for other possibilities in categories like, well, Best Picture. I also just don't see the Academy passing up Bigelow.

"Up in the Air" walked away rather empty-handed, as well, only nabbing an award for the writing of Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for Best Screenplay.

Aside from disappointments, the night was dedicated to celebrities proudly displaying their red- and yellow-colored pins in support for Haiti and many, many allusions and references to the earthquake tragedy. I think Mo'Nique said it best in her eloquently spoken speech at the start of the night. Nobody could top that as she accepted for her early predicted win for "Precious" in the category of Best Supporting Actress.

Following suit, Christoph Waltz went home with his win for "Inglourious Basterds" in the category of Best Supporting Actor. He and Mo'Nique just paved their way to Oscar gold with their wins last night.

Sandra Bullock continued her hype-filled hot streak with her performance in "The Blind Side" as she ended up indeed garnering herself the award for Best Actress. It really is amazing, too, considering who she was up against. This time Meryl Streep wasn't nominated in the same category to tie with her. I honestly think the HFPA just figured Bullock wouldn't churn out a better performance in her career, so they just figured they'd honor her now. I pray that the Academy has its head on straight and brings Carey Mulligan for "An Education" back to the forefront.

Meryl Streep defeated herself in the category of Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for her performance in "Julie & Julia" which beat her performance in "It's Complicated."

The joke of a category that was Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical this year was awarded to Robert Downey, Jr. for his turn in Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes." I mean, I guess he really just has that much charisma to win over voters. At least Daniel Day-Lewis didn't win for "Nine." That really would've been a travesty.

Continuing the trend of awarding what's popular, "The Hangover" won for Best Comedy or Musical over the assumed front-runner, "(500) Days of Summer." I was completely fine with this win, however, because "The Hangover" truly, truly was the funniest movie of the year.

Jeff Bridges received a standing ovation for his apparently well-deserved Best Actor win for "Crazy Heart," a film which I unfortunately will probably not get around to seeing. He will easily go on to win the gold at the Oscars over some tough competition like George Clooney of "Up in the Air" and Colin Firth of "A Single Man."

"Up" won for Best Animated Film, which really puts "Fantastic Mr. Fox" out of the running. Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon" won for Best Foreign Language Film.

"Up" also won for Best Score from Michael Giacchino, while "Crazy Heart" won for Best Song.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro fittingly introduced Martin Scorsese for his acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille award, and the night continued on its merry way making it just in time for its 3-hour limit.

The big question remains about whether or not "Avatar" is going to continue its hot streak onward to the Oscars. My guess? I think the highest honors will be distributed elsewhere. The next big step is waiting for the reveal of the Oscar nominations, which will be released on February 22, 2010.

For an entire list of the nominees and winners of the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards, go here.

The Start To The Festive Award Evenings

Although I unfortunately missed out on watching the BFCA's Critics' Choice Awards, here's the results and the winner's from last night's show which aired on VH1.

The biggest surprise of the night was when there was a tie, that's right, another tie--has this become the new trend for awards?--for Best Actress. Meryl Streep won for "Julie & Julia" while Sandra Bullock also won for "The Blind Side." And, in a comic little twist, they shared a rather intimate kiss on-stage in a way to jokingly make it up to each other.

The rest of the night held no shockers as "The Hurt Locker" went home with Best Picture and Kathryn Bigelow took home the prize for Best Directing. This definitely will boost Bigelow and her film's chances at the Academy Awards.

Quentin Tarantino won Best Original Screenplay for "Inglourious Basterds" while Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner won Best Adapted Screenplay for "Up in the Air." No surprise there, and it's probably what we'll see with the Academy.

For another no-brainer, Cristoph Waltz took home Best Supporting Actor for "Inglourious Basterds," and Mo'Nique received Best Supporting Actress for "Precious."

Likewise, Best Actor went to Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart."

Best Animated Feature went to "Up," while "The Hangover" nabbed Best Comedy and "Avatar" took Best Action Movie. The question becomes this: Had "Avatar" not been slid into a separate action category, would it have defeated "The Hurt Locker?" Guess we'll find out with the Golden Globes and so on.

Best Documentary Feature went to "The Cove," while there was a bit of a surprise in Best Foreign Language Film as it went to Pedro Almodovar's "Broken Embraces" over Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon."

"Avatar" then went on to sweep up every technical award possible including Best Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound. Best Makeup, however, was awarded to "District 9."

For an entire list of the winners, check this out.

And be sure to stay tuned for my more in-depth coverage of the Golden Globes, which will be airing tomorrow night on NBC. Don't miss it!

"Avatar" Continues To Dominate

James Cameron's "Avatar" has topped the box office for the fourth weekend in a row with a total domestic profit of around $429 million and a world-wide gross of over $1 billion. The film is the highest-profiting movie of 2009 surpassing Michael Bay's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" which held the record previously.

This places "Avatar" at the number-two spot of the highest grossing movies of all-time bumping down the previous holder of the silver spot, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." The 3-D phenomenon is just around $700 million below capturing the number-one spot held by "Titanic." This means that James Cameron is arguably the most successful director in the world now that his films hold the top two spots.

"Avatar" is also only the fifth movie to surpass the $1 billion mark among the likes of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "The Dark Knight."

And as an added note, I once predicted that the HFPA would crown "The Hurt Locker" with Best Drama at the Golden Globes, but the tides have changed. There's no way that the HFPA will skip over honoring the ever-accelerating "Avatar."

A Big Win For James Cameron

Avatar


James Cameron has been all the rage with the ever-approaching release of his first movie since 12 years ago when he made "Titanic." With anticipation at its boiling point, judgment day for the self-proclaimed King of the World has finally arrived. The verdict? Well, let's just say he's keeping his crown for this one and perhaps expanding it to King of the Universe. Like many others, I was skeptical toward the director's venture that reportedly cost him $300 million. The building buzz for his new feature was holding up some lofty expectations that I was just worried wouldn't be met. It turns out, however, that every bold claim Cameron made about his latest film came true, and it was money well spent. So, here I am standing before you attempting to transform my skepticism into an undying love. I'm here to set the record straight: "Avatar" is the real deal. In astonishing and stunning IMAX 3D, this is a movie that transports in a way like nothing you've ever experienced before, and the unbelievable technical prowess involved is like nothing ever done before in cinema. Simply put, this is the most visually gorgeous film I have ever seen and a landmark in moviemaking.

The world of Pandora is such a rich, breathing, and fully-realized place it is comparable to other fantasy worlds represented in film such as "Star Wars," "Lord of the Rings," and "Harry Potter." This world's environment is similar to Earth with luscious forests, sprawling landscapes, except all the more fantastical with places such as floating mountains with waterfalls dropping off into nothingness. The world is inhabited by creatures both colorful and dangerous and also the natives, the Na'vi. They are a blue-skinned, yellow-eyed, slender, 8-foot-tall race. This world and these people are all rendered largely by CGI except it's like the next generation of CGI. The Na'vi are created through motion capture techniques that are entirely convincing, and they look like particular actors when they're supposed to without any creepy effect. Their blue skin glistens, the trees rustle and sway, the waters pound, and every aspect of Pandora--the eye-popping colors, textures, and meticulous attention to detail--is breathtakingly beautiful and an explosion of sensory delight.

But enough about the visual. How does the story hold up? It's simple, yes, but never too thin. And at the center is an emotional romance, one of elegance, grace, and real flesh and blood. Blue flesh, that is. The Na'vi thrive off their planet by being deeply connected with nature, but the nature of their planet is threatened by a mission lead by U.S. Armed Forces that want to harvest a rich mineral only found on Pandora and one that is worth millions. Armored, gun-wielding hover ships probe through the planet as they carry out their goal of displacing the native Na'vi. Diplomatic solutions are of first priority, but open-fire is a welcomed close second. To venture closely into Pandora outside the safety of machinery, they use avatars. These are linked to the minds of humans who remained wired on the ship, but they still have all the sensory connections to their avatar. They are them.

The hero is Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic who has been sent on this mission to replace his brother who died. An avatar was built for his brother, and Jake is the only genetic match. As his avatar, Jake journeys into the wonders of Pandora and comes across a Na'vi named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). She saves his life from some vicious banshees, and from there she reluctantly takes Jake under her wing and convinces her community to teach Jake the ways of Na'vi. The team back aboard the ships is thrilled because Jake can get them closer to a negotiation with the natives. Jake, however, with a fellow member who has a tender history with the Na'vi, Grace (Sigourney Weaver), begins to see things differently. The leader onboard the ship is the rough and aggressive Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) who briefed Jake to be a good soldier, and now he feels betrayed.

The movie is 160 minutes long without ever a dull moment. Just consider the complexity of the battle taking place, the final warfare that ignites a revolution, the human drama, the Na'vi drama, the complexity with humans and Na'vi combined, the internal secrets that Pandora harbors such as those white, glowing, floating creatures that are the soul of the planet, and, hell, it just all makes for grand, epic, sweeping entertainment at the highest caliber that needs to be seen more than once to fully admire and absorb. The first time you're simply taken aback by the shock of it all. There are an endless number of captivating scenes. One that especially comes to mind is when Jake has to capture and tame a flying dragon-looking creature. The Na'vi literally become one with the great beasts they have at their disposal for transportation.

Expectations tend to be a double-edged sword. Fail them, and you're doomed. Meet them, however, and you soar. Thankfully for James Cameron, he is soaring above and beyond all expectations and doubts that preceded this release. And the box office results will be there to match it. "Avatar" is anti-war and pro-Green. It is not only a film but a cultural phenomenon, an event that cannot be missed. If you do, you're out of the loop. I don't care if it's Hollywood and profitable and a shoo-in for being the big-budget crowd-pleaser for which the Academy may have been searching. It doesn't matter. "Avatar" will blow your mind. Go see it.

Setting The Stage With The Golden Globes

The nominations for the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced early this morning, and leading the pack was "Up in the Air" with a total 6 nominations, followed by "Nine" with 5 and "Avatar" and "Inglourious Basterds" tied with 4.

Along with "Up in the Air" in the category for Best Picture were "Avatar," "Precious," "The Hurt Locker," and "Inglourious Basterds." At this point and at the rate "The Hurt Locker" has already been collecting the most wins for Best Picture and Director over "Up in the Air," I'm going to have to put my prediction there. And wow, how deserving that movie really is. I couldn't be any happier that it got remembered from over the summer.

Although "Invictus" got snubbed for the Best Picture slot, Clint Eastwood is still up for Best Director alongside Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker," James Cameron for "Avatar," Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air," and Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds." Lee Daniels was left out of this one, and rightfully so since it was his direction that was the biggest fault in "Precious." Bigelow has got this one in the bag.

With the Golden Globes-specific category of Best Musical or Comedy, the nominees were "(500) Days of Summer," "Nine," "The Hangover," "It's Complicated," and "Julie & Julia." The frontrunner here is definitely "(500) Days of Summer" and the probable winner.

For Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy the nominees were Matt Damon for "The Informant!," Daniel Day-Lewis for "Nine," Robert Downey, Jr. for "Sherlock Holmes," Joseph Gordon-Lewitt for "(500) Days of Summer," and Michael Stuhlbarg for "A Serious Man." Since "A Serious Man" got snubbed in every other category (even Best Comedy or Musical), I would hope that Stuhlbarg would win this, but it's hard to say. I'm hoping that the Academy rectifies this crucial snub.

The Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy nominees were Sandra Bullock for "The Proposal," Marion Cotillard for "Nine," Julia Roberts for "Duplicity," Meryl Streep not once, but, yes, twice, for "It's Complicated" and "Julie & Julia." That woman is seriously a powerhouse and her performance in the latter movie will probably win.

Matt Damon received his second nomination in the category of Best Supporting Actor for "Invictus," along with Woody Harrelson for "The Messenger," Christopher Plummer for "The Last Station," Stanley Tucci for "The Lovely Bones," and Christoph Waltz for "Inglourious Basterds." Waltz is the shoo-in for this category as every other actor seems to be the odd-man-out. His performance deserves it.

Best Supporting Actress nods went to Penelope Cruz for "Nine," Mo'Nique for "Precious," Julianne Moore for "A Single Man," and both Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick for "Up in the Air." Like Waltz for Supporting Actor, Mo'Nique is the for sure winner for this category. There are always the painfully predictable ones, aren't there?

Nominations for Best Actor went to Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart," George Clooney for "Up in the Air," Colin Firth for "A Single Man," Morgan Freeman for "Invictus," and Tobey Maguire for "Brothers." They almost had it right here. These nominations match what we'll see with the Academy minus Maguire. Replace him with Renner for "The Hurt Locker," and that'll be it. Jeff Bridges is the rumored frontrunner for this race.

Best Actress nominees were Emily Blunt for "The Young Victoria," Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side," Helen Mirren for "The Last Station," Carey Mulligan for "An Education," and Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious." When the competition is slated out like this with comedy or musical set aside (that meaning Meryl Streep set aside), either Mulligan or Sidibe will probably win this one, but hopefully Mulligan.

Best Screenplay included some interesting choices such as Neil Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell for "District 9" and Nancy Meyers for "It's Complicated." Aside from that it was the standard affair with Mark Boal for "The Hurt Locker," Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for "Up in the Air," and Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds." "Up in the Air" will take this one, hands-down.

Nods for Best Foreign Language Film went to "Baaria" from Italy, "Broken Embraces" from Spain, "The Maid" from Chile, "A Prophet" from France," and "The White Ribbon" from Germany, the last of which is rumored to win.

Best Animted Film nominees were "The Princess and the Frog," "Coraline," "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "Up," and "Fantastic Mr. Fox." It's really a toss-up between the last two, but now it seems that Wes Andersen's efforts are being more appreciated over Pixar's now-regular excellence. I'll accept that.

Best Original Score nominations were Michael Giaccino for "Up," Marvin Hamlisch for "The Informant!," James Horner for "Avatar," Abel Korzeniowski for "A Single Man," and my personal favorite and the one I hope to win, Karen O and Carter Burwell for "Where the Wild Things Are." It would appear that the HFPA has a certain thing for "Avatar," so its score will probably nab this award.

So, how right does the HFPA have it this year? In terms of Director and Best Picture, I'd say about pretty close, if not exact. That is, if the Academy is willing to accept "Avatar" even with its blockbuster appeal. As for the other categories...some things went awry for the most part aside from the known shoo-ins. "(500) Days of Summer" should get more recognition, along with "An Education" and "A Serious Man" at the Academy Awards.

For the complete list of the 2010 Golden Globe nominations, check out E!'s comprehensive list. There are some noteworthy television nominations, as well, such as "Glee" garnering a total of 4 nominations.

And be sure to watch the award ceremony on January 17th on NBC at 8 p.m. to find out who the winners are!

James Cameron's Risky Endeavor

The big question of December: Will Oscar-winning director James Cameron's highly-anticipated "Avatar" sell or flop? This massively CGI-rendered sci-fi 3-D adventure epic reportedly cost $300 million to make. Are the box office returns going to go above and beyond that? With "Titanic" under his belt, I guess it is really anybody's guess as to what could happen. It has been sneaking its way into the consideration of some experts' Best Picture predictions, but we'll have to wait until the 18th to find out.