Except for acting and screenplay.

Iron Man is better than The Reader.... but not by the insane amount you're making it out to be. Neither of them are good films.

Winselt looked ghastly in the Reader.

1. Avatar
2. Up in the Air
3. The Hurt Locker
4. Inglourious Basterds
5. Precious
6. Up
7. An Education
8. Invictus
9. A Serious Man
10. The Hangover (I always thought it would be a close call, but the Globes could be what pushes it over. I think this is very much in line with what the Academy wanted by expanding to ten: a well-reviewed movie that was seen and loved by everyone despite not being an "Oscar movie". I choose this over ST/D9 because of Avatar taking the sci-fi spot)

11. District 9
12. Star Trek
13. (500) Days of Summer
14. A Single Man
15. The Road

Oh, Iron Man had better editing, too. The Reader vitriol wasn't just a knee-jerk reaction. It's completely inert and sillier than it wishes it was. It took a kernel of a good idea in German guilt and cushioned it in some stupidity about illiteracy and how the cougar you lost your cherry to was a gnat-zee. Despite that, the scenes with Kross are by far the highlights of the film.

Also, I think the nominations are pretty much locked in right now. I don't see it straying from the top eight plus District 9 plus Star Trek, unless the BAFTAs pull some shockers (and I don't know what they could do to throw in a wrench).

In Iron Man, I see the filmmakers' laziness in relying on one-line jokes instead of character development to get the laughs out (yes, Iron Man is a comedy).

This laziness should not be encouraged. Inglourious Basterds, by the way, is the antithesis of Iron Man - a serious fun film. Using this standard (by trying to gauge a filmmaker's motive to make a movie), I admire The Reader more than Iron Man.

Iron man to the audiences was a very neutral film.

Some loved it, very few hated it and everyone thought it was just "good" or "okay"...

Actually a lot of people loved it. You'll see that when Iron Man 2 will make about $100 million more than the first film this year.

Yeah I was just saying everyone thought it was good.

Even TDK had many who hated it.

Christoph Waltz is a great actor and deserves every win this season, but--is it just me or are his speeches... strange? He's eloquent in his vocabulary, but his point is always aloof. No one in the audience ever seems to get the Big Point he clearly has in his head and is trying to express. When he wins the Academy Award, which he will, he should just let his guard down and give a smooth, but honest and emotional speech. No more 'I'm so glad my celestial body found its way into Quentin Tarantino's nebula, which was then discovered by Harvey Weinstein's space-cruiser' type speech.

I like his speeches, although the one at the Golden Globes was indeed a little too rife with astronomy.

The Globes speech was out there. Not in a good way either.

Coming from you, that is really saying something.

I'm hoping Star Trek get's a surprise nomination for BP. It is such a good movie
and very rewatchable. District 9 would also be a pleasant surprise, but if I had
top pick between the two I would pick Star Trek.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/season/2010/02/with-one-week-to-go-are-oscar-campaigns-staying-on-message-by-pete-hammond.html

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2010/02/the-hurt-locker-producer-apology-oscars-academy-awards-news.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+GoldDerby+(Gold+Derby+-+Oscar+%26+Awards+Blog)

Hopefully this completely backfires on THL.