82th Academy Awards: A Review Part III

Three down, one to go. Let's go over the nominees in these categories.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1. Avatar
2. Star Trek
3. District 9

Whatever the flaws of Avatar (namely, a very weak story) the visuals were spectacular. Having said that, I think Star Trek did a better job in integrating the visual effects with the story (the fall of Vulcan is something I think outdid the fall of Gallifrey), but Avatar is too overwhelming visually to be ignored.

BEST SOUND MIXING

1. Avatar
2. Star Trek
3. The Hurt Locker
4. Inglourious Basterds
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

In terms of technological breakthrough, Avatar is a hallmark in filmmaking. It had to create sounds that do not exist in some parts. The Hurt Locker did an effective job in recreating the sounds of IEDs in Iraq, but my thinking is that the pull of Best Picture grabbed this category.

BEST SOUND EDITING

1. Avatar
2. Star Trek
3. UP
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Inglourious Basterds

I keep thinking that science-fiction films are better at putting sound effects together than reality-based ones. In fairness, even I get muddled about the difference (I used to know but now am not sure). In any case, I won't fight this winner.

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM

1. The New Tenants
2. Miracle Fish
3. Kavi
4. Instead of Abracadabra
5. The Door

It's impossible to make a fair decision. In recent years, there have been DVD releases of Academy Award-winning short films, and if there is one for this year, it would be good to watch all of them and decide.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1. China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
2. Music By Prudence
3. The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
4. The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
5. Rabbit a la Berlin

Here we go again. Impossible to decide which one is the best, but I won't argue this one either. I will highly recommend last year's winner, Smile Pinki, which chronicles work associated with The Smile Train, an organization that I'm proud to support.

BEST MAKE-UP

1. Star Trek
2. Il Divo
3. The Young Victoria

How many times do I have to say it? The Green Girl. The Green Girl who Kirk is getting it on with in Star Trek. That alone deserves a make-up Oscar. However, the creation of the Romulans and Vulcans assured that this Star Trek become the first in the franchise to win an Academy Award, and deservedly so. Il Divo was all right from the clip shown, but The Young Victoria should get no prize for making the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha look pretty.
 
Now, and the rest: Best Original Song, Original Score, Costume Design, Art Direction, Documentary Feature, and Animated Feature & Short Film.