OSCAR PREDICTION CHARTS — August 3, 2009

NUTSHELL: Going through the Tech Charts this month quickly became an exercise in creativity. With Universal’s “Green Zone” and “The Wolf Man” evacuating this year’s Oscar race, a number of holes were left but with little to go on beyond the summer hopefuls, it’s still just shifting and sliding. The “Avatar” footage at Comic-Con gave a big indication of what to expect with that film, while others such as Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” and Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” are beginning to screen once again. This is one of the last two opportunities to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks before Telluride, Venice and Toronto begin to peel back the mystery, so here’s what I’m thinking…

Column: “Whittling further…”

Sort charts by: Main Categories/Technical Categories

ART DIRECTION
1 “Bright Star”
Janet Patterson; Charlotte Watts		 —
2 “Nine”
John Myhre; Gordon Sim		 up
3 “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
Stuart Craig; Stephanie McMillan		 up
4 “Amelia”
Stephanie Carroll; Gordon Sim		 up
5 “Public Enemies”
Nathan Crowley, Rosemary Branderburg		 down
6 “Sherlock Holmes”
Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer		 —
6 “Inglourious Basterds”
David Wasco; Sandy Reynolds-Wasco		 NEW
8 “Avatar”
Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg		 —
9 “Where the Wild Things Are”
K.K. Barrett; Simon McCutcheon		 —
10 “The Tempest”
Mark Friedberg; Alyssa Winter		 —

CINEMATOGRAPHY
1 “Nine”
Dion Beebe		 —
2 “Bright Star”
Greig Fraser		 —
3 “The Hurt Locker”
Barry Ackroyd		 up
4 “Broken Embraces”
Rodrigo Prieto		 up
5 “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
Bruno Delbonnel		 NEW
6 “Public Enemies”
Dante Spinotti		 —
7 “Amelia”
Stuart Dryburgh		 —
8 “The Road”
Javier Aguirresarobe		 —
9 “Avatar”
Mauro Fiore		 down
10 “Where the Wild Things Are”
Lance Acord		 NEW

COSTUME DESIGN
1 “Bright Star”
Janet Patterson		 —
2 “Nine”
Colleen Atwood		 —
3 “Chéri”
Consolata Boyle		 up
4 “Amelia”
Kasia Walicka-Maimone		 up
5 “The Tempest”
Sandy Powell		 up
6 “Public Enemies”
Colleen Atwood		 down
7 “Where the Wild Things Are”
Casey Storm		 up
8 “Inglourious Basterds”
Anna B. Sheppard		 NEW
9 “Shanghai”
Julie Weiss		 down
10 “Sherlock Holmes”
Ann Roth		 down

FILM EDITING
1 “Nine”
Claire Simpson		 —
2 “The Hurt Locker”
Chris Innis, Bob Murawski		 NEW
3 “Shutter Island”
Thelma Schoonmaker		 up
4 “Bright Star”
Alexandre de Franceschi		 down
5 “Avatar”
John Refoua, Stephen E. Rivkin		 down
6 “Invictus”
Joel Cox, Gary Roach		 down
7 “The Lovely Bones”
Allison C. Johnson		 up
8 “Public Enemies”
Jeffrey Ford, Paul Rubell		 down
9 “Star Trek”
Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey		 down
10 “Where the Wild Things Are”
James Haygood, Eric Zumbrunnen		 up

MAKEUP
1 “Star Trek” —
2 “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” —
3 “Avatar” NEW
4 “The Road” up
5 “Watchmen” up
6 “The Tempest” down
7 “Shutter Island” NEW
8 “Where the Wild Things Are” NEW
9 “Drag Me to Hell” down
10 “Bright Star” down

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
1 “Avatar”
James Horner		 —
2 “Amelia”
Gabriel Yared		 —
3 “Broken Embraces”
Alberto Iglesias		 —
4 “Up”
Michael Giacchino		 up
5 “A Christmas Carol”
Alan Silvestri		 NEW
6 “Bright Star”
Mark Bradshaw		 —
7 “The Road”
Nick Cave, Warren Ellis		 —
8 “The Tempest”
Elliot Goldenthal		 —
9 “The Lovely Bones”
Brian Eno		 —
10 “Brothers”
Thomas Newman		 NEW

SOUND EDITING
1 “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” —
2 “Star Trek” —
3 “Avatar” —
4 “Up” —
5 “2012” up
6 “The Hurt Locker” —
7 “Public Enemies” down
8 “9” NEW
9 “District 9” NEW
10 “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra” down

SOUND MIXING
1 “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” —
2 “Nine” —
3 “Star Trek” —
4 “Avatar” —
5 “2012” up
6 “Up” —
7 “The Hurt Locker” down
8 “District 9” NEW
9 “9” NEW
10 “Public Enemies” down

VISUAL EFFECTS
1 “Avatar” —
2 “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” —
3 “Star Trek” —
4 “The Lovely Bones” NEW
5 “2012” down
6 “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” up
7 “District 9” NEW
8 “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” down
9 “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra” NEW
10 “Sherlock Homes” NEW