Oscar picks for 2010

My choices for the best in 2010 film.

Top picks denoted with a (*).

Best Picture of the Year
“Black Swan”
“Blue Valentine”
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right”
*“127 Hours”
“Shutter Island”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3”
“Waiting for ‘Superman’”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio in “Shutter Island”
Michael Douglas in “Solitary Man”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
*James Franco in “127 Hours”
Ryan Gosling in “Blue Valentine”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in “Mother and Child”
Julianne Moore in “The Kids Are All Right”
*Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Emma Stone in “Easy A”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
Andrew Garfield in “The Social Network”
Kevin Kline in “The Extra Man”
*Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
*Kerry Washington in “Mother and Child”
Olivia Williams in “The Ghost Writer”

Best Achievement in Directing
“Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
“Inception” Christopher Nolan
*“127 Hours” Danny Boyle
“Shutter Island” Martin Scorsese
“The Social Network” David Fincher

Best Screenplay Based On Material Previously Produced or Published
“How to Train Your Dragon” screenplay by William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
“127 Hours” screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
“Shutter Island” screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis
*“The Social Network” screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
“Toy Story 3” screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter and Andrew Staton & Lee Unkrich

Best Screenplay Written Directly For the Screen
“Black Swan” written by Mark Heyman and Andrés Heinz and John McLaughlin
“Blue Valentine” written by Derek Cianfrance & Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis
“Inception” written by Christopher Nolan
*“The Kids Are All Right” written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
“Please Give” written by Nicole Holofcener

Best Achievement In Art Direction
“Black Swan” Thérèse DePrez, production designer; Tora Peterson, set decorator
*“Inception” Guy Hendrix Dyas, production designer; Larry Dias, Doug Mowat, set decorators
“The King’s Speech” Eve Stewart, production designer; Judy Farr, set decorator
“Shutter Island” Dante Ferretti, production designer; Francesca Lo Schiavo, set decorator
“TRON: Legacy” Darren Gilford, production designer; Lin MacDonald, set decorator

Best Achievement In Cinematography
*“Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
“Inception” Wally Pfister
“127 Hours” Enrique Chediak, Anthony Dod Mantle
“Shutter Island” Robert Richardson
“The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth

Best Achievement In Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
*“Black Swan” Amy Westcott
“Burlesque” Michael Kaplan
“Inception” Jeffrey Kurland
“The King’s Speech” Jenny Beavan

Best Achievement In Film Editing
“Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
“Blue Valentine” Jim Helton, Ron Patane
*“Inception” Lee Smith
“127 Hours” Jon Harris
“Shutter Island” Thelma Schoonmaker

Best Achievement In Makeup
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Black Swan”
*“Shutter Island”

Best Achievement In Music (Original Score)
“How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
“Inception” Hans Zimmer
“Let Me In” Michael Giacchino
“127 Hours” A.R. Rahman
*“The Social Network” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Best Achievement In Music (Original Song)
“Black Sheep” from “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours”
*“Shine” from “Waiting for Superman”
“Sticks & Stones” from “How to Train Your Dragon”
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from “Burlesque”

Best Achievement In Sound
“Black Swan”
*“Inception”
“127 Hours”
“Shutter Island”
“TRON: Legacy”

Best Achievement In Sound Editing
“Black Swan”
*“Inception”
“127 Hours”
“Toy Story 3”
“TRON: Legacy”

Best Achievement In Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”
*“Inception”
“TRON: Legacy”

Best Feature Length Animated Film
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“Tangled”
*“Toy Story 3”

Best Foreign Language Film
*“Dogtooth” Greece
“Lebanon” Israel
“A Prophet” France
“7 Days” Canada
“Vincere” Italy

Best Documentary Film
“Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer”
“Exit Through the Gift Shop”
“Inside Job”
“The Tillman Story”
*“Waiting for Superman”

Special Awards
Ensemble Cast: “Mother and Child”

Stuntwork: “Inception”

Voice Over Performance
Jay Baruchel in “How to Train Your Dragon”
Ned Beatty in “Toy Story 3”
*Steve Carell in “Despicable Me”
Mandy Moore in “Tangled”
Donna Murphy in “Tangled”

Youth Performance: Kodi Smit-McPhee in “Let Me In”

And because limiting nominees isn't enough for acting categories, honorable mentions to the following performances...

Best actor: Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network); Ryan Reynolds (Buried); Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In); Stephen Dorff (Somewhere)

Best actress: Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Vincere); Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone); Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole); Hye-ja Kim (Mother)

Best supporting actor: John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone); Zach Galifianakis (It’s Kind of a Funny Story); Vincent Cassel (Black Swan); Matt Damon (True Grit)

Best supporting actress: Amanda Peet (Please Give); Elle Fanning (Somewhere); Vanessa Redgrave (Letters to Juliet); Rebecca Hall (Please Give)

Favorite albums of 2010

• "The ArchAndroid," Janelle Monae
• "Body Talk," Robyn
• "High Violet," The National
• "The Lady Killer," Cee Lo Green
• "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," Kanye West
• "Odd Blood," Yeasayer
• "Plastic Beach," Gorillaz
• "Sir Lucious Left Foot...The Son of Chico Dusty," Big Boi
• "The Suburbs," Arcade Fire
• "Treats," Sleigh Bells

"Contra," Vampire Weekend; "This Is Happening," LCD Soundsystem; "New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh," Erykah Badu; "Record Collection," Mark Ronson & the Business Intl; "Hands," Little Boots