Oscars Buzzmeter: Experts say 'Up in the Air,' 'The Hurt Locker' lead best picture derby
"Up in the Air" and "The Hurt Locker" are the only two films cited as likely Oscar best-picture nominees by all 20 of the pundits contributing to The Envelope's first Buzzmeter of derby season. Participants include Brad Brevet (RopeOfSilicon), Greg Ellwood (HitFix), Erik Davis (Cinematical), Edward Douglas (ComingSoon.net), Scott Feinberg (AndTheWinnerIs), Paul Gaita (The Circuit, The Envelope), Pete Hammond (Notes on a Season, The Envelope), Peter Howell (Toronto Star), Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Kevin Lewin (World Entertainment News Network), Lou Lumenick (New York Post), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Mark Olsen (Los Angeles Times), Steve Pond (The Wrap), Richard Rushfield (Gawker), Sasha Stone (AwardsDaily), Anne Thompson (IndieWire), Peter Travers (Rolling Stone), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood-Elsewhere) and me.
All pundits project 10 nominees for best picture and five in the other top races. Scores cited below represent the total tally of punits' predix of each contender per category. Click here to see a breakdown of what each pundit forecasted. Many thanks to our editor Patrick Day for compiling the Buzzmeter so carefully by hand.
BEST PICTURE
SCORE
20 – "Up in the Air," "The Hurt Locker" – received votes from all of our pundits.
19 – "Precious" – Jeff Wells is a holdout
19 – "Invictus" – Snubbed by Erik Davis
16 – "Nine"
15 – "Up"
14 – "An Education," "Inglourious Basterds," "A Serious Man"
BEST ACTOR
SCORE
17 – Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
16 – George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
14 – Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
11 – Daniel Day-Lewis, "Nine"
10 – Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
7 – Viggo Mortensen, "The Road"
BEST ACTRESS
SCORE
18 – Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
17 – Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"
14 – Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
9 – Abby Cornish, "Bright Star"
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So Jeremy Renner just magically disappears from the list after months of acclaim and momentum? I swear these buzz meter predictions are fickle and moronic.
Posted by: James S. | November 29, 2009 at 07:31 PM
The best predictions ive seen yet very similar to my own
Posted by: emorri | November 28, 2009 at 08:14 PM
Yeah. Really tough to pick TEN Best Picture Nominations.
Posted by: G.Patton | November 28, 2009 at 06:53 PM
Why do they never include the supporting categories? Nowadays those races are just as star-powered as the lead races.
Posted by: brainypirate | November 25, 2009 at 06:52 PM
"Crazy Heart" with Jeff Bridges hasn't been released yet. Opens Dec 16
Posted by: William Brenner | November 25, 2009 at 06:02 PM
besides critics has anybody seen Hurt Locker ? or Bright Star ?
Posted by: rob | November 25, 2009 at 12:30 PM
You've been had, Jeffrey Wells is not a hold out. He clearly thinks PRECIOUS will be a nominee. Over on his site he concedes that point, but was making some half-assed political statement by not voting for it.
Posted by: RoyBatty | November 25, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Why is there only one woman out of 20 involved in this derby? Is Hollywood punditry the last vestige and best example of outright sexism in America?
How can you honestly call this a honest contest when over 50% of the population is not represented in this contest (save for one token). Disgusting and shame on you hypocrites.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 25, 2009 at 10:36 AM
OK, I know you guys have an inexplicable hate-on for Meryl Streep - but can you at least SPELL HER NAME correctly, for christ's sake?! Honestly.
Posted by: Adam | November 24, 2009 at 06:12 PM