Over the past couple weeks, being a student and lover of all things film, I’ve been asked by friends and family who I think should win at this year’s Academy Awards. I, therefore, have decided to put my opinions in article form. Now, I realize that not everyone is going to agree with my choices and that’s perfectly OK. This is simply what I view to be the best of the year and all the Avatar fanboys and Julie and Julia-loving fangirls will just have to deal with that (or stop reading now). And remember, these awards are going to who I think should win, that is, who deserves the award, rather than the film/actor/actress/director most likely to win. I am also only going into the big four categories, that is, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress, as my space here is limited and I tend to ramble a lot when I talk about movies.

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Let me start by saying what this film isn’t. This is not an action-packed CGI frenzy like Avatar. This is not a manipulatively uplifting film that exists only for the sake of uplifting people a la The Blind Side (there is a place for that kind of film but the “Best Picture” category ain’t it, folks). What it is, however, is the best picture of the year. Kathryn Bigelow’s film is a tense, introspective, timely and thoughtful look at American soldiers in Iraq and the effects of war on them. The scenes set in Iraq are suspenseful, powerful and keep the viewer on the edge of their emotional seat as this study of life on the edge progresses. The scenes in the film that take place in America are also incredibly well thought-out, as a soldier, who visits home for the first time in a year, tries to get used to being home. This film is part war movie, part character study, and the direction, cinematography and acting (most notably from lead Jeremy Renner) make for the best film of 2009. If you haven’t seen it yet you are truly missing out. Though there are other wonderful films nominated for this category, The Hurt Locker will stay with you long after most of the other films have faded from your memory.

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Let me first again address the other nominees in this category. George Clooney was pretty good in Up in the Air, but I felt like I was watching George Clooney, not the character in the film. I know the Clooney-ites out there will surely boo and hiss, but come on, the guy is just so smug. Morgan Freeman, who plays Nelson Mandela in Invictus, was apparently “born to play this role” (Peter Travers). But isn’t that exactly what’s wrong with the whole thing? It just doesn’t seem like a challenging, interesting or ultimately award-worthy performance.

If anything, this was a very safe role for Freeman, and I don’t particularly think that warrants an award. Now, Jeremy Renner gave a fantastic performance in The Hurt Locker, but I have to give it to Jeff Bridges by a hair. The challenging role of “Bad Blake” was so well written and performed that it demands attention. Whether calling his estranged son, vomiting into a toilet in his underwear, performing (yes, actually performing) country songs or drunkenly wandering the streets searching for his mistress’s toddler, this really is a complete performance from Bridges, who does everything he can to become his character. It’s one of those old school method performances that you simply cannot imagine anyone else playing effectively, and for that he gets my vote.

Best Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

OK, admittedly, I haven’t seen four of the five performances in this category (sorry), but I did see Precious, and the newcomer Gabourey Sidibe definitely deserves some attention for her performance, if not an Academy Award. I genuinely hope she continues to get big roles in films and that her career isn’t defined by being “the girl from Precious.”

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

OK, it’s been established already that I love The Hurt Locker, but there are definitive reasons that Bigelow should win for directing other than I think she made the best film of the year. First is growth. You have to keep in mind that this is the same woman who once directed Point Break. Point freaking Break. After you watch The Hurt Locker, that fact becomes almost unfathomable. The maturity displayed, introspectiveness and just overall attention to detail (emotional as well as aesthetic) in the film are incredible. Her ex-husband and fellow nominee James Cameron has apparently “revolutionized” movie making technology and created an imaginative world all his own, which is all fine and great and progressive or whatever, but Bigelow’s direction makes you sympathize, scorn, rejoice, fear and generally feel in ways that Cameron’s heavy-handed Avatar simply doesn’t.

So those are my picks for this year’s ceremony. I’d love to say more about all the films and categories nominated, but alas I must stop somewhere.

Feel free to get in touch if you want to talk about how The Blind Side or Avatar was the best movie ever or geek out with me about Haneke’s White Ribbon (up for Best Foreign Film) or scorn me for snubbing Inglourious Basterds. Happy movie-watching, readers.

Cory McConnell is a sophomore communications major from Wexford, Penn.