With the winners of the 2010 Oscar announced, I have to say I’m very pleased. As deserved, Avatar didn’t win any major category: Dora the Explorer has better plot lines, and I’ve seen better acting in the drama class I took in school when I was seven. I knew The Hurt Locker was a good movie as soon as the movie ended, when I noticed that after biting my nails for two hours, I had reached the flesh and was left without fingernails. I was also very happy that Sandra Bullock won for her role in the Blind Side, and that Precious won best adapted screenplay. Kathryn Bigelow made history by becoming the first woman to win Best Director, but you have to admit that her movies are as manly as Tarantino’s.

While the Academy in some sense made an unconventional choice with the lowest grossing movie ever to win Big Picture, they followed the buzz and also chose a realistic drama, as we cited in our Oscar predictions. Still, our blog readers would have chosen Avatar, with Inglourious Basterds a close second, according to our Oscars poll.

Personally, I’m so happy with the results that I’ve decided to make my own little award ceremony, The Movie Genome Oscars, focusing on movies that really nailed one gene (mood or theme):

10. And the Best Parents and Children Oscar goes to: Sixty Six

This scene will make every child stop being embarrassed by his parents and start being proud of them, because in comparison to this particular parent, even the children of Mel Gibson, Britney Spears or Tiger Woods can feel proud.

9. And the Best Cooking and Food Oscar goes to: Cool Hand Luke

Is there a god? What’s the meaning of life? Why does evil exist? Is there life after death? All important questions that pale in comparison to life’s ultimate question, which was answered in 1967 by the movie Cool Hand Luke: Can one man eat 50 eggs?
Beside the Oscar the movie earned, it was also nominated for best supporting egg in the Leipzig Jumping Silver Rooster Film Festival.

8. And the Best Visual Gag Oscar goes to: Kabluey

To say that a movie is based on one visual gag usually means it’s not very good. In this case, one blue costume is more than enough. In the clip, Salman, the movie’s lovable loser protagonist, is stuck in his petty job as a mascot for some bankrupt company, and stuck in his blue suit with difficulty doing basic things like drinking and peeing.

7. And the Best Slacker Oscar goes to: Very Happy Alexandre

In the first half hour of the movie, Alexandre is constantly ordered to do certain tasks by his controlling wife. When Alexandre’s wife dies in an accident, he needs a rest from three years of marriage/hard labor, and rest by Alexandre’s standards means not getting out of bed… at all. I couldn’t find this clip with English subtitles, but the pictures speak for themselves. The movie’s universal and very important message is: Don’t waste your life doing things, take advantage of the limited time you have on this earth and do absolutely nothing!

6. And the Best Tense Scene Oscar goes to: Bad Day at Black Rock

In this western/thriller the tension just keeps growing and growing, and when you can’t take it anymore and feel like you have to get that releasing moment of action – it arrives. Spencer Tracy vs. Ernest Borgnine: It doesn’t get any better than this.

5. And the Best Switching Roles Oscar goes to: The Phantom of Liberty

Luis Bunuel is one of the greatest directors who ever lived and is known for his original and surreal ideas. In this clip, from what I think is his best movie – The Phantom of Liberty – some kind of a strange reversal has happened and now going to the toilet is eating, and eating is going to the toilet. Confused? Watch the clip and see for yourself.

4. And the Best Martial Arts Scene Oscar goes to: Yip Man

Hands down, this semi-biographical account of Yip Man (the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun) is the best martial arts film I’ve ever seen. In the movie’s final scene, Yip Man (the Chinese protagonist, wearing black) is fighting Miura (The Japanese villain, wearing white). Yip Man was threatened that if he didn’t lose the fight on purpose he would be shot to death. How did he respond to the threat? Watch the clip and find out…

3. And the Best Mind Game Scene Oscar goes to: The Princess Bride

I think this is the most well known clip on the list. It’s safe to say that there wasn’t one person who shed a tear at the conclusion of it: Vizzini (inconceivable!) is probably one of the most annoying characters in cinema’s history.

2. And the Best Human Nature Scene Oscar goes to: La Strada

Zampano (Anthony Quinn), the movie’s main character has alienated the people who tried to get close to him. He thought he didn’t need anybody in this world but himself. In the movie’s final scene, in which he breaks down and cries, the big and strong Zampano finally realizes that he, like the rest of us, can’t do it all on his own, he also needs love and warmth (WATCH OUT: following is the final scene of the movie).

1. And the Best Emotional Scene Oscar goes to: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

A liberal white couple (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, in Tracy’s last appearance) put their platitudes to the test. They always taught their daughter that all people are created equal, regardless of race or religion… until she unexpectedly brings home a black doctor (Sidney Poitier) and announces that they’re engaged. In the clip that concludes the movie (and Tracy’s career) you’ll find one of the best monologues ever seen on the silver screen – it might be a bit long by today’s standards, but its worth every second – they don’t make them like this anymore… (WATCH OUT: following is the final scene of the movie).

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