One Category at a Time: Picture

A year ago, when the Best Picture ten and that damned preferential ballot were first upon us, I questioned whether or not the conventional rules of what "can" win Best Picture would still apply. I analyzed the key nominations that the ten nominees either possessed or lacked in order to narrow them down to three frontrunners, and those three (assumed) frontrunners went on to win six of the eight major categories between them, so I'd say those conventional rules are still a fairly accurate barometer of which films are in the best position.

Let's try it again, shall we? To win Best Picture, a film needs nominations for Directing, Writing, and especially Editing. Let's see which of this year's crop have all three necessary nominations:

127 Hours: Editing (Y), Directing (N), Writing (Y)
Black Swan: Editing (Y), Directing (Y), Writing (N)
The Fighter: Editing (Y), Directing (Y), Writing (Y)
Inception: Editing (N), Directing (N), Writing (Y)
The Kids Are All Right: Editing (N), Directing (N), Writing (Y)
The King's Speech: Editing (Y), Directing (Y), Writing (Y)
The Social Network: Editing (Y), Directing (Y), Writing (Y)
Toy Story 3: Editing (N), Directing (N), Writing (Y)
True Grit: Editing (N), Directing (Y), Writing (Y)
Winter's Bone: Editing (N), Directing (N), Writing (Y)

And lo, there you have your three frontrunners: The King's Speech, The Social Network, and The Fighter.

The King's Speech is obviously the one out ahead. With twelve nominations total (including three acting nods), it's poised to rule the night, likely winning between five and eight categories on its way to Best Picture. It's simply the movie that pleases across the board. Everyone will have it near, if not at the very top of their ballot.


The Fighter, with three acting bids of its own, might be considered the most formidable challenger, but The Social Network's critical respect is nothing to sneeze at, and big wins from ACE and BAFTA have given some people enough confidence to predict either a Picture/Director split or an outright upset. It might be a close race for 2nd place between those two. Sadly, we'll never know who wins.

True Grit might be in better position if it weren't for that lack of an Editing nod, but it's probably your fourth place finisher. Ten nominations is an impressive showing of support. It's troubling to imagine that it might be shut out completely. Our hopes are dangling on Roger Deakins' in Best Cinematography (gulp).

You can order the remaining six nominees however you like, but none of them stand much a shot:

-True, Black Swan and 127 Hours each have two of those three necessary nods, but they both deal with subject matter that many a conservative Academy member is simply not going to get behind. They can forget those valuable 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place votes.
-Winter's Bone and The Kids Are All Right have a Writing and two Acting nominations a piece, but nothing else. They're likely too small in scope to register with enough voters in order to pull off an upset.
-Toy Story 3 has that blasted animation bias to contend with, although sentimentality could go a long way in keeping it alive through the first few elimination rounds.
-Inception was probably never that well liked with this group, as the egregious snubs for Director and Editing seem to suggest. Genre bias is a bitch.

Will win (ranks):
#1 The King's Speech
#2 The Social Network
#3 The Fighter
#4 True Grit
#5 Toy Story 3
#6 Black Swan
#7 The Kids Are All Right
#8 Inception
#9 Winter's Bone
#10 127 Hours

Should win (ranks):
#1 The Social Network
#2 Black Swan
#3 Inception
#4 The Kids Are All Right
#5 Toy Story 3
#6 True Grit
#7 The King's Speech
#8 127 Hours
#9 The Fighter
#10 Winter's Bone

Should have been nominated (top five):
#1 Exit Through the Gift Shop
#2 The Illusionist
#3 Another Year
#4 Fish Tank
#5 Rabbit Hole

One Category at a Time: Director

Flip a coin folks. Much like Film Editing, here's another category that can go either the way of The Social Network of The King's Speech.

It's a funny thing, the mechanistics of the awards race. All through December it became apparent that David Fincher was the man to beat for Best Director, having snagged two dozen critics awards (including the Critics' Choice) and the Golden Globe. Even when The King's Speech stole the PGA and accrued twelve Oscar nominations, thus becoming the Best Picture frontrunner, Best Director was still David Fincher's to lose... until the DGA and its massive voting membership (most of whom work in television) handed their top honour to Tom Hooper. He became the new leader of the pack, but then his fellow countrymen in BAFTA tipped the hat in Fincher's direction again, making this once more, a tight two-horse race.

To predict a split, or not predict a split?

When in doubt, go with the Best Picture winner. And go with it I shall.

Naturally, the nominee who deserves it the most - Darren Aronofsky for his dazzling execution of Black Swan - has the least shot of winning. Figures.

As for the Coens and David O. Russell, I'm happy for them. Honest. But I can't pretend like they belong here over the likes of Christopher Nolan. True Grit was a helluva good popcorn movie, but had so little personality outside of the performances. And The Fighter is simply overrated. Not that I blame Russell so much for its garbled structure and arrhythmia, but I still don't really consider it a great achievement in directing.

Will win: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Runner-up: David Fincher, The Social Network

Should win: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Should have been nominated: Christopher Nolan, Inception

One Category at a Time: Film Editing

This is just one of many tight races that will be decided on Oscar night. The King's Speech and The Social Network are neck-in-neck. As I've stated before, the cause for uncertainty stems from the two conflicting schools of thought on how the general Academy votes on these categories that they might not understand; do they vote for the movie they liked better, or for the movie with the more noticeable craft? There are probably plenty of voters who fall into either camp, but as to which camp is more populated is anybody's guess.

At least it comes down the two most deserving nominees, in my opinion. Tariq Anwar does a terrific job at punctuating the actors' performances with shrewd shot selection for The King's Speech, and Baxter and Wall give The Social Network a flow that can't be topped. Either of them would make a fine winner in lieu of Lee Smith, who suffered the most egregious snub of the year when the editors branch gave Inception the kick.
The only clue I can look to for guidance (or misguidance as the case may be) is the ACE Eddie, which has gone to the eventual Oscar winner for the last nine consecutive years, almost always in the Drama category. The Social Network took that this year, so I'm gonna put my faith in the trend.

As for the also-rans, there's some decent work on display, most notably Andrew Weisblum's cutting of Black Swan. I don't relish the task of trying to moderate and control Aronofsky's off-the-wall visuals. The boxing sequences in The Fighter were well put together by Pamela Martin, and John Harris certainly amped up the intensity in 127 Hours (even if I'm not exactly on board with that directorial decision).

Will win: The Social Network
Runner-up: The King's Speech

Should win: The Social Network
Should have been nominated: Exit Through the Gift Shop and Inception

One Category at a Time: Original Screenplay

This will probably the second year in a row that the Oscar winner here was not eligible for the WGA. (Silly me. Totally thought Basterds won WGA last year. Doi!)
While last year's showdown between Inglorious Basterds and eventual Oscar winner The Hurt Locker was cause for legitimate indecision before the outcome, this year's perceived showdown between WGA winner Inception and Best Picture juggernaut The King's Speech is probably not much of a fight.

You can't help but be happy for David Seidler. Having long since overcome his own stammer, it's clear his attachment to the story he tells is a passionate and personal one. In spite of what more deserving nominees there are, his is still a droll and sincere script. You can't begrudge him his success.

At least Christopher Nolan can take his WGA victory as consolation. The mind-fucking originality of Inception lingers and improves with age, while also delivering an understated emotional cadence. It's great to see him recognized for this extraordinary filmmaking achievement.

It's highly unfortunate that Mike Leigh and Lisa Cholodenko are going unrewarded. The Kids Are All Right is the finest original screenplay of the year; genuinely emotional and emotionally genuine, tackling the complexity of human relationships with wit and insight. Though much different in tone, the devastating honesty of Another Year leaves an impression no less unshakable.

I could have done without The Fighter in this category, which is gradually becoming my most overrated film of the year, but you knew it would show up here. People like the movie, and I have to hand it to the writers for hammering a relatively messy collection of events into something relatively cohesive.

Will win: The King's Speech
Runner-up: The Kids Are All Right

Should win: The Kids Are All Right
Should have been nominated: Toy Story 3

One Category at a Time: Supporting Actress

This category is the only interesting one in the major categories, with a shaky frontrunner primed for an upset by a couple of potential spoilers.

Said frontrunner is Melissa Leo in The Fighter. Not to take anything away from her hard-earned success this season, but I really don't see what makes her performance so special. She does a good job, but I can't say I'm as taken as everyone else appears to be. Having swept the Critics' Choice, Golden Globe, and SAG Award, the smart money's on her, but she feels very vulnerable. Her acceptance speeches always seem to come across as being a bit full of herself, and word that she's recently embarked upon her own personal FYC campaign may be the grain of sand that tips the scales in someone else's favour.

Someone like Hailee Steinfeld, whose terrific realization of Mattie Ross in True Grit is the best performance of the five. There's a lot of support for the film and the performance, and this may be the place the Academy recognizes it, if Deakins' cinematography doesn't come to fruition.

Or it could go to Amy Adams, who gives a superior performance to Melissa Leo's if you ask me, and who's at just the right point in her career to win an Oscar, but this strikes me as a less likely possibility, given how much support Melissa Leo is still pulling.

Helena Bonham Carter might (just barely might) shock us all if The King's Speech is really going to sweep, but probably not. As for Jackie Weaver, good for her! It's great to see unknowns get recognized for obscure films, even though you know they don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

Will win: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Runner-up: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Should win: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Should have been nominated: Lesley Manville, Another Year

One Category at a Time: Supporting Actor

What more is there really to say about this category? Or any acting category for that matter? The same four performers have won the BFCA, Golden Globe, and SAG awards and will all probably continue on to take the Oscars.

There's only one possible scenario I can envision in which Christian Bale does not win this; a bona fide sweep for The King's Speech. If the voters really are as lazy as that when they have their ballots in hand, and vote for the film in every category, Geoffrey Rush can ride that pony all the way to podium. But that's not gonna happen. Performances are one thing that Academy members will vote for based on their own merits, rather than the merits of the film. That, or they vote for whichever star they like, and the way Bale's been walking the rope line and charming his way through the circuit, I can't see him not winning this. It also helps that his performance is by far more complex and fully realized than Rush's good-humoured but comparatively thin one.

Oh yeah, John Hawkes, Jeremy Renner, and Mark Ruffalo are all nominated too, but they're just along for the ride, which is too bad because they delivered some of the finest performances of the year, all of them making my own top five. Renner had us on edge all the way, Hawkes nailed nastiness and goodness all at once, and Ruffalo made easy-going look so much easier than it truly is! I really wish any of them could have won something this year, but you can't derail Bale!

Will win: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Runner-up: Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Should win: Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Should have been nominated: Ed Harris, The Way Back

SAG winners

Well, went a perfect 6/6 with my predictions, although that's hardly saying much given the incredibly predictable nature of the nominees this year... or any year, for that matter.

So obviously The King's Speech is the one to beat for Oscar's top honours, but the question is to what extent will it sweep? How many of its overly generous six craft nominations can it capitalize on? Art Direction, Costume Design, Score... probably. But there's such more deserving work to choose from in those categories. How many people honestly think Desplat's work is better than Zimmer's or Powell's or Reznor & Ross'? Will they actually go for Beaven's subtle threads over Atwood's "look-at-me" wardrobe? Is this just my own personal bias clouding my judgment? Or are there still cases to be made for the other nominees?

Too many questions. I hate all this uncertainty!

Anyway, the SAG winners, not that you need me to remind you.

Best Ensemble: The King's Speech Best Pic is a done deal.

Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech All hail the King.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan All hail the Swan Queen.

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale , The Fighter Moving right along...

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter I'd say the Oscar is pretty safe now.

Best Stunt Ensemble: Inception Predictable, but well deserved.

SAG preview

I don't know if I'm gonna watch these tonight. It's an awfully long show and there are only five categories I give a damn about, and even saying that is a stretch.

We know who's going to win Best Actor, Actress, and Supporting Actor (and probably Stunt Ensemble), but Best Ensemble and Supporting Actress are still very much up in the air.

If Melissa Leo triumphs here as she did at the Globes and the Critics' Choice, it looks like the Oscar is hers. But if anyone other than her wins, I think that gives an edge in the race to Hailee Steinfeld, who could benefit from vote splitting between Leo and her Fighter costar Amy Adams (who actually gives the better performance).

Best Ensemble could go three ways as I see it. If The Social Network wins, then it jumps back into a dead heat with The King's Speech for Best Picture. The actors make up almost a third of the Academy membership, and a vote of confidence from them is a powerful advantage. If The King's Speech wins, then it adds more fuel to the fire. Or it could go to The Fighter, if they don't think awards for Bale and Leo is reward enough, and that throws a whole new monkey wrench into the works.

My Predictions:
Best Ensemble: The King's Speech
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Best Stunt Ensemble: Incpetion

The Social Network owns the Golden Globes!

The Social Network wins 4, The Kids Are All Right and The Fighter each take two.

Best Picture (Drama): The Social Network
Best Picture (Comedy or Musical): The Kids Are All Right
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor (Drama): Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Best Actress (Drama): Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Paul Giammatti, Barney's Version
Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter Is the Oscar hers?
Best Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Best Foreign Language Film: In A Better World nice boost for this Oscar hopeful
Best Original Song: "You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me", Burlesque
Best Original Score: The Social Network

-Ricky Gervais wasn't funny at all. His jokes are so classless and unappealing. Fail.
-So The Social Network is clearly not just an early season fad. If the guilds confirm it has an industry favourite, then I'll have to finally put it in my #1 Best Picture slot.
-Does Melissa Leo have the Oscar wrapped up? Her precursor wins are lining up, but that acceptance speech was all kinds of arrogant. Will it hurt her chances?
-It's looking like "You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" is primed to bring Dianne Warren her first Oscar after six (soon to be seven) nominations.

My Award nominations: Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actor:

CHRISTIAN BALE in The Fighter:
I can't fault Bale for stealing the show away from its own central character, Micky Ward, because he just steals it so well! He delivers a memorable portrait of drug addiction, blind selfishness, and staunch denial that stem from years of living with unfulfilled dreams. He plays brilliantly off of his costars, as they play brilliantly off of him.

MICHAEL FASSBENDER in Fish Tank:
This is a slippery, tightrope-walking performance that constantly shifts and wiggles around in our mind. It's easy for us to love Fassbender's character at first, and it's still hard for us not to love him as the film's sticky sexuality starts to play itself out. It's simultaneously bold and understated work from one of the finest actors working.

ED HARRIS in The Way Back:
In an age where awards are naturally attracted to performances that live by flash and overt displays of emotion, it's so satisfying to behold a settled, sincere performance that's more emotive because it's so understated. Harris' lived-in portrayal of Mr. Smith is as calm but layered as any performance I've seen this year.

JEREMY RENNER in The Town:
The live wire of The Town's sprawling ensemble, Renner makes you tighten your grip on your armrest every time he's on screen. The unpredictability of his performance pays off in numerous and surprising ways, from the tensely soft-spoken conversation he has with Affleck and Hall, to his comedic final actions in the climactic shootout.

MARK RUFFALO in The Kids Are All Right:
Ruffalo's performance is relaxed and naturalistic, slipping into the character with a disarming ease that misdirects us from his own insecurities, namely his reluctance to truly grow up and start the family he wants but lacks the commitment to create. His crushing final scenes perfectly convey his character's vulnerability and regret.

Just missed: John Hawkes, Winter's Bone

Social Network wins Critics' Choice!

The BFCA, in their usual Oscar-guessing ways, followed the script of the season pretty much to the letter, handing The Social Network Best Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay (and also Score)!

Inception also cleaned up five craft awards (plus Best Action Film) while The Fighter nabbed three acting categories (Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, and Ensemble).

Best Picture: The Social Network Woohoo!
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Cinematography: Inception
Best Art Diretion: Inception
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Sound: Inception
Best Film Editing: Inception
Best Makeup: Alice in Wonderland Dammit! Dammit!
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland Dammit!
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Best Comedy: Easy A (nifty)
Best Documentary: Waiting for Superman
Best Foreign Language Film: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Best Action Movie: Inception
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter (surprise, surprise)
Best Ensemble: The Fighter
Best Young Actress: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Best Original Score: The Social Network
Best Original Song: "If I Rise", 127 Hours

ACE nominees!

The American Cinema Editors have spoken:

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic)
“Black Swan” (Andrew Weisblum)
“The Fighter” (Pamela Martin)
“Inception” (Lee Smith) This had better win!
“The King’s Speech” (Tariq Anwar)
“The Social Network” (Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall)

Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical)
“Alice in Wonderland” (Chris Lebenzon)
“Easy A” (Susan Littenberg)
“The Kids Are All Right” (Jeffrey M. Werner) This had better win!
“Made in Dagenham” (Michael Parker)
“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” (Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss)

Best Edited Animated Film
“Despicable Me” (Gregory Perler, Pam Ziegenhagen)
“How to Train Your Dragon” (Maryann Brandon, Darren T. Holmes)
“Toy Story 3″ (Ken Schretzmann, Lee Unkrich)

Best Edited Documentary
“Exit Through the Gift Shop” (Tom Fulford, Chris King) This had better win!
“Inside Job” (Chad Beck, Adam Bolt)
“Waiting for Superman” (Jay Cassidy, Greg Finton, Kim Roberts)


Pretty decent slate, especially given how my five film editing favourites of the year are all represented! Yay! Some observations to pick out from this very important guild:

-The omission of 127 Hours is indeed a sign; the industry just doesn't seem excited about this movie. Are people really being turned off by the graphic grisliness? I'm thinking this is the Best Picture contender in that unenviable 11th slot right now.
-I've had The Fighter down for Film Editing since my early predictions waaaaay back in May, and it looks like that may come to fruition.
-Black Swan and Inception have scored with every guild (although you could argue Inception's Stunt Ensemble nod from SAG doesn't really count).
-Inside Job is the only documentary to score with all four major guilds (DGA, WGA, PGA, ACE). Do we have a winner?

My Award nominations: Hair and Makeup

Truth be told, I didn't come across that many worthy contenders for Best Hair and Makeup this year (I haven't even seen all seven of the Academy's bakeoff finalists), but hey, I can always go back and change my nominees if I eventually see something better. Anywho, the three best I've seen so far are:

Black Swan
(Judy Chin, Paul LeBlanc, Michael Marino):
Darkly stylized stage makeup and grisly bodily transformation horrors dance together in this beautiful psychological thriller.

The Fighter
(Donald Mowatt, Johnny Villanueva):
Whether it's Christian Bale's burnt-out drug addict, Mark Whalberg's battered boxer's mug, or the subtle aging work done on Melissa Leo, all the makeup efforts are realistic and believable.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
(Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin):
There may not have been many new characters to create, but the makeup work here is still highly detailed and effective, especially at making the three leads look progressively wearier and worn down throughout their saga.

The Way Back
(Eduouard Enrique, Yolanda Tousseing):
The work done on Peter Weir's "modest" epic (by the same Oscar-nominated team of Master and Commander) is so good you almost don't even notice. The realization of sunburns, swollen feet, and general dishevelment is detailed and incredibly realistic.

The Wolfman (Rick Baker, Lisa Westcott, Dave Elsey):
What is there really to say? When Rick Baker's on the job, you know he's gonna give you nothing less than Oscar-worthy makeup. Not only are the werewolf effects awesome, but the wound and illness effects are rendered just as artfully.


Just missed: Shutter Island

Predictions - January 2011

Happy New Year, one and all!

I'd say it's high time my sidebar predictions were updated, and the most noteworthy changes in the wake of the critics awards are:

-Winter`s Bone makes a big entry into Best Picture and Supporting Actor.
-The Town also joins the Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, and Supporting Actor races.
-Black Swan dives into Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, and Cinematography.
-The Fighter now appears in Best Director and double dips in Supporting Actress.
-Ryan Gosling and Jesse Eisenberg join Best Actor.
-Additions in the craft categories: Alice in Art Direction, Shutter Island in Art Direction & Makeup, True Grit in Costume, The Social Network in Score, and 127 Hours in Score & Sound Editing.

I'm also going to venture some preliminary winner predictions before the guild awards start pouring in. From this point in the race, this is how I see it going down on Oscar night:

Best Picture: The King's Speech
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, The Fighter
Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Cinematography: Inception
Best Film Editing: The Social Network
Best Art Direction: The King's Speech
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland
Best Original Song: "I See The Light", Tangled
Best Original Score: The King's Speech
Best Sound Mixing: Inception
Best Sound Editing: Inception
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Makeup: The Wolfman
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Documentary: Waiting for Superman
Best Foreign Language Film: Life, Above All

Review - The Fighter

I really wanted to like David O'Russell's The Fighter. Who wouldn't? An uplifting true story about boxer Micky Ward's triumphant comeback after years of being held back by his family; should be riveting stuff, and make no mistake, there's plenty to like about the film, but I ultimately found it to be a relatively underwhelming exercise in listless filmmaking.

Mark Wahlberg plays Ward, a struggling boxer trained by his crack-smoking half brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) and managed by his mother (Melissa Leo). But the under-confident Ward gets a shot in the arm when his new girlfriend (the quite terrific Amy Adams) spells out how his family has been more of a hindrance than a help, all of them more concerned with attaching themselves to Micky's potential glory.

The film has a lot going for it on paper, but an uneven pace and lack of structure subdue its strengths. The first half is more about the charismatic Eklund than it is Ward, removing focus from the central character. Not that Dicky Eklund isn't fascinating to watch, and indeed, Bale delivers an impressive portrait of addiction, but it does prevent us from really getting to know or care about Micky Ward. The stirring title bout at the film's finale is strong enough to leave a good taste in my mouth leaving the theatre, but it doesn't exactly undo the indifference I felt for the rest of it.

All that said, the recent bevy of Golden Globe and SAG nominations shows a clear base of support for the film that will probably translate to a number of Oscar nods: Picture, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress (probably two) at the least, with a possibility of Film Editing as well.

**1/2 out of ****

Golden Globe nominations

The Hollywood Foreign Press Agency announced this morning their nominees for the Golden Globe Awards. As ultimately expected, they were big on presumed Oscar frontrunners The King's Speech (7 nods), The Social Network (6 nods), and The Fighter (6 nods).

Best Picture – Drama
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech”
“The Social Network”

Best Picture – Musical/Comedy
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Burlesque”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“Red”
“The Tourist”

The rest after the cut.