I pick Ben Affleck for everything!!
Unfortunately that isn’t really an option, is it? Hell, I’d even vote for his 70’s hair, that thick mane is very impressive. After all the success the man has gotten at the other award shows, I’m sure the sting of the Non-Nom has subsided a touch. It’ll be OK, Ben. You’ve lived through worse…
I’ve rewatched my favorite ones here and I’ve got to say that this was a particularly stellar year. Scan the Best Pic noms and there is not one “The Blind Side” in the bunch. What is meant by that is ever since the category was opened up to include more than five films back in 2010, there has always been a couple throwaways: “A Serious Man”? “District 9”? The prestige has been wiped off a touch. But this year the field is solid and all are deserving. I may have not liked “Zero Dark” but it belongs here with the rest of these stellar films.
So take these picks to the bank. I’m not sure they’ll do you any good there but you never know.
Here are my Bold and incredibly Accurate Oscar Predictions. Warning: These predictions are not actually bold or accurate.
Between you and me… I’m just guessing.
Best Picture:
“Amour,” “Argo,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Django Unchained,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Zero Dark Thirty.”
Winner: “Argo” After all the other accolades, this has to take it.
Actor:
Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”; Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”; Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables”; Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”; Denzel Washington, “Flight.”
Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”. The Biggest No-Brainer of the night.
Actress:
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”; Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”; Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”; Quvenzhane Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”; Naomi Watts, “The Impossible.”
Winner: Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”. Strong category. I’m pulling for Lawrence or Wallis but I think Lawrence has the edge.
Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin, “Argo”; Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”; Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”; Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained.”
Winner: Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln” Mr. Lee Jones in a colonial wig. Priceless.
Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, “The Master”; Sally Field, “Lincoln”; ; Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”; Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook.”
Winner: Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”. Halfway through “I Dreamed a Dream” the race for this one was over.
Directing:
Michael Haneke, “Amour”; Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”; Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”; Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”; David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook.”
Winner: Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”. With no Ben, this one is open. Out of this batch, Lee gave us the best example of directing this year.
Foreign Language Film:
“Amour,” Austria; “Kon-Tiki,” Norway; “No,” Chile; “A Royal Affair,” Denmark; “War Witch,” Canada.
Winner: “Amour,” Austria. The other Biggest No-Brainer of the night.
Adapted Screenplay:
Chris Terrio, “Argo”; Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”; David Magee,”Life of Pi”; Tony Kushner, “Lincoln”; David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook.”
Winner: Chris Terrio, “Argo”. Much of the films success comes from this script.
Original Screenplay:
Michael Haneke, “Amour”; Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”; John Gatins, “Flight”; Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, “Moonrise Kingdom”; Mark Boal, “Zero Dark Thirty.”
Winner: Mark Boal, “Zero Dark Thirty.” This one caused the most fireworks this year.
Animated Feature Film:
“Brave”; “Frankenweenie”; “ParaNorman”; “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”; “Wreck-It Ralph.”
Winner: “Wreck-It Ralph.” I’d love to see “ParaNorman” get it but the Mouse House will probably take this.
Production Design:
“Anna Karenina,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln.”
Winner: “Anna Karenina,” This film is nothing but Production Design…
Cinematography:
“Anna Karenina,” “Django Unchained,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Skyfall.”
Winner: “Life of Pi,” Some amazing images here. A seamless mix of technology and storytelling.
Sound Mixing:
“Argo,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Skyfall.”
Winner: “Les Miserables,” Love it or hate it, the film’s major achievement lies in the singing captured “live” on set.
Sound Editing:
“Argo,” “Django Unchained,” “Life of Pi,” “Skyfall,” “Zero Dark Thirty.”
Winner: “Zero Dark Thirty.” If I knew the difference between this and Sound Mixing I promise I’d tell you…
Original Score:
“Anna Karenina,” Dario Marianelli; “Argo,” Alexandre Desplat; “Life of Pi,” Mychael Danna; “Lincoln,” John Williams; “Skyfall,” Thomas Newman.
Winner: “Argo,” Alexandre Desplat. Dude worked on 23 projects in the last 3 years including 8 this year alone. The Quantity is matched with Quality.
Original Song:
“Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice,” J. Ralph; “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from “Ted,” Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane; “Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi,” Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri; “Skyfall” from “Skyfall,” Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth; “Suddenly” from “Les Miserables,” Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil.
Winner: “Skyfall” from “Skyfall,” Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth. If Eminem can win one of these then Adele gets one too. And this is a Perfect Bond song.
Costume:
“Anna Karenina,” “Les Miserables,” “Lincoln,” “Mirror Mirror,” “Snow White and the Huntsman.”
Winner: “Les Miserables,” “Karenina” may take this but I think the Academy wants to give “Les Miz” as much of these smaller ones as they can.
Documentary Feature:
“5 Broken Cameras,” “The Gatekeepers,” “How to Survive a Plague,” “The Invisible War,” “Searching for Sugar Man.”
Winner: “How to Survive a Plague,” This is the most important one here.
Documentary (short subject):
“Inocente,” “Kings Point,” “Mondays at Racine,” “Open Heart,” “Redemption.”
Winner: “Open Heart,” Sure. Why not?
Film Editing:
“Argo,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Zero Dark Thirty.”
Winner: “Argo,” Much of magic is in the editing.
Makeup and Hairstyling:
“Hitchcock,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “Les Miserables.”
Winner: “Les Miserables.”
Animated Short Film:
“Adam and Dog,” “Fresh Guacamole,” “Head over Heels,” “Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare,'” “Paperman.”
Winner: “Adam and Dog,”
Live Action Short Film:
“Asad,” “Buzkashi Boys,” “Curfew,” “Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw),” “Henry.”
Winner: “Curfew,”
Visual Effects:
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “Life of Pi,” “Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Prometheus,” “Snow White and the Huntsman.”
Winner: “Life of Pi,” I believed every minute.