Do you want to win a DVD prize? Go
ahead and post in the comment section what you think is going to win
and the commenter with the most correct choices will win a DVD prize
of my choosing! It’s that easy. There is no reason you should not
try.
Now, what do I think will win?
Here’s what I think! Tell me I’m a
dummy, if you want. Or you could agree with me.
Best Picture:
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
I haven’t seen Lincoln yet. I
know, I know, I know. How could I pick this to win when I haven’t
seen it? Well, I’ve seen everything else (except Amour. But
that’s a foreign flick. It’s like when Toy Story 3 got
nominated for Best Picture, and all it did was cement a win in the
Animated category). Basically, this year seems really weak to me. I
liked all the movies above, but none of them really wowed me, or
stood out. Personally, I think Argo deserves the win, but with
the lack of a director nod I can’t see it beating a flick that is
essentially made to win awards. With Steven Spielberg, one of the
most beloved directors of all time. So, you know, Lincoln.
Best Director:
Michael Haneke
Ang Lee
David O. Russell
Steven Spielberg
Benh Zeitlin
This is my heart talking. Spielberg is
probably going to add another Oscar statue to his mantel, but I
really think Ang Lee deserves this. He made a movie that was
previously deemed unfilmable (four other directors tried to make this
flick and failed) and he brought us an emotional, exciting, and
engaging movie. There wasn’t even a notable star, and yet it was a
success. I couldn’t see that happening without this man in the
director’s chair.
Best Actor:
Bradley Cooper
Daniel Day-Lewis
Hugh Jackman
Joaquin Phoenix
Denzel Washington
There is no way he can’t win. I mean,
I really want Joaquin Phoenix to win because he blew me away in The
Master. It was, hands down, the best performance I saw all year.
But Phoenix had to shit talk the academy and now has basically
alienated himself from winning the award. Instead, we have a crazy
method actor portraying an American hero. This one is kind of a
no-brainer.
Best Actress:
Jessica Chastain
Jennifer Lawrence
Emmanuelle River
Quvenzhane Wallis
Naomi Watts
There are two choices for this
category: Chastain or Lawrence. Emmanuelle isn’t well known enough.
Quvenzhane is too young. It doesn’t seem like many people saw or
cared about The Impossible. Jennifer Lawrence did a great job,
but she is too young. Chastain carried a three hour movie about in
the ins and outs of political bureaucracy. It ends in a twenty-five
realistic raid on bin Laden’s home. I mean, this isn’t really an
easy movie to sit through. But Jessica Chastain was able to pull it
off, without even wavering.
Best Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin
Robert De Niro
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Tommy Lee Jones
Christoph Waltz
I heard Tommy Lee Jones was really
good. That’s it. I heard somewhere that TLJ was going to win, so I
pretty much had my mind made up. Also, I really love him! De Niro
could win, and I think he would be a great winner. His work in Silver
Linings Playbook is some of his best in years. I would venture to
say it is his best since the early nineties. But for some reason, I
still have a hunch TLJ is going to take it.
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams
Sally Field
Anne Hathaway
Helen Hunt
Jacki Weaver
Anne Hathaway is the only notable
performance from this category. Helen Hunt has the same issues as
Naomi Watts—it doesn’t seem like anyone saw The Sessions.
Jacki Weaver barely did anything in SLP. Amy Adams was great
in The Master, but like Weaver, didn’t do a lot compared to
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix. Sally Field is Sally
Field, so who cares. Anne Hathaway was easily the best part of Les
Miserables and she was in it for the smallest portion of time.
Tip your hats to the next William Hurt (A History of Violence),
ladies and gentlemen.
Best Original Screenplay:
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty
Mark Boal basically wrote a news
article in the form of a movie. It is debatable how accurate the
story is, but that aside, the movie is expansive and takes a close
look at the man hunt for Osama bin Laden. I give him added points for
not making a political movie out of this political issue. It is a
difficult task to make this movie and keep it fairly unbiased.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
I don’t know, it’s just, Lincoln.
I haven’t voted enough for this movie. I think it’s going to win
more than I want it to. So, while I think Argo might win this
as a consolation prize. I’m sticking with Lincoln because
the movie did take a man’s life and whittle it down to an
accessible (probably?) three hour movie.
Best Animated Feature:
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph
I want any one of these movies to beat
Brave. Mostly, I want ParaNorman to win because I loved that
movie so so so so so much. It was like a classic kid gang movie from
the nineties. Sadly, it seems like when Pixar makes a halfway decent
movie it gets locked this category. So, Brave, that pile of
shit.
Best Foreign Language Film:
Amour
War Witch
No
A Royal Affair
Kon-Tiki
Amour is nominated for best
picture. If you don’t mark this as the winner for Foreign then
you’re a dingus.
Best Cinematography:
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
Life of Pi looked beautiful. It
was shot for 3D, so that's just another element to think about during
the production. And on top of that, the 3D wasn’t heinous like it
normally is. The movie relied heavily on the visuals to carry the
story and you need compelling composition to obtain that challenge.
They did it!
Best Editing:
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Again, I feel like I need to give Argo
something. So, here you go, Affleck. Enjoy the editing award.
Best Production Design:
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Expectedly Long Journey
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
A movie based on a stage play made to
look like a stage play. Simple as that.
Best Costume Design:
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman
I need to vote for Lincoln more.
That’s about it. You always need to pick a period piece for this
category. That puts Mirror Mirror and Snow White out of
the running. Anna Karenina seemed too obscure, if that makes
any sense? Like, it wasn’t grounded enough, but wasn’t over the
top enough. I don’t really know, I’m basing that idea off the two
minute trailer. Les Miserables is close, but Lincoln is
based on a real man’s life, one that’s in an era that lends
itself to an array of costumes.
Best Make-Up and Hairstyling:
Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Expectedly Long Journey
Les Miserables
Did everyone see how great Anthony
Hopkins looked as Hitchcock?
Best Original Score:
Anna Karenina
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
The score in this movie was the only
one I really thought about afterwards. It had all the emotional
qualities you need for a good score, but was still unique in the
setting.
Best Original Song:
Chasing Ice
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Ted
I’m probably going to lose this one.
I figured Les Miserables was the musical, so it had to win.
Everyone has told me that I’m dumb. I should have picked Adele.
Best Sound Mixing:
Argo
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
I usually pick the loudest movie of the
bunch. I probably should have picked Skyfall, but Life of
Pi had that cool storm/ship sinking scene.
Best Sound Editing:
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty
^ See above. ^
Best Visual Effects:
The Avengers
The Hobbit
Life of Pi
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman
Did you know the tiger was mostly
configured with CGI? There weren’t any scenes shot with Suraj
Sharma and the tiger together. But they interact for the majority of
the movie!That is incredible to me. This is Benjamin Button good.
Best Documentary:
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man
This is the only documentary I watched,
so I fail. But it was great! Depressing as shit, but great.
Best Short Documentary:
Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption
I had no idea. This was a complete
guess.
Best Short Animated:
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
Paperman
The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare
Paperman is such a touching
short. I loved it. I really did. Watch it on youtube.
Best Short Live:
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry
I like the name Henry?
There you go. I'm usually terrible at guessing who will win the Oscar, but you could copy me if you want. Or, if you want to win that DVD prize, make your own guesses below.
