Let me just say – I have a lot of FEELINGS about this. As one of my other film friends put it, ‘this is my Super Bowl.’ So while I’m feeling all emotional and vulnerable, here’s who I think should win, mixed with who’s going to, and generally my opinions. Which occasionally make me sad, but are often right.
Best Picture:
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” I cannot describe how happy I am over the attention indies are getting!
“Silver Linings Playbook” We had to put one mainstream bleh movie in here, didn’t we?
“Zero Dark Thirty” Kathryn Bigelow, I think you found your genre.
“Lincoln” Can it really be considered ‘best’ if only the acting was good?
“Les Miserables” Bleh.
“Life of Pi” The NYFF is such a tastemaker; this was their opening film!
“Amour” This is actually huge. I loved Amour. It was such a risky but quietly amazing film. I’m so happy to see it on this list, ‘THE’ list, even though it won’t win.
“Django Unchained” Quentin, you’re back.
“Argo” Ben Affleck, you are a champion already. Ignore those Best Director and Best Actor snubs. Argo was a good film and if you don’t win Best Picture, just tell them what you told John Goodman on the phone in the airport.
I’m betting on Lincoln, Les Mis, or Argo. They have the star power behind them. I don’t even want to think about Silver Linings Playbook, so I will continue to ignore it.
Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained” If Christoph Waltz does not win in this category, I will cry myself to sleep. It will be OK in the morning though, because Christoph Waltz is never going to be out of work again. Now that Tarantino has shown him to the world in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, he’s so hire-able. Rumor is he’s playing Khruschev next.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master” About time.
Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Alan Arkin, “Argo”
Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”
While I think Waltz did something phenomenal in Django, this is a competitive category. A lot of these guys are former leading men, who have really found their niche as character actors as they progress in their careers. TLJ, you are a fabulous grumpy old man. Embrace it.
Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Field, “Lincoln”
Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”
Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
Amy Adams, “The Master”
Dear The Sessions and Silver Linings Playbook, go home. Also – Anne Hathaway will win and I’ll feel like I have a weird taste in my mouth. I just don’t like her.
Best Director:
David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”
Michael Haneke, “Amour”
Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Ay, here’s the rub. Kathryn Bigelow is noticeably absent from this list, even though her film is up for Best Picture. How can a film be up for the best film of the year if the direction was not also some of the best to be turned in that year? Ah, the conundrum of the sexism of the Academy. Oh wait, it’s not confusing, it’s just sexism. (For the record Tarantino and Affeck are also absent and deserve to be recognized with a nom here.)
Best Actor:
Daniel Day Lewis, “Lincoln”
Denzel Washington, “Flight”
Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables”
Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
This isn’t a competition. This is DDL’s MOMENT TO SHINE. Shut up, Bradley Cooper; your hair is terrible and I bet you don’t even know who Ernest Hemingway is.
Best Actress:
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Who saw The Impossible? No one? That’s what I thought. Again, refreshing to see Emmanuelle Riva on this list, although Jessica Chastain (deservedly) or Jennifer Lawrence (undeservedly) will win.
Best Original Screenplay:
“Zero Dark Thirty”
“Django Unchained”
“MoonriseKingdom”
“Amour”
“Flight”
Amour, Amour. The Academy is teasing you.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
“Lincoln”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Argo”
“Life of Pi”
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Beasts of the Southern Wild, the Academy may be teasing you as well, although I hope they aren’t. While it’s a debut indie feature, it could do well here.
Best Animated Feature:
“Frankenweenie”
“The Pirates! Band of Misfits”
“Wreck-It Ralph”
“Paranorman”
“Brave”
Best Foreign Feature:
“Amour”
“A Royal Affair”
“Kon-Tiki”
“No”
“War Witch”
Amour! This is your moment!
Best Visual Effects:
“Life of Pi”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“The Avengers”
“Prometheus”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
Holy moly Life of Pi. You made so many people seasick, it has to be worth something. Plus those other movies were awful. Come on, Life of Pi, you’re better than that.
Best Cinematography:
“Skyfall”
“Anna Karenina”
“Django Unchained”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
Wow Skyfall, way to grab some industry cred. While most moviegoers aren’t thinking about the ‘cinematography’ when seeing a film, this award does mean something to filmmakers. Way to go popular movie franchise. Go home Janusz Kaminski. You’re so 1982. No, but really, leave. Lincoln was not good work. And hey, where’s Argo? I thought the cinematography was really creative!
Best Costume Design:
“Anna Karenina”
“Les Miserables”
“Lincoln”
“Mirror Mirror”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
Period pieces FTW. Let’s challenge those costume designers!
Best Documentary Feature:
“Searching for Sugar Man”
“How to Survive a Plague”
“The Gatekeepers”
“5 Broken Cameras”
“The Invisible War”
All I know is that The Gatekeepers filmmaker had to have bodyguards at the NYFF. That’s some serious filmmaking. Interesting that The Central Park Five was left off this list; it got a lot of buzz. I was a fan of Casting By in the doc category, but the whole point of that film is that the industry looks down on casting directors (rudely).
Best Documentary Short:
“Open Heart”
“Inocente”
“Redemption”
“Kings Point”
“Mondays at Racine”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
Best Film Editing:
“Lincoln”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Life of Pi”
“Argo”
“Zero Dark Thirty”
Does ZDT get points for speed?
Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
“Hitchcock”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Les Miserables”
This is a joke, right? YOU DIDN’T EVEN GET HITCH’S NOSE RIGHT! TRY HARDER! With the tech we have today, you have no excuses. And The Hobbit? You made a bunch of men look dirty? Ever been to a park in New York City? IT’S NOT THAT HARD.
Best Music (Original Score):
“Anna Karenina”
“Argo”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Skyfall”
At least John Williams isn’t competing against himself again. I hear they still aren’t speaking after last year.
Best Music (Original Song):
“Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice”
“Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from “Ted”
“Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi”
“Skyfall” from “Skyfall”
“Suddenly” from “Les Misérables”
Adele, you keep crushing the competition. You keep on.
Best Production Design:
“Anna Karenina”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Les Misérables”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
Well, Anna Karenina, it looks like you won’t be ignored. While your acting, script, and directing may have been only fair, at least you looked pretty. The Hobbit, please. Les Mis, Lincoln, Life of Pi – OK this may be the only place where it is legitimate for the three of you to compete. What about Beasts of the Southern Wild? No production design love?
Best Short Film, Animated:
“Adam and Dog”
“Fresh Guacamole”
“Head over Heels”
“Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare’”
“Paperman”
Best Short Film, Live Action:
“Asad”
“Buzkashi Boys”
“Curfew”
“Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)”
“Henry”
Best Sound Editing:
“Argo”
“Django Unchained”
“Life of Pi”
“Skyfall”
“Zero Dark Thirty”
I am grateful the Academy splits mixing and editing because there is actually a difference. And Django was amazing; what’s a Tarantino film without being better than everyone else about using music?
Best Sound Mixing:
“Argo”
“Les Misérables”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Skyfall”
Now this is shocking, but I might actually prefer Les Mis here. Not because I think it should win Best Picture or Best Actor or anything – I wouldn’t go that far. But because mixing live singing of movie stars who are not classically trained singers (and some not even good non-singers) plus crowd scenes is HARD. So mad props on that one.
I should probably find somewhere to watch the Oscars and then live tweet them, otherwise I’ll just be irrationally angry.
I hope you can watch them somewhere!
Pingback: 31 Days of Oscar blogathon – Week 4 | Once upon a screen...·
Great post, Marlee! I am severely behind watching films this year but give my opinions anyway. I can only say that if Waltz doesn’t win Supporting Actor I will be crying in your sleep too! LOVED him in Django!
Aurora
I love Oscar Rants of all stripes, and I think yours is one of the best.
Let’s see what happens on Sunday…
Ohhhh, I love thissssss. Bravo!
What a great post, and your blog is fantastic!