So this means I can have a bit of fun and make some educated predictions instead of randomly ticking boxes like I'd done with previous ballots! I'll only be making predictions for categories that I have strong opinions for, i.e. I won't be making predictions for the best short or best animated short because I haven't seen any of them.
In this post I'm going to HIGHLIGHT IN YELLOW the film/person I think will win and HIGHLIGHT IN BLUE the film/person I personally want to win. If it's yellow, it means me and the Academy both agree. Phew, all clear? Let's get started then!
BEST PICTURE
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Out of the above, Life of Pi is my winner as it's both entertaining, thematically rich and artistically beautiful. It pleases on multiple levels. To catch more of my thoughts on Life of Pi, read my review. Unfortunately, I think Lincoln will win because it's a period Spielberg piece on a well-loved public figure.
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bradley Cooper
Daniel Day-Lewis
Hugh Jackman
Joaquin Phoenix
Denzel Washington
This seems nailed on as a Daniel Day-Lewis win but he really does deserve (potentially) his third Oscar. His performance is the strongest part of Lincoln. The man was born to play the role. I'd also like to add that Denis Lavant was completely robbed of a nomination for his role in Holy Motors...
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain
Jennifer Lawrence
Emmanuelle Riva
Quvenzhane Wallis
Naomi Watts
For similar reasons to DDL, Jessica Chastain is such an imposing figure in Zero Dark Thirty. She IS the film. I think this is quite a tough category to predict as apart from Jennifer Lawrence, all of the above have a great chance of winning. I wouldn't mind too much if Naomi Watts won either as I'm a big fan.
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| Chastain is due an Oscar and she may just find it at the weekend. |
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alar Arkin
Robert De Niro
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Tommy Lee Jones
Christoph Waltz
I predict Waltz to walk away with the gong although I personally think his performance as Dr Schultz is too similar to his one as Hans Landa. If I had my way, I'd give the award to Tommy Lee Jones. I know this means I've now given two awards to Lincoln and after saying I didn't like it but the performances were great okay? I just had problems with the story and length. Can I also ask, why is Alan Arkin in this category? He barely made an impression in Argo...
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams
Sally Field
Anne Hathaway
Helen Hunt
Jacki Weaver
Sally Field
Anne Hathaway
Helen Hunt
Jacki Weaver
I've only seen two of these performances and they were Jacki Weaver's in Silver Linings Playbook and Sally Field's in Lincoln. Neither performance wowed me and the rest of the films I've yet to see. However, the hype and media surrounding Anne Hathaway surely make her the favourite. Either way, I'd give the award to Amy Adams because she's a stunner and she's lost three times already.
BEST DIRECTOR
Michael Haneke
Ang Lee
David O. Russell
Steven Spielberg
Benh Zeitlin
I really, really, really hope Ang Lee wins this and I suspect he will. Life of Pi wasn't described as an 'unfilmable' book for no reason and yet he achieved it. I'm quite disappointed that Sam Mendes isn't here for Skyfall but whatcha gonna do?
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| Ang, you've got my vote com padre! |
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph
If Brave wins I'm gonna be super pissed off. It's not a bad film (it's actually quite good) but it's one of Pixar's weakest. Wreck-It Ralph was by far a better film in every aspect. I also wouldn't mind if ParaNorman won because a lot of love was put into making it. But I have a horrible feeling that the Academy will chose Brave over both of them because of its female-empowering character.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour
Kon-Tiki
No
A Royal Affair
War Witch
Surely if Amour is up for Best Picture, it wins Best Foreign Language Film by default? I mean, surely that's logical. I feel sorry for the other film-makers, there's no point in turning up. May as well save themselves the cost of the plane ticket and hotel fee's.
BEST WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Chris Terrio (Argo)
Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
David Magee (Life Of Pi)
Tony Kushner (Lincoln)
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
I'd like Chris Terrio to win for his Argo script and I think he stands a good chance. To be fair, I think they're all deserving winners (other than Alibar and Zeitlin who's film I've yet to see).
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| Argo deserves some recognition so I'll give it best adapted screenplay. |
BEST WRITING - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michael Haneke (Amour)
Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
John Gatins (Flight)
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)
Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)
I'd love to see Tarantino claim this award as it would be a shame to see Django Unchained walk away empty handed. However, Mark Boal offers up some sturdy competition and his script has got a lot of people talking. Boal could edge it.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Hobbit has to win this, right? I mean they built a whole forest inside a studio. The sheer scale of The Hobbit is frightening. But then Les Miserables exists...
As for sound-track, sound mixing, best documentary and the others, I don't have enough knowledge to make confident predictions so I'll leave those to the experts.
Think I'm talking a load of crap? Reckon you can beat my predictions? Write your own Oscar predictions in the comment box below and we'll see who comes out victorious!
Great list Ben. Yeah I wish Denis Levant and Holy Motors got a nomination this year. I'm leaning more towards Argo being the big winner. It won everything else, which could turn out to be a lost durring Oscar night but Im still pulling through for it.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange that Argo is up for Best Picture but not Best Director, nor any of the other big awards.
DeleteI wouldn't mind if it won Best Picture but I would prefer Life of Pi and Django over it.
At first I also thought that, by not being nominated for Best Director, ARGO and ZDT lost chances to win. But since ARGO has won EVERY Best Picture award SINCE the nominations announcement, I still think it could win.
ReplyDeleteI also don't get why Alan Arkin is nominated.
Would you please edit the blog to include why you want A ROYAL AFFAIR to win? I'm curious.
A Royal Affair had fantastic production, costumes and sets. It's the only one I've seen as aswell. Amour was always going to win so it didn't really matter what I chose.
DeleteYou seem like a doc kind of guy, after looking through some other reviews. Where are your picks? I agree with you mostly, but I believe Wreck It was a pile of wank in comparison to Frankenweenie. Any orchestrated piece from Frankenweenie trumps the godawful soundtrack let alone the predictable plot outcome and poor character designs of Wreck It. Armour deserves so much more than I expect it'll get. Maybe if Haneke made it in black and white, it would have taken the lot.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, I do watch a lot of doc's. The documentary's were all incredibly hard to find over here in the UK. Some were never even released theatrically. So I didn't put any predictions up as I'd only seen Searching for Sugar Man (the odds on winner anyway).
DeleteYou thought Frankenweenie should've won? I thought Frankenweenie was okay but far too short, simple and Burton just phoning it in. The ending was pure cheese as well. Thanks for your comments Anon.