Yes, it's that time of the year again, it's awards season and that means that it's time for me and the Academy to butt heads once again. It was an interesting year for the Oscars, and I believe that the race has never been closer. This year I'm doing it a little bit differently, I'll be posting what I think should win and then I'll follow that up with what I feel the Academy will choose. There won't be as many descriptions except for Best Picture and Best Director, I'll skip some minor categories such as short film and documentary, and I won't be listing every nominee in the interest of space. So let's delve right into it.
Writing- Original Screenplay
My Pick: Zero Dark Thirty
The Academy's Pick: Moonrise Kingdom (This film has garnered a lot of praise and buzz, and while I didn't love it, it seems to me the kind of film the Academy would go ga-ga over).
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Writing- Adapted Screenplay
My Pick: Silver Linings Playbook
The Academy's Pick: Argo
Both films were superbly written, I chose Silver Linings because I feel it was the stronger of the two, however Argo has a good amount of steam going for it and it seems more in line with Academy sensibilities so I feel that that will end up nabbing the gold.
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Visual Effects
My Pick- Life of Pi
The Academy's Pick: Life of Pi
Because every other film in this category had pretty lackluster effects. This would be a win for Richard Parker the Tiger, who is a seamless blend of real tiger and CGI. There are points where it's clear Richard Parker is CGI, but more often than not I couldn't tell if he was real or not. I want to believe most of his scenes were used with a real tiger, but can tigers really be trained so that they don't attack humans in close proximity....I don't know. Either way, the visual effects for Richard Parker definitely do a better job of tricking the mind than most films these days. Of course, there are other astounding visual effects in the film, but for the space of sake I'm just going to focus on Richard Parker here.
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Sound Mixing
My Pick: Argo
The Academy's Pick: Argo
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Sound Editing
My Pick: Argo
The Academy's Pick: Argo
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Production Design
My Pick: Anna Karenina
The Academy's Pick: Anna Karenina
This film sports some of the best production design I have seen in a very long time. It's quite unlike anything I have ever seen. While the story is weak, what is done with and in the setting of the theater is a true spectacle to behold. I would be seriously disappointed if The Academy chooses Lincoln for the gold here.
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Original Song
My Pick: Everybody Needs A Best Friend from Ted
The Academy's Pick: Everybody Needs A Best Friend from Ted
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Original Score
My Pick: John Williams for Lincoln
The Academy's Pick: John Williams for Lincoln
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Makeup and Hair Styling
My Pick: Les Miserables
The Academy's Pick: Les Miserables
This award COULD go to Hitchcock, but I believe the Academy will go with the better film here
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Foreign Language Film
My Pick: Amour
The Academy's Pick: Amour
Because it's also in the Best Picture nominees, so this one should be kind of a no-brainer
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Film Editing
My Pick: Zero Dark Thirty
The Academy's Pick: Argo
I really hope I'm proven wrong here and the Academy goes with Zero Dark Thirty. This one is definitely neck and neck between Zero Dark Thirty and Argo. For myself Zero Dark Thirty is the winner because of that fantastic last 30 minutes which is edited supremely well and not only keeps the tension going but also places you right with the SEALS. That said, Argo's editing was fantastic from beginning to end, so in a way while Zero Dark Thirty has best editing, Argo is the stronger film.
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Best Director
My Pick: David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
The Academy's Pick: Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
I still think Kathryn Bigelow deserves Best Director, but due to her Oscar Snub I'm going to have to go with 2nd best which would be David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook. I think the Academy will go with the safe choice and pick Lincoln, which I feel doesn't really deserve to be in this category. I feel that Lincoln's tone and structure was all over the place, and that was probably due in large part to Spielberg. He does a fantastic job directing his actors, not so great though at directing the flow and structure of the film. It's yet another Spielberg film that relies too heavily on sentimentality and schmaltz, although at least it's actually got some historical accuracy to it....something Spielberg's other sentimental film, War Horse, did not have. It's also possible that Ang Lee could win, a win for him would also mean Pi has a better chance at winning Best Picture as well.
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Costume Design
My Pick: Anna Karenina
The Academy's Pick: Anna Karenina
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Cinematography
My Pick: Anna Karenina
The Academy's Pick: Life of Pi
Both of these films NAILED their cinematography. For myself, I found Anna Karenina the more impressive film as far as cinematography goes, but Life of Pi will probably walk away with the gold for it's constant other-worldly, surreal, and heavenly work in this field. Both films are in honesty just about equally great, it's just that Pi keeps the amazing cinematography going for most of the film whereas Karenina's cinematography only really shines within the confines of the theater, most of the film takes place in the real world and these parts are fairly dull to look at (but when we're in the theater, the way they use that setting and what occurs inside it's confines is pure spectacle and magic, just like the old black and white days of film making, except Karenina is in color!). I will say that Pi is the more deserving of these two films, and it's likely to walk away with the gold.....it's a well deserved win.
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Best Animated Feature Film
My Pick: ParaNorman
The Academy's Pick: Wreck-It Ralph
Only reason I pick ParaNorman is because out of the two animated films I have seen in this category, it was the better one. Still need to see Wreck-It Ralph though, and I have a feeling it will walk away with the Oscar.
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Actress In A Supporting Role
My Pick: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables
The Academy's Pick: Sally Field for Lincoln
I doubt that the Academy would go with the obvious winner....who knows, maybe they will surprise me.
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Actor In A Supporting Role
My Pick: Tommy Lee Jones
The Academy's Pick: Tommy Lee Jones
Christoph Waltz already walked away with a win last year for his work in Basterds, I seriously doubt that he will get it again the very next year, besides, Tommy Lee Jones hasn't been in a great role in a long time. In Lincoln, he easily steals the show and actually managed to be what I consider the best character in the film. He deserves the win here guys, and I have a feeling the Academy will give him the award.
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Actress In A Leading Role
My Pick: Jessica Chastain
The Academy's Pick: Jessica Chastain
Chastain has garnered a lot of buzz for her work in Zero Dark Thirty, as well she deserves to. She is fearless in the film, and her portrait of a hard-set, determined female CIA Agent is phenomenal. If the Academy snubs her in favor of Jennifer Lawrence, I couldn't see it as anything less than a personal attack against Zero Dark Thirty itself.
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Actor In A Leading Role
My Pick: Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook
The Academy's Pick: Daniel-Day Lewis for Lincoln
Yes, Daniel-Day Lewis is super believable as the great orator of our time but Bradley Cooper's surprising rise to true leading man status is even more impressive in my opinion.
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Best Picture
My Pick: Zero Dark Thirty
The Academy's Pick: Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty is a vitally important film to America's history as it details a period of time where we were still picking ourselves up from a great tragedy. It's a deeply affecting film that probably won't win Best Picture like it deserves to due to it's Best Director snub. It's definitely not out of the race, but it's still a long shot. I feel that, since the Academy doesn't like to ruffle any feathers, they will go with the safe choice and pick Lincoln as best film....thereby pleasing just about everyone, denouncing water boarding, honoring Steven Spielberg, and paying respect to one of our greatest presidents. It's not fair, but that's how the Academy works. There is also a fairly good chance that they may surprise us and go with Life of Pi, a choice I would be prefectly ok with. It really could go either way, I just feel that, knowing the Academy, that lincoln has the edge here.
So there you have it, my Oscar predictions. Hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts. Till next time, I'll see YOU at the movies. HAPPY 2013 EVERYBODY!!!!
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