Picking Winners for the 85th Academy Awards

It’s finally time to make my choices for the Oscars. I’ve done a pretty good job seeing films and I think I’m more educated than last year.

The Oscars have changed a bit since last year. The Kodak Theater is now known as the Dolby Theater, and despite the name change, will be home to the awards again this year.

The nominees include an impressive list of incredible films. I’ve been lucky to see so many of them, and I hope to see a few more before the show, on February 24th.

Without further ado, here are my picks for the 85th Annual Academy Awards.

• Best Picture

Amour

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Miserables

Life of Pi

Lincoln – Despite the success of Argo, I’m sticking with my favorite movie of the year. The competition is tight, but I think that Lincoln is one of the best movies I’ve seen in several years.

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

• Best Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln – This is the type of performance that wins Oscars. The transformation of Daniel Day-Lewis is incredible and should win. I honestly don’t see anyone else winning this year, despite some great movies. This is just one of those roles designed to win an Oscar.

Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables

Joaquin Phoenix – The Master

Denzel Washington – Flight

• Best Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook – This was a really good movie, not my favorite of the year, but it should be good enough to get Lawrence an Oscar to go along with a number of other trophies she’s earned this year. Her biggest competition is Jessica Chastain, who also did some great work in her nominated role.

Emmanuelle Riva – Amour

Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

Naomi Watts – The Impossible

• Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin – Argo

Robert DeNiro – Silver Linings Playbook

Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln – I think Jones has a good chance to win this award. He gave a great performance and was a part of an amazing movie. He’s up against two other nominees that could also win, DeNiro and Waltz.

Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained

• Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams – The Master

Sally Field – Lincoln

Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables – I initially picked this one the advice of friends. Now I’ve seen it, and I think she has a really good chance. Great performance in a challenging role.

Helen Hunt – The Sessions

Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook

• Best Animated Feature Film

Brave

Frankenweenie – This might be the hardest award for me to pick since I’ve only seen one of the films. I have, however, done my research and I feel confident that this has the best chance at winning. This may be a bit too easy, but I do think that it’s between the three Disney movies when it comes to picking this one.

ParaNorman

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Wreck-It Ralph

• Best Cinematography

Anna Karenina

Django Unchained

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall – This is one that I had a hard time choosing. I normally don’t associate Bond films with Oscar wins. This time I’m going out on a limb since this movie did look great.

• Best Costume Design

Anna Karenina

Les Miserables

Lincoln

Mirror Mirror – I haven’t seen all of the movies on this list, this one included. Still, I’ve taken the time to look at the nominated films and this one has some impressive costumes. I’m not ultra-confident, but I like my chances with this pick.

Snow White and the Huntsman

• Best Director

Michael Haneke – Amour

Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild

Ang Lee – Life of Pi

Steven Spielberg – Lincoln – Steven Spielberg might need to clean out some space on his mantle for another Oscar. This movie was produced for awards season, and I think it’s going to take this one home.

David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook

• Best Film Editing

William Goldenberg – Argo

Tim Squyres – Life of Pi

Michael Kahn – Lincoln

Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers – Silver Linings Playbook

Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg – Zero Dark Thirty – This one is an easy pick for me. This movie was incredibly well-edited, and I think it’s got a great chance at a win.

• Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Hitchcock

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – This movie transformed everyday people into the memorable characters of Middle Earth. I think it’s got a great chance, but the competition is stiff.

Les Miserables

• Best Music – Original Score

Dario Marianelli – Anna Karenina

Alexandre Desplat – Argo

Mychael Danna – Life of Pi

John Williams – Lincoln – I’ve only seen several of the nominated films, but I think this one goes to John Williams for his impressive score on this epic film.

Thomas Newman – Skyfall

• Best Music – Original Song

J. Ralph – “Before My Time” from Chasing Ice

Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane – “Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from Ted

Michael Danna and Bombay Jayashri – “Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi

Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth – “Skyfall” from Skyfall – I think that being wrong here would be the biggest disappointment of the picks for me. I love this song, and I think it’s got a great chance to win after gaining a ton of critical and commercial success.

Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer, and Alain Boublil – “Suddenly” from Les Miserables

• Best Production Design

Anna Karenina

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Les Miserables

Life of Pi

Lincoln – I’ll take this one. I haven’t seen them all, but I know that this film should take home a number of awards. The work done to bring a bygone era to life was tremendous, and it paid off. I think it will at the Oscars as well.

• Best Sound Editing

Argo

Django Unchained

Life of Pi

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty – The sound work on this film was really good. I’ll take it as my pick.

• Best Sound Mixing

Argo

Les Miserables

Life of Pi – It didn’t take me long to decide on this movie as the winner for Best Sound Mixing. If you haven’t seen the film yet, I highly suggest checking it out.

Lincoln

Skyfall

• Best Visual Effects

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Life of Pi – The vision of Ang Lee is translated beautifully in this amazing movie. I think it would be a tragedy if it doesn’t take home the statue.

Marvel’s The Avengers

Prometheus

Snow White and the Huntsman

• Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay

Chris Terrio – Argo

Lucy Alibar and Ben Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild

David Magee – Life of Pi

Tony Kushner – Lincoln – Tony Kushner took on the impressive work of Doris Kearns Goodwin and turned it into an amazing screenplay that captured the spirit of the times. I think this film should take this award.

David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook

• Best Writing – Original Screenplay

Michael Haneke – Amour

Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained – No other story captured my attention quite like this one. Tarantino has a knack for getting your attention and keeping it without any reservations as to how he does it. I love that, and I loved this film.

John Gatins – Flight

Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom

Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty

So, there are my picks. Let me know what your picks are. It’s going to be a great year at the Oscars.