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.
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Best Picture
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Best Animated Feature Film
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
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Best Cinematography
Anna Karenina
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.
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Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina
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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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Best Production Design
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
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.
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Best Sound Editing
Zero Dark Thirty – The sound work on this film was really good. I’ll take it as my pick.
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Best Sound Mixing
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.
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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.
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman
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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
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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.
My predictions:
Picture: Argo
Director: Lee, Life of Pi (upset special!)
Actor: Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Actress: Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Supporting Actor: Jones, Lincoln
Supporting Actress: Hathaway, Les Miserables
Original Screenplay: Moonrise Kingdom
Adapted Screenplay: Lincoln
Animated Feature: Wreck-It Ralph
Foreign Language Film: Amour
Documentary Feature: Searching for Sugar Man
Production Design: Les Miserables
Cinematography: Life of Pi
Costume Design: Les Miserables
Editing: Zero Dark Thirty
Makeup & Hairstyling: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Score: Life of Pi
Song: Skyfall
Sound Editing: Zero Dark Thirty
Sound Mixing: Les Miserables
Visual Effects: Life of Pi
Animated Short: Paperman
Documentary Short: Open Heart
Live Action Short: Curfew
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Awesome surprise pick. I’m excited to see the winners this season.
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I went 15/24. Not too shabby for a tough year to predict. Called Lee as Director, so I’m happy about that.
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I went 8/19 with my picks since I left out some of the categories I knew nothing about. Good call on Lee. I’m a little surprised that Lincoln didn’t do better.
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