I love movies and this is the biggest night for them! The 85th Annual Academy Awards, now dubbed The Oscars by ABC, is here! 2012 has really been a great year for film. I've seen well over 50, probably close to 60 films, that came out in 2012. While I'm no film expert, I know what I like and I'm decent enough at following films trends on the road to tonight. Below are 14 categories that I've either seen most (or all) of the nominees. Some are big categories, like Best Picture and Best Actor. Some are smaller such as Best Visual Effects or Costume Design. In each section I'll be giving you the nominations, thoughts and ultimately my wants and predictions on who will win tonight. So without further adieu, here's me blathering on about The Oscars.
Best Picture
(Link to review of all but "Life of Pi" if you click the title)
Life of Pi
Thoughts
This was a good year for film and movies in general. Six of these nine movies are above average for me and three of them will be ones I'll probably have repeated viewings of over the years. The logical choice for me if I ran the Oscars would be to give Django Unchained the award. For me this is my highest rated film of these nominations and my favorite of the movies here. The story, characters, action and overall writing made it one of my favorite films of the year. Then again, I don't run the Academy, so Django isn't even gonna come close to winning. The more logical choices to win are Lincoln or Argo. While Ben Affleck didn't even get the nod for best director, Argo has been getting a head of steam at awards ceremonies all this season. You have to also throw Lincoln into the mix because of the amazing directing, writing and performance by Daniel Day Lewis.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Actor (in a Leading Role)
Bradley Cooper - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Daniel Day-Lewis - "Lincoln"
Hugh Jackman - "Les Misérables"
Joaquin Phoenix - "The Master"
Denzel Washington - "Flight"
Thoughts
This category is a fairly easy one for me as there is no one in the league that Daniel Day Lewis went to for Lincoln. While Joaquin Phoenix was awesome in The Master, he was outshined by his cast members in my opinion. The same kind of thing happened with Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables as well. Denzel Washington was pretty solid in Flight while Bradley Cooper was okay in Silver Linings Playbook. No one touches the depth that Daniel Day Lewis does in Lincoln. From the performance he gives a whole, to all the little nuances he taps into, Lewis is by far the best choice to win this award.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Actress (in a Leading Role)
Jessica Chastain - "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva - "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis - "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Naomi Watts - "The Impossible"
Thoughts
This category is a little less cut and dry as it's counterpart, cause there is a nice duo of women that could both easily take the award. While Emmanuelle Rivera and Quvenzhane Wallis are on both ends of the age spectrum, they did give great performances. But not to the level of the two that should be considered the favorites. Jessica Chastain delivered a great performance in an otherwise ho-hum movie, Zero Dark Thirty. She kept me thoroughly into this until the meat of the movie kicks in. While I think the consensus to win is Jennifer Lawrence's performance in Silver Linings Playbook. To me it's not better than her performance in 2011's Winter's Bone though. It is still one of the better jobs she's done this year and in her career as a whole.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Actor (in a Supporting Role)
Alan Arkin - "Argo"
Robert De Niro - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Master"
Tommy Lee Jones - "Lincoln"
Christoph Waltz - "Django Unchained"
Thoughts
The supporting role categories can be tricky because a lot of the time the actor (or actress) can over take a lead role. This happens, or at least "ties" so to speak, the performances of their counterparts quite often. Robert De Niro is one of the best actors of all time, so he took over in the scenes he's involved in, in Silver Linings Playbook. Philip Seymour Hoffman completely overtakes Joaquin Phoenix in The Master so it's too bad he's going up against these other powerhouses this year. Alan Arkin was great in Argo, and it's another case of being the underdog. Christoph Waltz's performance in Django Unchained was probably one of my favorite performances of the year and I'd love to see him win this. But, Tommy Lee Jones dominates his scenes in Lincoln. Though he wasn't near as great as Daniel Day Lewis. He did good enough to deserve the Oscar by virtue of keeping up with Lewis.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Actress (in a Supporting Role)
Amy Adams - "The Master"
Sally Field - "Lincoln"
Anne Hathaway - "Les Misérables"
Helen Hunt - "The Sessions"
Jacki Weaver - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Thoughts
This is much like the best actress category, where for me it's almost cut and dry on who I would like to win and who will most likely take who the Oscar. Jacki Weaver never blew me away with her performance in Silver Linings Playbook, but I respect her career as a whole. Sally Field did great in Lincoln and I wouldn't be surprised if she took the Oscar. Amy Adams was the one who held Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix's performances together in The Master. This is probably my favorite performance of Amy Adams behind The Muppets and Sunshine Cleaning, so it would be cool to see her win. But Anne Hathaway's performance in Les Miserables was the best woman's performance in the film. Not to mention her singing was the best in the film too, we all know the Academy loves singing.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Animated Feature Film
"Brave" - Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
"Frankenweenie" - Tim Burton
"ParaNorman" - Sam Fell and Chris Butler
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits" -Peter Lord
"Wreck-It Ralph" - Rich Moore
Thoughts
There is only two movies that I would even throw into the ring for winning this award this year. Wreck-It Ralph is hands down my favorite film of the year. From the story, voice acting and nostalgia is brings me, it's the best film of the year in my eyes. So if this takes best animated film it'll make me mighty excited. While Wreck-It Ralph should win, Brave, a good film in it's own right, will probably win. I don't like Brave near as much, but it's story, design and music are all pretty good.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Cinematography
"Anna Karenina" - Seamus McGarvey
"Django Unchained" - Robert Richardson
"Life of Pi" - Claudio Miranda
"Lincoln" - Janusz Kaminski
"Skyfall" - Roger Deakins
Thoughts
This definitely isn't a huge award by any means but I love the surroundings and locations that go into making a film. From snow capped mountain landscapes to rugged western towns and plantations, Django Unchained was never hard on the eyes. But Life of Pi has this beat in a lot of ways. It think it'll take the win because of the plethora of places the movie went. From a zoo set in India, to the open ocean and a lost exotic island. Another dark-horse would be Lincoln as the government settings and battlefields are done expertly. Life of Pie is set to win, but Django Unchained or Lincoln could be a nice surprise.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Costume Design
"Anna Karenina" - Jacqueline Durran
"Les Misérables" - Paco Delgado
"Lincoln" - Joanna Johnston
"Mirror Mirror" - Eiko Ishioka
"Snow White and the Huntsman" - Colleen Atwood
Thoughts
This is another one of those afterthought categories, but it goes hand in hand with cinematography category. The style of a movie can ruin, or make it, very quickly. That doesn't happen for me with Lincoln in the slightest. The costumes are done perfectly. Whether it's army uniforms or government officials everything is ascetically pleasing. It's my choice to win easily, but Anna Karenina is the front-runner to win this. Admittedly I haven't see this movie, but I've done a bit of research on the costume design. Everything looks vibrant and extravagant, which is another thing the Academy always seems to like.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Director
"Amour" - Michael Haneke
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" - Benh Zeitlin
"Life of Pi" - Ang Lee
"Lincoln" - Steven Spielberg
"Silver Linings Playbook" - David O. Russell
Thoughts
There were a ton of great directors this year, and one of the big snubs was Ben Affleck, who I'd have easily put in that first spot down below. But you can't deny all the great effort that Steven Spielberg put into Lincoln. From wearing a suit on set, as not to feel under-dressed, to going the extra mile for props that sounded exactly like they did back in the day. He's my personal favorite to win. But Ang Lee did a superb job with Life of Pi in his own right. The direction, especially on the art and effects side, is an easy choice to take this if Spielberg doesn't.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Music (Original Song)
"Before My Time" from Chasing Ice - Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from Ted - Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
"Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi - Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
"Skyfall" from Skyfall - Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
"Suddenly" from Les Misérables - Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
Thoughts
There is only one song that can and will win this year. It might've been the "Do You Hear The People Sing" from the middle and closing of Les Miserables, but of course they didn't choose that one. Nor did they choose any of Anne Hathaway's stuff from the movie. So good job. But Adele singing "Skyfall" during the opening of Skyfall was pretty haunting. Combine it with the opening credits sequence, which is the best part of Skyfall, and you've got the best original song of this year.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Short Film (Animated)
"Adam and Dog" - Minkyu Lee
"Fresh Guacamole" - PES
"Head Over Heels" - Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
"Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'" - David Silverman
"Paperman" - John Kahrs
Thoughts
I wrote a review piece of all five of these films. I wanted to watch all the documentary and feature live action shorts, but these are all I could readily watch. I liked all of these, with Head Over Heels being my worst rated one. That being said The Longest Daycare was the funniest and really gave me a good feeling after watching it. Also the one I want to win, Paperman, was just as great as when I saw it in theaters. But Adam and Dog is quite well done, and with the story and art style, it should easily win this year. It's not a bad thing and you should still watch all of these.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Visual Effects
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" - Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
"Life of Pi" - Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
"Marvel's The Avengers" - Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
"Prometheus" - Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
"Snow White and the Huntsman" - Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson
Thoughts
This will be short and quick here. I love the look and feel of a movie and if CGI is well done, it really makes me happy watching a film. I wanna highlight my favorite superhero movie of the year, and maybe the best of all time, in The Avengers. I would like nothing more than to see it take the Oscar in the one place it's nominated. It's going up against the "favorite" in Life of Pi, which is phenomenal, as the scenes on the ocean and island are amazing.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Writing (Adapted Sreenplay)
"Argo" - Written by Chris Terrio
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" - Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
"Life of Pi" - Written by David Magee
"Lincoln" -Written by Tony Kushner
"Silver Linings Playbook" - Written by David O. Russell
Thoughts
We're coming to the close of this long post, and if you've made it this far, reward yourself with a cookie or something. This is a fairly easy category for me. While Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook have remarkable adaptations, they don't touch Argo. Argo from start to finish is the best written movie of the year. That's hard to say too as Lincoln had Spielberg directing and Daniel Day-Lewis killing it. It's too bad that at this aspect Ben Affleck and Chris Terrio are better, so to speak.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
"Amour" - Written by Michael Haneke
"Django Unchained" - Written by Quentin Tarantino
"Flight" - Written by John Gatins
"Moonrise Kingdom" - Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
"Zero Dark Thirty" - Written by Mark Boal
Thoughts
I think this is Katherine Bigelow takes an Oscar for her movie. But it's not what I want to see. Quentin Tarantino is usually snubbed at the Oscars, so even though I adore Django Unchained, I won't win here. Moonrise Kingdom on the other hand is one of the best "surprise" movies for me to see this year. Highly original story, with great characters and dialogue. Unfortunately this is the USA, and every chance we get we like to bring out that patriotic pride. Whats more American than taking down Osama bin Laden? The answer is nothing and the winner is Zero Dark Thirty.
Who I Want To Win
Who Will Win
