2013 Academy Award Nominations: Hopes and Predictions

Here we are again, the Oscars are close, and the nominees have been announced. It was a much different year than last for me. As I scrolled through this list for the first time I realized that I have not seen the majority of the films nominated this year, and as things are going with my soon to be busy life I may not make it out to see them before Seth Macfarlane host the ceremony on Sunday February 24th. 

So this year I get to take a different approach, my selections for who I want to win may be simply based on who I like more, or maybe just based upon what I have heard and read about these films and their contributes.

This years nominees did come as a bit of a surprise, and somewhat disappointment for me. The best picture category is basically what I expected. My favorite film of the year, Django Unchained is present, but it really stands little change against Lincoln, and Silver Linings Playbook, two films that seem to be getting unconditional love from all sides. Which I am not apposed to, I did see Lincoln and enjoyed it very much. And Silver Linings was on my radar, but I unfortunately didn't make it out. Plus my favorite actor Bobby DeNiro gets a probably well deserved nod this year, which is great to see after quite a long run of overlooked and forgotten roles. 

It is the Best Director category that really took me by surprise, neither Ben Affleck for ARGO, and Quentin Tarantino for Django are anywhere to be found. The two directors that I thought I would be battling with myself to decide on. I guess that battle was decided for me, neither! The acting categories were not as much of a surprise for the most part, I have been hearing a lot of talk about how great the young unknown Quvenzhané Walli in Beasts of the Southern Wild (she s now the youngest nominee ever at 8 years old), another film I have not seen. In fact that entire category consists of films I have missed so far, making my pick tricky. As for lead Actor, that is probably an easy win for Daniel Day-Lewis, but who knows. 

The toughest category for me to swallow is the supporting actor. I have no idea how to pick this. First of all Christoph Waltz was the victor between himself, Sam Jackson, and Leo DiCaprio from Django. All three were absolutely amazing, and deserve spots in this list, but in the end it seems only one would get it. As for the rest, I really love all of these actors. If DeNiro wins, despite not seeing the film, I would be ecstatic! Not long ago he had seemingly been written off as a washed up legend with no fuel left in his tank, and suddenly he re-emerges into the Academy spotlight. Arkin, Hoffman, and Jones are three actors I admire greatly. And having seem both ARGO and Lincoln, both Arkin and Jones deserve the win respectively. Plus Hoffman, is Hoffman, he could win for almost anything he appears in.

The best picture category this year, which has a strange amount with 9 picks, seems like every other year. They include all these nominees, but realistically it always comes down to 3 or 4 that really seem to stand a change. This year I strongly believe Lincoln, ARGO, Silver Linings, and Zero Dark Thirty are the only ones that stand a change. However, previous years have shown unexpected winners, so maybe this year will prove no different. Maybe Django Unchained will walk home with a golden statue... 

As for the rest, there are some yays and nays from my perspective, and more then a few "No ideas", but I will make a selection(highlighted in BLUE again), again like last year i will not pick who I THINK will win, but who I WANT to win, based purely on personal bias of course. And this year I will choose from all categories, why not?

 

Best Picture
"Argo"
"Django Unchained"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Amour"
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Daniel Day-Lewis - "Lincoln"
Hugh Jackman - "Les Miserables"
Joaquin Phoenix - "The Master"
Denzel Washington - "Flight"

Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain - "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva - "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis - "Beasts of Southern Wild"
Naomi Watts - "The Impossible"

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"

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams - "The Master"
Sally Field - "Lincoln"
Anne Hathaway - "Les Miserables"
Helen Hunt - "The Sessions"
Jackie Weaver - "Silver Linings Playbook"

Animated Feature Film
"Brave"
"Frankenweenie"
"ParaNorman"
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"
"Wreck-It Ralph"

Directing
"Amour" - Michael Haneke
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" - Benh Zeitlin
"Life of Pi" - Ang Lee
"Lincoln" - Steven Spielberg
"Silver Linings Playbook" - David O. Russell

Writing - Original Screenplay
"Amour" - Michael Haneke
"Django Unchained" - Quentin Tarantino
"Flight" - John Gatins
"Moonrise Kingdom" - Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
"Zero Dark Thirty" - Mark Boal

Writing - Adapted Screenplay
"Argo" - Chris Terrio
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" - Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
"Life of Pi" - David Magee
"Lincoln" - Tony Kushner
"Silver Linings Playbook" - David O. Russell

Music - Original Song
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice," music and lyrics by J. Ralph
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted," music by Walter Murphy, lyrics by Seth MacFarlane
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi," music by Mychael Danna, lyrics by Bombay Jayashri
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall," music and lyrics by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
"Suddenly" from "Les Miserables," music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

Foreign Language Film(......really no idea)
"Amour" (Austria)
"Kon-Tiki" (Norway)
"No" (Chile)
"A Royal Affair" (Denmark)
"War Witch" (Canada)

Cinematography
"Anna Karenina"
"Django Unchained"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"

Costume Design
"Anna Karenina"
"Les Miserables"
"Lincoln"
"Mirror Mirror"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Documentary - Feature
"5 Broken Cameras"
"The Gatekeepers"
"How to Survive a Plague"
"The Invisible War"
"Searching for Sugar Man"

Documentary - Short(no idea)
"Inocente"
"Kings Point"
"Mondays at Racine"
"Open Heart"
"Redemption"

Film Editing
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"

Makeup And Hairstyling
"Hitchcock"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Miserables"

Music - Original Score
"Anna Karenina"
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"

Production Design
"Anna Karenina"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"

Short Film - Animated(nope...no clue)
"Adam and Dog"
"Fresh Guacamole"
"Head over Heels"
"Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'"
"Paperman"

Short Film - Live Action(....you know the drill)
"Asad"
"Buzkashi Boys"
"Curfew"
"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)"
"Henry"

Sound Editing
"Argo"
"Django Unchained"
"Life of Pi"
"Skyfall"
"Zero Dark Thirty"

Sound Mixing
"Argo"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"

Visual Effects
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Life of Pi"
"Marvel's The Avengers"
"Prometheus"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"