Friday, February 24, 2012

My 2012 Oscars Predictions

Tomorrow's Oscar night, so let's cut to the chase. Here are my predictions for the 84th Annual Academy Awards:


Best Picture:

(The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse)

During the past weeks, the hype around The Artist has shown significant increase. But my personal favorite among these was The Descendants.

Should win: The Descendants

Will win: The Artist


Best Director:

(Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist, Alexander Payne for The Descendants, Martin Scorsese for Hugo, Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris, Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life)

Same reasoning as above for The Artist, and add to that the fact that Best Picture and Best Director usually go hand in hand. But how could one ignore Scorsese's brilliance in Hugo?

Should win: Martin Scorsese

Will win: Michel Hazanavicius


Best Actor:

(Demian Bichir in A Better Life, George Clooney in The Descendants, Jean Dujardin in The Artist Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Brad Pitt in Moneyball)

Even though Clooney already has a screenwriting Oscar win for Good Night and Good Luck (2005), his comedic/tragic turnout in The Descendants is still preferred to Pitt's somewhat repetitious act in Moneyball. But for crying out loud, Dujardin got nominated for playing in a silent movie!

Should win: Jean Dujardin

Will win: George Clooney


Best Actress:

(Viola Davis in The Help, Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs, Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady, Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn)

Stiff competition here. Mara has the least chance of all, the other four showing equal possibilities. Davis has recently been gathering Oscar buzz, and my personal favorite is Streep as Margaret Thatcher, but I'm willing to bet on Williams' performance as Marilyn Monroe to win. When it comes to Best Actress, the Academy always loves a fresh young face.

Should win: Meryl Streep

Will win: Michelle Williams


Best Supporting Actor:

(Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn, Jonah Hill in Moneyball, Nick Nolte in Warrior, Christopher Plummer in Beginners, Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)

No doubt Plummer will win. But although he showed a strong presence in Beginners, I believe his win will be a sympathetic vote for an old-timer who's never won an Oscar. Instead, the Academy should go for Jonah Hill and his subtle but pivotal performance in Moneyball.

Seems like I'm going against the flow on every category this year.

Should win: Jonah Hill

Will win: Christopher Plummer


Best Supporting Actress:

(Berenice Bejo in The Artist, Jessica Chastain in The Help, Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs, Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids, Octavio Spencer in The Help)

Spencer in The Help fits the formula for Oscar-winning supporting roles: her presence is as strong as the leading role (in this case, played by Viola Davis). Bejo was quite enchanting in The Artist, and remembering McCarthy in Bridesmaids still makes me laugh, but still ...

Should win: Octavio Spencer

Will win: Octavio Spencer


Best Original Screenplay:

(The Artist, Bridesmaids, Margin Call, Midnight in Paris, A Separation)

Obviously I would love A Separation to win, but let's be realistic.

Should win: A Separation

Will win: Midnight in Paris


Best Adapted Screenplay:

(The Descendants, Hugo, The Ides of March, Moneyball, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy )

Despite all its strengths, I believe Moneyball will be tomorrow night's biggest loser.

Should win: The Descendants

Will win: The Descendants


Best Foreign Language Film:

(Bullhead - Belgium, Footnote - Israel, In Darkness - Poland, Monsieur Lazhar - Canada, A Separation - Iran)

A Separation has won almost every award under the sun. But there is still a conceivable risk involved here: In Darkness, from the famous Polish director Agnieszka Holland, is a Holocaust story, an ever-favorite Academy subject.

Should win: A Separation

Will win: A Separation


And predictions in other categories:


- Best Animated Feature Film: Rango


- Best Animated Short Film: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore


- Best Documentary Feature Film: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory


- Best Documentary Short Film: Saving Face


- Best Live Action Short Film: The Shore


- Best Editing: The Artist


- Best Art Direction: Hugo


- Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life


- Best Makeup: The Iron Lady


- Best Original Score: The Artist (the soundtrack was the dialogue of the silent film)


- Best Original Song: The Muppets ("Man or Muppet")


- Best Costume: The Artist


- Best Sound Editing: Hugo

- Best Sound Mixing: Hugo


- Best Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (who's gonna beat the effects on those monkeys?)


6 comments:

  1. I didn't see "A better life,Tinker tailor soldier spy,Alber nobb & Warrior ,all documentary(long&short) & all animations & all foriegn movies except one that you know what is that ! but I try my luck in this traditional fun !
    this is my list :

    BEST PICTURE
    "The Artist"

    BEST ACTOR

    Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"

    BEST ACTRESS

    Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

    Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

    Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

    BEST DIRECTOR

    Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

    BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

    Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

    BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

    "The Descendants"

    BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

    Rango (just guess based on people 's word!)

    BEST FOREIGN FEATURE

    "A Separation"

    BEST ART DIRECTION

    "Hugo"

    BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
    “Hugo”

    BEST COSTUME DESIGN
    "
    "Hugo"

    BEST FILM EDITING
    "The Artist"

    Best MAKEUP
    Harry Potter

    BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

    "The Artist"

    BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

    "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

    BEST SOUND EDITING
    "
    "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
    "
    BEST SOUND MIXING

    "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

    BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
    "
    "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

    * *
    Well...now after reading your note , I should add : that I agree with close competetion between best actor & actress nominee...I thought Clonney won already once ,maybe chance for Jean Dujardin & agree Oscar people like fresh young face but ignorance M.Thatcher ?...I don't know,although I 'll be happy if Michelle Williams would win..Max von Sydow was good but plummer was better....About cinematography ,ya maybe tree of life ? even" war horse" was awsome but I pick up Hugo...About sound I know nothing ,pick up by chance....

    Thanx& With best wishes for Victory of "A seperation " see you tomorrow evening !

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  2. Maryam,

    I have almost the same situation as you ... or even worse! I haven't seen "Extremely Loud", "Albert Nobbs", "A Better Life", and any of the documentaries, and as you said, I've only seen one Foreign-Language nominee. I just received "A Better Life" from Netflix, but haven't had time to watch it yet!

    But again, to predict the winners, who needs to watch the movies?

    ;-)

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  3. OMG...What amazing coincidence! A better life is now in front of me but I haven't had time to watch it yet and surely not today !;-)

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  4. I've only seen The Iron Lady and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Meryl Streep was fantastic in an otherwise quite dull film. I loved the Apes movie though and look forward to it's sequel.

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  5. Toast,

    If you want to prioritize, make sure at least you watch "The Artist" and "The Descendants".

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  6. I will see The Descendants but The Artist just doesn't appeal to me. I love many a classic silent movie but can't really see the point in making one in the 21st century.

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