Predicting the Winners of the 85th Academy Awards

BEST PICTURE: Argo

BEST DIRECTOR: Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

BEST ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURED FILM: Wreck-It Ralph

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Searching For Sugarman

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Michael Haneke (Amour)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Argo (Chris Terrio)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)

BEST FILM EDITING: Argo (William Goldberg)

BEST HAIR AND MAKE UP: Les Miserables

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Anna Karenina (Jacqueline Durran)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Amour

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: Adele and Paul Epworth "Skyfall" (Skyfall)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Life of Pi

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

BEST ANIMATED SHORT: The Paperman

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT: Buzkashi Boys

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Mondays at Racine

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Life of Pi

BEST SOUND EDITING: Argo

BEST SOUND MIXING: Les Miserables


Stone Cold Locks

- Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis
- Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones
- Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway
- Best Animated Film: Wreck-It Ralph
- Best Documentary Feature: Searching For Sugarman
- Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Almost A Sure Thing

- Best Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio (Argo)
- Best Original Song: "Skyfall" (Skyfall)
- Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)
- Best Editing: William Golberg (Argo)

Between Two Candidates

- Best Picture: Argo
- Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Best Director: Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

Strong Educated Guesses

- Best Orginal Screenplay: Michael Haneke (Amour)
- Best Costume Design: Anna Karenina
- Best Animated Short: The Paperman
- Best Make Up and Hairstyling: Les Miserables
- Best Production Design: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Best Visual Effects: Life of Pi
- Best Sound Mixing: Les Miserables

Straight Up Guesses / I Stole What Other People Predicted

- Best Original Score: Life of Pi
- Best Documentary Short: Mondays at Racine
- Best Live Action Short: Buzkashi Boys
- Best Sound Editing: Argo

What are your predictions for the 85th Academy Awards?

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2013 Oscar Preview: The Random Categories

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BEST ANIMATED FILM

- In a year where all five nominations came from Hollywood and came to a theater near me, I only managed to see two of them: Brave and Wreck-It Ralph

- Wreck-It Ralph is incredible and it upsets me that it's not getting the buzz that previous Best Motion Picture Nominees Toy Story 3 and Up got. Not only was it (in my narrow mind) easily the best animated picture of 2012, but it was one of the best films of 2012 (#2 on my personal list) and one of the best animated films in the past 15 years.
- Brave was visually stunning and the animation- in regards to the setting and such- were stupidly good. However, the story was thin and dull and if Cars 2 didn't exist, Brave would compete for the worst film Pixar has ever produced. That's not saying it's inherently bad, but that is a result of the high bar Pixar set for itself. Either way, I don't think Brave deserves to win or will win.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Picture

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NOMINEES

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

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Director

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NOMINEES

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

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Actor

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NOMINEES:

• Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
• Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
• Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
• Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
• Denzel Washington (Flight)

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Actress

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NOMINEES

• Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
• Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
• Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
• Qu'venzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
• Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Supporting Actor

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NOMINEES

• Alan Arkin (Argo)
• Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
• Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
• Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

MY THOUGHTS

For the first time ever, we have an acting category full of past winners. Who will win their second (or third) Oscar?

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Supporting Actress

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NOMINEES

• Amy Adams (The Master)
• Sally Field (Lincoln)
• Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
• Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)
• Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Make Up and Hairstyling

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NOMINEES

• Hitchcock
• Les Miserables
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Original Screenplay

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NOMINEES

• Amour (Michael Haneke)
• Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)
• Flight (Michael Gatins)
• Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola)
• Zero Dark Thirty (Mark Boal)

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Adapted Screenplay

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NOMINEES

• Argo (Chris Terrio)
• Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin & Lucy Alibar)
• Life of Pi (David Magee)
• Lincoln (Tony Kushner)
• Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell)

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Cinematography

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WHAT IS CINEMATOGRAPHY?

Before I begin this post, it is probably best to explain to you what “cinematography” actually is because I’m sure most of you reading this post have no idea. Cinematography is the look of the film. The director is the one in charge and ultimately everyone answers to the director, but the one actually behind the camera is the Director of Photography- or the cinematographer. Everything about how a particular scene LOOKS is due to the Director of Photography (DP). How the light affects the scene, the framing of the scene, and how the scene looks is (mostly) because of the DP. 

For example, about a year ago, shots of the filming of the climax scene between Bane and Batman from The Dark Knight Rises were released. The movie was shot in the middle of summer in Pittsburgh but the scene itself takes place during the cold of winter with snowflakes falling from the sky. When you see the final product, it absolutely looks like Bane and Batman are fighting in the middle of winter and there is no evidence the scene was shot in the wrong season. The way Wally Pfister (Nolan’s Oscar-winning DP) shot the scene and tinted the light and such makes you believe you are watching a gloomy, dark, and cold fight. The reason it looks that way is about of the DP and that’s (generally) what a DP does.

NOMINEES

• Anna Karenina (Seamus McGarvey)
• Django Unchained (Robert Richardson)
• Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)
• Lincoln (Janusz Kaminiski)
• Skyfall (Roger Deakins)

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Introduction

In 2012, I saw 121 films, 40 of which came out in 2012. As of the writing of this post I have seen 45 46 47 films that were released in 2012. I absolutely do not consider myself a movie buff (which helps explains why so my times people have come up to me and asked, “Have you seen Film X?” and are flabbergasted when I haven’t seen it). However, what I am is a lover of film. I love to see films, I love to talk about them, and I have seen a shit ton of films in my life. My goal is to see the very best films and one day I hope I will be able to get to a point where I have seen every single Film X. But for right now, all I have are my experiences, my knowledge, and my opinions. I also love debating the Oscars. Even though they let me down every single year, I still do enjoy talking about them nonetheless.