Oscar PIcks: Best Picture

Drum roll please! Last but not least of my Oscar Picks is the Best Picture category. To me, this is the most highly coveted category and usually has the greatest amount of drama and anticipation tied to it. This year I managed to see all nine films nominated. I have discussed many of the nominees in blogs past, so I will not go into detail about each of the movies because I don't think you want to sit here and read my musings for that long. The nominees are: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark 30. The winner isn't a clear choice this year, and I believe the tie-breaker may come down to politics as there were a few talent directors who were shut out of the director category this year.

The directors for both Argo and Zero Dark 30 were shut out of the director nominations. Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow are both very deserving of that award. Both movies are very deserving of the best picture award and that's why I think the politics of the Academy may dictate which movie wins this category. Throughout awards season the Academy has been wiping egg off their faces with win after win for Affleck. Since they can't go back and change the nominations and give him credit where credit is due, they may award him in the next best way. Quentin Tarantino was also shut out of the directing category despite his superb efforts with Django Unchained, however I feel it is less likely the Academy will try to pay him back at this time. These oversights by the nominating committee may be remembered just as much as who was actually nominated. 

Oscar Picks: Directing

There are not only juggernauts of movies, but there are juggernauts of categories at the Academy Awards. Best Director is one such category. It is a highly coveted award, with great levels of anticipation each year leading up to it. It is a very visible category and signifies an achievement almost to the level of the Best Picture Category.

This year there are five directors nominated from from five films, and I've seen them all, so I can venture an educated guess on this. Amour is a foreign language film directed by Michael Haneke that is nominated for directing as well as best picture, and best foreign language film. I believe it has a shot at winning the best foreign language film category, but no the others. There is some achievement in directing as the subject is a hard one to approach logistically and artistically, but when held up to the other films in this category it does not stand a chance.

Beasts of the Southern Wild's Benh Zeitlin is also nominated in the director category. I enjoyed this movie for its beauty and symbolism, but I fear that symbolism was lost on many and the beauty didn't extend past their confusion. The movie buddy I viewed the film with certainly did not understand what was going on in the movie, and therefore did not enjoy the movie. This film will not win for best directing.

Life of Pi is a gorgeous, well executed movie and in a just world Ang Lee would win the director prize. This is my favorite to win the category because Lee navigated mastered scenes that could be difficult to show in an entertaining fashion. He took a long story and made it compelling and memorable. I couldn't get this film out of my mind for days. 

Silver Linings Playbook's David O. Russell is nominated for his efforts. His film is a strong one with a gripping story that is somewhat hard to peel your eyes away from, like a train wreck. However, in my opinion there was no great achievement in directing in this film. It was a fun movie that may go in to my category of happy favorites for the year, but it will not win this prize.

In the end though, I believe the director that will win is Steven Spielberg for Lincoln. I do not agree with this prophecy of mine as I did not enjoy the movie half as much as the critics told me I should. I feel Hollywood has a love affair with Spielberg and historical dramas. Each year there is one semi unworthy film that generates a lot of buzz whether it wins or not. This year that buzz goes to Spielberg. It's not that I don't appreciate his efforts in this category because I do, but I believe what he did pales in comparison to the accomplishments of others.

Oscar Picks: Best Animated

The big day is getting closer and my excitement for the Oscars is growing. I have only a few categories left to analyze and make my picks official. I admit, I've been lazy on the category of Animated Feature Film. I have seen a few of the nominees and they're all entertaining for different reasons and many appeal to different aspects of the children's crowd. The nominees are: Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and Wreck It Ralph. I have seen all except Frankenweenie and Wreck It Ralph. Frankenweenie is my fault totally. I have no excuse! The movie has been out on DVD and at RedBox for weeks now. At first there was limited availability because it was such a hot item. Now I blame my extremely tight budget and my priorities. Wreck It Ralph is a another movie I could have seen if I had a stronger desire, but I didn't. It was still in the theaters when the nominees came out, however it doesn't appeal to me. All that being said, I think Brave is an excellent movie and is filled with strong, positive messages for girls and children in general. It is a movie the whole family can enjoy. It would have my vote to win the category except for the buzz that is surrounding Frankenweenie. This movie has been raved about by critics. When it was in the theaters I wanted to see it and everyone laughed at me. Sure, it has a silly name, but the movie is said to be excellent. So, I am going out on a blind limb here and I'll say Frankenweenie will take home the Oscar.

Oscar PIcks: Technical Awards

     There are several categories for the Academy Awards that still puzzle me. After all of the research I have done I still have not been able to come up with a clear explanation of the categories of Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects. Furthermore, some of these categories seem so closely linked I cannot differentiate them. The best explanations I have come across says Best Sound Editing goes to a film that has the best or most artistic sound editing or design. Best Sound Mixing is an award that recognizes the most ear pleasing sound mixing or recording in a movie. I have a vague idea on how to judge these categories for myself, but I cannot explain this to others. Best Visual Effects and Best Editing are not categories that overlap with others, however it is still difficult to define the efforts, which lead to success in such categories.

     That being said, I will venture my predictions in these four categories. Starting out with what could be the easiest of the categories to predict, I believe Best Editing will go to Argo. Visual Effects will likely go to The Avengers, even though I didn’t see all movies in this category so this is more of a guess (I did not and will not see Prometheus). We’re now onto the more difficult categories. For Sound Editing I pick Skyfall and for Sound Mixing I will go with Les Misérables. I should probably qualify these picks by saying I frequently guess wrong in these categories.

Oscar Picks: Music

The musical categories for the Academy Awards are not my forte as far as selections and guesses go. After all, I am a lover of the Oscars and not necessarily the Grammys. Alas, I will venture my guesses. Nominated for Best Original Score are Anna Karenina, Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Skyfall. From my understanding of this category I will venture to say that Life of Pi will win. For Music Original Song there is a composition from Chasing Ice, Ted, Life of Pi, Skyfall, and Les Misérables for which the selection from Skyfall will win. The song “Skyfall” is the radio hit recorded by Adele.

Oscar Picks: Best Shorts

     I had the pleasurable opportunity to view the nominations for Best Short Film - Live Action and Animated. I viewed the nominees in just one of these categories last year during the cinematic feature, and this year I decided to extend my enjoyment. Normally these categories would fall under my category of Best Guesses, however I feel I am now able to make an educated guess on each group.
     There are five animated short films nominated this year, and they range in subject matter and content from Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare: to the very short "Fresh Guacamole,"which was only two minutes long. I have two favorites in this category. I thoroughly enjoyed "Head Over Heels" for its innovative, gravity defying concept. I also enjoyed the whimsical "Paperman" short, which featured paper airplanes turning into birds and propelling two individuals together. I believe "Paperman" will win this category due to the amount of buzz surrounding storyline and the enjoyability of the plot. I hope the short "Adam and Dog" is rejected by the Academy because it was long, slightly confusing and had plenty of extraneous and tangent ideas muddying the intent.
     There are also five films nominated for the Best Short - Live Action category. They range from telling the story of an Alzheimer's patient in "Henry" to a fictional account of death by shadows in "Death of a Shadow" to a suicidal man who is given a renewed purpose in life in "Curfew." My favorite in this category is "Asad," a movie about a boy in Somalia who is trying evade pirates. I feel the short "Buzkashi Boys" has the most artistic appeal and therefore it is my favorite to win.

Oscar Picks: Writing

There are two Academy Awards categories for writing and the divisions often showcase some of the less mighty movies. Some of the typical heavy weights are nominated in the category of Best Adapted Screenplay: Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Silver Linings Playbook. I believe a more this prize will go to Life of Pi because it is a more artistic and beautifully woven screenplay and the adapter had to write a good deal of side directions for the many non dialogue portions of the movie. The other writing category is for an original screenplay, and this category features some movies that otherwise wouldn't have been nominated. In this category Moonrise Kingdom is taking on Flight, Zero Dark 30, Amour, and Django Unchained. I would love to see Moonrise Kingdom take home the statuettes as it was one of my favorite whimsical, feel good movies of the year, however I think the prize will actually go to the deserving Zero Dark 30.

Oscar Picks: Best of Beauty

Makeup and Hairstyle and Costume Design

     There are a couple of awards given to movie crews for work done to make the cast and set transformational, beautiful, or grotesque. There are three films nominated for Makeup and Hairstyling: Hitchcock, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and Les Misérables. I believe The Hobbit will win this category as the makeup artists had to do more to the actors to make them look like halflings. This process likely took great amounts of time. There are more films listed as nominees under the category of Costume Design: Anna Karenina, Les Misérables, Lincoln, Mirror Mirror, and Snow White and the Huntsman. These movies are all deserving of the Oscar in that the costuming in each shows a painstaking attention to detail, but I believe Anna Karenina should win the statuette. Anna Karenina has the most elaborate of the costumes and seemingly has more frequent costume changes and therefore more costumes were selected for its purpose.

Oscar Picks: Best Supporting Actor and Actress

     There are some powerhouses in the category of Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Alan Arkin is nominated for “Argo,” which is one of my favorite movies of the year. Robert De Niro is nominated for “Silver Linings Playbook” as the neurotic father of a mentally ill son who needs quite a bit of guidance. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is up for the award for “The Master” and the calm of his character in the movie is a great contrast to Joaquin Phoenix’s crazy agitation. Tommy Lee Jones got a nod for his role in “Lincoln” and is perhaps my least favorite to win in this category. I feel he brought too much of his stern law enforcement type of acting into the role for a legislator. Christopher Waltz has my vote to win in this category for his portrayal of a bounty hunter in “Django Unchained.” He was able to bring humor, emotion, trustworthiness, and mystery to the screen.

     In the category of Best Actress in a Supporting Role there is a clear winner. Anne Hathaway will take home the award for “Les Misérables.” While her strong and emotional performance in that movie was short lived, there are not any actresses who delivered on that level. Amy Adams played a fierce and devout wife in “The Master.” Sally Field played a mostly dutiful and slightly hysterical character in “Lincoln,“ a memorable role that is definitely worthy of the nomination. Helen Hunt turned in a brave, mostly nude performance in “The Sessions.” Lastly, Jacki Weaver plays a mother and wife who is trying to hold the family together in “Silver Linings Playbook.”

Oscar Picks: Best Actor and Actress

      In the category of Best Actor there are five nominees. Bradley Cooper starred in the ever charming and dysfunctional “Silver Linings Playbook.” His character struggled with mental health and coming to terms with his new lot in life. Daniel Day-Lewis starred as Abraham Lincoln in “Lincoln.” This movie was not my favorite and Daniel Day Lewis is not my favorite to win this category, however I feel that he will take home the statuette. Day-Lewis is incredibly talented and his portrayal of the 16^th president was inspired. He characterized Lincoln as a mostly reserved and quiet man who knew how and when to raise his voice. Hugh Jackman really showed Hollywood what a threat he is with his singing and acting in “Les Misérables.” He won the Golden Globe for his performance, but that was in the category of Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical. Denzel Washington is nominated for his role in “Flight,” which I think is a great nod for the talented actor. He did a great job with a very complex role. Finally, Joaquin Phoenix is the actor who should win this category. He plays a very unstable man who is taken in by a cult-like group aspiring for a higher consciousness in “The Master.” Phoenix plays crazy like no other actor I have seen. His character is very intense and fights and lies to come up with the answers and behaviors his cult leaders want to see in him.

     I have not viewed all of the movies for which the actresses are nominated in this category. However, I do believe Jessica Chastain will win the Oscar. Her performance in “Zero Dark 30” was complex and intense. To top that off she is an actress in a movie about war, a type of movie that typically does well on awards night. She also won the Golden Globe in her category and I believe the Academy will follow suit. Jennifer Lawrence is nominated for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook.” She played a confused widow who is attempting to find a balance in life and move on. Quvenzhané Wallis plays a young child in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” I greatly appreciated and enjoyed this movie, and while Wallis is very cute in the film her acting is limited by her age and the age of the character she was portraying. I have not yet seen the movie “Amour,” for which Emmanuelle Riva is nominated nor have I seen Naomi Watts in “The Impossible.”

Oscars: Playing Along At Home

      There are more ways to play along with the Academy Awards than just one. This year I’m going to an Oscars party. This is nothing new as I typically put together a costumed gathering of some sort. However, this year it is a combined Oscars party and birthday party for my best friend Lydia. There will be costumes, hats, party favors, fun food, and games. My contribution to this party is the games. In addition to the regular Oscars pool where we see who can get the most categories correct (weighted for importance of category), we will also be playing bingo. The boards include moments like a speech getting cut off by music, crying, a political statement, winner kisses date, etc. This will be a fun and interactive way to keep all of us engaged. I found an old bingo board from a previous Oscars night, so I’ll have to do some updating to reflect this year’s ceremony. I also have to come up with the awards for the winners of my two games. This might be a chin scratcher.

Your Guide to Making the Right Oscars Picks

     About this time of year movie lovers across the nation start filling out their Oscar ballots. There are 24 categories and in the case of those not at the ceremony, the one with the most right answers wins. The prize may be money, a replica statuette, a makeshift trophy, or just notoriety. There is no good mathematical formula to follow when filling out your ballot, but there are a few rules based on winners from years past. A movie that depicts any part or notion of the Holocaust will generally win in at least one category, especially in the documentary category (Schindler’s List and Anne Frank Remembered) . An actor or actress generally gets more attention for playing the opposite gender, a struggling homosexual, a character at war or in a war-torn society, or a famed historical figure (Boys Don’t Cry, Milk, The Hurt Locker, The King’s Speech). The Academy generally favors long biographical tales or a movie that celebrates a new feat in filmmaking (The Queen and Avatar) or revisits a lost art (The Artist).

     I generally weigh all of my rules and then select carefully. While there have been some movies that have run away with numerous awards, the Academy generally spreads the honors. The most Academy Awards to go to a film is 11 and three movies are in the record books for that feat: Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). LOTR has the largest sweep ever winning all 11 categories it was nominated for and that happened ten years ago. So, most likely a single film will not run amok at the awards ceremony this year.

      Every year I try to see as many of the nominated movies as possible so I can make an educated decision on my predictions. I love movies and seeing new stories unfold before me, so it is not a chore to watch so many movies. This year I have made my best effort yet. So far, I have seen eight of the nine films nominated for Best Picture. In total, there are only a handful of nominated movies that I have not seen. I will make my educated guesses and put them on display here on my blog. Keep an eye out for my picks and my reviews.