Sunday, February 17, 2013

Who will win at the Oscars?


So over at Blobby's blog, I'm sure there is much snark and some sharp taunts pointed in my direction. You see, it's time for each of us to pick the winners that will announced at the Oscar telecast one week from tonight.

I did receive a personal e-mail from Blobby -- saying that he had made his picks. But because I don't want to be swayed or mis-directed by his random choices, I'm going to stay away from his blog until I'm done selecting the winners myself.

An update: Seems Blobby won't be posting his selections until later this week. Scaredy cat.

I haven't seen most of the nominees this year. We did catch "Lincoln", "Zero Dark Thirty", and "Les Miserables" in the theater, but am waiting for the video release of everything else. But i've done countless hours of research (I looked at two websites, flipped through an industry magazine, and looked at the critic's choices in today's Boston Sunday Globe) and feel quite confident in my choices below.

To re-cap: we each need to select the winner in all 24 categories. No "shoulda's", "couldas" or "woulda's" will be counted, although comments are welcome. The winner will be determined via a  straight tally of the results as each gold envelope's contents are revealed. And much rides on our decisions -- a cold frosty cocktail (or three) will be awarded to the winner of this year's race, which last year, ended in a tie.

Here's the full list of what we'll be voting on. I've marked my predictions in bold blue. Take a look and let me know what you think in the comments section below. Then check out Blobby's predictions (I'll add a link here after I finish posting my votes). Who do you think is going to win? All I know is that I'm feeling awful thirsty...

1. Best Picture: "Amour," "Argo," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Zero Dark Thirty."
Comment: Things seem to be swinging Ben Affleck's way recently -- and with a snub in the "Directing" category, the Academy just might award him the night's biggest prize.

2. Actor: Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"; Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"; Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"; Denzel Washington, "Flight."
Comment: Everyone is saying this a "lock" for Day-Lewis. Who am I to argue?

3. Actress: Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"; Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"; Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; Naomi Watts, "The Impossible."
Comment: Never have seen her in any movies, but seems to be the "darling" of the Hollywood circuit right now.

4. Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, "Argo"; Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"; Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"; Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained."
Comment: Lee Jones is an old crab, so I won't vote for him. De Niro seems to be getting some buzz and although I think he plays the same character in every movie he's in, I think he's going home with Oscar next Sunday night.

5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "The Master"; Sally Field, "Lincoln"; Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"; Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"; Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook."
Comment: Hate to make Hathaway's name bold, but her win for her bloated performance seems inevitable. She's so very annoying. You did see this video of her complaining about her name being misspelled at the Critics Choice Awards, didn't you?

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

7. Foreign Language Film: "Amour," Austria; "Kon-Tiki," Norway; "No," Chile; "A Royal Affair," Denmark; "War Witch," Canada.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, "Argo"; Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; David Magee, "Life of Pi"; Tony Kushner, "Lincoln"; David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook."

9. Original Screenplay: Michael Haneke, "Amour"; Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained"; John Gatins, "Flight"; Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, "Moonrise Kingdom"; Mark Boal, "Zero Dark Thirty."

10. Animated Feature Film: "Brave"; "Frankenweenie"; "ParaNorman"; "The Pirates! Band of Misfits"; "Wreck-It Ralph."
Comment: Just want them to say "Frankenweenie" on TV.

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

12. Cinematography: "Anna Karenina," "Django Unchained," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Skyfall."

13. Sound Mixing: "Argo," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Skyfall."
Comment: Much ado has been made about the actors all singing live, so this seems like a homerun.

14. Sound Editing: "Argo," "Django Unchained," "Life of Pi," "Skyfall," "Zero Dark Thirty."

15. Original Score: "Anna Karenina," Dario Marianelli; "Argo," Alexandre Desplat; "Life of Pi," Mychael Danna; "Lincoln," John Williams; "Skyfall," Thomas Newman.

16. Original Song: "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice," J. Ralph; "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted," Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane; "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi," Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri; "Skyfall" from "Skyfall," Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth; "Suddenly" from "Les Miserables," Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil.
Comment: Who doesn't want to see Adele win an Oscar?

17. Costume: "Anna Karenina," "Les Miserables," "Lincoln," "Mirror Mirror," "Snow White and the Huntsman."

18. Documentary Feature: "5 Broken Cameras," "The Gatekeepers," "How to Survive a Plague," "The Invisible War," "Searching for Sugar Man."

19. Documentary (short subject): "Inocente," "Kings Point," "Mondays at Racine," "Open Heart," "Redemption."

20. Film Editing: "Argo," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Zero Dark Thirty."

21. Makeup and Hairstyling: "Hitchcock," "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," "Les Miserables."
Comment: Hairy feet (no, not Anne Hathaway's) will rule this category.

22. Animated Short Film: "Adam and Dog," "Fresh Guacamole," "Head over Heels," "Maggie Simpson in `The Longest Daycare,'" "Paperman."

23. Live Action Short Film: "Asad," "Buzkashi Boys," "Curfew," "Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)," "Henry."

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

10 comments:

  1. Since there's no mention of a cocktail for anyone else if they trump Blobby and your scores, I'm just going to sit back and watch the fracas.

    As for the Blobby/Mike Awards, my vote goes to Mike for the best visual effects (photoshopping his head on Brad Pitt's body). Without a doubt, Blobby wins the directing category because he has gotten an amazing performance out of Mike. All of a sudden, the absentee blogger is back - and he's passionate, witty and brash!

    France's version of the Oscars is on the 22nd. Argo is the only American film in the best foreign film category.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Touche, Mary Kay! Of course there would be a drink (or three) in it for you should you be the victor! Please join in - us 1963 babies need to stick together!

    And why do you assume I photoshopped my head onto Brad Pitt's body?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. C'mon, it's so obvious that you photoshopped your head onto Brad Pitt's body - your body is in way better shape than the one in the picture. Poor Brad has let himself go! ;)

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  3. hehehehe.....Frankenweenie.

    I like that I get top billing for the awards show. I've earned it. Hopefully I'll be cashing in on that drink in July (where no doubt Mike will be conveniently "out of town").

    ReplyDelete
  4. What have you been drinking? You are so far off the winners, it's beyond laughable. Beyond. I'm too all upset about the finale of Downtown Abbey to get into it tonight (and I'm trawling anything online to settle my nerves) but I'll send you my choices soon.

    And where is the Brad Pitt body thing you speak of?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just wanted to stop by and wish Blobby and you "good luck" before I head off to bed. I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out who wins - both the Oscars and Blobby's and your competition.

    For what it's worth, I agree with you on 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7. I would like to see 86 year old Emmanuelle RIva win best actress but I don't think that it's going to happen.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Next year count me in on this bloggy bet!!! Fun !!!

    ReplyDelete
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