The Stars, The Snubs, and The Golden Statuette
By Chris Sabga
The nominations for the 85th Annual Academy Awards have been
announced, and as always, it's both exciting and infuriating.
I've broken down the higher-profile awards into three
categories:
Will win: This is
simply my prediction of what the Academy will choose. I'll likely change my
mind a hundred times between now and Oscar night, but these are my unscientific
thoughts as of January 10th, 2013.
Should win: What
I'm personally rooting for.
Should have been
nominated: The snubs, and there were some big ones!
And the Oscar goes to...
Best Motion
Picture of the Year
Amour: To Be Determined
Argo: Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney
Beasts of the Southern Wild: Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael
Gottwald
Django Unchained: Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone
Les Misérables: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward,
Cameron Mackintosh
Life of Pi: Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark
Lincoln:
Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Silver Linings Playbook: Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen,
Jonathan Gordon
Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison
Will win: Lincoln (But does Les Mis
have a shot of being the rare movie to win Best Picture without also being
nominated for Best Director? The last was Driving Miss Daisy in 1989.)
Should win:
Silver Linings Playbook
Should have been
nominated: Bernie, The Sessions, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Moonrise Kingdom
I am not a fan of the recent change to allow more than five films
to be nominated for Best Picture. The new field, which usually consists of nine
or ten movies, is too crowded and bloated – and there are still snubs, so
what's the point?
Bernie is the biggest victim of this year's Oscar race. It
was criminally overlooked in every category. If it was snubbed because it's
technically a 2011 release (even though very few people got a chance to see it
then because it wasn't widely distributed until 2012), that's another silly
Oscar loophole that really needs to be revised.
Moonrise
Kingdom also should have
scored a nomination. It was visually brilliant and surprisingly touching.
Best Performance
by an Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln
Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master
Denzel Washington for Flight
Will win: Daniel
Day-Lewis for Lincoln
Should win: Daniel
Day-Lewis for Lincoln,
but my heart wants Bradley Cooper to get the Oscar for his incredible
performance in Silver Linings Playbook.
Should have been
nominated: Jack Black for Bernie, John Hawkes for The Sessions, Frank
Langella for Robot & Frank
No one thought Jack Black or Frank Langella would get
nominated, even though they both should have (especially Black, who completely
reinvented himself for the role), but the omission of John Hawkes is a stunner
since he was widely expected to land a spot on this list.
Best Performance
by an Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts for The Impossible
Will win: Jessica
Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
Should win: Jennifer
Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook or Naomi Watts for The Impossible
Should have been
nominated: Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild. Wait, she is nominated. Damn the Academy – how
dare they take away another chance for me to express outrage at some perceived
injustice!
No major slights here that I can see. If you can think of
anyone, leave a comment below.
Best Performance
by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin for Argo
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained
Will win: Too
close to call
Should win: This
is a tough one. I adore Robert De Niro's performance in Silver Linings Playbook,
and my heart is with him. But I would not be disappointed if Tommy Lee Jones wins,
because he almost steals the movie from Daniel Day-Lewis.
Should have been
nominated: Tom Holland for The Impossible (even though it's really a lead
role, but we all know how the Academy works when it comes to these things).
The Academy doesn't shy away from nominating children, as Quvenzhané
Wallis proves this year, which makes it all the sadder that Tom Holland was
overlooked. But to be fair, this is possibly the most packed and competitive of
all the categories.
Best Performance
by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams for The Master
Sally Field for Lincoln
Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables
Helen Hunt for The Sessions
Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook
Will win: Anne
Hathaway for Les Misérables
Should win: Jacki
Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook
Should have been
nominated: Susan Sarandon for Robot & Frank
Actresses simply aren't given enough good material in Hollywood, and this weak
field proves it.
Best Achievement
in Directing
Michael Haneke for Amour
Ang Lee for Life of Pi
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Will win: Steven
Spielberg for Lincoln
Should win: David
O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Should have been nominated:
Ben Affleck for Argo, Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty, Wes Anderson for Moonrise Kingdom
Ben Affleck being left off the list is the major shock of
this year's Awards season. Not only did he deserve to be nominated, it can be
argued that he would have had a good case for winning too.
Bigelow's snub is also an eyebrow-raiser, but as a previous
winner, her absence from this category is unlikely to garner the same outrage.
It's not particularly surprising that Wes Anderson wasn't
nominated, be should have been because he brings a style to Moonrise Kingdom
that's uniquely his.
Best Writing,
Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Amour: Michael Haneke
Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino
Flight: John Gatins
Moonrise
Kingdom: Wes Anderson,
Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal
Will win: Zero
Dark Thirty
Should win: Moonrise Kingdom
Should have been
nominated: The Cabin in the Woods
Yes, I think a "lowly" horror movie belongs on
this list. That's because The Cabin in the Woods isn't your typical horror
flick. It's brilliantly written. Of course, as usual, the Academy has turned a
blind eye to genre material like this. That's a shame, but what else is new?
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on
Material Previously Produced or Published
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
Will win: Lincoln
Should win: Silver
Linings Playbook
Should have been
nominated: Stephen Chbosky for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Richard
Linklater for Bernie, Ben Lewin for The Sessions
No one was expecting to see Bernie on this list, which is
unfair, because it's wonderfully written and a spot-on adaption of Skip
Hollandsworth's entertaining article,
Midnight in the
Garden of East Texas.
The Sessions, which was also based on an article – Mark
O'Brien's
On Seeing
a Sex Surrogate – seemed to be a more likely possibility. Alas, it was
overlooked.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower should have been included
because it's a unique case of a book's author writing and adapting his own
script for the screen.
_________
Other thoughts: I would love for Wreck-It Ralph to win in
the Best Animated Feature category because it's a brilliant love letter to
video games. The short film that preceded it, Paperman, is even more incredible
and I hope it wins in its own category.
In the Foreign Film category, Best Picture nominee Amour
seems like a lock, but I have to wonder if A Royal Affair will score the upset.
The Other Son should have been irresistible to the Academy with its tantalizing
premise: two babies – one Palestinian and the other Israeli – are switched at
birth. Unfortunately, Oscar voters didn't see it that way (who knows if they
saw it at all). I was hoping – but
not expecting – Sleepless Night to be nominated (assuming it's eligible for
2012).
________
Here are the rest of the categories and nominees:
Best Animated
Feature Film of the Year
Brave: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
Frankenweenie: Tim Burton
ParaNorman: Sam Fell, Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits: Peter Lord
Wreck-It Ralph: Rich Moore
Best Foreign
Language Film of the Year
Amour (Austria)
War Witch (Canada)
No (Chile)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
Kon-Tiki (Norway)
Best Achievement
in Cinematography
Anna Karenina: Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained: Robert Richardson
Life of Pi: Claudio Miranda
Lincoln:
Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall: Roger Deakins
Best Achievement
in Editing
Argo: William Goldenberg
Life of Pi: Tim Squyres
Lincoln:
Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook: Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty: William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor
Best Achievement
in Production Design
Anna Karenina: Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent,
Simon Bright
Les Misérables: Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi: David Gropman, Anna Pinnock
Lincoln:
Rick Carter, Jim Erickson
Best Achievement
in Costume Design
Anna Karenina: Jacqueline Durran
Les Misérables: Paco Delgado
Lincoln:
Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror: Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman: Colleen Atwood
Best Achievement
in Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock: Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Peter King, Rick
Findlater, Tami Lane
Les Misérables: Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell
Best Achievement
in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Anna Karenina: Dario Marianelli
Argo: Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi: Mychael Danna
Lincoln:
John Williams
Skyfall: Thomas Newman
Best Achievement
in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Chasing Ice: J. Ralph ("Before My Time")
Les Misérables: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg,
Herbert Kretzmer ("Suddenly")
Life of Pi: Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree ("Pi's Lullaby")
Skyfall: Adele, Paul Epworth ("Skyfall")
Ted: Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane ("Everybody Needs a
Best Friend")
Best Achievement
in Sound Mixing
Argo: John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, José Antonio García
Les Misérables: Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes
Life of Pi: Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Drew Kunin
Lincoln:
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ron Judkins
Skyfall: Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson
Best Achievement
in Sound Editing
Argo: Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn
Django Unchained: Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi: Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton
Skyfall: Per Hallberg, Karen M. Baker
Zero Dark Thirty: Paul N.J. Ottosson
Best Achievement
in Visual Effects
The Avengers: Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Daniel
Sudick
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Joe Letteri, Eric
Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Life of Pi: Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De
Boer, Donald Elliott
Prometheus: Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley,
Martin Hill
Snow White and the Huntsman: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Phil
Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson
Best Documentary,
Features
5 Broken Cameras: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers: To Be Determined
How to Survive a Plague: To Be Determined
The Invisible War: To Be Determined
Searching for Sugar Man: To Be Determined
Best Documentary,
Short Subjects
Inocente: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix
Kings Point: Sari Gilman, Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine:
Cynthia Wade, Robin Honan
Open Heart : Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern
Redemption : Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill
Best Short Film,
Animated
Adam and Dog: Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole: PES
Head Over Heels: Timothy Reckart, Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
Paperman: John Kahrs
The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare: David Silverman
Best Short Film,
Live Action
Asad: Bryan Buckley, Mino
Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys: Sam French, Ariel Nasr
Curfew: Shawn Christensen
Death of a Shadow: Tom Van Avermaet, Ellen De Waele
Henry: Yan England