Well, the day has come, and the Academy's favorites from last year finally come into focus. Overall, I believe almost each category has some sort of surprise, which is rather exciting given the Academy's dry, boring past with nominees. There were a few notable snubs, some deserving, some not. Listed are the nominees and my current predictions as of now for Oscar glory:
Best Motion Picture
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”
Easily the most surprising nomination of them all: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close popping up on the Best Picture list. Steven Daldry must truly have incriminating photos of Academy members or be damn good at blackmailing. Out of his 5 films made in his career, EVERY ONE has been nominated for an acting award and either Best Picture, Best Director, or both. At 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film easily takes the cake as the lowest rated Best Picture nominee in history (even beating The Reader's 62%). Other than that, nominees went as planned, and the front runners are officially Hugo and The Artist.
Prediction: The Artist
Best Achievement in Directing
Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist”
Alexander Payne – “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese – “Hugo”
Woody Allen – “Midnight in Paris”
Terrence Malick – “The Tree of Life”
Terrence Malick made a shocking jump forward in the race, beating Steven Spielberg to the punch. As of now, the race is wide open. Hugo received the most nominations, and who can argue with another Scorsese win? I believe other than Woody Allen, any one of the four remaining directors could easily win the award.
Prediction: Michel Hazanavicius
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Demian Bichir – “A Better Life”
George Clooney – “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin – “The Artist”
Gary Oldman – “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
Brad Pitt – “Moneyball”
Predicted: Clooney, Dujardin, Fassbender, Pitt, Shannon
One of the most shocking snubs was Michael Fassbender NOT included in this list, with many citing his role in Shame as the best of the year. Thankfully the Academy dropped Leo in favor of a more deserving man, namely Gary Oldman in his first Oscar nomination. Though he has no chance of a win, it's nice to finally see him get some credit. This is a three way race between Clooney, Pitt, and Dujarin.
Prediction: George Clooney
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close – “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis – “The Help”
Rooney Mara – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep – “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams – “My Week with Marilyn”
NO TILDA?! Easily the most upsetting omission for me. Apparently the Academy doesn't appreciate Swinton as an actress as much as they led us to believe when they awarded her with her first Oscar. Mara is not a surprise, but in a field where the nominees have been consistent throughout various awards, her inclusion is a surprise. Streep and Viola will continue to battle it out, unless Glenn Close can win some sympathy. The Help's poor showing in nominations, though, suggests less love for the movie than we were led to believe.
Prediction: Meryl Streep
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh – “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill – “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte – “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer – “Beginners”
Max Von Sydow – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Well my God they snubbed Albert Brooks after all - and for Max Von Sydow, no doubt a deserving nomination. Ironically, two of this category's nominees are 82 years old; Sydow, and the presumed front runner Christopher Plummer. Sydow has the advantage of being in a Best Picture nominee, while Plummer is his film's only nomination. Sandra Bullock-style spoiler in the future? We'll see.
Prediction: Christopher Plummer
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo – “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain – “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy – “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer – “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer – “The Help”
They did it - they nominated Bridesmaids afterall. Out of the four acting categories this was the least surprising, as all five were presumably the front runners coming in. This category makes up 50% of The Help's total nominations, pretty grim considering its potential. Perhaps Octavia doesn't have the advantage afterall.
Prediction: Berenice Bejo
Best Original Screenplay
“The Artist”
“Bridesmaids”
“Margin Call”
“Midnight in Paris”
“A Separation”
All equally deserving nominees, aside from Bridesmaids - I don't necessarily see the brilliance in the screenplay or story, it was just funny. That's all. The Artist and Midnight In Paris will be the only two possible winners.
Prediction: The Artist
Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Descendants”
“Hugo”
“The Ides of March”
“Moneyball”
“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
We correctly predicted George Clooney to receive double nominations this year, so the Ides of March should come as no surprise. The Descendants may be a frontrunner, but don't count out Moneyball, which made a strong showing with 6 nominations. This could be the film to beat.
Prediction: Moneyball
Best Animated Feature
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2”
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”
No Tintin?! Just when you think this category had a clear front runner, it is excluded entirely. Yet again, we see the Academy's love to nominate obscure films next to no one has heard of.
Prediction: Rango
Best Achievement in Art Direction
“The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
All strong nominees, and aside from Midnight In Paris, completely expected. Will the Academy finally award Harry Potter an actual Oscar? Or will the Artist's power take hold here as well?
Prediction: Hugo
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Guillaume Schiffman – “The Artist”
Jeff Cronenweth – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Robert Richardson – “Hugo”
Emmanuel Lubezski – “The Tree of Life”
Janusz Kaminski – “War Horse”
The Academy veered slightly from the Cinematographer's guild, picking War Horse over Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. All solid nominees with some of the best camerawork seen in years. There's no doubt of the winner, however.
Prediction: The Tree of Life
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Lisy Christl for “Anonymous”
Mark Bridges for “The Artist”
Sandy Powell for “Hugo”
Michael O’Connor for “Jane Eyre”
Arianne Phillips for “W.E.”
Prediction: Hugo
Best Achievement in Film Editing
Anne-Sophie Bion & Michael Hazanavicius – “The Artist”
Kevin Tent – “The Descendants”
Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Thelma Schoonmaker – “Hugo”
Christopher Tellefsen – “Moneyball”
Prediction: The Artist
Best Music (Original Score)
John Williams – “The Adventures of Tintin”
Ludovic Bource – “The Artist”
Howard Shore – “Hugo”
Alberto Iglesias – “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
John Williams – “War Horse”
John Williams getting double the nominations? A pleasant surprise!
Prediction: The Artist
Best Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Dear Academy. What the f**k? Passing over great songs from The Help and Albert Nobbs in favor of 'Real in Rio?' Good night. This category needs serious revision, fast. The Muppets wins easily, though it is far from the year's best song.
Prediction: The Muppets
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
“Hugo” – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
“Moneyball” – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse” – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson
Prediction: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
“Drive” – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – Ren Klyce
“Hugo” – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Prediction: Hugo
Best Achievement in Makeup
“Albert Nobbs” – Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ – Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Iron Lady” – Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
No surprises here, though it was shocking to see The Artist passed over in a category it could have easily been nominated.
Prediction: The Iron Lady
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ – Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo” – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel” – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
Somewhat upsetting to see The Tree of Life snubbed in favor of something like 'Real Steel.'
Prediction: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Best Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” from Belgium
“Footnote” from Israel
“In Darkness” from Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” from Canada
“A Separation” from Iran
Prediction: A Separation
Best Documentary Feature
“Hell and Back Again” – Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” – Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” – Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Pina” – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated” – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
Prediction: Pina
Best Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” – Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
“God Is the Bigger Elvis” – Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
“Incident in New Baghdad” – James Spione
“Saving Face” – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” – Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
Best Animated Short Subject
“Dimanche/Sunday” – Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna” – Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll” – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life” – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Best Live Action Short Subject
“Pentecost” – Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
“Raju” – Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore” – Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak” – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic” – Hallvar Witzø
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