85th Academy Awards Discussion and Predictions

[LiamC]

Not sure how many film lovers we have on here, but I thought I'd start a topic as the Oscars are on Sunday and fancied seeing what other people's thoughts were leading up to it

I've highlighted my predictions in bold.

Best Picture

- Amour – Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, and Michael Katz
- Argo – Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, and George Clooney
- Beasts of the Southern Wild – Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, and Michael Gottwald
- Django Unchained – Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, and Pilar Savone
- Les Misérables – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, and Cameron Mackintosh
- Life of Pi – Gil Netter, Ang Lee, and David Womark
- Lincoln – Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy
- Silver Linings Playbook – Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, and Jonathan Gordon
- Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, and Megan Ellison

Best Director

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

Best Actor

- Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
- Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
- Hugh Jackman – Les Misérables
- Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
- Denzel Washington – Flight

Best 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

Best Supporting Actor

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

Best Supporting Actress

- Amy Adams – The Master
- Sally Field – Lincoln
- Anne Hathaway – Les Misérables
- Helen Hunt – The Sessions
- Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook

Best Writing – Original Screenplay

- Amour – Michael Haneke
- Django Unchained – Quentin Tarantino
- Flight – John Gatins
- Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
- Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay

- Argo – Chris Terrio from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez & The Great Escape by Joshuah Bearman
- Beasts of the Southern Wild – Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin from Juicy and Delicious by Lucy Alibar
- Life of Pi – David Magee from Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Lincoln – Tony Kushner from Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell from The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Best Animated Feature

- Brave – Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
- Frankenweenie – Tim Burton
- ParaNorman – Sam Fell and Chris Butler
- The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Peter Lord
- Wreck-It Ralph – Rich Moore

Best Foreign Language Film

- Amour (Austria)
- Kon-Tiki (Norway)
- No (Chile)
- A Royal Affair (Denmark)
- War Witch (Canada)

Best Original Score
- Anna Karenina – Dario Marianelli
- Argo – Alexandre Desplat
- Life of Pi – Mychael Danna
- Lincoln – John Williams
- Skyfall – Thomas Newman

I've just concentrated on the main awards here, and haven't listed technical gongs so much as, well, Life of Pi will sweep that haha

I've gone for Argo as best film as it's an ideal academy film and has swept the boards at other ceremonies such as the BAFTAS, SAG, DGA and PGA awards ceremonies, which is always a strong sign. It also paints Hollywood in a somewhat heroic light, which can only score big bonus points with the academy.

I'm afraid I've been a bit biased towards Lincoln when it comes to other categories it's nominated in as, well, it's DDL and Spielberg! There's almost no question that Daniel Day-Lewis will win Best Actor as he's simply stunning. Whenever I watch him in a role, I never feel like I'm watching a person play a character on screen. I feel like I am watching that person come alive more than any other actor I've seen before. In Lincoln he completely sank into the role of playing Abraham Lincoln, it was incredible.

As easy as the Best Actor award is to call, the Best Actress award is the hardest to call this year by a long shot this year. For this reason, I've gone for Quvenzhané Wallis as I'd absolutely love someone so young to win an Oscar! That and she puts in an awesome performance in Beasts of the Southern Wild. However, that's just something I'd love to happen and can almost see Jennifer Lawrence sneaking in and snatching it, even if she is relatively new to the scene.

I've gone for Ang Lee for Life of Pi in Best Director as I feel he hit the nail on the head this time with this film. It used to annoy me how much he tinkered and swapped things around in his previous films, in particular Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. However he got it spot on this time and created something visually stunning. You can keep your Avatar This is also going to sweep the board in all the technical categories it's nominated in, it's a visual feast!

Anyway, there are my predictions and I think the others that I haven't rattled on about are quite self explanatory

So yeah, if there are any other film enthusiasts and buffs out there, chuck some thoughts down in here about Sundays awards ;D

 

[Rowe]

I'm interested to a certain degree in the Oscars and I always give luck to the nominees but it stops when it comes down to the lack of diversity in gender and class. There are barely any female or POC directors nominated in comparison to white male directors when you look at statistics and it really disappoints me, off putting even. Just a shame really and I don't expect any of it to change to a dramatic extent within mainstream cinema's future unless we're really lucky with the voters.

 

[Alastair]

You're definitely right that Lincoln should win best soundtrack. It was pretty much a travesty that Newman won the BAFTA for his Skyfall soundtrack which was lacklustre and forgettable. The Lincoln OST is perfect for the film, understated but powerful due to his usage of Copland style fourths and fifths in the woodwind rather than the brass.

 

[LiamC]

You're definitely right that Lincoln should win best soundtrack. It was pretty much a travesty that Newman won the BAFTA for his Skyfall soundtrack which was lacklustre and forgettable. The Lincoln OST is perfect for the film, understated but powerful due to his usage of Copland style fourths and fifths in the woodwind rather than the brass.

I think BAFTA were a bit biased when it came to that tbh

But yes, the Lincoln score is perfect. Music suitably fitting to the time period the film is set. This nomination is Wiliams 48th nomination for an academy award. Quite an achievement!