And the Oscar goes

The Saloon
61

The full list of nominations has been released for this year’s Academy Awards…

[url]http://www.imdb.com/oscars/nominations/[/url]

The only Best Picture nominee I’ve seen so far is Life of Pi, which deserves to be on the list. However, I intend to see Steven Spielberg’s frontrunner, Lincoln later in the month too. I’m pleased Skyfall got five nominations, although as I can’t see it winning either Best Cinematography or Best Music, I think three wins is as much as it can hope for. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey got three nominations, all technical, and I think it has a fair chance in winning them and so it should for the effects were fantastic in it.

62

Another year, another Academy Awards. Here are my Oscar predictions (to win in bold):

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Nominees:

Amour (2012): Margaret Ménégoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Michael Katz
Argo (2012): Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald
Django Unchained (2012): Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone
Les Misérables (2012): Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh
Life of Pi (2012): Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David WomarkLincoln (2012): Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (2012)
Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables (2012)
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master (2012)
Denzel Washington for Flight (2012/I)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour (2012)
Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Naomi Watts for The Impossible (2012)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Alan Arkin for Argo (2012)
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master (2012)
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln (2012)
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained (2012)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Amy Adams for The Master (2012)
Sally Field for Lincoln (2012)
Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2012)
Helen Hunt for The Sessions (2012)
Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Best Achievement in Directing

Nominees:

Michael Haneke for Amour (2012)
Ang Lee for Life of Pi (2012)
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln (2012)
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Nominees:

Amour (2012): Michael Haneke
Django Unchained (2012): Quentin Tarantino
Flight (2012/I): John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom (2012): Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Mark Boal

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Nominees:

Argo (2012): Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi (2012): David Magee
Lincoln (2012): Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): David O. Russell

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Nominees:

Brave (2012): Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
Frankenweenie (2012): Tim Burton
ParaNorman (2012): Sam Fell, Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012): Peter Lord
Wreck-It Ralph (2012): Rich Moore

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Nominees:

Amour (2012)(Austria)
War Witch (2012)(Canada)
No (2012/I)(Chile)
A Royal Affair (2012)(Denmark)
Kon-Tiki (2012)(Norway)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Nominees:

Anna Karenina (2012/I): Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained (2012): Robert Richardson
Life of Pi (2012): Claudio Miranda
Lincoln (2012): Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall (2012): Roger Deakins

Best Achievement in Editing

Nominees:

Argo (2012): William Goldenberg
Life of Pi (2012): Tim Squyres
Lincoln (2012): Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor

Best Achievement in Production Design

Nominees:

Anna Karenina (2012/I): Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, Simon Bright
Les Misérables (2012): Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi (2012): David Gropman, Anna Pinnock
Lincoln (2012): Rick Carter, Jim Erickson

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Nominees:

Anna Karenina (2012/I): Jacqueline Durran
Les Misérables (2012): Paco Delgado
Lincoln (2012): Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror (2012/I): Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012): Colleen Atwood

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

Nominees:

Hitchcock (2012): Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Peter King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane
Les Misérables (2012): Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Nominees:

Anna Karenina (2012/I): Dario Marianelli
Argo (2012): Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna
Lincoln (2012): John Williams
Skyfall (2012): Thomas Newman

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Nominees:

Chasing Ice (2012): J. Ralph(“Before My Time”)
Les Misérables (2012): Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer(“Suddenly”)
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree(“Pi’s Lullaby”)
Skyfall (2012): Adele, Paul Epworth(“Skyfall”)
Ted (2012): Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane(“Everybody Needs a Best Friend”)

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Nominees:

Argo (2012): John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, José Antonio García
Les Misérables (2012): Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes
Life of Pi (2012): Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Drew Kunin
Lincoln (2012): Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ron Judkins
Skyfall (2012): Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Nominees:

Argo (2012): Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn
Django Unchained (2012): Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi (2012): Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton
Skyfall (2012): Per Hallberg, Karen M. Baker
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Paul N.J. Ottosson

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Nominees:

The Avengers (2012): Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Daniel Sudick
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Life of Pi (2012): Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliottp
Prometheus (2012/I): Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, Martin Hill
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012): Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Phil Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson

Argo: 4 wins
Les Misérables: 3 wins
Anna Karenina: 2 wins
Amour: 2 wins
Life of Pi: 2 wins
Lincoln: 2 wins
Skyfall: 2 wins
Brave: 1 win
Django Unchained: 1 win
Zero Dark Thirty: 1 win

63

And the Oscar goes to…

Best Motion Picture of the Year

WINNER

Argo (2012): Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney

Other Nominees:
Amour (2012): Margaret Ménégoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Michael Katz
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald
Django Unchained (2012): Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone
Les Misérables (2012): Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh
Life of Pi (2012): Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark
Lincoln (2012): Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

WINNER

Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (2012)

Other Nominees:
Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables (2012)
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master (2012)
Denzel Washington for Flight (2012/I)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

WINNER

Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Other Nominees:
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour (2012)
Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Naomi Watts for The Impossible (2012)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

WINNER

Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained (2012)

Other Nominees:
Alan Arkin for Argo (2012)
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master (2012)
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln (2012)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

WINNER

Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2012)

Other Nominees:
Amy Adams for The Master (2012)
Sally Field for Lincoln (2012)
Helen Hunt for The Sessions (2012)
Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Best Achievement in Directing

WINNER

Ang Lee for Life of Pi (2012)

Other Nominees:
Michael Haneke for Amour (2012)
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln (2012)
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

WINNER

Django Unchained (2012): Quentin Tarantino

Other Nominees:
Amour (2012): Michael Haneke
Flight (2012/I): John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom (2012): Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Mark Boal

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

WINNER

Argo (2012): Chris Terrio

Other Nominees:
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi (2012): David Magee
Lincoln (2012): Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): David O. Russell

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

WINNER

Brave (2012): Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman

Other Nominees:
Frankenweenie (2012): Tim Burton
ParaNorman (2012): Sam Fell, Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012): Peter Lord
Wreck-It Ralph (2012): Rich Moore

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

WINNER

Amour (2012)(Austria)

Other Nominees:
War Witch (2012)(Canada)
No (2012/I)(Chile)
A Royal Affair (2012)(Denmark)
Kon-Tiki (2012)(Norway)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

WINNER

Life of Pi (2012): Claudio Miranda

Other Nominees:
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained (2012): Robert Richardson
Lincoln (2012): Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall (2012): Roger Deakins

Best Achievement in Editing

WINNER

Argo (2012): William Goldenberg

Other Nominees:
Life of Pi (2012): Tim Squyres
Lincoln (2012): Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor

Best Achievement in Production Design

WINNER

Lincoln (2012): Rick Carter, Jim Erickson

Other Nominees:
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, Simon Bright
Les Misérables (2012): Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi (2012): David Gropman, Anna Pinnock

Best Achievement in Costume Design

WINNER

Anna Karenina (2012/I): Jacqueline Durran

Other Nominees:
Les Misérables (2012): Paco Delgado
Lincoln (2012): Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror (2012/I): Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012): Colleen Atwood

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

WINNER

Les Misérables (2012): Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell

Other Nominees:
Hitchcock (2012): Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Peter King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

WINNER

Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna

Other Nominees:
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Dario Marianelli
Argo (2012): Alexandre Desplat
Lincoln (2012): John Williams
Skyfall (2012): Thomas Newman

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

WINNER

Skyfall (2012): Adele, Paul Epworth(“Skyfall”)

Other Nominees:
Chasing Ice (2012): J. Ralph(“Before My Time”)
Les Misérables (2012): Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer(“Suddenly”)
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree(“Pi’s Lullaby”)
Ted (2012): Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane(“Everybody Needs a Best Friend”)

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

WINNER

Les Misérables (2012): Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes

Other Nominees:
Argo (2012): John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, José Antonio García
Life of Pi (2012): Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Drew Kunin
Lincoln (2012): Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ron Judkins
Skyfall (2012): Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

WINNER

Skyfall (2012): Per Hallberg, Karen M. Baker

Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Paul N.J. Ottosson

Other Nominees:
Argo (2012): Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn
Django Unchained (2012): Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi (2012): Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

WINNER

Life of Pi (2012): Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott

Other Nominees:
The Avengers (2012): Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Daniel Sudick
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Prometheus (2012/I): Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, Martin Hill
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012): Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Phil Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson

Best Documentary, Feature

WINNER

Searching for Sugar Man (2012): Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn

Other Nominees:
5 Broken Cameras (2011): Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers (2012): Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, Estelle Fialon
How to Survive a Plague (2012): David France, Howard Gertler
The Invisible War (2012): Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering

Best Documentary, Short Subject

WINNER

Inocente (2012): Sean Fine, Andrea Nix

Other Nominees:
Kings Point (2012): Sari Gilman, Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine (2012): Cynthia Wade, Robin Honan
Open Heart (2013): Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern
Redemption (2012/V): Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill

Best Short Film, Animated

WINNER

Paperman (2012): John Kahrs

Other Nominees:
Adam and Dog (2011): Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole (2012): PES
Head Over Heels (2012): Timothy Reckart, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly
The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare (2012): David Silverman

Best Short Film, Live Action

WINNER

Curfew (2012/I): Shawn Christensen

Other Nominees:
Asad (2012): Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys (2012): Sam French, Ariel Nasr
Death of a Shadow (2012): Tom Van Avermaet, Ellen De Waele
Henry (2011/III): Yan England

Life of Pi: 4 wins
Argo: 3 wins
Les Misérables: 3 wins
Django Unchained: 2 wins
Lincoln: 2 win
Skyfall: 2 wins
Brave: 1 win
Zero Dark Thirty: 1 win

From my predictions of the 20 major categories, I got 12 right. I don’t anyone would’ve predicted a “joint” Oscar for both Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty for Best Sound Editing!

64

Did enjoy Argo alot more than I expected, impressed with it really.

65

The Oscar-concept sucks. Either nominate everybody in every category for everything, or get off the air.

66

I’m not sure I quite follow you kit?

67

I think he may mean that the movies that are selected in each category are somewhat arbitrary and biased to start, possibly.

68

Yep, that’s what I meant. All of a year’s movies should be nominated.

69

But all movies shown in a certain timeframe in Califonia are eligable for an Oscar anyhow and nominating all of them would jsut devalue honour of being nominated.

70

I know, but the box-office numbers in that year, should reasonably reflect what ‘the best picture’ should be.

71

By that logic though, Transformers was the best picture of its year. And it wasn’t. Far from it. Box office performance has no connection with a movie’s quality, which why many fine films initially flopped.

72

And therein lies my problem with awards… because some shadowy entity is telling us what ‘quality’ is.

That’s fine for nominations in the technical categories, like set-design, etc. Even for the acting-categories.

73

I don’t think a “shadow entity” is telling us what quality is; it’s merely the Academy voters majority subjective opinion, as valid as yours or mine.

74

Absolutely disagree. There isn’t much connection between the box office and the quality. Either the audience will like the film or not. This is why I love Scorsese who is able to include a lot of filmmaking artistry as well as crowd-pleasing action and simple, effective, highly intelligent plot.

75

I haven’t watched the Oscars since James Cameron won for Titanic. I don’t think any of these movies deserve any awards, hahaha! Christopher Waltz sure, but I don’t really care for awards shows.

76

Well, Amour deserved Oscar, although I thought it was awfully pessimistic. It’s a very good movie, but it won’t cheer you up.

77

The winners at the 86th Academy Awards: [url]Oscars Guide - IMDb

Gravity takes seven, including Best Director, but not Best Picture, which went to 12 Years a Slave, which walked away only with three (like Argo last year).

78

Dissapointment and relief in Belgium after THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN failed to grab the Oscar for best foreign language movie, or whatever that category is called.

What happened?

The country is facing a possible breakdown too, with the Flemish nationalist party N-VA scoring high in all possible polls (elections are in May); they want to split the country, but their plans meet with fierce opposition from Belgium Nationalists, especially in the South, but also in the North (the Dutch speaking North votes predominantly centre-right, the French speaking South predominantly centre-left). So we’re having two groups of nationalists - Flemish Nationalists versus Belgian Nationalists - fighting each other (not in literal sense so far) and the situation is complicated by Brussels, not only the capital - with a mixed population - but also the so-called third Belgian Community, whose position is completely unclear.

Again: What happened?

In this situation, Flemish actress Veerle Baetens made a few statements in favor of the Belgicists (who want to leave things as they are), which infuriated virtually every Flemish nationalist.

Like the RED DEVILS the MOVIE has become a real apple of discord. Many people in Flanders will be supporting the national team’s opponents in June/July because the team’s captain, Vincent Kompany, is Belgicist and so far none of the other players stood up for Flemish independence.

Anyway, an Oscar would have added a lot a fuel to the fire.

79

Have to admit I never pay any attention to the Oscar awards…

80

Lost interest in them years ago.