Once again it’s been a great year for film and another
record smashing year at the box office. We’ve basked in superhero glory
welcoming a new Spiderman but also bidding a fond farewell to Batman,
reminisced with Hobbits and vampires, saw Bond brave British heights of success
and even watched with pride as Harry Potter graduated from wizardry to tackle a
different frightening foe all dressed in black. Blockbuster’s we’ve had
a-plenty; incredible highs (The Avengers) and dreadfully disappointing lows
(John Carter anyone?)
So what do we do to honour all these great films? Why we
hand out naked gold men to actors and force them up onto stages to thank their
mothers and goldfish, thats what!
Yes its that time of year again – The Oscars! The crème de
la crème of acting royalty will soon be donning their bow ties, slipping on
their Monolo Blahnik’s and trying not to fall over or cry when they take to the
stage at the biggest award ceremony in Hollywood at the end of this month; The 85th Academy Awards.
As the nominations are out and the ceremony is only a few
weeks away, here are my predictions of winners, but also the ones I want to see
win:
BEST FILM:
Lincoln
Amour
Silver Linings Playbook
Life Of Pi
Les Miserables
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Argo
Zero Dark Thirty
Predicted winner:
Lincoln
Every film on that list deserves to be there, and what a
wonderful mixture of genre we have; from sweeping costume epics with the
political Lincoln and the musical Les Miserables to the gorgeous fantasy dramas
in book adaptation Life of Pi and the unexpected sleeper-hit Beasts of the
Southern Wild which was made for peanuts. The dark horse here is Silver Linings
Playbook, which despite the ridiculous title and rubbish rom-com poster
campaign, has done incredibly well so far with other ceremonies nominating it
left-right and centre, picking up a few acting awards along the way. However
Spielberg’s Lincoln has been the frontrunner so far and will continue to be the
one to beat.
My choice winner:
Life of Pi OR Argo
Life of Pi was a visually stunning ground-breaking
masterpiece, previous stated as unfilmable and it deserves to take the statue.
Although I also thought Argo was one of the best films of 2012, Ben Affleck
should have been nominated for Best Director. A win for Best Film would surely
be the best compensation and reward for his hard work. They are still under heavy
competition with Lincoln.
BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day Lewis – Lincoln
Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
Denzel Washington – The Flight
Predicted Winner:
Daniel Day Lewis
His performance in Lincoln has bagged him a nomination, but
he is a shoo-in for an award. His last Oscar win was for There Will Be Blood and
if he does indeed take the statue home with him, he will become the first man
to take the Best Actor award three times. However Hugh Jackman’s turn in Les
Miserables and Bradley Cooper’s fantastic character in Silver Linings could
mean Day Lewis is overthrown.
My choice winner:
Bradley Cooper
A charming and surprising role dealing with a difficult and
normally serious subject, Silver Linings turned out to be a sleeper hit of 2012
and acting awards swifty followed. This is Cooper’s first nomination and it
would be a wonderful turn of events if he took the award home. A deserved
nomination.
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
Predicted Winner
Jessica
Chastain
Chastain was
previously nominated for The Help a few ceremonies back, but this time it seems
she is the most likely winner for her performance in a gritty, hard hitting
subject. If she doesn’t win, it will be because Lawrence only just pipped her
to the winning line. We both produced fantastic performances.
My Choice winner
Jessica Chastain
Enough said. In my opinion her performance outshone
Lawrences. Watts gave a beautiful turn in The Impossible, but I still choose
Chastain.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin – (Argo)
Robert De Niro – (Silver Linings Playbook)
Philip Semour Hoffman – (The Master)
Tommy Lee Jones – (Lincoln)
Christoph Waltz – (Django Unchained)
Predicted winner:
Philip Seymour Hoffman
It will be very interesting to see who takes this home. So
far the other big award ceremonies have all chosen different winners; The
Golden Globes choosing Waltz and The
Critics Choice unsurprisingly favouring Hoffman,
while the Screen Actors Guild awarded Jones.
Seeing as he has been a frequent occupant in the nominations lists before at
the Oscars, my bet this year would edge towards Hoffman for a very powerful
performance in the mysterious head-scratcher The Master.
My choice winner:
Alan Arkin
His touchingly funny and welcoming comic relief in the
serious drama Argo would be a wonderful surprise win, but its seems unlikely
after Arkin won a few years back for Little Miss Sunshine.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – The Master
Sally Fields – Lincoln
Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables
Helen Hunt – The Sessions
Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook
Predicted Winner:
Anne Hathaway
Hathaway has picked up several awards so far, and her
powerful but brief performance in Les Miserables was quite incredible. She is
the number one choice.
My Choice Winner:
Helen Hunt
A lovely film and a touching subject dealt with grace and
respect. Hunt found a true gem when she accepted this role, and her performance
was quite beautiful. I feel her overall role was greater than Hathaway’s but it
seems very unlikely Hunt will take the award home.
BEST DIRECTOR
Michael Haneke – Amour
Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Ang Lee – Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Predicted Winner:
Steven Spielberg
Once again proving that he is an incredible director with
no fear for any given subject, Spielberg
stormed the gates this year with the hugely patriotic Lincoln. His last win was
for Saving `private Ryan back in 1998, so he is in with a big chance this time
to take the award once again.
My choice winner:
Ang Lee
Many a director tried and failed, picked it up then gave up
and quit on Life of Pi. Lee surpassed all expectation and did something many
could not; he put a man in a boat with a tiger and made it real. A wonderful
story and stunning film indeed, but all the credit goes to Lee and he was
definitely the best choice of leader.
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParNorman
The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists/Band Of Misfits
Wreck-It-Ralph
Predicted Winner:
Frankenweenie
A charming black and white animation from Tim Burton, while
none of the others in the list come anywhere close.
My Choice winner:
Frankenweenie
Best
Cinematography
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
Predicted winner:
Life of Pi
My Choice winner:
Life of Pi
BEST COSTUME
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman
Predicted winner:
Les Miserables
My Choice winner
Les Miserables
BEST VISUAL AFFECTS
The Hobbit
Life of Pi
The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman
Predicted Winner:
Life of Pi
My Choice winner:
Life of Pi
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Amour
Kon Tiki
No
A Royal Affair
War Witch
Predicted Winner:
Amour
My choice winner:
A Royal Affair
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Predicted Winner:
Beasts of the Southern Wild
My Choice winner:
Beasts of the Southern Wild
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty
Predicted Winner:
Amour
My Choice winner:
Amour
The Academy Awards will be shown here in the UK on Sky
Movies on 24th February. The full list of nominations and names are
available on official Academy Awards website: www.oscars.org
