For Your Consideration

The time of the year bestowed upon us as I key in this entry with lightning speed. Having watched all 9 nominated Best Pictures, I can safely make a substantially long list of ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ describing each film’s merits for that top award. Yet there is not a single way of predicting the right winner. Guild and critics awards may not necessarily be a sure-fire prerequisites for an Oscar. There is no formula to apply, no codes to decode. It all, we can collectively believe, boils down to The Academy’s favourites as the different branches of 6,000 members vote for their crème-de-la crèmes in each of the specific categories. Perhaps the only two major categories that will not be averted far from expectations are Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, which seems locked for two-time winner Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) and Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables), deservingly so for their all-out and mighty in-the-moment performance.

The inclusion of Benh Zeitlin in the Best Director’s chair (in a surprising turn of events) would certainly be The Academy’s resolution to include younger talents in the pool of classic or familiar faces like Spielberg, Ang Lee and O. Russell; not withstanding the facts that Zeitlin’s Beast of The Southern Wild has its admires since the movie’s opening in Sundance. This is not a category for an easy guess, and the exclusion of Ben Affleck (Argo) and even Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) makes it exceedingly harder, both of which are considered to be amongst the top contenders and have clinched Best Film or the equivalent in major guilds and critics awards. Quentin Tarantino will have to settle for Original Screenplay as he was overlooked in this race too. Spielberg is long overdue though I wouldn’t regard Lincoln as his best film to date. Hence I float into obscure territories and picks Ang Lee as the next better contender to clinch the Oscar, for his take on the best-selling novel was beautiful on every front, arresting with each frame, looks seemingly gorgeous in 3D, musically edited, composed and mixed to perfection.

Silver Linings Playbook by David O. Russell becomes one of the unique films to fall under the Big 5 Noms: Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress, with additions to Best Supporting categories. Just for the record, only 3 films have won all the top 5: It Happened One Night (1934), One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Silence of the Lamb (1991). The way I see it is that, with the exception of Jennifer Lawrence’s performance, the rest of the nominees might walk out empty handed. There is not a chance that Bradley Cooper would triumph over Day-Lewis. Yet here to be rounded-up with the very best actors shows the quality for this year’s performances, one of which deserves more love that the others. Given a chance for a ballot, Joaquin Phoenix strikes me as the single piece de resistance worthy of a win. PT Anderson’s The Master might strike people as empty and self-loathing, but Phoenix delivers one of the quirkiest portrayals in recent years as an alcoholic man obsessed with sex, on the brink of insanity, trying to readjust with post-war situations and believing in the philosophies of a cult-Master. On the other spectrum would be Hugh Jackman, which I considered as the dark horse in this amazing group of actors, as he not only acts but also sings – a double tour-de-force not many actors can accomplish.

Four out of the five nominees in the Best Supporting Actor race have each won in the same category before: Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine, Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II, Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive and Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor for Capote (2005) but would be the least likely contender to shine in this tight race. I gladly choose Waltz’s Schultz over De Niro’s Solitano Senior, with Jones (who've won 9 critics awards for his outstanding role as the Radical Republican Congressional leader Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln) making a fortuitous comeback.

There is a sense of interest and joy seeing the youngest talent being nominated in the same race with the oldest actress (Quvenzhané Wallis is 9 while Emmanuele Riva is 86). The Best Actress race is made exquisitely array with the inclusions of such wonderful performers as Naomi Watts (previously a nominee for 21 Grams) and Jessica Chastain (previously nominated for The Help). With no single actress ever won an Oscar before, this is the only acting category that will eventually see the emergence of a new winner.

Amour, with a Best Picture nomination as well as Riva’s and Haneke’s nods, has the upper hand in the Best Foreign Film category, and vying for the top spot for a foreign film is nothing but rare. There are only 4 other foreign pictures that have been nominated for Best Picture: Z (Algeria), The Emigrants (Sweden), Life Is Beautiful (Italy) and Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan). And so, as it is often the case, the winner for Foreign Film is already written in stone when it is consciously nominated for Best Picture. If Hanake wins the director's race, it would be a history in the making for a foreign film director. A triple bingo if it goes on to clinch Best Picture.

The other Best Picture nominees are selected as we see it coming, albeit a little predictable. Les Misérables, with all its technical challenges, might take home the sound award it has been nominated for, and with a little charm, the specially composed Suddenly might just spell a somewhat prenotion definition to it’s title - a shocking surprise. But no one would be wrong to place his or her bets on the one song that has become the tune of the town - Adele’s Skyfall, for it is hardly a missed target. She might be the very first singer and composer to be awarded for a James Bond song, the 5th one in the original song category. Cinematography wise, Roger Deakins have been nominated 10 times without a win, and it would be a sweet victory if he takes the trophy for Skyfall, seamlessly in line with the 50th Anniversary of James Bond. It will be an exciting sight to behold if the most nominated living person, John Williams, takes his 6th Academy Award for the dramatic score of Lincoln, but I smell Oscar for Life of Pi’s divine orchestration by Mychael Danna. In closing, one would be delighted to see Tim Burton pick up his first for Frankenweenie, though I see the quaint possibility of Disney-Pixar's Brave and Wreck-It Ralph wrecking a friendly upset.

So here are my quick predictions. Unlike the years before, where I have single guesses for each category, this year I make alternatives for second guesses. I’m unpredictable even in my predictions.

Best Picture: “Argo”
(alt. “Life of Pi”) 

Best Director: Ang Lee – “Life of Pi”
(alt Steven Spielberg – “Lincoln”)

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis – “Lincoln”
(alt. Joaquin Phoenix – “The Master”)

Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva – “Amour”
(alt. Jennifer Lawrence – “Silver Linings Playbook”)

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz – “Django Unchained”
(alt. Robert De Niro – “Silver Linings Playbook”)

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway – “Les Misérables”
(alt. Amy Adams – “The Master”)

Best Adapted Screenplay: “Argo”
(alt. “Silver Linings Playbook”)


Best Original Screenplay: “Django Unchained”
(alt. “Amour”)

Best Production Design: “Les Misérables”
(alt. “Lincoln”)

Best Cinematography: “Life of Pi”
(alt. “Skyfall”)

Best Costume Design: “Mirror Mirror”
(alt. “Anna Karenina”)

Best Film Editing: “Life of Pi”
(alt. “Argo”)

Best Makeup: “Les Misérables”
(alt. “The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey”)

Best Music (Original Score): “Life of Pi”
(alt. “Argo”)

Best Music (Original Song): “Skyfall” – “Skyfall”
(alt. “Suddenly” – “Les Misérables”)

Best Sound Editing: “Argo”
(alt. “Life of Pi”)

Best Sound Mixing: “Les Misérables”
(alt. “Argo”)

Best Visual Effects: “Life of Pi”
(alt. “The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey”)

Best Animated Feature Film: “Wreck-It Ralph”
(alt. “Frankenweenie”)

Best Foreign Language Film: “Amour” – Austria
(alt. “Kon-Tiki” – Norway)

Best Documentary Feature: “Searching for Sugarman”
(alt. “The Gatekeepers”)

Best Documentary Short: “Open Heart”
(alt. “Mondays at Racine”)

Best Short Film (Animated): “Paperman”
(alt. “Fresh Guacamole”)

Best Short Film (Live Action): “Buzkashi Boys"
(alt. “Curfew”)


- - -


Winners (correct alternative guesses in green, incorrect guesses in red):

Best Picture: “Argo”
Best Director: Ang Lee – “Life of Pi”
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis – “Lincoln”
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence – “Silver Linings Playbook”  
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz – “Django Unchained”
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway – “Les Misérables”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Argo”
Best Original Screenplay: “Django Unchained”
Best Production Design: “Lincoln”
Best Cinematography: “Life of Pi” 
Best Costume Design: “Anna Karenina” 
Best Film Editing: “Argo”
Best Makeup: “Les Misérables”
Best Music (Original Score): “Life of Pi” 
Best Music (Original Song): “Skyfall” – “Skyfall”
Best Sound Editing: “Zero Dark Thiry” & "Skyfall" (TIE)
Best Sound Mixing: “Les Misérables”
Best Visual Effects: “Life of Pi” 
Best Animated Feature Film: “Brave”  
Best Foreign Language Film: “Amour” – Austria
Best Documentary Feature: “Searching for Sugarman”
Best Documentary Short: “Inocente” 
Best Short Film (Animated): “Paperman”
Best Short Film (Live Action): “Curfew"
 

So all the best people wins. Great.