2013 Oscar Picks

Welcome to a special episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today I play the role of NostraDamien and pick this years Academy Award winners. As is the case with most years, 2012 provided us with a ton of fantastic films full of equally fantastic performances. But as we all know....There can be only one.

In the spirit of total disclosure. I am not going to pick every single category for a couple reasons. Firstly do any of you care who I think will win best Sound Mixing or Production Design? Secondly I can't with good conscience make a pick of those lesser known categories since I just don't have the full education of the category. Like I've done in the past I'm sticking with the heavyweights. So without further adieu.

Let's get to it.

Nominees for the 85th Academy Awards


Cinematography

    •    "Anna Karenina" Seamus McGarvey
    •    "Django Unchained" Robert Richardson
    •    "Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda
    •    "Lincoln" Janusz Kaminski
    •    "Skyfall" Roger Deakins

This is a two horse race between Kaminski and Roger Deakins and I'm afraid this is another year that the AMAZING Roger Deakins spends his night sitting on the bench. This time it has nothing to do with highway robbery. He's going up against the Lincoln train that's picking up steam the closer we get to Oscar night.

It really is a crime that Deakins continues to sit and watch his work continue to be the bridesmaid. I have no doubt his time will come and it will be a well deserved honor. Could an upset happen here? Of course. This year more than ever there are chances for upsets or surprises. I don't see it happening but stranger things have happened.

I'm rooting for you Roger.

Music (Original Score)

    •    "Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli
    •    "Argo" Alexandre Desplat
    •    "Life of Pi" Mychael Danna
    •    "Lincoln" John Williams
    •    "Skyfall" Thomas Newman

This is another win for Lincoln. John Williams has created some of cinema's most iconic scores and film themes. Jaws, Superman, Star Wars. The list goes on and on. His latest Spielberg collaborations were rather pedestrian in my opinion. Lincoln didn't employ much music which was a great tactic. When there was cause for a score, Williams put together a much more darker and poignant punch behind his music that gave the film more life.

 Film Editing

    •    "Argo" William Goldenberg
    •    "Life of Pi" Tim Squyres
    •    "Lincoln" Michael Kahn
    •    "Silver Linings Playbook" Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
    •    "Zero Dark Thirty" Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

As an editor I am embarrassed that I have failed to pick the winner in this category since I started making Oscar Picks. Of course the academy doesn't make it easy with these 5 films. Having seen them all I can make an accurate assessment of each film. I think it's between Zero Dark Thirty, Argo and Lincoln. I realize that Lincoln is the odds on favorite for practically everything here but I don't think they get this one. Having said that if I had to choose between Zero Dark Thirty and Argo then it's no contest. Zero Dark Thirty was cut with a precision that mimicked the tension and emotions of the scenes that were being shown.

There were two that stood out the most. 

The attack on the base by the Al Qaeda informant. The pacing between the attackers methodical approach to the compound with the cuts of the anticipation on the other side was just terrific. The other was obviously the attack on Bin Laden's compound.

I'm pretty sure I'll be wrong about this one just as I have been about the others over the past 4 years. Who knows I might break my losing streak.

Visual Effects

    •    "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" 
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
    •    "Life of Pi" 
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
    •    "Marvel's The Avengers" 
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
    •    "Prometheus" 
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
    •    "Snow White and the Huntsman" 
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

This category is easier to predict. This year it's simple process of elimination. Snow White has no chance. Prometheus did have nice visuals. Everything else was vomit inducing. The Hobbit was a sure fire nomination but with 2 sequels on the way history will once again default to how The Lord of The Rings trilogy was treated.

Thus leaving the final two.

The Avengers was amazing and deserved it's nomination. The final battle is probably what gets the notoriety but let's be real about this. The jolly green giant is the reason this film is getting the nod it deserves. The Hulk was a living breathing character. Not a digital character. In any other year this would be the slam dunk winner. Sadly, I feel that Life of Pi will slip in and pull the rug from the feet of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Animated Feature Film

    •    "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

My vote for this category is for Pixar but this could be another Happy Feet-esque upset. Notice a difference with the nominees? 3 of the 5 are stop motion animated films. They are making a major comeback and that's a great thing for animation fans. The technology has improved and the stories are better.

My upset pick is ParaNorman.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

    •    "Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio
    •    "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
    •    "Life of Pi" Screenplay by David Magee
    •    "Lincoln" Screenplay by Tony Kushner
    •    "Silver Linings Playbook" Screenplay by David O. Russell

Here we come to the tougher categories. Adapted screenplays are always tough to crack. This year though seems like a match between Silver Linings Playbook and Lincoln. I originally had Playbook as my pick but changed it to Lincoln. Something tells me that Lincoln will come close to sweeping their categories. I truly believe that Silver Linings Playbook is more deserving. However, we all know it's not about who I feel should win. It's about who will win.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

    •    "Amour" Written by Michael Haneke
    •    "Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino
    •    "Flight" Written by John Gatins
    •    "Moonrise Kingdom" Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
    •    "Zero Dark Thirty" Written by Mark Boal

This one I think is a no brainer. All the others are great films worthy of their nods. But c'mon man. The competition is so much weaker here than for Adapted Screenplay. Plus I think the Academy is throwing a bone since they royally screwed up by not nominating Kathryn Bigelow for Best Director. Now I'm in now way implying that Boal's script doesn't deserve to be here on it's own merit. It ABSOLUTELY does.

That's why he'll be on the stage come Oscar night.

Actress in a Supporting Role

    •    Amy Adams in "The Master"
    •    Sally Field in "Lincoln"
    •    Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"
    •    Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
    •    Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Not that tough here. Hathaway's performance was the driving force of Les Mis. Sally Field can sneak up on her. Only if the Lincoln train picks up major steam. I don't see it here.

Actress in a Leading Role

    •    Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
    •    Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
    •    Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
    •    Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
    •    Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"

My original pick was Jennifer Lawrence. Then I saw Zero Dark Thirty and I was convinced that Chastain was the winner. Why the flip flop? There's a chance that the academy might slight Chastain's "coolness" during the interrogation scenes and mistake them for apathy towards the men being interrogated. That would be a colossal mistake but understandable. Her character was so strong that it's easy to dismiss the appearance of lack of emotion.

Don't be surprised if Emmanuelle Riva comes out of nowhere a la Marion Cotillard.

Actor in a Supporting Role

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

Tommy Lee Jones' speech at the end of Lincoln cements it for him. Alan Arkin has a good chance to unseat the frontrunner though. I loved him in Argo. He was a very pleasant surprise to in a film with dreary subject matter.

Actor in a Leading Role

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

Daniel Day Lewis began writing his acceptance speech the moment he wrapped principal photography.

Let's move on.

Directing

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

I will continue to bitch about this. The fact that Kathryn Bigelow is not on this list is unacceptable. Would it have made a difference? Some say no. I on the other hand think she undoubtedly could have and would have taken out the Senior Spielbergo (you Simpsons fans should get that joke). Since she wasn't allowed to play with the boys then there really isn't any competition here.

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

Finally, the main event. Kind of anti climactic when you think about it. The Oscar promos are teasing the closest race in recent history. Clearly a ratings ploy because Lincoln was billed the winner before it even hit the 50 states. The only legitimate threat here is Zero Dark Thirty. 

Can it win? Yes.

Should it win? HELL YES!

Will it win? Probably not.

And that's that folks. My picks for the 2013 Oscars.

Let the debate begin.

Until Next Year...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"