Oscar Predictions for 2012

Actor in a Leading Role

·                   Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"

·                   George Clooney in "The Descendants"

·                   Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"

·                   Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

·                   Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"

My Prediction:  Let’s face it.  Despite some big names on this list, only one of them has been sweeping the awards shows.  Jean Dujardin had already won the Golden Globe and SAG award.  He’s going to win the Oscar as well.  While Clooney was great and Oldman was flawless, Dujardin has this one in the bag.

Actor in a Supporting Role

·                   Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"

·                   Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"

·                   Nick Nolte in "Warrior"

·                   Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"

·                   Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

My Prediction:  I have to go with the wild card here and say it’s going to be Jonah Hill.  I know, people have been wondering why he got nominated but I have to admit, he has greatly improved his acting.  Yeah, he used to do cheesy comedy movies but Moneyball is a respectable movie and I think he did phenomenal. 

Actress in a Leading Role

·                   Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"

·                   Viola Davis in "The Help"

·                   Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

·                   Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"

·                   Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

My Prediction: I want it to be Rooney Mara, but I know it won’t be her.  Viola Davis has won the SAG award, but I don’t think she’ll get the Oscar.  I think it’s going to be between Glenn Close and Meryl Streep this year.  It’s really hard to call this one, but I think Meryl Streep will get it.

Actress in a Supporting Role

·                   Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"

·                   Jessica Chastain in "The Help"

·                   Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"

·                   Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"

·                   Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

My Prediction:  Again, Octavia Spencer has been sweeping the awards season this year.  She’s been winning left and right, so it’s most likely going to be here.  While I did enjoy her in “The Help”, I liked Janet McTeer much more in “Albert Nobbs”.  But yes, Spencer has this one in the bag.

Animated Feature Film

·                   "A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli

·                   "Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal

·                   "Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson

·                   "Puss in Boots" Chris Miller

·                   "Rango" Gore Verbinski

My Prediction:   Honestly, I only watched “Puss in Boots” and “Rango”.  Neither of them wowed me and I don’t see them winning.  I’m going to take a wild guess and say “A Cat in Paris” will win it.  Never seen it, but this awards season, the French have come out on top.

Art Direction

·                   "The Artist" 
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould

·                   "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" 
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

·                   "Hugo" 
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

·                   "Midnight in Paris" 
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

·                   "War Horse" 
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

My Prediction:  I’d like to say it’s going to be “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” but in all honesty, I think it’s going to be “Hugo”.

Cinematography

·                   "The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman

·                   "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth

·                   "Hugo" Robert Richardson

·                   "The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki

·                   "War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

My Prediction:   Once again, I have to say “The Artist” but I think “Tree of Life” might give it a run for its money.

Costume Design

·                   "Anonymous" Lisy Christl

·                   "The Artist" Mark Bridges

·                   "Hugo" Sandy Powell

·                   "Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor

·                   "W.E." Arianne Phillips

My Prediction:   Again, a difficult decision.  All of the costuming was done really well and I think they should all get recognition but I’m going with the underdog on this one.  My vote goes to “Anonymous” for Costume Design.

Directing

·                   "The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius

·                   "The Descendants" Alexander Payne

·                   "Hugo" Martin Scorsese

·                   "Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen

·                   "The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick

My Prediction: Hands down, Woody Allen.  I think he deserves it.

Documentary (Feature)

·                   "Hell and Back Again" 
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

·                   "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" 
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

·                   "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" 
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky

·                   "Pina" 
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

·                   "Undefeated" 
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

My Prediction:  You know, I didn’t see of the documentaries this year but I’ll go with “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”.

Documentary (Short Subject)

·                   "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement" 
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

·                   "God Is the Bigger Elvis" 
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson

·                   "Incident in New Baghdad" 
James Spione

·                   "Saving Face" 
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

·                   "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" 
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

My Prediction: “Incident in New Baghdad”.

Film Editing

·                   "The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

·                   "The Descendants" Kevin Tent

·                   "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

·                   "Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker

·                   "Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen

My Prediction: “The Artist” for the win.  Seriously, there is no competition on this one.

Foreign Language Film

·                   "Bullhead" Belgium

·                   "Footnote" Israel

·                   "In Darkness" Poland

·                   "Monsieur Lazhar" Canada

·                   "A Separation" Iran

My Prediction:  “In Darkness” is my strong choice on this one, but “A Separation” is just as gripping.  I’ll go with my first choice, but if my second one wins it, I won’t be surprised at all.

Makeup

·                   "Albert Nobbs"
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle

·                   "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" 
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin

·                   "The Iron Lady" 
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

My Prediction: No contest on this.  “Albert Nobbs” gets the Oscar.

Music (Original Score)

·                   "The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams

·                   "The Artist" Ludovic Bource

·                   "Hugo" Howard Shore

·                   "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias

·                   "War Horse" John Williams

My Prediction:  Seriously, do you even have to ask?  “The Artist” will take this one without a doubt.  The whole movie is nothing but a score so it had to be absolutely perfect.

Music (Original Song)

·                   "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

·                   "Real in Rio" from "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

My Prediction:  I think it’ll be “Man or Muppet” for best Original Song.  It was good, it was a parody and it’s the freaking Muppets!

Best Picture

·                   "The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer

·                   "The Descendants" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers

·                   "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Scott Rudin, Producer

·                   "The Help" Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers

·                   "Hugo" Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers

·                   "Midnight in Paris" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers

·                   "Moneyball" Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers

·                   "The Tree of Life" Nominees to be determined

·                   "War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

My Prediction:  Despite the tough competition in this category, I’m thinking it will definitely be “The Artist”.  We all know this silent film will sweep the Oscars.

Short Film (Animated)

·                   "Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon

·                   "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

·                   "La Luna" Enrico Casarosa

·                   "A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

·                   "Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

My Prediction: Let’s go with “A Morning Stroll”.  Why not?

Short Film (Live Action)

·                   "Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane

·                   "Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren

·                   "The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George

·                   "Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

·                   "Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø

My Prediction: Uh……”Pentecost”?

Sound Editing

·                   "Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis

·                   "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce

·                   "Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

·                   "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

·                   "War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

My Prediction:  “Drive”.  Ryan Gosling and  Albert Brooks got screwed out of a nomination this year.  “Drive” seriously should have gotten more recognition than just a small Oscar nomination.  For that reason, it deserves at least one Oscar.

Sound Mixing

·                   "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" 
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson

·                   "Hugo" 
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

·                   "Moneyball" 
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick

·                   "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" 
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

·                   "War Horse" 
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

My Prediction:  You know, I’m not really sure what to go with.  They were all fairly good…so…let’s go with “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”.

Visual Effects

·                   "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" 
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson

·                   "Hugo" 
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

·                   "Real Steel" 
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg

·                   "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" 
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett

·                   "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" 
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

My Prediction:  “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” purely because I’m biased.  And it was the only movie I truly loved out of the nominations in this category.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

·                   "The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

·                   "Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan

·                   "The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon

·                   "Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin  Story by Stan Chervin

·                   "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

My Prediction:  “The Ides of March” should take this one.  Just saying.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

·                   "The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius

·                   "Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig

·                   "Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor

·                   "Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen

·                   "A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi

My Prediction:  I don’t care who it is so long as its not “Bridesmaids”.  If I did care, I’d go for “The Artist” or “Midnight in Paris”.  Hopefully, it’s the latter.