Thoughts on the 2013 Oscar Nominations

As most of the world now knows the Academy Awards Nominations were announced today! I thought it might be interesting to give my thoughts on the nominees, who I'd like to win, and who I think actually will win. Obviously there are way too many categories to give my opinions on all of them, but I'm going to stick with the main categories. Before I give my thoughts on the individual categories, I wanted to say that generally I agree, but there a few names I'm shocked not to see on here. No Ben or Tarantino for Directing? No Leo for Supporting actor? I'm shocked that there were no nominations at all for Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Dark Knight Rises or Cloud Atlas! And only one nomination for The Hobbit for visual effects?? Unreal. 

Here we go!
Best Picture:
Nominees:

• Amour
• Argo
• Beasts of Southern Wild
• Django Unchained
• Les Misérables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Zero Dark Thirty

Thoughts: I've never heard of Amour or Beasts of Southern Wild, so I can't make any comment on them. I've also never seen Lie of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook, or Zero Dark Thirty(going to ZDT tomorrow hopefully when its released!) Personally, I was expecting The Hobbit for sure, and was hoping for either Cloud Atlas or Prometheus, but no luck apparently.

My Pick: Tough call. right now, I'd say a tie between Argo and Django Unchained. Lots of great movies this year, but those topped for me.

Who I think will actually win: I think that if anything besides Lincoln wins I'll be shocked. Great movie for sure.

Actor in a Leading Role:
Nominees:

• 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"

My Thoughts: Almost entirely not surprising. I think I'd replace Denzel Washington with Jamie Foxx though, he was fantastic in Django Unchained.

My Pick: Tough call. Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables was absolutely amazing, but Daniel Day-Lewis is a phenomenal actor in everything he's ever been in, but he's already won 2, so I feel like Hugh should get this one.

Who I think will actually win: Daniel Day-Lewis will definitely win. My mind will be blown if he doesn't win.


Actor in a Supporting Role:
Nominees:

• 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"

My Pick: Christoph Waltz for sure. He and Tarantino make quite the team. He was fantastic in this film. I do have to say thought that I think that Leonardo DiCaprio should have been nominated for the same film.

Who I think will actually win: Honestly, tough call. I'd say either Philip Seymour Hoffman, or Tommy Lee Jones. I do have hopes for Christoph Waltz, but he won the last time he was nominated as well, so its a tough call. Never know!


Actress in a Leading Role:
Nominees:

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

My Pick: I haven't seen any of these movies so I'm judging this by guesses. The last few years have been amazing for Jessica Chastain. She's been in The Tree of Life, The Help, and The Debt, all of which were fantastic last year. I'm going to see Zero Dark Thirty hopefully tomorrow night, so I'll think I'll have a definite answer then but for now, thats my answer. Although, from what I've seen The Impossible looks amazing, so Naomi Watts could definitely have it as well.

Who I think will actually win: My best guess would be probably Jennifer Lawrence just because of what I've heard about this film. But, I think that Jessica Chastain is a definite possibility. 


Actress in a Supporting Role:
Nominees:

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

My Pick: Definitely Anne Hathaway. I couldn't imagine picking anyone else.

Who I think will actually win: Maybe Sally Field? I'm seriously hoping for Anne Hathaway though.


Animated Feature Film:
Nominees:

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

My Pick: I'd say Wreck-It Ralph. Brave was really great as well though.

Who I think will actually win: I think Wreck-It Ralph will in.


Cinematography:
Nominees:

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

My Pick: I didn't actually see Life of Pi but the trailers look amazing so thats my thought.

Who I think will actually win: Like I said, Life of Pi looked good.


Costume Design:
Nominees:

• Anna Karenina (Jaqueline Durran)
• Les Misérables (Pago Delgado)
• Lincoln (Joanna Johnston)
• Mirror Mirror (Eiko Ishioka)
• Snow White and the Huntsman (Colleen Atwood)

My Pick: I haven't seen Anna Karenina yet, so it might have amazing costumes, I don't know, but when I saw Mirror Mirror that was really the only thing that stood out to me. That beautiful golden-yellow cape that Snow White wears in one of the scenes? Gorgeous. Les Misérables did great for the costumes as well though, so that might be my pick.

Who I think will actually win: Probably Anna Karenina but Les Misérables is a possibility.


Directing:
Nominees:

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

My Pick: Ben Affleck and Quentin Tarantino seriously got snubbed in the category. I definitely would have chosen Tarantino for this one, but since he's not nominated(????) My choice is Steven Spielberg for Lincoln.

Who I think will actually win: Definitely Steven Spielberg. I expect Lincoln to clean up the Oscars this year.


Documentary Feature:
Nominees:

• 5 Broken Cameras 
• The Gatekeepers
• How to Survive a Plague
• The Invisible War
• Searching for Sugar Man

My Pick: I've only heard of The Invisible War and I've only seen How to Survive a Plague which was very powerful, so thats my vote.
Who I think will actually win: Hard to say, I'd say either The Invisible War or How to Survive a Plague.


Visual Effects:
Nominees:

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• Life of Pi
• Marvel's The Avengers
• Prometheus
• Snow White and the Huntsman

My Pick: Well, since this is the one freakin' category that The Hobbit is nominated in, its left me no other choice but to pick it. I'd also like to have Prometheus as my runner-up because it was such a fantastic film.

Who I think will actually win: I'm desperately hoping for The Hobbit. I don't know who Peter Jackson pissed off in The Academy, but he definitely should have apologized before this morning.  


Writing(Adapted Screenplay):

Nominees:

• 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)

My Pick: I have no idea. Perks of Being a Wallflower should DEFINITELY be in this list so honestly, that is my pick. Academy, you messed up.

Who I think will actually win: I'm gonna guess Silver Linings Playbook, but could be any of them honestly. 

Writing(Original Screenplay):

Nominees:

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

My Pick: My pick is Django Unchained, but I haven't seen Moonrise Kingdom yet, so when I do maybe that one since its the only category its nominated in.

Who I think will actually win: Really not sure, maybe Zero Dark Thirty, but since its the only category its nominated in, maybe Moonrise Kingdom, I've heard really great things about it.

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