So the Academy Awards has announced the nominees for its 2013 show, and the lineup is looking very interesting. Below are the list of nominees and my personal opinions for the categories. Lincoln is beating all the other movies so far with the most nominations. So far it’s Amour with 5 noms, Django Unchained with 5 noms, Argo with 7 noms, Les Miserables with 8 noms, Silver Linings Playbook with 8 noms and Life of Pi with 11 noms.
For the best picture category, I’m really surprised to see Django Unchained getting nominated, since I never figured the Oscars would choose a film that has a colorful take on history, especially on the subject of slavery, to receive a nom. After having seen the movie, I agree that its nomination is well deserved. I still need to go watch Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty. The other two movies that I have not heard of with a lot of nominations are Beasts of the Southern Wild and Silver Linings Playbook.
I’m also excited to see The Avengers getting one nomination for visual effects. It looks like The Dark Knight Rises got the boot, having no listing in any category. Sorry Christopher Nolan.
BEST PICTURE
- Amour
- Argo
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Django Unchained
- Les Misérables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Zero Dark Thirty
Look at all these names being considered for best actor in movies I have never seen. Having said that, I’m rooting for Daniel Day-Lewis and Hugh Jackman to win.
ACTOR in a Leading Role
- Bradley Cooper
Silver Linings Playbook - Daniel Day-Lewis
Lincoln - Hugh Jackman
Les Misérables - Joaquin Phoenix
The Master - Denzel Washington
Flight
Again, I haven’t seen any of these movies featuring these actresses, but I’ll have to root for Jennifer Lawrence just because she was Mystique in X-Men: First Class.
ACTRESS in a Leading Role
- Jessica Chastain
Zero Dark Thirty - Jennifer Lawrence
Silver Linings Playbook - Emmanuelle Riva
Amour - Quvenzhané Wallis
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Naomi Watts
The Impossible
Okay, now at least I’ve seen one movie in the Supporting Actor category, and that is Django Unchained. Christoph Waltz is my favorite character in the movie, and I’d be happy to see him win.
ACTOR in a Supporting Role
- Alan Arkin
Argo - Robert De Niro
Silver Linings Playbook - Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Master - Tommy Lee Jones
Lincoln - Christoph Waltz
Django Unchained
ACTRESS in a Supporting Role
- Amy Adams
The Master - Sally Field
Lincoln - Anne Hathaway
Les Misérables - Helen Hunt
The Sessions - Jacki Weaver
Silver Linings Playbook
The only two movies that I have seen are Brave and Wreck-It Ralph. I hear Frankenweenie and ParaNorman are worth watching. But judging from the ones I’ve seen, I’d go for Wreck-It Ralph. It’s a movie for video game lovers.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
- Brave
- Frankenweenie
- ParaNorman
- The Pirates! Band of Misfits
- Wreck-It Ralph
The only movies I saw here were Skyfall and Django Unchained, but the one I think that deserves to win here is Life of Pi. Judging from the trailer, the movie looks really gorgeous.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Anna Karenina
- Django Unchained
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- Skyfall
And now we’re heading towards costume design, an area that commonly goes hand-in-hand with historical and fantasy pieces, as we can see with the nominees in the category. All these movies listed are either a period or fairy tale piece. It’s funny how both Snow White movies are competing. I’d have to go for Snow White and the Hunstman. Even though I think the movie was mediocre, the outfits were at least cool.
COSTUME DESIGN
- Anna Karenina
- Les Misérables
- Lincoln
- Mirror Mirror
- Snow White and the Huntsman
Now this category is a favorite of mine, since these are the guys who are the main ones responsible for making a movie good. I’m sadden to see that Quentin Tarantino didn’t get a nomination for Django Unchained, but I am happy to see Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg. The one person who I do not want to see win is David O. Russell. I’m only saying that due to him being a douchebag in real life. Did you hear about him choking out Christopher Nolan because he wanted to use Jude Law in one of his movies?
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
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- 5 Broken Cameras
- The Gatekeepers
- How to Survive a Plague
- The Invisible War
- Searching for Sugar Man
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
- Inocente
- Kings Point
- Mondays at Racine
- Open Heart
- Redemption
FILM EDITING
- Argo
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Zero Dark Thirty
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
- Amour
Austria - Kon-Tiki
Norway - No
Chile - A Royal Affair
Denmark - War Witch
Canada
Here’s a really short list for the makeup and hairstyling category. I hear praises about Les Mis for making Anne Hathaway look dirty, but should they win for that? My vote would go for the Hobbit; I mean, did you see all the different and crazy hairstyles for the Dwarves?
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
- Hitchcock
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Les Misérables
Since I haven’t seen most of these movies, I really can’t comment on it. I’m always happy to see John Williams get a nomination (yes, I’ve been listening to the score of Jurassic Park recently).
MUSIC Original Score
- Anna Karenina
Dario Marianelli - Argo
Alexandre Desplat - Life of Pi
Mychael Danna - Lincoln
John Williams - Skyfall
Thomas Newman
MUSIC Original Song
- “Before My Time” from Chasing Ice
Music and Lyric by J. Ralph - “Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from Ted
Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane - “Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi
Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri - “Skyfall” from Skyfall
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth - “Suddenly” from Les Misérables
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
I’d usually root for fantasy films to win, but the high frame rate for The Hobbit really didn’t help it that much. I guess the next one to root for is Life of Pi.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
- Anna Karenina
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Les Misérables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
The only one I’ve seen is Paperman, which was great. I think it’s one of my favorite Disney/Pixar shorts I’ve seen in a while. And who knew Maggie Simpson had her own short?
SHORT FILM Animated
- Adam and Dog
- Fresh Guacamole
- Head over Heels
- Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”
- Paperman
SHORT FILM Live Action
- Asad
- Buzkashi Boys
- Curfew
- Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)
- Henry
SOUND EDITING
- Argo
- Django Unchained
- Life of Pi
- Skyfall
- Zero Dark Thirty
SOUND MIXING
- Argo
- Les Misérables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- Skyfall
This is a tough one. I’m thinking the voters might choose Life of Pi (I’d be fine with that), but I want the Avengers to win this one. It’s the only category that the movie received a nomination for.
VISUAL EFFECTS
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Life of Pi
- Marvel’s The Avengers
- Snow White and the Huntsman
WRITING Adapted Screenplay
- Argo
Written by Chris Terrio - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin - Life of Pi
Written by David Magee - Lincoln
Written by Tony Kushner - Silver Linings Playbook
Written by David O. Russell
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
Source: Oscars
