June Oscar Buzz and Predictions - Screenplays

     The case with the screenplay categories is usually an embarrassment of riches on the Adapted side and a few shoo-ins among the Originals with the remaining slots left for that year's up-and-coming auteurs.  This year there are more heavy hitting arguably overdue writers working in Original, which promises to be an interesting novelty if nothing else. As always, the buzz leads each category with my thoughts and predictions following after.

Adapted Screenplay
  1. Before Midnight
  2. The Monuments Men
  3. August: Oslo County
  4. The Wolf of Wall Street
  5. The Butler

  6. Foxcatcher
  7. Labor Day
  8. 12 Years a Slave
  9. Captain Phillips
  10. The Great Gatsby

     It seems odd to me that Before Midnight lands in Adapted just because it is a sequel, but that's how the rules work at present.  I would like to post the disclaimer that I expect August: Osage County to be one of those ensembly Picture nominees with no Screenplay nod (think: The Help).  Tracy Letts showed talent with Killer Joe, but it was no masterpiece of a script.  There are relatively few Oscar veterans in serious contention in this category, but I still think experience counts...

  1. Before Midnight - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...This film has been celebrated even more exuberantly than the previous installment that earned this trio a nomination - seems like a gimme.
  2. Foxcater - E Max Frye (never nominated) & Dan Futterman (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...If this film works at all it will rely heavily on a strong screenplay.  Futterman was previously nominated for Capote.
  3. The Wolf of Wall Street - Terrence Winter (never nominated)...Mr. Winter may have never been nominated for an Oscar, but he's worked on some of the most cinematic television shows imaginable (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire) and Scorsese would never have signed on for a screenplay that didn't have the goods.
  4. Monument's Men - George Clooney & Grant Heslov (0 wins out of 2 nominations in writing categories)  Third time COULD be the charm for this pair whose film sounds almost TOO Oscar baity.  Still....
  5. 12 Years a Slave - John Ridley (never nominated)...Yes, Mr. Ridley's most impressive previous cred by a mile is Three Kings, but that WAS a very good screenplay and I can't imagine that Steve McQueen is going to follow up Shame with (pardon the expression) some crap.

  6. Labor Day - Jason Reitman (0 wins out of 1 nomination in writing categories)...Reitman is a very talented auteur, but Young Adult proved that he can wax too dark for the Academy's tastes and this is his first effort without comedic elements.  We will have to wait and see.
  7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - William Nicholson (0 wins out of 2 nominations)  Arguably one of the most overdue names on this list, Mr. Nicholson was previously nominated for Gladiator and Shadowlands.  He is also backed by the Weinstein Company.
  8. The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet - Jean-Pierre Jeunt & Guillaume Laurant (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...The writing pair that brought you Amelie, working in English, backed by the Weinstein Company...nuff said.
  9. The Butler - Lee Daniels & Danny Strong (never nominated in writing categories)...The Paperboy is not exactly the most convincing former writing credit (remember Daniels only DIRECTED Precious), but Harvey Weinstein is pushing this as a Best Picture nominee.  Still, could be another victim of The Help syndrome.
  10. Snowpiercer - Joon-ho Bong & Kelly Masterson (never nominated)...Yes, it's science fiction, that's why I put it last.  Still, the writers separately penned Madeo (or Mother, which surely would have been nominated if it was in English) and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead so I have very high hopes.

     Also in the mix:  August: Osage County (Tracy Letts, never nominated), Captain Phillips (Billy Ray, nn), The Fifth Estate (Josh Singer, nn), A Most Wanted Man (Andrew Bovell, nn), Much Ado About Nothing (Joss Whedon, 0/1), Oldboy (Mark Protosevich, nn), Philomena (Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope, nn) & The Spectacular Now (Scott Neustadter & Michael H Webber, nn)


Original Screenplay
  1. The Counselor
  2. Inside Llewyn Davis
  3. Fruitvale Station
  4. Gravity
  5. Nebraska

  6. American Hustle
  7. The Past
  8. Captain Phillips
  9. Blue Jasmine
  10. The Immigrant

     This category is PACKED this year, with some very celebrated screen writers in contention.  I wouldn't count out ANY of the buzzed about films listed above, but I DO have a few films I feel strongly about that didn't make it.  MY list looks more like this...

  1. Inside Llewyn Davis - The Coen Brothers (2 wins out of 5 nominations in writing categories)...I'm not saying they'll win (previous wins for No Country and Fargo sort of make the notion of being overdue silly), but with raves out of Cannes, a nomination seems all but assured.  There are three names that should never be underestimated in the Oscar world.  Pixar, Weinstein...and Coen.
  2. Fruitvale Station - Ryan Coogler (never nominated)...It may seem odd to place a rookie at number two with so many experienced sharks in the water, but the film has been seen, was well received, and has Weinstein pushing it hard.
  3. Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen (3 wins out of 15 nominations in writing categories)...I would add Allen to the list of names to never bet against except that in a career as prolific as his you have to have a lot of misses to only score (ONLY?) fifteen nominations in over forty years of film making.  Early buzz indicates this is not one of them.  I wouldn't vote against it.
  4. The Counselor - Cormac McCarthy (never nominated)...It may be Mr. McCarthy's first script, but he IS one of the most celebrated novelists of the twenty first century, whose work has often adapted beautifully to screen.
  5.  All Is Lost - JC Chandor (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...I had a really difficult time picking between number five and number six here, but this film has already been seen to strong reviews and Chandor is one for one ( with Margin Call) with the Academy.  Robert Redford's performance ensures that even the most curmudgeonly Academy members will watch their screeners and have the movie in mind.

  6. American Hustle - David O Russell (0 wins out of 1 nomination) & Eric Singer (never nominated)...That being said, its hard to bet against Mr. Russell.  However, he has gained above the line notice on his last two films (Silver Linings Playbook was JUST last year and incorporated most of the same primary actors) and unless this film is REALLY something special, AMPAS might decide that it is someone else's "turn" as it were.
  7. Gravity - Alfonso Cuaron (0 wins out of 2 nominations in writing categories) & Jonas Cuaron (never nominated)...This film and Elysium are in kind of the same boat.  In both cases, I have great confidence in the previously nominated writer's abilities, but in both cases the films are science fiction (or at least employ certain sci-fi sensibilities) and that does not always bode well with the writer's branch. For now, I'll give Cuaron the edge due to the fact that he has already proven not to be a one trick pony (with nods for both Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men).
  8. Elysium - Neil Blomkampf (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...See what I said for Gravity.  Blomkampf's one trick was the brilliant debut effort District 9.
  9. The Past - Asghar Farhadi (0 wins out 1 nomination)...If The Past were not in French, I would probably place Farhadi MUCH higher on this list.  Still, he got here in Arabic with A Separation, so a nod is certainly possible.
     I never do this, but...
  10. Her - Spike Jonze (never nominated in writing categories)...I find it difficult to believe that the writer's branch has never honored him before, but it's true...
     (tied with)
        The Zero Theorem - Pat Rushin (never nominated)...I find it difficult to believe that the Academy has never embraced the film's of director Terry Gillam more than they have.  Maybe this is the year they FINALLY correct this.

     Plus...Ain't Them Bodies Saints (David Lowery, nn), The Dallas Buyer's Club (Craig Borten & Melissa Wallack, nn), Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach 0/1 & Greta Gerwig, nn), The Immigrant (James Gray & Rick Menello, nn), Mud (Jeff Nichols, nn), Nebraska (Bob Nelson, nn), Out of the Furnace (Brad Inglesby & Scott Cooper, nn), Rush (Peter Morgan 0/2), Saving Mr. Banks (Kelly Marcel, nn) & Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 0/1),
  Related articles: What "Cannes" We Tell So Far?, June Oscar Buzz and Predictions - The Aural Techs, The Visual Techs, The Genre Categories, The Help Review, The Perfect Para-Killer (Killer Joe review), Another Young Project (Young Adult review),  The Great Zac Efron Film Festival of 2012 (The Paperboy review), Dark Clouds Beautify "Silver Linings", Water and Earth Make "Mud"

2013 Awards Preview - Postscript: Predictions

     Of course, nobody knows anything yet, but I can't resist doing this just for fun.  I haven't even started tracking 86th Oscar Buzz in any significant way yet.  This is just going with my gut. That being said, five of the eventual Best Picture nominees from last year were in my preview series predictions top ten and I made those a couple of weeks earlier.  Three of the other four were in my alternates.  Amour is the only possibility that seemed to really escape me, but how often does a non-English language film actually crack the Best Picture category?  Let's see if I can do any better this year.  Bear in mind, the last couple of alternate slots in any category are usually going to be things I would LIKE to see happen.  Some are a little wild...

  Best Picture
1. The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Twelve Years a Slave
3. Inside Llewyn Davis
4. Nebraska
5. Fruitvale Station
6. The Monuments Men
7. Elysium
8. Before Midnight (ala Toy Story 3 and the expanded field effect)
9. The Butler
10. The Counselor

11. American Hustle
12. The Zero Theorem
13. The Immigrant
14. The Great Gatsby
15. Labor Day
16. The Rover
17. The Young and Prodigious Spivet
18. To The Wonder
19. Ain't Them Bodies Saints
20. The East
  But don't rule out: All Is Lost, August: Osage County, Captain Phillips, The Fifth Estate, Foxcatcher, Grace of Monico, Gravity, Her, Kill Your Darlings, Midnight's Children, Mud, Only God Forgives, The Place Beyond the Pines, Serena, Snowpiercer, Trance, World War Z

  Best Director
1. Steve McQueen - Twelve Years a Slave
2. Martin Scorcese - The Wolf of Wall Street
3. Alexander Payne - Nebraska
4. Ryan Coogler - Fruitvale Station'
5. The Coen Brothers - Inside Llewyn Davis

6. Neil Blomkamp - Elysium
7. Lee Daniels - The Butler
8. George Clooney - The Monuments Men
9. Richard Linklater - Before Midnight
10. Terence Malick - To The Wonder
  Other possibilities: David O Russell - American Hustle, Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips, Ridley Scott - The Couselor, Bill Condon - The Fifth Estate, Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher, Baz Luhrman - The Great Gatsby, James Grey - The Immigrant, Jason Reitman - Labor Day, Deepa Mehta - Midnight's Children, Jeff Nichols - Mud, Nicholas Winding Refn - Only God Forgives, David Michod - The Rover, Susanne Bier - Serena, Jean-Pierre Juenet - The Young and Prodigious Spivet, Terry Gillem - The Zero Theorem

  Best Actor
1. Michael B. Jordan - Fruitvale Station
2. Michael Fassbender - The Counselor
3. Chiawatel Ejiofor - Twelve Years a Slave
4. Robert Redford - All Is Lost
5. Bruce Dern - Nebraska

6. Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
7. Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis
8. Forest Whitaker - The Butler
9. Matthew MacConaughey - Mud
10. Christoph Waltz - The Zero Theorem
  Or...Casey Affleck - Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Bradley Cooper - American Hustle, Dennis Quaid - At Any Price, Ethan Hawke - Before Midnight, Toby Jones - Berberian Sound Studio, Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips, Matt Damon - Elysium, Bradley Cooper - The Fifth Estate, Mads Mickelson - The Hunt, Jeremy Renner - The Immigrant, Daniel Radcliffe - Kill Your Darlings, Ryan Gosling - Only God Forgives, Leonardo DiCaprio - The Great Gatsby, Joaquin Phoenix - Her, Idris Elba - Mandela: TheLong Walk To Freedom, Ryan Gosling - The Place Beyond the Pines, Christian Bale - Out of the Furnace, Colin Firth - The Railway Man, Guy Pearce - The Rover, Tom Hanks - Saving Mr. Banks

  Best Actress
1. Nicole Kidman - Grace of Monaco
2. Jessica Chastain - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers
3. Oprah Winfrey - The Butler
4. Carey Mulligan - The Great Gatsby
5. Rooney Mara - Ain't Them Bodies Saints

6. Naomie Watts - Diana
7. Sandra Bullock - Gravity
8. Marion Cotillard - The Immigrant
9. Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
10. Susan Sarandan - The Company You Keep
     I also thought about: Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle, Meryl Streep - August: Osage County, Rooney Mara - Her, Saoirse Ronan - How I Live Now, Mia Wasikowska - Madame Bovary, Naomi Harris - Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, Shaillene Woodley - The Spectacular Now

  Best Supporting Actor
1. John Goodman - Inside Llewyn Davis
2. Robert DeNiro - American Hustle
3. Brad Pitt - The Counselor
4. Steve Carrell - Foxcatcher
5. Ewan McGregor - August: Osage County

6. Michael Fassbender - Twelve Years a Slave
7. Robin Williams - The Butler
8. Matthew MacConaughey - The Wolf of Wall Street
9. Will Forte - Nebraska
10. Ezra Miller - Madame Bovary
  Also: Ben Foster - Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Jeremy Renner - American Hustle, Chris Cooper - August: Osage County, Benedict Cumberbatch - August: Osage County, John Cusack - The Butler, Michael Fassbender - Frank, Tim Roth - Grace of Monaco, Tobey McGuire - The Great Gatsby, Joachin Phoenix - The Immigrant, Justin Timberlake - Inside Llewyn Davis, Matt Damon - The Monuments Men, Jean Dujardin - The Monuments Men, John Goodman - The Monuments Men, Casey Affleck - Out of the Furnace, Bradley Cooper - The Place Beyond the Pines, Scoot McNairy - The Rover, Robert Pattinson - The Rover, Paul Giamatti - Twelve Years a Slave, Brad Pitt - Twelve Years a Slave, Ben Whishaw - The Zero Theorem

  Best Supporting Actress
1. Jane Fonda - The Butler
2. Viola Davis - The Disappearence of Eleanor Rigby: Hers or His, not sure which
3. Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
4. Cate Blanchett - The Monuments Men
5. Alfre Woodard - Twelve Years a Slave

6. Amy Adams - American Hustle
7. Octavia Spencer - Fruitvale Station
8. Catherine Keener - Captain Phillips
9. Carey Mulligan - Inside Llewyn Davis
10. Ellen Page - The East
  And then you have: Juliette Lewis - August: Osage County, Melissa Leo - The Butler, Parker Posey - Grace of Monaco, Samantha Morten - Her, Michelle Pfeiffer - Malavita, Kristen Scott Thomas - Only God Forgives, Zoe Saldana - Out of the Furnace, Quvenzhane Wallis - Twelve Years a Slave, Judy Davis - The Young and Prodigious Spivet

  Adapted Screenplay
1. The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Before Midnight
3. The Butler
4. The Monuments Men
5. Much Ado About Nothing

6. The Great Gatsby
7. Prince Avalanche
8. Midnight's Children
9. Snowpiercer
10. Man of Steel
  In the running: The Fifth Estate, The Spectacular Now, Two Faces of January

  Original Screenplay
1. Inside Llewyn Davis
2. Twelve Years a Slave
3. Fruitvale Station
4. Nebraska
5. The Immigrant

6. The Counselor
7. Elysium
8. American Hustler
9. The Zero Theorem
10. Ain't Them Bodies Saints
  Also keeping an eye on: All Is Lost, Captain Phillips, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His and/or Hers, The East, Foxcatcher, Frank, Grace of Monaco, Kill Your Darlings, Mud, Only God Forgives, Her, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Rover, Trance, The Young and Prodigious Spivet, World War Z

  Best Cinematography
1. The Monuments Men
2. The Great Gatsby
3. Ain't Them Bodies Saints
4. Nebraska
5. To The Wonder

6. Elysium
7. The Zero Theorem
8. The Wolf of Wall Street
9. All Is Lost
10. Only God Forgives

  Best Editing
1. The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Twelve Years a Slave
3. Inside Llewyn Davis
4. Elysium
5. The Monuments Men

6. Fruitvale Station
7. The Butler
8. Man of Steel
9. The East
10. The Counselor

  Best Production Design
1. The Monuments Men
2. The Great Gatsby
3. Elysium
4. Twelve Years a Slave
5. The Butler

6. Oblivion
7. Grace of Monaco
8. Kill Your Darlings
9. The Young and Prodigious Spivet
10. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

  Best Costume Design
1. The Great Gatsby
2. Grace of Monaco
3. The Butler
4. Oz the Great and Powerful
5. The Immigrant

6. Diana
7. Inside Llewyn Davis
8. Twelve Years a Slave
9. The Monuments Men
10. The Rover

  Best Make-Up and Hairstyling
1. The Butler
2. Oz the Great and Powerful
3. World War Z

4. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
5. Grace of Monaco
6. Only God Forgives

  Best Original Score
1. The Wolf of Wall Street
2. Man of Steel
3. The Monuments Men
4. World War Z
5. Oldboy

6. Oz the Great and Powerful
7. Snowpiercer
8. The Young and Prodigious Spivet
9. Elysium
10. The Zero Theorem

  Best Original Song
1. Was there an Original Song in Sapphires?
2. Planes
3. Inside Llewyn Davis
4. Oz the Great and Powerful
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

  Best Sound Editing
1. Elysium
2. Man of Steel
3. The Monuments Men
4. All is Lost
5. Only God Forgives

6. World War Z
7. Oz the Great and Powerful
8. Snowpiercer
9. Twelve Years a Slave
10. Captain Phillips

  Best Sound Mixing
1. The Monuments Men
2. Man of Steel
3. Inside Llewyn Davis
4. Elysium
5. World War Z

6. Only God Forgives
7. All is Lost
8. Twelve Years a Slave
9. The Wolf of Wall Street
10. Captain Phillips

  Best Visual Effects
1. Elysium
2. Man of Steel
3. World War Z
4. Snowpiercer
5. The Europa Report

6. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
7. Gravity
8. The Great Gatsby
9. All is Lost
10. Oblivion

  Best Documentary Feature
1. Stories We Tell
2. The Act of Killing
3. Blood Brother
4. We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
5. Room 237

  Best Foreign Language Film
1. Child's Pose
2. The Hunt
3. Gloria
4. The Past
5. Le Grande Bellazza

6. Closed Curtain
7. Venus in Fur
8. Goodbye to Language
9. Attilla Marcel
10. Mood Indigo

  Best Animated Feature
1. Frozen
2. Planes
3. The Wind Rises
4. Monsters University
5. Hell and Back

6. Epic
7. Ernest and Celestine
8. Leo the Lion
9. Despicable Me Too
10. The Croods

     Related Articles:  Upcoming 2013 Award Season Preview: Part One: Pulpy Players, Part Two: Specialties That Might Spellbind, Part Three: Little Pics That Might Could, Part Four: The Usual Suspects, Part 5 - Because I Said So, 2012 Preview Postscript - Predictions

The Buzz-o-meter & the Final Word!

     For those of you who have never read an explanation before of my methods for accessing buzz, here's a brief rundown.  All year long, I do extensive research and read as much of what critics, other bloggers, the general public, and the industry have to say about the year's films in general and said film's chances for year end awards glory in specific.  I give points based on a scale that I adjust a little each time around.  Because buzz fades over time, several times a year I cut each film's tallies in each category in half, making everything that follows worth twice as much as what came before.  This year I found my buzz rankings to transition a little too slowly, so I will probably cut the buzz in half a little more frequently next year.  This article concerns itself with the final buzz rankings, which are not my final predictions, but which certainly informed them.  It also concerns itself with how I did in my predictions, and a few final thoughts on this year's awards season.  Let's get started...

  Best Picture
1. Argo  41% (WINNER)
2. Lincoln 24%
3. Silver Linings Playbook 8%
4. Zero Dark Thirty 6%
5. Les Miserables 5%
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild 4%
7. Life of Pi 4%
8. Amour 4%
9. Django 3%
    And the buzz did not lie for Picture this year.  Even though it became the first film since Driving Miss Daisy to win the top prize without a corresponding Best Director nod (maybe because of it), Argo reigned triumphant.  I'm glad I listened to the buzz... 1/1 I guessed correctly...

  Best Director
1. Stephen Spielberg - Lincoln   54%
2. Ang Lee - Life of Pi   27% (WINNER)
3. David O Russell - Silver Linings Playbook  8%
4. Michael Haneke - Amour 8%
5. Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild 2%
     Of course, Argo winning Best Picture meant that it was going to be a year with a split between that category and this one and in such a year anything can happen and the buzz can be all wrong on a major category or two.  Such was the case as Ang Lee brought home his second Best Director trophy with no corresponding win for Best Picture (the first was for Brokeback Mountain).  Unfortunately, I was NOT brave enough to split with the buzz myself, guessing Spielberg, and I got this one wrong...1/2 I guessed correctly...

  Best Actor
1. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln 68% (WINNER)
2. Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables 15%
3. Joachin Phoenix - The Master 8%
4. Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook 4%
5. Denzel Washington - Flight 4%
     Sometimes the buzz is so decisive that there is just no arguing the obvious, as was the case here...2/3 I guessed correctly...

  Best Actress
1. Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook 47%  (WINNER)
2. Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty  24%
3. Emmanuelle Riva - Amour 21%
4. Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild 5%
5. Naomi Watts - The Impossible 2%
     In this category, I thought that the split support between Lawrence and Chastain might allow Riva to swoop in and nab the trophy, but I was wrong.  I should have paid attention to the fact that Lawrence had been widening her lead, but alas...2/4 I guessed correctly...

  Best Supporting Actor
1. Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln 42%
2. Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook 26%
3. Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained 17% (WINNER)
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master 12%
5. Alan Arkin - Argo 3%
     I suppose that Mr. Waltz's win cannot be said to have come from nowhere, considering his pre-cursor victories, but I really thought that Robert DeNiro would be the upset victory here.  Oh, well... 2 out of 5 I guessed correctly.

  Best Supporting Actress
1. Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables 67% (WINNER)
2. Sally Field - Lincoln 22%
3. Amy Adams - The Master 5%
4. Helen Hunt - The Sessions 4%
5. Jackie Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook 1%
     This was maybe the biggest gimme of the night.  Even I (on my worst year in a long time) couldn't get this one wrong... 3 out of 6 I guessed correctly.

  Best Original Screenplay
1. Django Unchained 34% (WINNER)
2. Amour 29%
3. Zero Dark Thirty 27%
4. Moonrise Kingdom 8%
5. Flight 1%
     Yeah, I predicted Amour to upset here, just like in Best Actress and it worked out just the same... 3 out of 7 I guessed correctly.

  Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Lincoln 42%
2. Argo 40% (WINNER)
3. Silver Linings Playbook 11%
4. Life of Pi 4%
5. Beasts of the Southern Wild 2%
     Whew!!!  At least one time that I went against the buzz, it panned out for me.  I correctly guessed that Argo's WGA and Scripter victories indicated enough support to unseat the presumed front runner, not that it held MUCH of a lead anymore... 4 out of 8 I guessed correctly.

  Best Animated Feature
1. Wreck-It Ralph 40%
2. Brave 27% (WINNER)
3. Frankenweenie 24%
4. Paranorman 8%
5. The Pirates! Band of Misfits 1%
     So far, I haven't really taken much umbrage with who won on Oscar night, whether I predicted their victory or not.  That ends here.  I gave the Academy too much credit, figuring that the Pixar brand alone would not enable Brave to defeat the far superior Wreck-It Ralph (to say nothing of the just as excellent Frankenweenie).  Guess I was wrong...4 out of 9 guessed correctly.

  Best Documentary Feature
1. Searching For Sugarman 54% (WINNER)
2. The Gatekeepers 17%
3. How To Survive a Plague 14%
4. The Invisible War 9%
5. 5 Broken Cameras 6%
     Fortunately, I went with Searching For Sugarman's significant lead in buzz here, rather than counting on the surprising history of upsets in this category... 5 out of 10 guessed correctly.

  Best Foreign Language Film
1. Amour - Austria 69% (WINNER)
2. A Royal Affair - Denmark 13%
3. No - Chile 8%
4. War Witch - Canada 5%
5. Kon-Tiki - Norway 5%
     What I said about Documentary Feature, only more so... 6 out of 11 guessed correctly.

  Best Cinematography
1. Life of Pi 47% (WINNER)
2. Skyfall 31%
3. Lincoln 17%
4. Anna Karenina 3%
5. Django Unchained 2%
     Although I feel sorry for Skyfall's Roger Deakins, having so many nominations and still no wins, I'm glad I went with the buzz, giving me...7 out of 12 guessed correctly.

  Best Editing
1. Argo 51% (WINNER)
2. Zero Dark Thirty 29%
3. Lincoln 9%
4. Life of Pi 7%
5. Silver Linings Playbook 5%
     I expected Goldenberg to win this for Argo from the day that I saw the film in the theater... 8 out of 13 guessed correctly.

  Best Production Design
1. Anna Karenina 39%
2. Les Miserables 27%
3. Lincoln 16% (WINNER)
4. Life of Pi 15%
5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2%
     Even if I hadn't predicted this one for Anna, I probably would have gone for Les Miserables.  Still, I certainly can't begrudge the winner... 8 out of 14 guessed correctly.

  Best Music (Original Score)
1. Life of Pi 53% (WINNER)
2. Lincoln 22%
3. Argo 12%
4. Anna Karenina 8%
5. Skyfall 6%
     I stuck with conventional wisdom pretty much wherever Pi led the buzz and that worked out to my advantage.,, 9 out of 15 guessed correctly,

  Best Music (Original Song)
1. Skyfall - "Skyfall" 67% (WINNER)
2. Les Miserables - "Suddenly" 24%
3. Ted - "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" 5%
4. Life of Pi - "Pi's Lullaby" 3%
5. Chasing Ice - "Before My Time" 1%
     This one was another no-brainer.  I said that if "Skyfall" qualified, it would be the winner way before it even qualified.  I saw no reason to jump ship at the last minute... 10 out of 16 guessed correctly.

  Best Costume Design
1. Anna Karenina 45% (WINNER)
2. Les Miserables 34%
3. Mirror Mirror 9%
4. Lincoln 9%
5. Snow White and the Huntsman 4%
     I was a little worried that the Academy would end up awarding costumer Ishioka posthumously for Mirror Mirror, but thankfully I stuck with Durrant and Anna...11 out of 17 guessed correctly.

  Best Make-Up and Hairstyling
1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 59%
2. Les Miserables 34% (WINNER)
3. Hitchcock 7%
     It was difficult for me to care about this category when they honored these three films over at least four others that I felt were more deserving (two of which didn't even make the short list), but thankfully I went with the Best Picture nominee rather than the front runner... 12 out of 18 guessed correctly.

  Best Sound Editing
1. Life of Pi 28%
2. Zero Dark Thirty 25% (WINNER - tie)
3. Skyfall 22% (WINNER - tie)
4. Argo 17%
5. Django Unchained 7%
     In a tight three-way race, the Academy had a rare tie decision.  I had predicted Skyfall, figuring it would go home with a trophy for something other than just Song.  I say that ties are so rare that guessing either of the winners counts as right... 13 out of 19 guessed correctly.

  Best Sound Mixing
1. Les Miserables 57% (WINNER)
2. Skyfall 20%
3. Life of Pi 15%
4. Argo 4%
5. Lincoln 4%
     The innovation of live singing in a movie musical was a risky and (in most of the film) highly effective choice that was sure to win the film recognition in this arena... 14 out of 20 guessed correctly.

  Best Visual Effects
1. Life of Pi 66% (WINNER)
2. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 19%
3. Marvel's Avengers 9%
4. Prometheus 4%
5. Snow White and the Huntsman 2%
     As I said, I usually stuck with Pi in the techs for the most part, and this one was the most forgone conclusion of them all... 15 out of 21 guessed correctly.

  Best Animated Short
1. Paperman 50% (WINNER)
2. Adam and Dog 20%
3. Head Over Heels 16%
4. Maggie Simpson in the Longest Daycare 12%
5. Fresh Guacamole 3%
     This was a really strong crop of short films, but Paperman was clearly the most well known and publicized throughout the season as well as being arguably the most innovative animated work this year.  It had been several decades since Disney won this category, but I'm glad I didn't let that deter me from predicting their win this year...16 out of 22 guessed correctly.

  Best Documentary Short
1. Open Heart 45%
2. Inocente 25% (WINNER)
3. Mondays at Racine 19%
4. Kings Pointe 8%
5. Redemption 3%
     Not having seen these, I had to simply watch the buzz.  Although Open Heart still led at crunch time, Inocente had been surging, so I took a chance. Fortunately, it paid off...17 out of 23 guessed correctly.

  Best Live-Action Short
1. Curfew 41% (WINNER)
2. Buzkashi Boys 19%
3. Asad 18%
4. Death of a Shadow 17%
5. Henry 4%
     Unfortunately, I predicted the same sort of upset for Buzkashi Boys in this category, and it did not come to pass... 17 out of 24 guessed correctly.

     And that was it...my final score was seventeen.  It certainly wasn't my best (I think 19 right is my best tally ever, back when The Hurt Locker won for 2009), but it could have been a lot worse. If I had just stuck with the buzz, I would have only scored 16 correct.  You know its been a weird year when I did better in the Shorts than in the major categories.  Here's hoping that 2013 is an awards season that offers us just as many twists, turns, and surprises.  I know I'll see you then...
                                                                                   Froggy

Related articles: Related Articles:  Oscar Winner Predictions & Buzz: Of Snubs and Triumphs (preview), Musical Techs (Score and Song), Noisy Techs (Sound Editing & Sound Mixing), Pretty People Techs (Costume Design & Make-Up and Hairstyling), Pretty Picture Techs (Cinematography & Production Design), Finishing Touch Techs (Editing & Visual Effects), Toons of Any Length (Animated Feature & Animated Short), Docs of Any Length (Documentary Feature & Documentary Short), Screenplays (Adapted & Original), Supporting Players (Supporting Actor & Supporting Actress), Actor and Actress, Foreign Films (also covering Short Live-Action), Picture and Director, Final Predictions,  "Lincoln" Perks, Best That the Summer Wields? (Beasts of the Southern Wild review),  Acting Master Classes in Private "Sessions", Didn't Quite Take "Flight", Can You "Master" Your Nature?, "Impossible"y Well Crafted, Anna Conundruma (Anna Karenina review), I Think You "Argo"ing to Love It!, Fantasy "Life of Pi"?, Promarlius Kingdom (Moonrise Kingdom and Prometheus reviews), If It Ain't "Wrecked" (Wreck-It Ralph and Paperman reviews), Elena's Brave Law (Brave reveiw), To Rome, Sugarweenie! (Frankenweenie and Searching For Sugarman reviews), The Perfect Para-Killer (Paranorman review), Bernie! On a Ledge of Misfits (Pirates! Band of Misfits reveiw), Surviving the Alps is a Rush (How To Survive a Plague review), Henry's Invisible Arbitrage (The Invisible War review), To Royal Effect (A Royal Affair review), 23? You Don't Play Like a Sequel Over 2. (Skyfall review), The Habit: A Much Expected Returning (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey review), Ted Butters Up the Polisse (Ted review),
Being Margaret's Mirror (Mirror Mirror review), The Best Huntsman's Shadow (Snow White and the Huntsman review), Merchandiser's Assemble (Avengers review)

Final 85th Oscar Winner Predictions

     This doesn't really need a preface, does it?  Cross your fingers (or webbed feet, or whatever) and check out my live tweets tonight during the ceremony.

  Best Picture: Argo
         alternate: Silver Linings Playbook
         wild card: Amour
          should have been nominated: The Dark Knight Rises

  Best Director: Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
          alternate: David O Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
          wild card: Michael Haneke - Amour
          should have been nominated:  Christopher Nolan - Dark Knight Returns (sorry, Mr. Affleck, you were great)

  Best Actor: um...Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
          alternate:  Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
          wild card:  Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
          should have been nominated:  Richard Gere - Arbitrage

  Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
          alternate: Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
          wild card: Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
          should have been nominated: Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone

  Best Supporting Actor: Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
          alternate: Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
          wild card: Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
          should have been nominated: Dwight Henry - Beasts of the Southern Wild

  Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
          alternate: Sally Field - Lincoln
          wild card: Jackie Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook
          should have been nominated: Salma Hayek - Savages

  Best Original Screenplay: Amour
          alternate: Django Unchained
          wild card: Zero Dark Thirty
          should have been nominated: Looper

  Best Adapted Screenplay: Argo
          alternate: Lincoln
          wild card: Silver Linings Playbook
          should have been nominated: The Dark Knight Rises

  Best Animated Feature:  Wreck-It Ralph
          alternate: Frankenweenie
          wild card: Brave
          should have been nominated: A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's
        Graham Chapman

  Best Documentary Feature: Searching For Sugarman
           alternate: Gatekeepers
           wild card: 5 Broken Cameras
           should have been nominated: Queen of Versailles

  Best Foreign Language Film: Amour
           alternate: No
           wild card: War Witch
           should have been nominated: Rust and Bone

  Best Cinematography: Life of Pi
          alternate: Skyfall
          wild card: Lincoln
          should have been nominated: Beasts of the Southern Wild

  Best Editing: Argo
          alternate: Zero Dark Thirty
          wild card: Life of Pi
          should have been nominated: Cloud Atlas

  Best Production Design: Anna Karenina
           alternate: Les Miserables
           wild card: Life of Pi
           should have been nominated: Cloud Atlas

  Best Costume Design: Anna Karenina
            alternate: Les Miserables
            wild card: Mirror Mirror
            should have been nominated: A Royal Affair

  Best Make-Up and Hairstyling: Les Miserables
             alternate: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
             wild card: Hitchcock
             should have been nominated: Cloud Atlas

  Best Score: Life of Pi
              alternate: Skyfall
              wild card: Lincoln
              should have been nominated: Beasts of the Southern Wild

  Best Song: Skyfall - "Skyfall"
              alternate: Les Miserables - "Suddenly"
              wild card: Ted - "Everybody Needs a Best Friend"
              should have been nominated: numerous numbers from Lawless & Django Unchained

  Best Sound Editing: Skyfall
               alternate: Life of Pi
               wild card: Argo
               should have been nominated: The Dark Knight Returns

  Best Sound Mixing: Les Miserables
                alternate: Skyfall
                wild card: Argo
                should have been nominated: The Impossible

  Best Visual Effects: Life of Pi
                 alternate: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
                 wild card: Marvel's Avengers

  Short Film Animated: Paperman
                 alternate: Head Over Heels
                 wild card: Adam and Dog
         
  Short Film Live-Action: Buzkashi Boys
                  alternate: Curfew
                  wild card: Death of a Shadow
 
  Short Film Documentary: Innocente
                  alternate: Open Heart
                  wild card: Mondays at Racine
          

Oscar Winners Predictions & Buzz - Screenplays

     So we're gonna skip Foreign Language Film and Live-Action shorts for a moment (is there an echo in here?) as I am hoping to see the Live-Action Shorts later tonight (fingers crossed).  In the meantime, we shall  forge forward into the top eight categories.  It would be nice to know what The Writer's Guild will do first, but at least the Scripter Award was already announced.  As always, the buzz rankings appear on the first list with previous rankings listed in parenthesis.  My humble opinions come hopping after...

Adapted Screenplay
  1.(1) Lincoln - Tony Kushner
  2.(2) Argo - Chris Terrio
  3.(3) Silver Linings Playbook - David O Russell
  4.(5) Life of Pi - David Magee
  5.(4) Beasts of the Southern Wild - Benh Zeitlen & Lucy Alibar
  Leaving the Rankings:  Les Miserables, The Sessions, Anna Karenina, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Cloud Atlas
     It's difficult to argue with the buzz too much.  It's definitely still a three way race, however.  For now, I'll say...
  1. Silver Linings Playbook...I may well switch in my final predictions, but this film just won the BAFTA, whose voting body overlaps with the Academy.  It also won the National Board of Review.
  2. Argo...Argomania could carry Chris Terrio to a win.  The recent Scripter victory didn't hurt.
  3. Lincoln...Tony Kushner is clearly well respected and he did win the Critics Choice, but the film seems to be losing its foothold on the top of THIS mountain.
  4. Beasts of the Southern Wild...Benh Zeitlin  and Lucy Alibar are still a wild card.  They have won SOME sort of recognition from almost every critics group imaginable.  With no "outstanding newcomer" award to shuffle off on the film, and no clear front runner in this category, anything could happen. Especially this year.
  5. Life of Pi...As difficult as this adaptation must have been to write, and despite the fact that he and Kushner are the only scribes on this list with previous writing nominations, I think that David Magee will have to console himself with being that much more overdue next time.

Original Screenplay
  1.(4) Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino
  2.(5) Amour - Michael Haneke
  3.(2) Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal
  4.(3) Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
  5.(7) Flight - John Gatins
  Leaving the Rankings:  The Master, Looper, Promised Land, Middle of Nowhere, Seven Psychopaths
     It's difficult for me to take any nominee list that excludes Looper too seriously, but I shall try to remain objective...
  1. Amour...Usually when a Foreign Film receives multiple nods it wins somewhere outside of the Foreign Language Film category.  I may chicken out and pick Django in my final predictions, but for now I feel like mixing this up.
  2. Django...Of course, it's difficult to argue with the three time nominee and former winner who already took home The Critics Choice, BAFTA, and Golden Globe.  Um....
  3. Moonrise Kingdom...IF this film were to win the Writer's Guild Award I could MAYBE see it picking up the momentum to win in this category.  It is Anderson's second writing nomination, Coppola's first.
  4. Zero Dark Thirty...Considering that Boal just won for the Hurt Locker and the Academy's tendency to distance themselves from TOO much controversy, I'm having an increasingly difficult time seeing a win for this picture here.
  5. Flight.. Mr. Gatins should consider himself very lucky to be nominated.

Related Articles:  Oscar Winner Predictions & Buzz: Of Snubs and Triumphs (preview), Musical Techs (Score and Song), Noisy Techs (Sound Editing & Sound Mixing), Pretty People Techs (Costume Design & Make-Up and Hairstyling), Pretty Picture Techs (Cinematography & Production Design), Finishing Touch Techs (Editing & Visual Effects), Toons of Any Length (Animated Feature & Animated Short), Docs of Any Length (Documentary Feature & Documentary Short), I Think You "Argo"ing to Love It!, "Lincoln" Perks, Fantasy "Life of Pi", Best That the Summer Wields? (Beasts of the Southern Wild review), Acting Master Classes in Private "Sessions", Anna Conundruma (Anna Karenina review), Cloudy Connections (Cloud Atlas review), Promarlius Kingdom (Moonrise Kingdom review), Didn't Quite Take "Flight", Can You "Master" Your Nature?, Twist Until You Are Loopey? (Looper review), Premise Grand (Promised Land review)

"Lincoln" Perks

     Lights rise on the nation's sixteenth President sitting and speaking with two black soldiers.  He asks them questions in a tone that is patient, kind, and just a little paternal.  One soldier is shamelessly servile, almost pandering in a way that irritated one friend of mine, making him feel as if his race was represented as being too worshipful of Lincoln.  The other soldier, though, was hard on the president, asking him difficult questions, many that Abe was unprepared to answer without more thought.  Two white soldiers march up and seem a little dismissive of their "compatriots of color" (if you will).  Lincoln asks the new arrivals if they can recite what he said at Gettysburg and the boys try to stumble through it, but Lincoln ends up having to help them with the first few lines before sending everyone on their way.  As the soldier's walk off, the one who had given Lincoln a hard time can be heard finishing the speech, effortlessly and word for word.  It is obvious that while he continues to hold the President accountable for upholding them, the words themselves he holds in a certain reverence.  So begins Lincoln, setting the tone for all that is to follow.  It is a film that is full of big ideas, and gives you much to ponder.  It avoids becoming TOO ponderous, however, because it is also a movie with a big heart, kept under tight wraps, but leaking little golden veins of sentimentality.
     The intellectual meat of the picture (and there is a lot, questions in conundrums in ethical puzzles) must undeniably be accredited to screenwriter Tony Kushner's rather inspired script.  This is only Mr. Kushner's second screenplay (he also collaborated with Spielberg on Munich), but he was already well known as a playwright because of the two Angels in America plays (which are amazing, maybe I'll review the excellent HBO adaptation in a later article).  Here he tells a story of great men, fighting battles of great import, but without cleaning it all up to make it more palatable.  It feels more history than mythology in a way that movies about beloved historical figures rarely do.  This was a man who had to compromise and had to occasionally bend his own ethical principals in a microcosmic manner to maintain the path to his goal in the bigger picture.  Lincoln is a pensive, talky film, but one that has worthwhile things to say.
     Steven Spielberg works best when his tone is respectable but flirting with cheese.  Sometimes he flirts heavily (Raiders, ET), sometimes he's a little more subtle (Close Encounters, Saving Private Ryan) and every great once in a while he's able to keep his heart in check enough to be really, really coy about it (Schindler's List, and now Lincoln).  Spielberg is like a great conductor here.  He assembled the best orchestral team you could ask for, was given a great composition to lead them through and then weaves the sounds together like the seasoned master that he is when at his best.
     It is almost a given at this point that Daniel Day-Lewis is going to win an Oscar for Lincoln.  Loathe as I am to go along with awards that were practically bestowed months ahead of time based on "brand name" alone, I have to admit that he's one of the favored contenders in The Froggies when I get to the Best of 2012 series in a couple of months.  It's an amazing performance, in which this true master thespian completely transforms into the man he portrays.  Great attention has obviously been given to every aspect of what he does onscreen:  the accent, the posture, every movement of the muscles around his eyes.  He takes Abraham Lincoln, the most loved and hated American figure of his day, and makes him so affable and funny even among those who despise him.  At the same time you can never look at the man without seeing the weight he feels upon his shoulders and his soul.
     I admit, I am a bit biased in the following assessment.  I love Sally Field.  But I think that if I were entirely objective, I would still love her performance in this picture.  I can think of no other actress better suited for the sort of high melodrama inherent in the character of Mary Todd Lincoln.  Her Mary is a woman of such simultaneous fragility and strength that she seems almost surreal, but you absolutely believe in her.  There is this one party scene where her and Tommy Lee Jones go at it that is one of the real high lights of the film for me.
     Speaking of Mr. Jones, he is having a great year.  He may have gotten famous for playing tough guys, but it is films like No Country For Old Men, Hope Springs, and now Lincoln in which he really shines, playing tough guys who are only tough because they must be to protect their more tender, secret hearts.  I really think that his work in those three films may be his best ever for me.  This actor is proving to be like a fine wine, and he excels in roles that require wisdom and maturity.  His portrayal of Thaddeus Stevens boasts plenty of both.
     In a year of impressive ensemble pieces, Lincoln is easily among the best.  David Strathairn is marvelously officious.  James Spader makes incredibly good use of his screen time as a despicable fellow working for the good guys, partnered ably by John Hawkes.  Hal Holbrook, Jackie Earle Haley, Walton Goggins...I could go on.  I do feel that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's role as Lincoln's son was less well developed than he could have been.  Only in his scenes do I feel as if the drama gets a little less restrained.  I wouldn't call his work weak, but it is one of the film's aspects that bears the least strength.
   The production team on Lincoln did a fantastic job.  All elements are impressive to the active observer, yet far from obtrusive to the passive one.  The picture received six craft nods, and Joanna Johnston (Costume Design), Michael Kahn (Editing), John Williams (Score), Rick Carter (Production Design) & Jim Erickson (Set Decoration, also covered under the Production Design nomination) and the Sound Mixing team of Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom & Ronald Judkins all made award worthy contributions to this film.  I'm still confounded that the excellent make-up work went unrewarded.
     What really blew me away unexpectedly was the work of master cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.  I never expected a film that was so packed with scenes of deals being struck in cigar smoke filled back rooms could be the sort of visually stimulating experience that this movie was.  The use of light in Lincoln is brilliant, the use of the shadows that abound in a world where the only light comes from candles, lanterns, and the sun.  Even the aforementioned cigar smoke (as it filters through candlelight and frames the characters hazily) is used in each shot to glorious effect.  There is a dream sequence early on in the picture that may be the most beautiful imagery I have seen on film this year.  This is simply one of the most brilliantly shot films of 2012.  I should never have underestimated it so quickly.
     Which, in truth, is kind of how I feel about the whole project.  I was very, very slow to begin taking Lincoln seriously in this Oscar race.  It never cracked my top ten Best Picture contenders until it previewed to great acclaim.  Even then, it took a long time to creep up that list.  You must forgive me.  War Horse was like the unattractive love child of Shenandoah & Old Yeller by comparison to this piece.    Spielberg has come back with a true vengeance, giving us one of his best, a film that never goes in for the big cry.  Instead it bombards the mind, and then plucks gently at the heartstrings with a surgeon's pinpoint precision. 5 of 5 stars.
   
Related posts:  The Sound Hope Sparks (Hope Springs review), Oscar Winner Predictions & Buzz: Of Snubs and Triumphs (preview), Musical Techs (Score and Song), Noisy Techs (Sound Editing & Sound Mixing), Pretty People Techs (Costume Design & Make-Up and Hairstyling), Pretty Picture Techs (Cinematography & Production Design), Finishing Touch Techs (Editing & Visual Effects)

Of Snubs and Triumphs

     Okay, so the Academy's nomination announcements were far more shocking than usual.  Best Director alone almost gave me a heart attack.  Forgive me for not posting some immediate reaction, but it took me a minute to get my head back on straight.  I decided to attack these nominations in the most traditional manner, regardless of what an unconventional race it has turned into.   So...without further ado, here are thirteen winners, seventeen losers, and one who did  both.  Let's get hoppin...

13 Big Winners

  13.  Kon-Tiki - This Norwegian adventure flick was ranked about eighth in buzz out of the nine films on the Academy's Foreign Language Film short list.  It still doesn't have a chance in hell of beating Amour, but the nomination is a triumph in itself.
  12. The Sound Team from Argo - The film was considered an outside shot for either sound category, and it managed to score nods in both.  The movie needed SOME good news this week.
  11. Pirates!  Band of Misfits - This Aardman studios production managed to squeeze out both Rise of the Guardians and all four G-Kids movies to grab the fifth slot in Animated Feature.  Maybe AMPAS was trying to correct themselves for snubbing the far better Aardman film Arthur Christmas in this category last year.
  10. 5 Broken Cameras - This was one of the lowest profile documentaries still eligible for a nod.  Many a documentary that flies below everyone's radar up to the day of nominations turns around and wins it all, so who knows.
  9. The Snow White Story - Not only did Mirror Mirror grab a half expected nod in Costume Design, but Snow White and the Huntsman snagged quite unanticipated recognition in both Costume and Visual Effects.  Gooo Snow!
  8. Jackie Weaver - It's not like she unseated some presumed lock to get her nomination, but she was far from the most buzzed about contender.  Still, I had a sneaking suspicion that this could be a possibility, leading me to place her in my Best Supporting Actress Wild Card slot.  This is the Australian actress,s second nomination, having come out of nowhere the first time for Animal Kingdom.
  7. Anna Karenina - Mixed critical reception may have killed this movie's Best Picture hopes early on in the game, but it still managed to pull off four tech nods, which should still be enough to at least give DVD returns an "Oscar boost".
  6. John Gatins - The Flight scripter managed to squeeze out a nod ahead of more buzzed about (and, in my opinion, stronger) scripts for The Master and Looper.
  5. The Silver Linings Playbook - Everyone expected this film to do well with Picture and Screenplay nods in addition at least a couple of acting nominations, but FOUR acting nominations plus Director and Editing were real wish fulfillment for the picture's fans, making it one of the presumed Best Picture front runners.
  4. Joachin Phoenix - Everyone was holding their breath to see if the Academy would hold Phoenix's big mouth against him and leave him out of the Best Actor race this year.  Thank goodness they didn't, because his performance was definitely one of 2012's best.  His comments about the awards race HAVE probably dashed any hopes he had of WINNING, but at least he's (mostly) been forgiven.
  3. Amour - It's been a long time since a Foreign Language Film broke into the Best Picture race, but pundits have been playing with the idea that director Haneke's latest would do just that, and it did.  Not only that, it secured nods for Director, Screenplay, Actress, and Foreign Language Film.
  2. Steven Spielberg and Lincoln - With Affleck and Bigelow both out of the running, it would seem that Spielberg's win for Director (and, most likely, the film's for Picture) are all but assured.  However, it is still early, and Life of Pi is looking stronger all the time.
  1. Benh Zeitlen and Beasts of the Southern Wild - After the snubs at SAG and the Globes, every prognosticator and their brother began to slowly but surely eliminate Beasts from ANY consideration at the Oscars this year.  Not only did it pull out the Picture, Actress, and Screenplay nods that I and a few other true believers never stopped predicting, but it pulled out a Best Directing nomination that even I had totally given up on.  I have never been happier to get one of my predictions WRONG!  Granted, I would have loved to have seen the film receive much deserved recognition in Score and Cinematography, but I'll take what I can get in the year of...

Seventeen (mostly) Regrettable Losers
  17.  A bevy of Best Supporting Actress Hopefuls - The fifth slot in this race was WIDE open, but by my tabulations, at least five other ladies were ahead of Ms. Weaver in buzz.  They were...Maggie Smith - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy, Ann Dowd - Compliance, Samantha
Barks - Les Miserables, and Judi Dench - Skyfall.  While I'm sure none of these ladies were counting on getting into this highly competitive race, they still have my condolences.
  16. Hitchcock - No one was expecting this movie to be an awards juggernaut at this point, but I'm sure they were hoping for SOMETHING beyond Make-Up and Hairstyling.
  15. Nepotism - Bryce Dallas Howard (offspring of Ron) failed to secure a Best Live Action Short nod for her shortlisted piece:  When You Find Me.
  14. The Master - I suppose it could have been a lot worse (Phoenix did get his actor nod), and we all suspected that a picture nod was out.  Still, there were a host of technical nods (score, costume, production design, etc.) that this meticulously made film missed out on.
  13. Cloud Atlas - We all knew that above the line nods were probably out of the question, but nothing?  This was one of the most ambitious films of the year, and it was technically sound no matter what else you thought about it.
  12. Sharen Davis - It must hurt to have your worthy costuming work on Django Unchained passed over for the overly showy outfits of Mirror Mirror.  If your name was erroneously leaked to the press as a nominee, it must be even worse.
  11. Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson's little mini-masterpiece may have landed a screenplay nod, but I'm sure they were hoping for a little more (like the Best Picture nod they must have JUST missed).
  10. Rian Johnson - Looper might have been the best screenplay of the year period, and this young auteur lost a nod to Flight?
  9. Marion Cotillard - She is rapidly becoming one of those actresses that everyone predicts every year, who never gets nominated.  Rust and Bone did not  break this trend.
  8. The Songs of Brave - With Skyfall and Les Miserables in the hunt, no one was expecting a win here, but everyone was expecting an Original Song nod for Pixar.  Didn't happen.
  7. The Intouchables - This was supposed to be Amour's top competition in Foreign Language Film:  top U.S. and world box office, backed by the Weinsteins...not to be.
  6. G-Kids - This Indie animation distributor has managed to slip into the Animated Feature race at the last second for two years running.  That streak is now broken as From Up On Poppy Hill, The Painting, The Rabbi's Cat, and Zarafa all failed to make the cut.
  5. Leonardo DiCaprio - Like Cotillard, he is turning into the perpetual bridesmaid of the Oscars.  Still, they had to go with five guys who are already former winners over Leo?
  4. Katherine Bigelow - Yeah, she just won Best Director last time out, but she has won the MOST accolades from critics groups and didn't even get a nomination here.
  3. John Hawkes - So, everybody knew that we had six strong contenders for Best Actor and only five slots.  However, if there was one performance (outside of Day-Lewis in Lincoln) that everyone thought was a lock in the category, it was John Hawkes in The Sessions.  It just goes to show:  nobody knows anything.
  2. The Dark Knight Rises - This is one of the year's best films.  We had all accepted the fact that it was probably out of the running for anything above  the line due to its subject matter and unfortunate connection to the Aurora shooting, but come on Academy!  No tech nods?  A TOTAL shut out?  Someday we will look back and laugh at Oscar on this one, I promise you.
  1. Ben Affleck - I don't even know what to say.  I was still predicting Mr. Affleck to WIN best director this year.  Sorry, Ben, better luck next time.

And One That Did Both
  The Weinstein Company - WIN:  Two Best Picture slots and half the Acting nominations.
                                           LOSE:  Documentary, Foreign Language, Song (for Lawless), and most of the tech awards.

     Stay tuned for analysis and handicapping of all the major categories starting soon and running right up to the big day.
                                                                                       Froggy

Related Posts:  Nov/Dec Oscar Buzz and Predictions: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (preview), Musical Techs (Score and Song), Noisy Techs (Sound Editing and Sound Mixing), Pretty People Techs (Hairstyling and Make-up & Costume), Pretty Picture Techs (Production Design and Cinematography), Finishing Touch Techs, Toons of Any Length (Animated Short and Animated Feature), Docs of Any Length (Documentary Feature and Documentary Short), Screenplays (Adapted and Original), Supporting Performances, Actor and Actress, Foreign Films (and Live Action Shorts), Conclusion (Picture and Director), I Think You "Argo"ing to Love It!, Bernie! On a Ledge of Misfits (Pirates! Band of Misfits review), Being Margaret's Mirror (Mirror Mirror review), The Best Huntsman's Shadow (Snow White and the Huntsman and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel reviews), Can You "Master" Your Nature?, Twist Until You Are Loopey! (Looper review), Best That the Summer Wields (Beasts of the Southern Wild review),
23? You Don't Play Like a Sequel Over 2! (Skyfall review), Cloudy Connections (Cloud Atlas review),
Promarlius Kingdom (Moonrise Kingdom review), Elena's Brave Law (Brave and Lawless reviews), Acting Master Classes in Private "Sessions", The Dark Knight Transcends, Final Pre-Nomination Oscar Predictions

Final Pre-Nomination Oscar Predictions

     With the announcement of this year's Academy Award nominations less than 24 hours away, here is my final word on the matter.  For each category, I list my ACTUAL predictions first, followed by an Alternate (the film most likely to be nominated in place of one of my picks), a Wild Card pick (something that the buzz does not support at all, but I feel COULD slide in as a surprise nod), and For Your Consideration pick (something with NO chance at being nominated, but that I feel deserves it more than some of the ones that will).  Let's begin:


Best Picture
     The trick here is figuring out what the buzz is telling us about how MANY nominees we will have in the mix.  I have inserted breaks in the top ten wherever the buzz indicates a possible cut-off exists.
  1. Argo
  2. Lincoln
  3. Zero Dark Thirty
  4. Les Miserables
  5. Life of Pi
  6. Silver Linings Playbook
  7. Django Unchained
  8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
  9. Moonrise Kingdom
  10. Amour
   Alternate: Skyfall
  Wild Card: The Intouchables
  For Your Consideration: The Sound of My Voice

Best Director
  1. Ben Affleck - Argo
  2. Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
  3. Katherine Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty
  4. Ang Lee - Life of Pi
  5. David O Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
   Alternate: Tom Hooper - Les Miserables
  Wild Card: Michael Haneke - Amour
  For Your Consideration - Tom Tykwer & the Wachowskis - Cloud Atlas

Best Actor
  1.  Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
  2.  John Hawkes - The Sessions
  3.  Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
  4.  Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
  5.  Denzel Washington - Flight
  Alternate: Joachin Phoenix - The Master
  Wild Card: Jamie Foxx - Django Unchained
  For Your Consideration: Suraj Sharma - Life of Pi, Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Looper

Best Actress
  1.  Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
  2.  Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
  3.  Naomi Watts - The Impossible
  4.  Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
  5.  Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
  Alternate: Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
  Wild Card: Rachel Weisz - The Deep Blue Sea
  For Your Consideration:  Anne Hathaway - The Dark Knight Rises

Best Supporting Actor
  1. Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
  2. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
  3. Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
  4. Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained
  5. Alan Arkin - Argo
   Alternate:  Matthew MacConaughey - Magic Mike
  Wild Card: Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
  For Your Consideration:  Mikkel Boe Folsgaard - A Royal Affair

Best Supporting Actress
  1. Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
  2. Sally Field - Lincoln
  3. Helen Hunt - Sessions
  4. Amy Adams - The Master
  5. Maggie Smith - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
  Alternate: Ann Dowd - Compliance
  Wild Card: Jackie Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook
  For Your Consideration: Doona Bae - Cloud Atlas

Best Original Screenplay
  1. Django Unchained
  2. Moonrise Kingdom
  3. The Master
  4. Zero Dark Thirty
  5. Looper
  Alternate: Flight
  Wild Card: Middle of Nowhere
  For Your Consideration: The Cabin in the Woods


Best Adapted Screenplay
  1. Lincoln
  2. Argo
  3. Silver Linings Playbook
  4. Life of Pi
  5. Beasts of the Southern Wild
  Alternate: Perks of Being a Wallflower
  Wild Card: The Sessions
  For Your Consideration: Cloud Atlas

Best Animated Feature
  1. Frankenweenie
  2. Paranorman
  3. Brave
  4. The Painting
  5. Wreck-It Ralph
  Alternate: Rise of the Guardians
  Wild Card: The Rabbi's Cat
  For Your Consideration: A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman

Best Foreign Language Film
  1. Amour (Austria)
  2. The Intouchables (France)
  3. A Royal Affair (Denmark)
  4. War Witch (Canada)
  5. No (Chile)
  Alternate: Beyond the Hills (Romania)
  Wild Card: Kon-Tiki (Norway)
  For Your Consideration: Elena (Russia)

Best Documentary
  1. Searching For Sugar Man
  2. How To Survive a Plague
  3. The Imposter
  4. The Gatekeepers
  5. The House I Live In
  Alternate: The Invisible War
  Wild Card: This Is Not a Film
  For Your Consideration: Marley

Best Cinematography
  1. Life of Pi
  2. Skyfall
  3. Lincoln
  4. Django Unchained
  5. Les Miserables
  Alternate:  The Master
  Wild Card: Beasts of the Southern Wild
  For Your Consideration: The Dark Knight Rises


Best Costume
  1. Anna Karenina
  2. Les Miserables
  3. Lincoln
  4. Django Unchained
  5. Cloud Atlas
  Alternate: Mirror Mirror
  Wild Card: A Royal Affair
  For Your Consideration: Moonrise Kingdom

Best Editing
  1. Argo
  2. Zero Dark Thirty
  3. Lincoln
  4. Life of Pi
  5. Les Miserables
  Alternate: Silver Linings Playbook
  Wild Card: Skyfall
  For Your Consideration: Cloud Atlas

Best Make-Up and Hairstyling
  1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  2. Lincoln
  3. Les Miserables
  Alternate: Hitchcock
  Wild Card: Looper
  For Your Consideration: Cloud Atlas

Best Music (Original Score)
  1. Lincoln
  2. Life of Pi
  3. The Master
  4. Beasts of the Southern Wild
  5. Argo
  Alternate: Cloud Atlas
  Wild Card: Zero Dark Thirty
  For Your Consideration: Moonrise Kingdom

Best Music (Original Song)
  1. Les Miserables - Suddenly
  2. Skyfall - Skyfall
  3. Brave - Learn Me Right
  4. Django Unchained - Ancora Qui
  5. Life of Pi - Pi's Lullaby
  Alternate: Paul Williams Is Still Alive - Still Alive
  Wild Card: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Song of the Lonely Mountain, Frankenweenie - Strange Love
  For Your Consideration: Any of the excellent disqualified work from Lawless

Best Production Design
  1. Les Miserables
  2. Anna Karenina
  3. Lincoln
  4.The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  5. Life of Pi
  Alternate: Cloud Atlas
  Wild Card: Argo
  For Your Consideration: Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Sound Editing
  1. Zero Dark Thirty
  2. Skyfall
  3. The Dark Knight Rises
  4. The Avengers
  5. Life of Pi
  Alternate: Lincoln
  Wild Card: The Impossible
   For Your Consideration: The Cabin In the Woods

Best Sound Mixing
  1. Les Miserables
  2. Zero Dark Thirty
  3. Skyfall
  4. Life of Pi
  5. The Dark Knight Rises
  Alternate: Lincoln
  Wild Card: The Impossible
   For Your Consideration:  The Grey


Best Visual Effects
  1. Life of Pi
  2. Cloud Atlas
  3. The Avengers
  4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  5. The Dark Knight Rises
  Alternate:  Prometheus
  Wild Card:  Skyfall
   For Your Consideration:  The Cabin In the Woods


Best Animated Short
  1. Paperman
  2. The Eagleman Stag
  3. Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare
  4. Adam and Dog
  5. Combustible
  Alternate: Dripped
  Wild Card: Tram
 

Best Documentary Short
  1. The Education of Mohammed Hussein
  2. Open Heart
  3. Mondays at Racine
  4. Innocente
  5. Kings Point
   Alternate: Redemption
  Wild Card: Paraiso

Best Live Action Short
  1. Death of a Shadow
  2. Curfew
  3. When You Find Me
  4. 9 Meter
  5. When You Find Me
  Alternate: Asad
  Wild Card: The Night Shift Belongs To The Stars
 
     And in a few hours it will all be over.  I ran short of time to post the buzz list final tallies, so I'll work them into my analysis after they are announced tomorrow.  I have butterflies...


Related Posts:  coming soon (I ran out of time)

Fantasy Life of Pi?

     Director Ang Lee certainly has a varied filmography.  Some of his best known films include a costume drama (Sense and Sensibility), an artsy kung-fu flick (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), a dysfunctional community drama (The Ice Storm), and a gay romance/western (Brokeback Mountain).  In fact, it seems as if no two Ang Lee films bear much resemblance to each other.  His newest effort, Life of Pi, bears little resemblance to any other film that I have ever seen.
     Pi is a visual feast.  Set at sea, chronicling the lone survivors of a ship wreck (a teen-aged boy and a tiger) as they float for weeks aboard a small escape boat, the seascapes and natural wonders put upon screen for the viewer to behold are truly awe inspiring.  It is completely understanding that this film is currently considered the front runner in this year's Best Cinematography race.  Lenser Claudio Miranda certainly produces the best work that I have seen yet this year.
     The use of 3D technology is innovative and impressive:  creatively planned and expertly rendered.  It immediately joins Avatar and Hugo in the small pantheon of films that have most artistically and effectively utilized this medium.  The film also employs some of the most seamless and believable integration of CG images and live action that I have ever seen.  Richard Parker never looks like anything other than a real tiger, one that hasn't even been superimposed.  Pi is also widely considered the favorite film to win Visual Effects.  Again, I can't argue with its worthiness.  The most impressive thing about Pi's Visual Effects (although not at all surprising with Lee helming the picture) is that they are always used in service to the story, never the other way around.
      The sound elements are also implemented masterfully.  There were such a wide variety of sound effects necessary to this story.  Like the visual elements, the aural ones are expertly handled without being oppressive or overbearing.  No less worthy of praise is editor Tim Squyres, who had an ungodly (although there is nothing ungodly about Life of Pi, more on that shortly) task bringing the various pieces of this movie together, and performs his duties in a way that is almost miraculous.
     The Academy (and other various other Awards bodies) almost never take the actors seriously in big budget special effect laden films no matter how good they are.  The list of snubs is embarrassing in hindsight:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy in Inception, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Ben Kingsley in Hugo, Hugo Weaving in The Matrix, Harrison Ford in The Empire Strikes Back or Raiders of the Lost Ark, hell, Andy Serkis in Rise of the Planet of the Apes or any Middle Earth productions for that matter.  Occasionally a Sigourney Weaver in Aliens or Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight sneaks in, but not often.  When we look back at the films of 2012 (which I'm gonna try and get to this year by March or April), I feel certain that one Suraj Sharma's performance in Life of Pi will be remembered as one of the most underrated.
     Not only did this young Indian native have to carry ninety percent of this film on his back (Irrfan Khan is also quite impressive in the other ten), but he had to do most of it interacting with a non-human acting partner who wasn't really with him most of the time.  He pulls it off brilliantly, investing so much humanity into Pi, and so much raw emotion into his relationship with Richard Parker that my chest literally tightens up just a little thinking back on it now.  As an interesting side note, Sharma's fluctuation in weight is real.  He put on weight before filming, and then wasted away with Pi over the course of filming.  This is definitely one of the best performances that I have seen this year.
     As much as I have raved about the technical elements and young Mr. Sharma's performance, the most impressive thing about Life of Pi is the STORY.  This is one of the best and most original tales put to film in a long time, and one of the richest in subtext.  Screenwriter David Magee is being shortchanged this year as films like Argo (which I have seen, and it did have a great script) and Lincoln (which I have not seen) are eating up all the early critics awards for Adapted Screenplay.  I have not read the book (although now I REALLY want to, but I can well imagine what sort of a challenge he faced in translating it to the screen.  The twist ending is handled in such a brilliant manner that I immediately wanted to watch the film a second time because I knew that it would be a completely different movie that would mean completely different things to me.  I'm still waiting.
     Of course, with this film, I think I would immediately want a third viewing to really focus on pondering the film's thematic development.  Pi gives you a lot to chew on.  It IS a film about spirituality.  Pi is a practitioner of three faiths: Hinduism, Catholicism, and Islam, and believes them all.  He seems to see the divine most clearly, though, in every little piece of the world around him.  This is a film that is about how a man chooses to view his own personal world, and how that relates to faith.  It is about meaning, what things mean to us both personally and communally and how we pull strength from this.  I try not to throw in spoilers (at least not ones that aren't slightly obfuscated) so I'll stop there, and expand on these ideas at another time.
     This has turned into a really long review, but Life of Pi is a movie that offers so much.  It intensely engages the viewer on levels visual, aural, emotional, intellectual, and yes, spiritual.  Ang Lee has added yet another masterpiece to his eclectic body of work, one that I feel sure will stand up to multiple interpretations.  It occurs to me that it is also a film that manages to say much about topics that passions run high with, yet I see little to nothing within the movie that anyone could find offensive or objectionable.  It should even be acceptable viewing for any but the youngest of children.  By this point it should go without saying that I recommend this picture most highly.  It's easily one of the year's best.  5 of 5*
   
Related Posts:  Nov/Dec Oscar Buzz and Predictions: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (preview), Musical Techs (Score and Song), Noisy Techs (Sound Editing and Sound Mixing), Pretty Picture Techs (Production Design and Cinematography), Finishing Touch Techs (Editing and Visual Effects), The Screenplays, October Oscar Buzz and Predictions:  Picture, Director, I Think You "Argo"ing to Love It

Dec Oscar Buzz and Predictions - Screenplays

Original Screenplay

     As always we'll start with the buzz...

  1.(1) The Master

  2.(5) Zero Dark Thirty

  3.(2) Moonrise Kingdom

  4.(3) Django Unchained

  5.(4) Amour

  6. Looper

  7. Flight

  8. Promised Land 

  9. Middle of Nowhere

  10.(6) Seven Psychopaths

  Leaving the Rankings:  Brave, Hyde Park On Hudson, Inside Llewyn Davis, Magic Mike
     It's becoming very clear who the top contenders are here.  I see my top three picks as locks with four...maybe five...films fighting it out for the remaining three slots.
  1. Django Unchained...With the screenplay win from the National Board of Review, Globe and Critics Choice nods, generally good notices, and Tarantino prestige, I have to think this is the surest contender and might be this film's best chance at a win.
  2. Moonrise Kingdom...Wes Anderson may have missed his nod at the Globes, but not at the Critic's Choice or Spirit awards and he feels overdue for some recognition.
  3. Zero Dark Thirty...Although this film definitely feels like a lock for a nomination (with Critic's Choice and Globe nods already under its belt), Mark Boal did just win for the Hurt Locker, so I'm not seeing a win here...yet.
  4. The Master...This film's chances with Oscar in general are hurting at the moment, but I still think it gets in here as it did at the Critic's Choice.
  5. Looper...Besides BEING one of the best screenplays of the year, this film is gaining momentum quickly, starting with a surprise nod from the Critic's Choice Awards.

  6. Amour...Pundits seem to love the idea that this film will break out of Foreign Language Film, and its acclaim IS high, but it doesn't have any major wins or nods for screenplay specifically, so we'll have to wait and see.
  7. Middle of Nowhere...If any film were to emerge as a top contender at the last second, it would be this one.
  8. Flight...Yeah, it got a Critic's Choice nom but enthusiasm for this film outside of the Best Actor race is waning.
  9. Promised Land...The Academy is very fond of Matt Damon and the lack of awards attention thus far COULD just be from lack of exposure.
  10. The Cabin in the Woods...This is probably wishful thinking on my part but this script has gotten some love from minor critic's groups and that is more than anyone was expecting.


Adapted Screenplay
     First, the buzz...
  1.(1) Lincoln
  2.(2) Argo
  3.(7) Silver Linings Playbook
  4.(3) Beasts of the Southern Wild
  5.(5) Life of Pi

  6.(6) Les Miserables
  7. The Sessions
  8.(4) Anna Karenina
  9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
  10. Cloud Atlas
  Leaving the Rankings:  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Quartet, On the Road
     I can't really argue with the buzz rankings too much here...
  1. Silver Linings Playbook...All of the top three films here are locks, and all three got nods at the Critic's Choice and Golden Globes.  Silver also got an Indie Spirit nod, which might mean nothing, except that in early WINS, Russell's screenplay took the National Board of Review and the D.C. Area Film Critics, which just edges out...
  2. Argo...which won Chris Terrio the Los Angeles Film Critics, which just edges out...
  3. Lincoln...which won Tony Kushner the screenplay award from the Boston Film Critics.  All three should have no difficulty securing nods and would seem at this point to be each other's only real competition for the win.  The other two slots?  Well...
  4. Life of Pi...David Magee got a Critic's Choice nod here, and the film is highly likely to get a Best Picture nod, so I'm going to say it's probably next, but far less secure.
  5. Beasts of the Southern Wild...Behn Zeitlen's brilliant screenplay has not been singled out exactly, but this young auteur has been winning almost every "Promising New Filmmaker" award that any critics group has flung around.  I still retain hope that the Academy will be more open to this film than the Globes and SAG (which might have shown more support if the film had not been eliminated from consideration before voting began).  Hence I'm giving it this last slot for now, but stiff competition remains in...

  6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower...Perks got an unexpected nod at the Critic's choice, and recognizing writer/director Stephen Chbosky (who also wrote the source novel) in this category could be a nice way of honoring a film that many feel has been given less attention that it deserved.
  7. Les Miserables...No major mentions for screenplay, but the film is sure to garner a host of nominations.  There is always the possibility that this will be one.
  8. The Sessions...This film was presumed to be a strong contender, but early critics group awards and major nominations have eluded Ben Llewyn thus far...
  9. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel...This movie seems to be popping up in all sorts of unexpected places lately, so who knows...
  10. Cloud Atlas...Well, we all know that this late in the season number ten is my personal For Your Consideration slot.

     I'm going to catch up on the buzz for a bit and then I'll be back to cover Supporting Actress/Actor.
                                                                                     Froggy

Related Posts:  Nov/Dec Oscar Buzz and Predictions: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (preview), Musical Techs (Score and Song), Noisy Techs (Sound Editing and Sound Mixing), Pretty People Techs (Hairstyling and Make-up & Costume), Pretty Picture Techs (Production Design and Cinematography), Finishing Touch Techs, Toons of Any Length (Animated Short and Animated Feature), Docs of Any Length (Documentary Feature and Documentary Short), Can You "Master" Your Nature?, Promarlius Kingdom (Moonrise Kingdom review), Twist Until You Are Loopey? (Looper review), I Think You "Argo"ing to Love It!, Best That The Summer Wields? (Beasts of the Southern Wild review), The Cabin With the Goods,
Acting Master Classes in Private "Sessions", Cloudy Connections (Cloud Atlas review), Sept/Oct Oscar Buzz and Predictions - Screenplays