My predictions for the 85th Annual Oscars for all 24 categories are included below. Last year, I got 19/24 of these correct.
Best Picture:
‘Amour’
‘Argo’
‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’
‘Django Unchained’
‘Les Misérables’
‘Life of Pi’
‘Lincoln’
‘Silver Linings Playbook’
‘Zero Dark Thirty’
Will Win: Argo
Should Win: Django Unchained
Best Actor:
Bradley Cooper, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
Daniel Day-Lewis, ‘Lincoln’
Hugh Jackman, ‘Les Misérables’
Joaquin Phoenix, ‘The Master’
Denzel Washington, ‘Flight’
Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis, ‘Lincoln’
Should Win: Denzel Washington, ‘Flight’
Best Actress:
Jessica Chastain, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’
Jennifer Lawrence, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
Emmanuelle Riva, ‘Amour’
Quvenzhané Wallis, ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’
Naomi Watts, ‘The Impossible’
Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
Should Win: Jessica Chastain, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’
Best Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin, ‘Argo’
Robert De Niro, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
Philip Seymour Hoffman, ‘The Master’
Tommy Lee Jones, ‘Lincoln’
Christoph Waltz, ‘Django Unchained’
Will Win: Robert De Niro, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
Should Win: Christoph Waltz, ‘Django Unchained’
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, ‘The Master’
Sally Field, ‘Lincoln’
Anne Hathaway, ‘Les Misérables’
Helen Hunt, ‘The Sessions’
Jacki Weaver, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
Will Win: Anne Hathaway, ‘Les Misérables’
Should Win: Helen Hunt, ‘The Sessions’
Best Director:
Michael Haneke, ‘Amour’
Ang Lee, ‘Life Of Pi’
David O. Russell, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
Steven Spielberg, ‘Lincoln’
Benh Zeitlin, ‘Beasts Of The Southern Wild’
Will Win: Steven Spielberg, ‘ Lincoln’
Should Win: David O. Russell, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’
Best Original Screenplay:
‘Amour’: Michael Haneke
‘Django Unchained’: Quentin Tarantino
‘Flight’: John Gatins
‘Moonrise Kingdom’: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
‘Zero Dark Thirty’: Mark Boal
Will Win: ‘Amour’, Michael Haneke
Should Win: ‘Django Unchained’, Quentin Tarantino
Best Adapted Screenplay:
‘Argo’: Chris Terrio
‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’: Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
‘Life of Pi’: David Magee
‘Lincoln’: Tony Kushner
‘Silver Linings Playbook’:David O. Russell
Will Win: ‘Lincoln’, Tony Kushner
Should Win: ‘Argo’, Chris Terrio
Best Animated Film:
‘Brave’
‘Frankenweenie’
‘Paranorman’
‘The Pirates: Band Of Misfits’
‘ Wreck-It Ralph’
Will Win: ‘Wreck-It Ralph’
Should Win: ‘Brave’
Best Foreign Film:
‘Amour’
‘Rebelle’
‘No’
‘A Royal Affair’
‘Kon-Tiki’
Will Win: ‘Amour’
Should Win: ‘Amour’
Best Documentary:
‘5 Broken Cameras’
‘The Gatekeepers’
‘How To Survive A Plague’
‘The Invisible War’
‘Searching For Sugar Man’
Will Win: ‘Searching For Sugar Man’
Should Win: ‘Searching For Sugar Man’
Best Cinematography:
‘Anna Karenina’
‘Django Unchained’
‘Life Of Pi’
‘Lincoln’
‘Skyfall’
Will Win: ‘Life Of Pi’
Best Editing:
‘Argo’
‘Life Of Pi’
‘Lincoln’
‘Silver Linings Playbook’
‘Zero Dark Thirty’
Will Win: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’
Best Production Design:
‘Anna Karenina’
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’
‘Les Misérables’
‘Life Of Pi’
‘Lincoln’
Will Win: ‘Les Misérables’
Best Costume Design:
‘Anna Karenina’
‘Les Misérables’
‘Lincoln’
‘Mirror Mirror’
‘Snow White and the Huntsman’
Will Win: ‘Anna Karenina’
Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
‘Hitchcock’
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’
‘Les Misérables’
Will Win: ‘Les Misérables’
Best Original Score:
‘Anna Karenina’
‘Argo’
‘Life Of Pi’
‘Lincoln’
‘Skyfall’
Will Win: ‘Life Of Pi’
Best Original Song:
‘Chasing Ice’: J. Ralph (‘Before My Time’)
‘Les Misérables’: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer (‘Suddenly’)
‘Life of Pi’: Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree (‘Pi’s Lullaby’)
‘Skyfall’: Adele, Paul Epworth (‘Skyfall’)
‘Ted’: Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane(‘Everybody Needs a Best Friend’)
Will Win: ‘Skyfall’: Adele, Paul Epworth (‘Skyfall’)
Best Sound Mixing:
‘Argo’
‘Les Misérables’
‘Life Of Pi’
‘Lincoln’
‘Skyfall’
Will Win: ‘Les Misérables’
Best Sound Editing:
‘Argo’
‘Django Unchained’
‘Life Of Pi’
‘Skyfall’
‘Zero Dark Thirty’
Will Win: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’
Best Visual Effects:
‘The Avengers’
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’
‘Life Of Pi’
‘Prometheus’
‘Snow White and the Huntsman’
Will Win: ‘Life Of Pi’
Best Documentary Short:
‘Inocente’
‘Kings Point’
‘Mondays at Racine’
‘Open Heart’
‘Redemption’
Will Win: ‘Mondays at Racine’
Best Animated Short:
‘Adam and Dog’
‘Fresh Guacamole’
‘Head Over Heels’
‘Paperman’
‘The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare’
Will Win: ‘Paper Man’
Best Live Action Short:
‘Asad’
‘Buzkashi Boys’
‘Curfew’
‘Death of a Shadow’
‘Henry’
Will Win: ‘Death Of A Shadow’
This will be the first year since 1989 that the director of the Best Picture winner wasn’t nominated in the Best Director category (the last time this happened was ‘Driving Miss Daisy’). ‘Argo’ was a great movie and I ranked it at #2 on my Top 10 List of 2012 (with ‘Django Unchained’ marginally edging out ‘Argo’).
I suspect the Best Actress award will go to Jennifer Lawrence, though this is difficult to predict. Jessica Chastain gave the better performance (great technical acting) but Jennifer Lawrence’s work is showier. Emmaneul Riva turns 86 on Oscar Sunday – it would be nice to see her win the award, and she just might.
Daniel Day-Lewis is the front-runner for Best Actor. He was pretty much guaranteed to win the award when the poster for ‘Lincoln’ was released.
Best Supporting Actor – Another tough category. This will be between Robert De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones. But, my guess is De Niro will win it and it will be his first win in 32 years (‘Raging Bull’ being his last).
Anne Hathaway for ‘Les Miz’! Undeserved – all she did was sing for a bit and die. Oops, spoiler. Sorry. She’s won every Best Supporting Actress award leading up to the Oscars – she will win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar; this is a lock!
Steven Spielberg will win Best Director. Don’t bet against him. This is the Academy’s chance to honor a film veteran who is back at the top of his game.
‘Amour’ will win Best Foreign. This is a certainty; rarely do foreign film crossover to other categories (especially major ones like Best Picture and Best Director).
CINEMARAJAH 