Amy's Robot

Oscars picks

Every year around this time, I post my picks for who will win at the Oscars. This year, Hollywood Reporter offers a far more entertaining variation: a famous unnamed director's picks with running commentary. It's not just that I agree with just about all of this guy's selections, but also that he's a riot, unapologetic and blunt.

This guy, whoever he is, has been in the business for a long time, long enough to still be mad that "Live And Let Die" didn't win Best Song in 1973. He knows what he's talking about, and he isn't about to cast any votes for Michael Haneke because "he just hates human beings, and I happen to be a human being and don't like being shit on." He also spins his iPhone to decide between ParaNorman and Wreck-It Ralph. I love it.

So go ahead and read his votes--I'll include some choice comments from him along with my own italicized picks below. Add your own picks in the comments--I have doubts about a lot of my picks, and there should be some good surprises on Sunday!

BEST PICTURE
Amour
Life of Pi
Argo
Lincoln [It's just cynical enough to be taken seriously, but still a feel-good movie about America's moral correctness]
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Silver Linings Playbook
Django Unchained [Mr. Famous Director: "basically just Quentin Tarantino masturbating for three hours."]
Zero Dark Thirty
Les Miserables
[Note: Nate Silver says Argo is a shoo-in. I'm biased against it because I didn't like it, but it's won the most awards that Academy members vote on, and it's all about the magic of Hollywood and movies, even non-existent movies. Silver's probably right.]

BEST DIRECTOR
Michael Haneke (Amour)
Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) [No one else has a serious chance. Do you think the loser-reaction camera will cut to Ben Affleck, who wasn't nominated, when they announce the winner?]
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
[Mr. Famous Director would have voted for Kathryn Bigelow. I love this guy!]

BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) [inevitable, and deserved]
Denzel Washington (Flight)
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) [she might be my favorite actress working today. If she doesn't win this year, she'll win soon. I'd be happy for Emmanuelle Riva to win it, too]
Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin (Argo)
Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) [this is my favorite category this year. Mr. Famous Director says people in Hollywood don't like TLJ because he's a "bitter guy". If he's right, it will probably go to PSH]
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams (The Master)
Sally Field (Lincoln) [Mr. Famous Director: "she's playing an annoying character, and she is rather annoying, plus she's about 20 years too old for the role."]
Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) [a really weak category, but Hathaway's got it. I predict her acceptance speech will be the most irritating of the night]
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

ANIMATED FEATURE
Frankenweenie
The Pirates
Wreck-It Ralph [I flipped my phone]
Paranorman
Brave

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Austria: Amour [Probably the only award it will win]
Chile: No
Canada: War Witch
Denmark: A Royal Affair
Norway: Kon Tiki

SONG
"Before My Time," Chasing Ice
"Pi's Lullaby," Life Of Pi
"Suddenly," Les Miserables
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend," Ted
"Skyfall," Skyfall [If Adele is nominated for something, Adele wins]

SCORE
Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina)
Alexandre Desplat (Argo)
Mychael Danna (Life of Pi) [It's going to get a lot of the technical/art direction kind of awards]
John Williams (Lincoln) [Mr. Famous Director: "John Williams has enough f---ing Oscars."]
Thomas Newman (Skyfall)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
John Gatins (Flight)
Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty) [A really tough category--every nominee has a strike against them or isn't beloved by the Academy. I don't see an obvious winner, but it's probably either Mark Boal or Flight]
Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
Michael Haneke (Amour) [Mr. Famous Director: "There's only so much diaper-changing that I can tolerate."]
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Chris Terrio (Argo)
Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
David Magee (Life of Pi)
Tony Kushner (Lincoln) [Lincoln's going to be the big winner overall]
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

DOCUMENTARY
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How To Survive A Plague
The Invisible War
Searching For Sugar Man
[Mr. Famous Director: "In order to win, you usually have to make a film that makes people feel absolutely great or makes people feel like they want to slit their wrists."]

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Seamus McGarvey (Anna Karenina)
Robert Richardson (Django Unchained)
Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)
Janusz Kaminski (Lincoln)
Roger Deakins (Skyfall) [About time!]

COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina [All aspects of the Art Direction were fantastic]
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman
[Mr. Famous Director: "This always goes to the nominee with the puffiest dresses."]

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit
Les Miserables
Life of Pi [It was all CGI, but it looked great]
Lincoln

MAKEUP AND HAIR
Hitchcock [Mr. Famous Director: "Anthony Hopkins just looked like a man in a fat-suit."]
The Hobbit
Les Miserables [MFD: "I think they did a good job beating the shit out of Anne Hathaway."]

EDITING
William Goldenberg (Argo)
Tim Squyres (Life Of Pi)
Michael Kahn (Lincoln)
Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers (Silver Linings Playbook)
Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg (Zero Dark Thirty) [I'm not good at teasing out stuff like this, and even I noticed the editing was fantastic]

SOUND EDITING
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

SOUND MIXING
Argo
Les Miserables [All that live vocal recording seems impressive, right?]
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

VISUAL EFFECTS
The Hobbit
Life of Pi [It really looks great]
The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

categories: Movies
posted by amy at 1:30 PM | #