The year that was in 2012 gave us a lot of reasons to head to our local movie theater and escape from the world for a while. The year brought great popcorn action films such as “The Avengers” (which became the third highest grossing film of all time worldwide), “ The Dark Knight Rises” (I caught the midnight showing opening night only to check my phone afterwards and see that the shootings had happened in Aurora), “The Hunger Games”, “ The Amazing Spider-Man”, “The Expendables 2”, “Looper” (one of the most original action films of the year), “End of Watch”, and of course “Skyfall”, the third and best yet of the Daniel Craig James Bond Films.
I enjoyed the offerings in my favorite genre (horror) namely “The Woman in Black”, “Cabin in the Woods”, and “Sinister”.
But let’s get to it. Who will win at the Oscars this year? There are some strong acting categories this year, the most impressive of which is best supporting actor. In my opinion, any of the five actors nominated in this category deserves a win. The same can be said for the best actor category. But first things first, let’s go through the most notable Oscar categories and talk about who will win and who would win if it was my decision.
-Best Picture-
What will win? “Argo” Directed by Ben Affleck. Starring Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, and Bryan Cranston. Why will it win? Momentum. This film has won several awards already. The most important of which was beating out “Lincoln” for Best Picture in the drama category at the Golden Globes. It has 7 Oscar nominations and if momentum has a say it will become the first film to win a Best Picture Oscar without having the director receive a Best Director nod since 1989’s “Driving Miss Daisy”. What film would I want to win Best Picture? “Silver Linings Playbook” Directed by David O. Russell, is the best acted and scripted film of the year, it pulls off both comedy and drama extremely well, and is the first film in thirty years to have acting nominations in each of the four acting categories. It’s worth mentioning “The Impossible” starring Naomi Watts and Ewan Mcgregor. A heart wrenching and well done portrayal of one family’s struggle to survive the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, this film should have had a Best Picture nomination.
-Best Director-
Who will win? Steven Spielberg for “Lincoln” Why? His attention to detail in the making of this film was profound. He went to great lengths to be as authentic as possible in every aspect of the film. He even borrowed Lincoln’s actual pocket watch from the Smithsonian to record the sound and use it for the watch in the film. He is by far the most deserving in this category and will win his third Oscar for Best Director (others being for “Schindler’s List”, and “Saving Private Ryan”)
-Best Actor-
Who will win? Daniel Day-Lewis for “Lincoln” His portrayal of Lincoln was simply amazing and well deserving of the Oscar. He will win his third Best Actor Oscar and join an elite group of actors to have accomplished this feat. If Hugh Jackman were nominated for Les Mis during any other year, he would’ve had the award hands down but not this year.
-Best Actress-
Who will win? Jennifer Lawrence for “Silver Linings Playbook”. She was excellent in this film and brought great range of emotion and a command of the character that even Jessica Chastain wasn’t able to accomplish (but came close to) in “Zero Dark Thirty”. It is Lawrence’s second Oscar nomination and she will take home the trophy this year.
-Best Supporting Actor-
Who will win? Robert De Niro for “Silver Linings Playbook”. Why? De Niro will bring home his first Oscar in over thirty years for the depth of emotion displayed in this role that no other actor in this category was able to accomplish. This will be the closest category of them all as each of the other four nominated actors did amazingly well. Tommy Lee Jones was excellent in Lincoln and might pull out a win, but I feel like De Niro is more deserving and will come away the winner.
-Best Supporting Actress-
Who will win? Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables. Why? It isn’t often that an actor is deserving of an Oscar simply for their performance in a single scene, but Hathaway’s rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” makes her the obvious front runner in this category.
-Original Screenplay-
Who will win? Most likely “Amour” written by Michael Haneke. Who would I want to win? Tarantino and Wes Anderson are two of my favorite screen writers, and I would love to see Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” screenplay take home the Oscar. Though somewhat similar in formula to his “Inglourious Basterds” screenplay, Django is highly entertaining and original in dialogue.
-Adapted Screenplay-
Who will win? Most likely the screenwriter for “Lincoln” Tony Kushner will take home the Oscar in this category for his summary and eloquence in capturing the last four months of Lincoln’s life. Who would I want to win? “Silver Linings Playbook” would be my favorite in this category simply because I don’t think you can go wrong with this film.
-Best Original Song-
Who will win? Adele will take home the Oscar for her theme song for the latest Bond film “Skyfall”. (Check out Muse’s track “Supremacy” which was also in the running for theme song for this film)
This sums up some of the major categories of this year. Enjoy the Oscars! I’m looking forward to Seth Macfarlane as host as well as Adele’s live performance of “Skyfall”, and seeing all six James Bond’s on stage together.
