Academy Awards - 2013

It's that time of year again...The Academy Awards (Oscars) are finally here. Last year, I went 16/24 (67%) and the year before that I was 17/24 (71%). Hopefully I'll see an improvement this year and not continue the downward trend. As always, the acting categories and Best Picture are almost completely a lock (apart from Best Supporting Actor). Almost everything else is kind of guesswork. My picks are in  light blue, movies I've seen are blue text (with my rating). Winners will be in red.


Final Tally 18/24 (75%)

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Amour (2012): Margaret Ménégoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Michael Katz
Argo (2012): Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney(5 Stars)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald
Django Unchained (2012): Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone
Les Misérables (2012): Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh (4½ Stars)
Life of Pi (2012): Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark
Lincoln (2012): Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (2012)
Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables (2012) (4½ Stars)
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master (2012)
Denzel Washington for Flight (2012/I) (3½ Stars)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour (2012)
Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Naomi Watts for The Impossible (2012)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin for Argo (2012) (5 Stars)
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master (2012)
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln (2012)
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained (2012)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams for The Master (2012)
Sally Field for Lincoln (2012)
Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2012) (4½ Stars)
Helen Hunt for The Sessions (2012)
Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Best Achievement in Directing
Michael Haneke for Amour (2012)
Ang Lee for Life of Pi (2012)
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln (2012)
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Amour (2012): Michael Haneke
Django Unchained (2012): Quentin Tarantino
Flight (2012/I): John Gatins (3½ Stars)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012): Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola (4 Stars)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Mark Boal

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Argo (2012): Chris Terrio (5 Stars)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi (2012): David Magee
Lincoln (2012): Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): David O. Russell

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Brave (2012): Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman (3½ Stars)
Frankenweenie (2012): Tim Burton (4½ Stars)
ParaNorman (2012): Sam Fell, Chris Butler (3½ Stars)
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012): Peter Lord (3½ Stars)
Wreck-It Ralph (2012): Rich Moore

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Amour (2012)(Austria)
War Witch (2012)(Canada)
No (2012/I)(Chile)
A Royal Affair (2012)(Denmark)
Kon-Tiki (2012)(Norway)

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Seamus McGarvey (3½ Stars)
Django Unchained (2012): Robert Richardson
Life of Pi (2012): Claudio Miranda
Lincoln (2012): Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall (2012): Roger Deakins (3½ Stars)

Best Achievement in Editing
Argo (2012): William Goldenberg (5 Stars)
Life of Pi (2012): Tim Squyres
Lincoln (2012): Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor

Best Achievement in Production Design
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer (3½ Stars)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, Simon Bright (5 Stars)
Les Misérables (2012): Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson (4½ Stars)
Life of Pi (2012): David Gropman, Anna Pinnock
Lincoln (2012): Rick Carter, Jim Erickson

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Jacqueline Durran (3½ Stars)
Les Misérables (2012): Paco Delgado (4½ Stars)
Lincoln (2012): Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror (2012/I): Eiko Ishioka (2½ Stars)
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012): Colleen Atwood

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock (2012): Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Peter King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane (5 Stars)
Les Misérables (2012): Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell (4½ Stars)

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Dario Marianelli (3½ Stars)
Argo (2012): Alexandre Desplat (5 Stars)
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna
Lincoln (2012): John Williams
Skyfall (2012): Thomas Newman (3½ Stars)

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Chasing Ice (2012): J. Ralph("Before My Time")
Les Misérables (2012): Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer("Suddenly") (4½ Stars)
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree("Pi's Lullaby")
Skyfall (2012): Adele, Paul Epworth("Skyfall") (3½ Stars)
Ted (2012): Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane("Everybody Needs a Best Friend") (3½ Stars)

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Argo (2012): John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, José Antonio García
Les Misérables (2012): Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes (4½ Stars)
Life of Pi (2012): Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Drew Kunin
Lincoln (2012): Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ron Judkins
Skyfall (2012): Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Argo (2012): Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn (5 Stars)
Django Unchained (2012): Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi (2012): Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton
Skyfall (2012): Per Hallberg, Karen M. Baker (3½ Stars)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Paul N.J. Ottosson

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
The Avengers (2012): Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Daniel Sudick (4½ Stars)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White (5 Stars)
Life of Pi (2012): Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott
Prometheus (2012/I): Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, Martin Hill (4 Stars)
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012): Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Phil Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson

Best Documentary, Feature
5 Broken Cameras (2011): Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers (2012): Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, Estelle Fialon
How to Survive a Plague (2012): David France, Howard Gertler
The Invisible War (2012): Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering
Searching for Sugar Man (2012): Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn

Best Documentary, Short Subject
Inocente (2012): Sean Fine, Andrea Nix
Kings Point (2012): Sari Gilman, Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine (2012): Cynthia Wade, Robin Honan
Open Heart (2013): Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern
Redemption (2012/V): Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill

Best Short Film, Animated
Adam and Dog (2011): Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole (2012): PES
Head Over Heels (2012): Timothy Reckart, Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
Paperman (2012): John Kahrs(4½ Stars)
The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare (2012): David Silverman (4 Stars)

Best Short Film, Live Action
Asad (2012): Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys (2012): Sam French, Ariel Nasr
Curfew (2012/I): Shawn Christensen
Death of a Shadow (2012): Tom Van Avermaet, Ellen De Waele
Henry (2011/III): Yan England