2013 Oscar Picks

Sunday night is the biggest night of the awards season, which means it's time for my annual Oscar picks.  Not my predictions, but the pick of my personal favorites for each of the major voting categories.  (ie. I'll only mention the categories I actually care about.  Sorry, no technical award picks!)

Here we go:

Best Animated Feature: (contenders: Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Wreck-it Ralph.)  Now, to be honest, I've only seen two of these nominees.  But, lets break this down logically.  Frankenweenie is a Tim Burton remake of a Tim Burton film, which no one seems to recall its existence in its original form.  Remakes don't fair well at awards time, or usually even get recognized as nominees.  But, again, since I didn't see it... I'm crossing it off of my list. Same goes for The Pirates! and ParaNorman.  Brave and Wreck-It Ralph were both enjoyable films, full of laughs and heart.  It's a close race for me but, being a sucker for all things Disney, I'll have to give my winner by a nudge to Brave.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: (contenders: Hitchcock, Les Miserables, The Hobbit.) I'm not voting in this category because Lincoln wasn't nominated.  I can't believe the academy thinks that Daniel Day-Lewis is such an incredible actor that he physically willed himself into looking like a five dollar bill.  Marvelous acting, yes.  But, why not a shout out to the hair and makeup team for their bit of the credit?  No vote here. Well, fine... one vote for Les Mis.  Especially for Hugh Jackson's practically unrecognizable opening look.

Best Costume Design: (contenders: Anna Karenina, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman.)  The two Snow White movies negate each other, so that narrows things down.  Yes, Mirror Mirror was colorful and memorably costumed, but I can't give any vote in any category for a film that was such a stinker.  (Except, for maybe "Least Believable Action Sequence".)  Period pieces always bode well in this category, which means good news for the other contenders.  I personally feel an extra edge should always go to anyone who gets to dress Helena Bonham Carter.  So, my pick, again, goes to Les Mis.

Best Supporting Actress: (contenders: Amy Adams, The Master; Sally Field, Lincoln; Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables; Helen Hunt, The Sessions; Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook.)  I swear, this isn't leading into a total Les Miserables sweep.  Amy Adams should, no questions asked, win an Oscar one day.  Just not this Sunday.  Jacki Weaver's nomination made me nostalgic for Melissa Leo's win for The Fighter. (There's just something about the family dynamic that David O. Russell films have the magic of creating. Sidenote: There needs to be an award for best casting.)  Nudity never seems to hurt a nominee.  Heck, it won Halle Berry an Academy Award! But, it's not Helen Hunt's year either.  Sally Field... ugh, I'm about to say something totally controversial here... but Sally Field, in every film I see her in, is just Sally Field in costume. There are certain actresses that have such a distinguishable speaking voice, that it's impossible for the audience to completely buy them as immersed into a character. No matter what period their character, no matter what accent they try coat over that voice, it's always just, "Oh, it's Sally Field on a surf board. Oh, it's Sally Field down South. Oh, it's Sally Field standing next to Spiderman. Oh, it's Sally Field in a very large dress in the 1860's."  Sorry, Sally Field!  (And, Winona Ryder, who also falls under this curse.) Which means, the Oscar goes to... Anne Hathaway in Les Mis! Anne risks the curse of being the obvious vote, causing voters to cast seemingly safe ballots for the underdogs, giving her an American Idol-style accidental upheaval.  But, c'mon... Have you seen her Fantine?  What a great example of a Disney kid gone right.

Best Supporting Actor: (contenders: Alan Arkin, Argo; Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook; Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master; Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln; Christoph Walz, Django Unchained.)  Alan Arkin is one of the greatest living actors.  I haven't seen Argo yet, though, so I'm not going to throw him any freebies.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman is your go-to indie guy, but he always seems to creep me out a little.  Acting, or just a natural trait fortunate for his craft? Christoph Walz is our latest imported award season darling, but he had his moment with Inglourious Basterds (my spell check hates that movie title!)... and I haven't caught Django yet, either. No freebies! I'll admit, Tommy Lee Jones had my vote locked after watching him Tommy-Lee-Jones all over the movie Lincoln. But, then I saw Silver Linings Playbook.  It's been so long since I've seen DeNiro play vulnerable, play tearful, play hysterical, play neurotic yet totally unaware of it.  Play real. This may be my vote for favorite DeNiro performance of all time.  In which, he also plays a thief... because he totally stole my vote from Tommy Lee Jones.

Best Actress: (contenders: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty; Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook; Emmanuelle Riva, Amour; Quvenzhane' Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Naomi Watts, The Impossible.) Jessica Chastain is a great actress, but her acting in The Help was superior to what she did with her role in Zero Dark Thirty. If she couldn't pull off the gold for her superior supporting role, I don't think she should get the booby prize in a higher category.  Like, Amy Adams, I really believe Jessica will have her day. Again, just not this Sunday. I didn't see Amour, and sometimes age gets rewarded in itself.  That said, I honestly have a hunch that at least 50% of the Academy voters didn't actually watch every film sent to them.  If my hunch is correct, Ms. Riva (and her film) is out of the running.  It'd be fun to see little Quvenzhane' win, for novelty alone.  Maybe they can dig up a miniature Shirley Temple statuette to, at least, reward her yipping skills. ("BEAST it, Hushpuppy!" "Yip! Yip!") I've been yearning to see The Impossible all award season, but haven't had the chance yet due to its limited release in the Detroit area.  I won't be mad if Naomi wins, because the trailer alone sent my skin to goose-pimpling.  But, my official vote goes to Jennifer Lawrence.  Her "He's harassing me! He's harassing me!" scene alone is sure to be her official Oscar clip.  And, how many people can go toe-to-toe with DeNiro and make it look effortless?

Best Actor: (contenders: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook; Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln; Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables; Joaquin Phoenix, The Master; Denzel Washington, Flight.)  This category is tearing me up inside!  I'll have to navigate this category by process of elimination.  Flight was released too early for award season, so it's the forgotten choice in all of its categories.  Sorry Denzel!  Joaquin is one of the greatest actors of my generation, but his disdain for awards shows likely causes disdain for the voters who want to reward someone who would actually appreciate a win.  Plus, his small film is likely one of the ones that those 50% of Academy voters didn't bother checking out. Leaving me with the trifecta that is currently giving me new stress lines on my brow.  Ugh!  My three favorite movies of the season and their lead actors that all impressed me with their new levels of talents revealed in 2012.  If I vote with my head, I'd go for Daniel Day-Lewis for doing something that no actor has ever been able to do, and what may never be able to be equally done again.  If I vote with my gut, I'd have to go with Hugh Jackman, who tore my innards to shreds with his portrayal of Jean Valjean.  Every beat, every syllable of his performance, flawless and drenched in raw emotion.  If I vote with my heart, come on...  Bradley Cooper as the emotionally unstable Pat Solitano.  I was left stunned by this, previously untapped, expression of his talent.  Raw, hilarious, emotionally bare... the most unstable character you'll ever find yourself rooting for.  Unhinged, pathetic and, yet at the same time, laser-sharp focused.  (Yes, we know you're contractually obligated to The Hangover III.  But after that, Bradley Cooper, we're now officially expecting more!) Ugh!  My head!  If they were all nominated in separate years, all three performances would be taking home the top prize.  But, since I'm not going with predictions, but my personal choices... I guess I'd have to vote with my heart on this one and go with the underdog.  Go Pat!  Er, uh.. Bradley!  I love that he made me leave the theater thinking, "I didn't know he could do that!"

Best Director: (contenders: Michael Heneke, Amour; Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Ang Lee, Life of Pi; Steven Spielberg, Lincoln; David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook.)  Beasts of the Southern Wild was an interesting film full or great imagery and art.  But, way too many up-the-nose shots, which immediately took Benh Zeitlin out of my Best Director running.  (Oh, the little things that turn off a voter!)  I've already expressed my indifference towards Amour. A great film, I gather, but too depressing a subject matter for me to bear watching.  The remaining three all well-deserving in three different ways.  Ang Lee has found so many different ways define his role as film director.  You can't look at The Ice Storm, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi and say, "Oh, that's stylistically so Ang Lee."  In fact, I'll bet many didn't realize that all four of those films even had the same director!  There's something to be said about pushing the limits of what can be done on film.  And so, there's got to be at least a mention for what was cinematically pulled off with this film. (Oops. Did I mention that, after The Impossible, Pi was my second biggest regret for not having seen it in time for awards season.  But, I've seen enough clips to know that there's no way this movie could have been pulled off in lesser hands.)  David O. Russell has certainly proved to have a way with family-strong dramedy that is becoming its own niche in his own rite, finding perfect balance in his ever-careful and tender hands. And, then we have Spielberg.  It's hard for me to go with the obvious choice in this category, but Spielberg is the king of creating Celluloid Wonderland. Largeness and intimacy somehow married together with perfect light.  Perfect color.  Perfect framing.  When Lincoln dons a blanket on his shoulders, I get cold.  When he crawls to the ground to scoop his son up, my knees creak.  On the battlefield I fear the saber, the rifle, the bowie knife.  I cringe in the theater (not this theater, that theater.)  I feel I too have a vote to cast in Congress.  How does he do this?  I don't know and neither do you.  So, we shower him with trophies.

Best Picture: (contenders: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty.) It's another toss up for my top three here. Les Miserable, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook.  I'll be equally satisfied if any of these win.  I'm just glad that 2012 had such high caliber films made that I've actually seen five of the top nominees and ran out of time to try and cram in the rest.  (Usually, I'm not even interested in five nominated titles!) It's nice to enjoy this awards season by having actual favorites to root for. What a great year for movies!  That said, I won't reiterate my praise that's already been mentioned in the categories above. I'll just blurt out the title of the movie I most enjoyed this year and that I'm most anticipating its arrival on DVD, so I can watch it over and over again.  My winner is...  Silver Linings Playbook. 

See you on the couch Sunday!