Final, Pre-Nominations, 2012 Oscar Predictions

Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Moneyball (Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin)
2. The Descendants (Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash)
3. The Help (Tate Taylor)
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Steve Zaillian)
5. Hugo (John Logan)

Writing (Original Screenplay) (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
2. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)
3. 50/50 (Will Reiser)
4. Win Win (Thomas McCarthy)
5. Bridesmaids (Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo)

Animated Feature Film (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Rango (dir. Gore Verbinski)
2. The Adventures of Tintin (dir. Steven Spielberg)
3. Wrinkles (dir. Ignacio Ferreras)
4. Puss in Boots (dir. Chris Miller)
5. Arthur Christmas (dir. Sarah Smith)

NOTES: As I said above, Wrinkles is an excellent film and it is neck-and-neck with Rango now for my favorite animated film of 2011, but it is sad, sad, sad as it takes a head-on look at old age. Question is, how will the Animation branch at the Academy react to it? This wasn’t necessarily a strong year for animated films, but if they overlook Wrinkles for shoddy studio fare they have made a big mistake.

Documentary (feature) (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Project Nim (dir. James Marsh)
2. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (dir. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky)
3. Pina (dir. Wim Wenders)
4. Buck (dir. Cindy Meehl)
5. Bill Cunningham New York (dir. Richard Press)

NOTES: Your guess is as good as mine. Come to think of it, what constitutes “best” documentary? The one that makes you the saddest? The most beautiful? The most effective? The one that offers the most change?

Foreign Language Film (click here for full field and rankings)

1. A Separation (dir. Asghar Farhadi)
2. In Darkness (dir. Agnieszka Holland)
3. Pina (dir. Wim Wenders)
4. Bullhead (dir. Michael R. Roskam)
5. Monsieur Lazhar (dir. Philippe Falardeau)

NOTES: Of the foreign language films I’ve seen that are among the contenders, Bullhead is the best followed by A Separation. Just saying.

Cinematography (click here for full field and rankings)

1. The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
2. The Artist (Guillame Schiffman)
3. Hugo (Robert Richardson)
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Jeff Cronenweth)
5. War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)

Film Editing (click here for full field and rankings)

1. The Artist (Anne-Sophie Bion)
2. Hugo (Thelma Schoonmaker)
3. War Horse (Michael Kahn)
4. Drive (Matthew Newman)
5. The Descendants (Kevin Tent)

Music (Original Score) (click here for full field and rankings)

1. The Artist (Ludovic Bource)
2. War Horse (John Williams)
3. Jane Eyre (Dario Marianelli)
4. Hugo (Howard Shore)
5. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Alexandre Desplat)

Music (Original Song) (click here for full field and rankings)

1. “Lay Your Head Down” from Albert Nobbs
2. “The Living Proof” from The Help
3. “Life’s A Happy Song” from The Muppets
4. “Hello Hello” from Gnomeo and Juliet
5. “Coeur Volant” from Hugo

Sound Mixing (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Hugo
2. Super 8
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
5. Hanna

Sound Editing (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Super 8
2. Hugo
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
4. War Horse
5. The Adventures of Tintin

Art Direction (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Hugo
2. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
3. The Artist
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Visual Effects (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2. The Tree of Life
3. Hugo
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Costumes (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Hugo
2. The Artist
3. Jane Eyre
4. Midnight in Paris
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Makeup (click here for full field and rankings)

1. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
2. The Iron Lady
3. Hugo

Predicted Wins Per Movie

1. The Artist – 4 Oscars
2. Hugo – 3 Oscars
3. The Help – 2 Oscars
4. Albert Nobbs – 1 Oscar
5. Beginners – 1 Oscar
6. The Descendants – 1 Oscar
7. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life – 1 Oscar
8. Midnight in Paris – 1 Oscar
9. Moneyball – 1 Oscar
10. Project Nim – 1 Oscar
11. Rango – 1 Oscar
12. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – 1 Oscar
13. A Separation – 1 Oscar
14. Super 8 – 1 Oscar
15. The Tree of Life – 1 Oscar

Predicted Nominations Per Movie

1. Hugo – 12 Oscar nominations
2. The Artist – 10 Oscar nominations
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – 7 Oscar nominations
4. The Help – 6 Oscar nominations
5. The Descendants – 5 Oscar nominations
6. War Horse – 5 Oscar nominations
7. Midnight in Paris – 4 Oscar nominations
8. Moneyball – 4 Oscar nominations
9. Albert Nobbs – 3 Oscar nominations
10. Bridesmaids – 2 Oscar nominations
11. Drive – 2 Oscar nominations
12. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – 2 Oscar nominations
13. Jane Eyre – 2 Oscar nominations
14. My Week with Marilyn – 2 Oscar nominations
15. Pina – 2 Oscar nominations
16. Super 8 – 2 Oscar nominations
17. The Adventures of Tintin – 2 Oscar nominations
18. The Iron Lady – 2 Oscar nominations
19. The Tree of Life – 2 Oscar nominations
20. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – 2 Oscar nominations
21. Transformers: Dark of the Moon – 2 Oscar nominations
22. 50/50 – 1 Oscar nomination
23. Arthur Christmas – 1 Oscar nomination
24. Beginners – 1 Oscar nomination
25. Bill Cunningham New York – 1 Oscar nomination
26. Buck – 1 Oscar nomination
27. Bullhead – 1 Oscar nomination
28. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – 1 Oscar nomination
29. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life – 1 Oscar nomination
30. Gnomeo and Juliet – 1 Oscar nomination
31. Hanna – 1 Oscar nomination
32. In Darkness – 1 Oscar nomination
33. J. Edgar – 1 Oscar nomination
34. Monsieur Lazhar – 1 Oscar nomination
35. Warrior – 1 Oscar nomination
36. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – 1 Oscar nomination
37. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – 1 Oscar nomination
38. Project Nim – 1 Oscar nomination
39. Puss in Boots – 1 Oscar nomination
40. Rango – 1 Oscar nomination
41. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – 1 Oscar nomination
42. The Muppets – 1 Oscar nomination
43. We Need to Talk about Kevin – 1 Oscar nomination
44. Win Win – 1 Oscar nomination
45. Wrinkles – 1 Oscar nomination