Best Director
The final two spots in the Best Director race remain a tough call as Ang Lee (Life of Pi) and Tom Hooper (Les Miserables) are far from guarantees. However, I feel safe in believing at least one of them will get in and since I can’t tell which one I’m going to play the odds and go with both.
The hardest thing is leaving out David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook), Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained) and Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master) considering the Weinstein Co. is boasting a strong stable of directors and for not one of them to get a nomination seems almost impossible. Russell, to me, seems the likeliest to eek in, but at the expense of which one of my top five?
- Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
- Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)
- Ben Affleck (Argo)
- Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
- Tom Hooper (Les Miserables)
You can browse my complete chart of Best Director contenders and their rankings right here.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
I think there are a lot of us that would like to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower sneak in I don’t think there is enough momentum.
- Tony Kushner, John Logan and Paul Webb (Lincoln)
- Chris Terrio (Argo)
- David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
- William Nicholson (Les Miserables)
- David Magee (Life of Pi)
You can browse my complete chart of Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) contenders and their rankings right here.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
In the end, I just can’t go with Flight over Amour and Looper and while Looper has had some momentum as of late I think Amour is going to take that fifth and final slot.
- Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)
- Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
- Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master)
- Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)
- Michael Haneke (Amour)
You can browse my complete chart of Best Writing (Original Screenplay) contenders and their rankings right here.
Best Animated Feature
Ugh, this category is sort of ugly at this point now that it looks like all five nominees will be from major studios. Of the GKIDS selections I’ve seen both Le Tableau and The Rabbi’s Cat and both are superior to the entire field of studio features that I’ve seen and yet… here we are. I guess at this point I can only hope to be wrong and at least one will slide in.
- Wreck-It Ralph
- Frankenweenie
- Brave
- ParaNorman
- Rise of the Guardians
You can browse my complete chart of Best Animated Feature contenders and their rankings right here.
Documentary (Feature)
- Searching for Sugar Man
- The Gatekeepers
- Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
- Detropia
- How To Survive a Plague
You can browse my complete chart of Best Documentary (Feature) contenders and their rankings right here.
Foreign Language Film
- Amour
- The Intouchables
- Kon-Tiki
- A Royal Affair
- No
You can browse my complete chart of Best Foreign Language Film contenders and their rankings right here.
Cinematography
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) have spoken with their nominations and I’m not foolish enough not to listen. Only a day ago I moved Seamus McGarvey (Anna Karenina) out of the top five and a day later the ASC goes and nominates him.
The big question I am now faced with is do I follow the ASC’s lead and go with Danny Cohen (Les Miserables) or do I believe this is one nomination The Master can actually grab? My answer is below…
- Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)
- Roger Deakins (Skyfall)
- Janusz Kaminski (Lincoln)
- Seamus McGarvey (Anna Karenina)
- Danny Cohen (Les Miserables)
You can browse my complete chart of Best Cinematography contenders and their rankings right here.
Film Editing
My top five hasn’t changed, only the order of the last two. However, there is a long list of contenders knocking hard at the door in spots 6-14 and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see one of them sneak in. Particularly over Life of Pi, which isn’t a pick I have the utmost of confidence in but I couldn’t decide between Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook and The Master to take its place.
STAT: Only nine times has the eventual Best Picture winner not been nominated for Best Film Editing.
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Argo
- Lincoln
- Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
You can browse my complete chart of Best Film Editing contenders and their rankings right here.
Music (Original Score)
Two of the best scores of the year come from Beasts of the Southern Wild and Cloud Atlas, but I don’t think both will be nominated and I feel like I’m going out on a limb predicting Beasts will be. As far as I can tell, Mychael Danna’s work in Life of Pi and the ever-reliable Oscar nominee John Williams for Lincoln will be competing for the Oscar this year.
For the full list of the 104 scores competing at this year’s Oscars click here.
- Mychael Danna (Life of Pi)
- John Williams (Lincoln)
- Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina)
- Alexandre Desplat (Argo)
- Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
You can browse my complete chart of Best Music (Original Score) contenders and their rankings right here.
