Thursday, January 17, 2013

Eimer's 2013 Academy Awards Picks



So, last Thursday, the Academy announced their lineup for the 85th Academy Awards. 

Not a lot of surprises here with the exception of Best Director snubs for Tarantino, Kathryn Bigelow and Ben Affleck as well as SupportingActress nominations (see below). 


Everything else, in my opinion, was, pretty expected – which sort of sucks. But what are you going to do?

In any event, below are my picks for each category:

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Bradley Cooper in “Silver Linings Playbook”

Daniel Day-Lewis in “LINCOLN”

Hugh Jackman in “Les Misérables”

Joaquin Phoenix in “The Master”

Denzel Washington in “Flight”
Eimer note: A couple years ago when it was announced that Day-Lewis was going to portray Lincoln, I posted the article and a small blurb: ‘And the Oscar for best actor in a leading role goes to…’ I’m still convinced.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Alan Arkin in “Argo”

Robert De Niro in “Silver Linings Playbook”

Philip Seymour Hoffman in “The Master”

Tommy Lee Jones in “Lincoln”
Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained”
Eimer note: This one was a tough choice. All five actors have previously won Academy Awards. Waltz just picked up a supporting actor Golden Globe for Django. However, I’m going with Hoffman for The Master. It just feels like the right decision.

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty”

Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook”
Emmanuelle Riva in “Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis in “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Naomi Watts in “The Impossible”
Eimer note: I’m going to take Riva over Lawrence, Chastain and Watts. Just a gut feeling. I haven’t seen Amour yet, but everything seems to be pointing to her performance as key. Probably regret this when one of the other actresses are announced. But who cares?

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in “The Master”
Sally Field in “Lincoln”
Anne Hathaway in “Les Misérables”
Helen Hunt in “The Sessions”
Jacki Weaver in “Silver Linings Playbook”
Eimer note: It’s Hathaway’s to lose. Haven’t seen the movie yet. But I hear she’s the cat’s meow!  (Dark Knight Rises pun intended)

Best animated feature film of the year
“Brave” Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
“Frankenweenie” Tim Burton
“ParaNorman” Sam Fell and Chris Butler
“The Pirates! Band of Misfits” Peter Lord
“Wreck-It Ralph” Rich Moore
Eimer Note: I’ve been hearing good things about Wreck-It-Ralph and ParaNorman. Didn’t think too much about The Pirates. And, even though, BRAVE won a Golden Globe, I’m going to stick with my write-up a couple weeks ago and go with Tim Burton and his refreshingly dark Frankenweenie.

Achievement in cinematography
“Anna Karenina” Seamus McGarvey
“Django Unchained” Robert Richardson
“Life of Pi” Claudio Miranda
“Lincoln” Janusz Kaminski

“Skyfall” Roger Deakins
Eimer Note: Although Deakins has been nominated 10 times (Fargo, Jesse James, O’ Brother) – and has not yet won (yet), I was going to go with Lincoln. It had to be hell to create that ‘natural light’ look throughout the film - especially the night scenes. Reminds me of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon which won Barry Alcott the big award back in 1976. Janusz has photographed most of Speilberg’s works including Saving Private Ryan, Shindler’s List and War of the Worlds. However, after seeing Life of Pi, I'm convinced Claudio Miranda is going to win. Just fantastic work.

Achievement in costume design
“Anna Karenina” Jacqueline Durran
“Les Misérables” Paco Delgado
“Lincoln” Joanna Johnston
“Mirror Mirror” Eiko Ishioka
“Snow White and the Huntsman” Colleen Atwood
Eimer note: Seems like Les Miserables will win here. Dunno. Any of the other four may sneak in, but I think everyone love’s Les Mis and will want to reward it anyway possible.

Achievement in directing
“Amour” Michael Haneke

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Benh Zeitlin
“Life of Pi” Ang Lee

“Lincoln” Steven Spielberg
“Silver Linings Playbook” David O. Russell

Eimer note: very odd that Bigelow, Tarantino and Affleck aren’t in this category especially since Affleck has since won a Golden Globe Directing and Best Picture award including the Director's Guild Award, which, pretty much would have been a landslide. That said, I’ll have to go with Speilberg in this one. And, let’s face it, he did a good job. Lincoln is an actor’s movie as is Beasts, Amour and Silver Linings. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Haneke also won this award as well. But, think about it: Speilberg made a three-hour movie about a bunch of people talking engrossing, interesting and utterly fantastic.

Best documentary feature

“5 Broken Cameras”
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi

“The Gatekeepers”
Nominees to be determined

“How to Survive a Plague”
Nominees to be determined

“The Invisible War”
Nominees to be determined

“Searching for Sugar Man”
Nominees to be determined
Eimer note: I haven’t seen any of these movies (yet) although I’ve been hearing great things about The Invisible War as well as 5 Broken Cameras. But, for whatever reason, Plague is just resonating with me.

Best documentary short subject
“Inocente”
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

“Kings Point”
Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
“Mondays at Racine”
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
“Open Heart”
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
“Redemption”
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
Eimer note: I’m going with Open Heart because it has to do with a young kid growing who needs open heart surgery in Rwanda and Sudan but is facing obstacles along the way. Viewed all of the trailers and this one looks the most profound.

Achievement in film editing

“Argo” William Goldenberg

“Life of Pi” Tim Squyres

“Lincoln” Michael Kahn

“Silver Linings Playbook” Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
“Zero Dark Thirty” Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg
Eimer note: Going with Zero Dark Thirty on this one. Could also make an argument for Life of Pi considering all of the green screen and water scenes. Movies with great battle scenes usually win this award (e.g. The Hurt Locker, LOTR: Return of the King, Black Hawk Down, Schindler’s List, Born on the Fourth of July, Platoon, Raider of the Lost Ark, you get the drift).

Best foreign language film of the year

“Amour” Austria

“Kon-Tiki” Norway

“No” Chile

“A Royal Affair” Denmark

“War Witch” Canada
Eimer note: Going with Amour on this. Don’t really care about the other films in this category.

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

“Hitchcock”
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
“Les Misérables”
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell
Eimer note: I’m going with The Hobbit on this one. It just seems like a no brainer to me. Middle Earth compared to real life? C’mon!

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Anna Karenina” Dario Marianelli

“Argo” Alexandre Desplat

“Life of Pi” Mychael Danna

“Lincoln” John Williams

“Skyfall” Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice”
Music and Lyric by J. Ralph

“Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from “Ted”
Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane

“Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi”
Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri

“Skyfall” from “Skyfall”
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

“Suddenly” from “Les Misérables”
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
Eimer note: Adele, congratulations. Although would be nice to see Seth McFarlane pick up an award for his comedy TED.

Achievement in production design

“Anna Karenina”
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
“Les Misérables”
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
“Life of Pi”
Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Lincoln”
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
Eimer note: It’s a two-way tie between The Hobbit and Les Mis. I’m going with Les Mis because it seems all of the musicals win this category (i.e. Moulin Rouge, Chicago) but let’s not forget the fantasy either (LOTR, Pan’s Labyrinth, Benjamin Button, Avatar). Les Mis seems more flashy and fanciful. Whereas LOTR already won. That’s the best I can come up with.

Best animated short film
“Adam and Dog” Minkyu Lee
“Fresh Guacamole” PES
“Head over Heels” Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly
“Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”" David Silverman
“Paperman” John Kahrs
Eimer note: I watched these shorts in succession (i.e. Adam and Dog first) and each one was very interesting and creative. However, I’m going with Paperman. The flawless combination of 2d and 3d animation is spectacular. Also you can visit some additional insight here.

Best live action short film

“Asad” Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
“Buzkashi Boys” Sam French and Ariel Nasr
“Curfew” Shawn Christensen

“Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)” Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele

“Henry” Yan England
Eimer note: After viewing all of the trailers (sorry the movies are unavailable online), I’m going to go with Death of a Shadow. It’s got great editing, a sci-fi slant with a head nod to Terry Gilliam’s classics. This movie looks so polished, that Avermaet should be getting a full-length movie contract very quickly after the Oscars.

Achievement in sound editing

“Argo” Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn

“Django Unchained” Wylie Stateman

“Life of Pi” Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton

“Skyfall” Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers

“Zero Dark Thirty” Paul N.J. Ottosson

Achievement in sound mixing
“Argo”
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
“Les Misérables”
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
“Life of Pi”
 Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kuni
“Lincoln”
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
“Skyfall”
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Achievement in visual effects
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White

“Life of Pi”
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott

“Marvel’s The Avengers”
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick

“Prometheus”
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill

“Snow White and the Huntsman”
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson
Eimer note: Go ahead, I dare you to make a CG Lion, put it on a CG boat in a CG ocean background and try not to make it look fake.

Adapted screenplay

“Argo” Screenplay by Chris Terrio

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin

“Life of Pi” Screenplay by David Magee

“Lincoln” Screenplay by Tony Kushner

“Silver Linings Playbook” Screenplay by David O. Russell
Eimer note: All should be commended (especially Life of Pi considering it was an unfilmable book), but I’ll give this one to David O. Russell who has been writing great movies for years dating all the way back to ‘Spanking the Monkey’.

Original screenplay

“Amour” Written by Michael Haneke

“Django Unchained” Written by Quentin Tarantino

“Flight” Written by John Gatins

“Moonrise Kingdom” Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
“Zero Dark Thirty” Written by Mark Boal
Eimer note: Despite (or in defiance of) the 99 references of the n-word in the movie, I’m still going with Quentin on this one…for the simple fact of Freedom of Speech and I loved the dialogue.

Best motion picture of the year

“Amour” Nominees to be determined

“Argo” Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers

“Django Unchained” Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers

“Les Misérables” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers

“Life of Pi” Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers

“Lincoln” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
“Silver Linings Playbook” Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
“Zero Dark Thirty” Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers
Eimer note: I was going to go with Lincoln here, but with all of the hubbub over Argo, I'm going to have to switch my vote to ARGO. My next pick would be Lincoln followed by Zero Dark Thirty. Would love to see Django Unchained, but it won’t happen.

Well, there you have it. Agree? Disagree? Feel free to post your thoughts below or on Facebook.

Later,

See how I fared in years past:



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