HELLO OSCAR NOMS!

      The Academy for Motion Pictures and Arts are going to announce the nominees for the 85th Academy Awards soon. There are still a number of "Oscar" films that I still haven't watched yet like Silver Linings Playbook, Les Miserables, The Sessions, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and The Master, among others. So basically the following are my wishlist/predictions for the Big 5 and Supporting categories.

Best Film: Once again we do not know how many there will be. My gut says it will be less than last time (9 nominees).

Mine- 1) Cloud Atlas

2) Django Unchained

3) Argo

4) Beasts of the Southern Wild

5) Holy Motors

6) Skyfall

7) Moonrise Kingdom

8) The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Special wish that has no chance- The Avengers. Eat slugs, Avatar!

Theirs- From my list, I reckon only Argo will make it in for certain. Django Unchained, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Cloud Atlas, Moonrise Kingdom are maybes and Holy Motors, Skyfall and The Perks of Being a Wallflower will take a lot of effort and genuine love on the part of the Academy voters. Lincoln is probably the only definite nominee there is, which is a shame because I fell asleep in it. Zero Dark Thirty is a frontrunner too, though I was not all *that* impressed. I haven't seen other possibilities like Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook. Life of Pi is another strong contender. Amour seemed like a frontrunner some months back but I guess it will only prevail in the Best Foreign Film category.

Winner- I really don't know right now, and I kind of like it.

Best Director: The year of the returning winners and new hope.

Mine- 1) Wachowski Siblings & Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas

2) Ben Affleck, Argo

3) Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingom

4) Ang Lee, Life of Pi

5) Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained/ Michael Haneke, Amour

Special wish that has no chance- For the fanboys out there, Joss Whedon, The Avengers and Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises

Theirs- Past winners such as Steven Spielberg for Lincoln, Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty and Tom Hooper Les Miserables are almost locks. From my list, I think Affleck and Lee might be locked. Michael Haneke's nomination for Amour is long-awaited, so it would be nice. 

Winner- I would choose either the Cloud Atlas team or Affleck. I think one of the past winners might get the big prize though, with a possible blindside from Affleck.

Best Actress: Old and new and everything in between. Haven't seen enough from this category.

Mine- 1) Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

2) Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

3) Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone

4) Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

5) Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games

Special wish that has no chance- Princess Merida, Brave (no, I do not accept the fact that she isn't real).

Theirs- Lawrence is getting nominated for her role in Silver Linings Playbook, for sure. The other decided nominee and frontrunner is Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty, who I liked but did not like enough. My favourite Wallis has very little chance unfortunately, and Weisz's powerful performance is also doubtful to make it through. Naomi Watts might get in for The Impossible. Helen Mirren and Judy Dench are possibilities too, for their work in Hitchcock and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel respectively. Keira Knightley is standing on shaky grounds for her role in Anna Karenina.

Winner- Wallis has blown me away and I doubt I will see a better female performance this year. For the Oscars, it is a fight between Chastain and Lawrence, with Riva being a dark horse.

Best Actor: I'm on the same boat with this as I am with the Best Actress category. Depressing.

Mine- 1) Denis Lavant, Holy Motors

2) Denzel Washington, Flight

3) Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour

4) Mads Mikkelsen, The Hunt

5) Jack Black (I know, right?!), Bernie

Special wish that has no chance- Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower/ Daniel Craig, Skyfall

Theirs- Daniel Day-Lewis is our god etc. I liked him in and as Lincoln, but meh (please do not come to my house with pitchforks, please!). Only Denzel will make it through for my list, sadly. Even though I have not watched the film, I am really dying for Hugh Jackman to be nominated for Les Miserables. Other possibilities are John Hawkes for The Sessions, Bradley Cooper (I knowww, right?!) for Silver Linings Playbook, Richard Gere (eep!) for Armitage and Joaquin Phoenix for The Master, if he hasn't antagonised all the voters yet.

Winner- Lavant's performance is mindblowing, and too out there for Oscars. DDL's fandom knows no bounds, so yeah, he's probably going to pick up Oscar #3.

Best Supporting Actress: Uhhhhhhhhhh.

Mine- 1) Rosemary DeWitt, Your Sister's Sister

2) Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises

3) Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect

4) Judy Dench, Skyfall

5) Jennifer Ehle, Zero Dark Thirty

Special wish that will never happen- The three women of Bachelorette.

Theirs- Let's just say, none of mine. Hathaway will be nominated for Les Miserables. Sally Field for all that in Lincoln, Helen Hunt for The Sessions and my favourite unseen performance by Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy. Maggie Smith for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Amy Adams for The Master are big possibilities.

Winner- This award is Hathaway's to lose. I am already impressed with her, so I guess she is my pick too.

Best Supporting Actor: Once again, my favourite category.

Mine- 1) Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained

2) Ezra Miller, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

3) Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike

4) Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
5) Michael Fassbender, Prometheus/ Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Special wish that will never happen- Alan Arkin doesn't get nominated for Argo, because I do not understand this much love.

Theirs- Arkin. Ugh. Robert De Niro is apparently back in full form in Silver Linings Playbook, so good for him. Philip Seymour Hoffman is another film geek god, so he will probably be nominated for The Master. Leo might get ousted by or be competing against co-stars Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson. In the most unexpected turn of events, people are really rooting for Javier Bardem in Skyfall (love it).

Winner- It's time for Leo. Please! He bled his own blood for the role! And he plays a happy person (somewhat)! Called Calvin J. Candie! When will the stars align to give us something like this again?!

Best Original Screenplay: Interesting year.

Mine- 1) Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom

2) Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

3) Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks

4) Rian Johnson, Looper

5) Michael Haneke, Amour

Theirs- They love Zero Dark Thirty loads. I think everyone in my list except Ruby Sparks can make it through. Also The Master is a good bet.

Winner- It's between some of my favourite filmmakers this year- Tarantino, PTA, Wes Anderson

Best Adapted Screenplay: Can comic books prevail?

Mine- 1) Steven Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

2) Joss Whedon, The Avengers

3) Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer and Andy Wachowski, Cloud Atlas

4) Chris Terrio, Argo

5) Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Theirs- Silver Linings Playbook and Lincoln are sure bets. Adaptations of super famous books like Les Miserables, Life of Pi and Anna Karenina are possibilities too.

Winner- Chbosky wrote the script based on his own bestselling novel. He's already a winner in my eyes. Silver Linings Playbook and Argo are frontrunners for the Oscars.

These winners are preliminary. We'll see if and how my decisions change.