Well, it's my favorite time of the year in terms of films - the month of the Oscars. To me, the Oscars are important because of the recognition part of it. Have I been disappointed with any winners before? Surely. I definitely thought Henry Fonda should've won for Best Actor as Tom Joad instead of Jimmy Stewart in 1941. And I completely think Ralph Fiennes should've won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Amon Göth instead of Tommy Lee Jones. Are there nominations I'm surprised about this year? Yes, I am, and that's what this post is about.
I'm going to cover most of the main nominations and some of the supplementary awards like Best Visual Effects and Best Sound. Lastly will be Best Picture.
First off will be Visuals. I was happy to see Hugo and Real Steel nominated, as I planned to do a review of Jackman's surprisingly good film, but never got to it. For both Sound awards, I was surprised to see Dragon Tattoo nominated for them as I come to realize now how well of a job it was designed. For Original Score, however, I was pissed not to see Dragon Tattoo nominated, as I felt it would possibly win this year. However I will be rooting for Hugo to win this year.
For Cinematography,I really want the Tree of Life as the winner, as that's the number one film I don't want to see leave empty-handed. I will not be upset if any other film wins, though. For Art Direction, I again hope Hugo wins, as I feel was designed beautifully and feels so fresh for the 1930s.
Now for the main awards. For Original Screenplay, I hope Woody Allen wins at least one more Oscar for his writing for Midnight in Paris. I was frustrated to see Kristen Wiig for Bridesmaids (see my review if you want to know why). For Adapted, I expect either the Descendents or Moneyball to win, as I love and admire Aaron Sorkin's work.
For Supporting Actress, I was surprisingly satisfied to see Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids, Octavia Spencer, and Jessica Chastain for the Help, although I think Bernice Bejo has the best chance of winning. For Supporting Actor, I think this is the Academy's biggest chance to award Christopher Plummer not just for his performance, but to recognize a whole career of work he has done as an actor.
For Lead Actress, I want Rooney Mara to win her first Oscar, but I think Meryl Streep may take her third Oscar for the Iron Lady. The best group however is the nominees for Best Actor. Brad Pitt gets his third nomination for Moneyball as Gary Oldman gets a surprise nomination. Though the real competition is between Jean Dujardin for the Artist and George Clooney for the Descendents. My personal choice is to give Clooeny his second Oscar.
For Best Director, I think it's an open arms race between all five directors; each of them deserve an individual Oscar for their work. I honestly cannot think of a winner, so I'll leave it for you to decide.
Lastly - Best Picture. I think Extremely Loud, the Help, War Horse, Tree of Life and Moneyball can quickly be crossed off. I think again the race will be between the Artist and the Descendents. I want the talkie to win, but again, either is good for me. Thank you so much for reading this incredibly long post.
