With the Seth MacFarlane hosted Academy Awards set to air one week from today, it’s time to delve into my predictions for what will win in every category. Well, almost every category. I will not pretend to know what might be victorious in the “non-feature” races like documentary feature and short subject and animated and live-action short film. Everything else is on the table for predictions.
For your reading purposes, here’s the schedule of my predictions for winners:
Today: All Categories Outside the “Big Six” Races
Monday: Best Supporting Actress
Tuesday: Best Supporting Actor
Wednesday: Best Actress
Thursday: Best Actor
Friday: Best Director
Saturday: Best Picture
This should leave you just enough time to blame me if you go by my predictions in your office Oscar pool. So let’s get started. In each race, I’ll list the nominees and reveal my pick to win. And away we go:
Best Foreign Language Film
Amour (Austria)
Kon-Tiki (Norway)
No (Chile)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
War Witch (Canada)
Prediction: Amour. The foreign film category can be tricky to predict in some years, but 2012 appears to be an exception. Michael Haneke’s Amour is also nominated for Best Picture and the director was nominated as well. This all points to a very high probability that Amour wins in this race.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Prediction: Argo. All five selections are also nominated for Best Picture as well. This one appears to be a race between Argo and Lincoln, with Silver Linings as a dark horse. Argo seems to be gaining momentum at the right time, so I’m going with screenwriter Chris Terrio picking up the statue, though if Lincoln has a good night, who knows?
Best Original Screenplay
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty
Prediction: Django Unchained. This category is looking like a repeat of 2009, when Mark Boal won the award for Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker over Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. In 2012, I look for that to be reversed. Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty seems to have lost momentum (especially with Bigelow’s directing snub) and Boal will likely find himself losing to Mr. Tarantino. If there’s any dark horse, it’s Moonrise Kingdom, but this appears to be a two film race.
Best Animated Feature Film
Brave
FrankenWeenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph
Prediction: Wreck-It Ralph. In a solid year for animated features, this looks to be a race between Ralph and Brave. Even though Pixar usually cleans up in this category, Brave was not met with the major acclaim afforded to titles like The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Up. I will go with Wreck-It Ralph for the win, even though a Brave victory would not be a big surprise.
Best Cinematography
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
Prediction: Life of Pi. Ang Lee’s picture is a marvelous technical achievement on all levels and I expect Claudio Miranda will be honored here. A Lincoln win is not out of the question, but Pi should be the front runner.
Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman
Prediction: Anna Karenina. This is the kind of lush period piece that seems suited to win this category. Les Mis is certainly a contender and a big night for Lincoln could mean a victory here, but Keira Knightley + corsets should = win.
Best Film Editing
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Prediction: Argo. This is actually a really tough one. Lincoln could take the prize. So could Life of Pi. This also seems to be the one category that Zero Dark has a legit shot at. In the end, I think the Argo-mentum gives it the edge. Not a whole lot of confidence here though.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Prediction: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The makeup work for Hitchcock was actually met with a fairly tepid response, so this appears to be a two film race. I’ll give the edge to the Hobbit team.
Best Original Score
Anna Karenina
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
Prediction: Life of Pi. Here’s another one that could go to multiple nominees – I see Argo, Pi, and Lincoln as contenders. I’ll go with Mychael Danna’s work in the Ang Lee film, but don’t be surprised to see either of the others pick it up.
Best Original Song
“Before My Time” from Chasing Ice
“Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from Ted
“Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi
“Skyfall” from Skyfall
“Suddenly” from Les Miserables
Prediction: “Skyfall” from Skyfall. A few months ago, you might have figured an original tune from Les Mis would be the obvious choice. That was until Adele’s terrific Bond theme came out. I’ll pick the British superstar for the victory with a high degree of confidence.
Best Production Design
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Prediction: Anna Karenina. This is another tough call. Formerly called the Best Art Direction category, this race favors period pieces. Les Mis has a real shot here, as does Lincoln. Still, Karenina is in the mix and I’ll go with it winning this and Costume Design. Not a lot of confidence here.
Best Sound Editing
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty
Prediction: Skyfall. Yet another very difficult choice! This could easily go three ways: Bond, Zero Dark, or Life of Pi. I’ll say the 007 team gets rewarded here, but picking any of the three I named makes perfect sense.
Best Sound Mixing
Argo
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
Prediction: Skyfall. Ugh, another tough one. I’m thinking they have to honor Les Mis with something in the technical categories, right? Still, 007 poses a very real threat here. I’m truly 50/50 on this. Maybe I’ve got too much Bond on the brain lately, but I’m sticking with 007.
Best Visual Effects
The Avengers
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman
Prediction: Life of Pi. The amazing Pi visuals make this an obvious choice. The Hobbit has a small chance to spoil, but I would pick this category with no reservations.
And there you have it… my take on all the “other races”. We’ll get to the majors tomorrow with Best Supporting Actress. Stay tuned!
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