2013 Oscar Picks – the year of many winners

February 22nd, 2013 at 2:22 am by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment

“Argo” versus “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Lincoln” and “Life of Pi” and more!

“Argo” poster courtesy Warner Brothers

“Silver Linings Playbook”courtesy Weinstein Co.

Lincoln poster courtesy DreamWorks

“Life of Pi” poster Courtesy Fox 2000 Pictures

UPDATE: “Argo” wins Best Picture (3 total), “Life of Pi” won the most Oscars with 4, and “Les Miserables” also had 3 Oscar wins.
I went 13-of-22 in my picks (59%)… my lowest % since making my picks public/professionally.
The EightWest picks went: Rachael (5 for 7), myself (4 for 7), Terri (2 for 7)… so congrats Rachael – “Brave” won it for you!

This year may prove to be an odd year at the Oscars… I think we’ll see the love spread between several contenders, without one movie totally running away with all the awards. AND THAT’S GOOD FOR AUDIENCES!

The biggest part of that may be a break in the 23 year trend of the Oscar winning Best Picture also having its director nominated. 1990 was the last time that a movie – “Driving Miss Daisy” – won Best Picture without its director at least getting a nomination. That was only the third time in the Oscars’ 84 year history that had happened (“Wings” (1929), “Grand Hotel” (1932)). For the last 23 years, its almost been automatic that the Best Director was smiling after his movie also won for Best Picture.

From 1990-2012, there were only 5 times that the same movie did not win both Director and Picture:
1990 – “Driving Miss Daisy” won, but Oliver Stone won for directing “Born on the Fourth of July”
1999 – “Shakespeare in Love” won, but Steven Spielberg won for “Saving Private Ryan”
2001 – “Gladiator” won, but Steven Soderbergh won for “Erin Brockovich”
2003 – “Chicago” won, but Roman Polanski won for “The Pianist”
2006 – “Crash” won, but Ang Lee won for “Brokeback Mountain”

This year there is a 4 in 9 chance (44% chance) of breaking the trend!

Four of the movies nominated this year for Best Picture: “Argo”, “Django Unchained”, “Les Miserables”, and “Zero Dark Thirty” are NOT nominated for best director. Ben Affleck, Quentin Tarantino, Tom Hooper, and Kathryn Bigelow were not nominated for their respective best picture nominated movies. There are many theories as to why such talented directors were snubbed, but its indisputable that there is a 44% chance to see a split with Best Picture winner going to one movie and Best Director going to a different movie.

So why does that matter you ask? Just like in sports with expanded playoffs – the more teams with a chance to win at the end – the more exciting it is for everyone. So this year, whether your “Team Argo”, “Team Les Mis”, or “Team Django”… we’ll still have a reason to waiting anxiously during the commercial break between Best Director and Best Picture – to see who wins!
[The Oscars air live Sunday night, February 24th at 7:00pm (ET) on ABC hosted by Seth Macfarlane]

AND NOW TO THE ANNUAL PICKS…..
( cast your vote for the five biggest categories at this link )

BEST PICTURE:
WINNER: Argo
Nominees: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

Aaron’s Pick: Argo
Rachael’s Pick: Argo
Terri’s Pick: Les Miserables

ACTOR:
WINNER: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Nominees: Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), Denzel Washington (Flight)

Aaron’s Pick: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Rachael’s Pick: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Terri’s Pick: Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

ACTRESS:
WINNER: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Nominees: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Aaron’s Pick: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Rachael’s Pick: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Terri’s Pick: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
WINNER: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Nominees: Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

Aaron’s Pick: Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
Rachael’s Pick: Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
Terri’s Pick: Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
WINNER: Anne Hathaway
Nominees: Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

Aaron’s Pick: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Rachael’s Pick: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Terri’s Pick: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

DIRECTING:
WINNER: Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Nominees: Michael Haneke (Amour), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Aaron’s Pick: Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Rachael’s Pick: Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Terri’s Pick: David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
WINNER: Brave
Nominees: Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Wreck-It Ralph

Aaron’s Pick: Wreck-It Ralph
Rachael’s Pick: Brave
Terri’s Pick: Wreck-It Ralph

EightWest Picks Tiebreaker #1: pick the Best Picture winner
EightWest Picks Tiebreaker #2: pick movie with most wins
Aaron’s Tiebreaker Pick: “Silver Linings Playbook” – 8 nominations
Rachael’s Tiebreaker Pick: “Lincoln” – 12 nominations
Terri’s Tiebreaker Pick: “Life of Pi” – 11 nominations

The rest of the categories continue below….

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
WINNER: Amour
Nominees: Amour (Austria), Kon-Tiki (Norway), No (Chile), A Royal Affair (Denmark), War Witch (Canada)

Aaron’s Pick: Amour

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
WINNER: Chris Terrio (Argo)
Nominees: Chris Terrio (Argo), Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), David Magee (Life of Pi), Tony Kushner (Lincoln), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Aaron’s Pick: Chris Terrio (Argo)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
WINNER: Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
Nominees: Michael Haneke (Amour), Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained), John Gatins (Flight), Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom), Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)

Aaron’s Pick: Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)

PRODUCTION DESIGN:
WINNER: Lincoln
Nominees: Anna Karenina, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln

Aaron’s Pick: Lincoln

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
WINNER: Life of Pi
Nominees: Anna Karenina, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall

Aaron’s Pick: Life of Pi

SOUND MIXING:
WINNER: Les Miserables
Nominees: Argo, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall

Aaron’s Pick: Life of Pi

SOUND EDITING:
WINNER: Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty
Nominees: Argo, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Skyfall, Zero Dark Thirty

Last Oscars tie was 1968, how it can happen and when: http://weeklytrivia.blogspot.com/2004/09/oscar-ties.html

Aaron’s Pick: Life of Pi

ORIGINAL SCORE:
WINNER: Life of Pi
Nominees: Anna Karenina (Dario Marianelli), Argo, (Alexandre Desplat), Life of Pi (Mychael Danna), Lincoln (John Williams), Skyfall (Thomas Newman)

Aaron’s Pick: Lincoln (John Williams)

ORIGINAL SONG:
WINNER: “Skyfall” – Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth (Skyfall)
Nominees: “Before My Time” from Chasing Ice (J. Ralph), “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from Ted (Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane), “Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi (Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri), “Skyfall” from Skyfall (Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth), “Suddenly” from Les Miserables (Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil)

Aaron’s Pick: “Skyfall” from Skyfall (Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth)

COSTUME:
WINNER: Anna Karenina
Nominees: Anna Karenina, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman

Aaron’s Pick: Les Miserables

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
WINNER: Searching for Sugarman
Nominees: 5 Broken Cameras, The Gatekeepers, How to Survive a Plague, The Invisible War, Searching for Sugar Man

Aaron’s Pick: Searching for Sugar Man

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT):
WINNER: Inocente
Nominees: Inocente, Kings Point, Mondays at Racine, Open Heart, Redemption

Aaron’s Pick: n/a

FILM EDITING:
WINNER: Argo
Nominees: Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

Aaron’s Pick: Argo

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING:
WINNER: Les Miserables
Nominees: Hitchcock, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Les Miserables

Aaron’s Pick: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

ANIMATED SHORT FILM:
WINNER: Paperman
Nominees: Adam and Dog, Fresh Guacamole, Head over Heels, Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare, Paperman

Aaron’s Pick: Paperman

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:
WINNER: Curfew
Nominees: Asad, Buzkashi Boys, Curfew, Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw), Henry

Aaron’s Pick: n/a

VISUAL EFFECTS:
WINNER: Life of Pi
Nominees: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Life of Pi, Marvel’s The Avengers, Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman

Aaron’s Pick: Life of Pi, (but I’d love to see Marvel’s The Avengers get the movie an Oscar)

Total nominations:
“Lincoln” – 12 nominations [2 wins]
“Life of Pi” – 11 nominations [4 wins]
“Silver Linings Playbook” – 8 nominations [1 win]
“Les Miserables” – 8 nominations [3 wins]
“Argo” – 7 nominations [3 wins]
“Zero Dark Thirty” – 5 nominations [1 win]
“Django Unchained” – 5 nominations [2 wins]
“Amour” – 5 nominations [1 win]
“Skyfall” – 5 nominations [2 wins]
“Anna Karenina” – 4 nominations [1 win]
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” – 4 nominations [0 wins]

2013 Oscar nominees and where/when you can see them

Previous Oscar Picks:

My 2012 Oscar Picks (62% including “The Artist”)

My 2011 Oscar Picks (85.7% including “The King’s Speech”)

My 2010 Oscar Picks (63% including “The Hurt Locker”)

My 2009 Oscar Picks (78%)

Laff at the Movies