My 2012-2013 Oscar Predicitons – Part 5: The Results

Another year, another Oscars.  Seth MacFarlene was okay.  He had some good stuff, he had some jokes that just fell flat.  His opening with Shatner was… pretty dumb, honestly.  But his Sound of Music joke was quite funny, so some ups and downs.

But man, were there ever a lot of men with long white hair that won Oscars this year!

So last year I only had a 50% prediction rate.  How did I fare this year?

BEST PICTURE:

Winner: Argo

My Pick: Lincoln

It is clear I made my predictions too early.  As we got closer to Oscar night, Argo was on a roll in awards season.  And once it won screenplay and Spielberg didn’t win best director, it became quite clear that this would take it.  Good for them, Argo was a good film.

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DIRECTING:

Winner: Ang Lee – Life of Pi

My Pick: Steven Spielberg – Lincoln

Now this was out of no where.  I guessed that Pi would clean up in the technicals, but I didn’t think it would get something like directing.  Man, I really need to see this film…

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ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln

My Pick: Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln

Well deserved and rather predictable award given here.  I loved that performance.

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ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

Winner: Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

My Pick: Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

This was really 6 of one and half dozen of the other.  It was between Lawrence and Chastain, I just flipped the wrong side of the coin I guess.  Anyway, I like both actresses a lot, so I’m glad for her.

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ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Winner: Christoph Waltz

My Pick: Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

This was certainly a surprise to me, but a pleasant one.  I loved his performance in Django.  In fact, his role was what made taht movie for me, and without Waltz I probably wouldn’t have liked the film nearly as much.  Great choice.

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ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Winner: Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

My Pick: Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

I was pretty sure she was going to win.  As she was accepting the award, I had to wonder how many of the people at the ceremony tonight were superheroes and supervillains.  Catwoman, Wolverine, Mystique, The Joker, Two-face

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ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Winner: Django Unchained

My Pick: Django Unchained

Tarantino strikes again!

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ADAPTED  SCREENPLAY:

Winner: Argo

My Pick: Lincoln

Hmm, this might be a sign that Argo will win over Lincoln in the big one.  (keep in mind that I’m jumping all over the place with this post, and as I write this now, I don’t know what has won BP yet).

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Winner: Amour

My Pick: Amour

This was one of the easiest to predict this year, so I’m not going to really pat myself on the back for getting this one right.

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ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Winner: Brave

My Pick: Brave

A lot of people wanted Wreck It Ralph, I know.  But Pixar is a powerhouse and they know how to make an animated film.  Just because it wasn’t a lot of people’s cup of tea doesn’t mean it wasn’t still wonderfully crafted.

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PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Winner: Lincoln

My Pick: Life of Pi

Hmm.  That was a surprise.

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CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Winner: Life of Pi

My Pick: Skyfall

Life of Pi would have been the safe choice, I suppose.  But I went out on a limb with Skyfall.  It didn’t pay off this time.  His speech was hilarious though.  He kept forgetting to finish sentences before going into the next one.

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COSTUME DESIGN:

Winner: Anna Karenina

My Pick: Anna Karenina

And my formula of going with the most showy period piece works once again, after failing me last year.

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FILM EDITING:

Winner: Argo

My Pick: Argo

At the point I am writing this right now, I am not sure whether Argo won best picture or not.  But at least they won this one.  So that’s something.

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DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

Winner: Searching for Sugar Man

My Pick: Searching for Sugar Man

I have heard a lot of great things about this movie, and usually the film with the most buzz will win this category.  It proved to be the case once again.

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MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING:

Winner: Les Miserables

My Pick: The Hobbit

Okay, this surprised me.  They avoided giving it to the showiest nominee and instead went wit the more subtle choice of a lot of people with dirt on their faces.

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ORIGINAL SCORE:

Winner: Life of Pi

My Pick: Life of Pi

After taking a listen to the scores, this one sounded the most unique and impactful.

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ORIGINAL SONG:

Winner: Skyfall – Skyfall

My Pick: Skyfall – Skyfall

This choice didn’t take a lot of brainpower.  Adele is the perfect fit for a Bond songstress, and that tune really does resonate.
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SOUND MIXING:

Winner:  Les Miserables

My Pick: Les Miserables

I’m doing pretty good tonight.
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SOUND EDITING:

Winner: Zero Dark Thirty/ Skyfall

My Pick: Django Unchained

A tie.  And neither was the one I picked.  So I guess I was doubly wrong.

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VISUAL EFFECTS:

Winner: Life of Pi

My Pick: Life of Pi

Life of Pi certainly seems to be the Hugo of 2012, cleaning up in the technical awards.

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DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

Winner: Inocente

My Pick: Open Heart

Since I don’t know much about the films, I make my guesses mostly on the subject matter, and based o that Open Heart seemed to be a good choice.  Oh well, missed this one.

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ANIMATED SHORT FILM:

Winner: The Paperboy

My Pick: Adam and Dog

I should have realized that the voters would have gone with the more prominent Disney release.  Oh well.

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LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:

Winner: Curfew

My Pick: Curfew

A lot of research and weighing the opinions of others more knowledgeable than myself helped me choose the right winner here.

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MY SCORE: 13/24 = 54%

Well, better than last year, but still not great.   As I was watching it seemed like I was doing better than I actually did.  My banking on Lincoln as the big winner is probably the reason why.

Regardless, it is clear that this was a pretty damn good year for movies.  Lets hope 2013 is as well.