2013 Oscars picks

Let's dive right in and go top to bottom, shall we? My picks are in bold. Mind you, I was split on a number of the categories (the bigger ones ... and some of the technical/smaller ones), so I'd also be pleased with films/people other than my picks winning. Here's hoping I get at least 12 of the 24 categories right.

Best Picture
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper
Daniel Day Lewis
Hugh Jackman
Joaquin Phoenix
Denzel Washington

Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin
Robert De Niro
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Tommy Lee Jones
Christoph Waltz

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain
Jennifer Lawrence
Emmanuelle Riva
Quevenzhané Wallis
Naomi Watts

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams
Sally Field
Anne Hathaway
Helen Hunt
Jacki Weaver

Directing
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Cinematography
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Costume Design
Anna Karenina
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman

Animated Feature
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

Animated Short Film
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
The Longest Daycare
Paperman

Production Design
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln

Foreign Language Film
Amour
Kon-Tiki
No
A Royal Affair
War Witch

Documentary Feature
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching For Sugar Man

Documentary Short
Inocente
Kings Ponit
Mondays at Rancine
Open Heart
Redemption

Live Action Short Film
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)
Henry

Film Editing
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables

Original Score
Anna Karenina
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Original Song
"Before My Time"
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend"
"Pi's Lullaby"
"Skyfall"
"Suddenly"

Sound Editing
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

Sound Mixing
Argo
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Visual Effects
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Marvel's The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

Adapted Screenplay
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Original Screenplay
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty

Live-Blogging the 2011 Oscars

Let's get the show on the road a little early, shall we?
***
Pre-show
7:54 PM- I'm watching the ending of the Red Carpet stuff. Robert Downey Jr. and his wife are on now. They're adorable!
8:01 PM- Waitwait, half an hour until the awards start?! C'mon!
***
The show
8:30 PM- Ooooooh, awesome opening montage! And excellent song choice!
8:31 PM- Eeeeee! ^_^ I love this! Franco and Hathaway in Inception, The Social Network, The Fighter, True Grit ... MORGAN FREEMAN! :D ... The King's Speech, Black Swan ... Alec Baldwin! "Inceptioned!" ... BACKTOTHEFUTURE! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
8:37 PM- Where was the DeLoreon?! XD
8:40 PM- And we're thanking the moms ...
8:41 PM- "Where's the dad?" XD
8:42 PM- First award! Presenting: Tom Hanks! And it's for Art Direction.
8:43 PM- The girls across the hall just squeed about Titanic.
8:44 PM- Art Direction goes to Alice in Wonderland! 1 for 1
8:47 PM- Cinematography ... and it goes to Inception! Congrats to Wally! 1 for 2
8:49 PM- Commercial
8:51 PM- Kirk Douglas?! Wow ... *applause* 95 this December ... presenting for Supporting Actress, huh?
8:55 PM- Eeee! Adorable!
8:57 PM- Congrats to Marissa Leo! 1 for 3
8:59 PM- And Melissa got bleeped. XD
9:00 PM- Nearly cried, maybe?
9:01 PM- Let's see if Justin tries to hit on Mila. XD And no, Justin, you aren't Banksy. And Justin and Mila are presenting Best Animated Short.
9:02 PM- And he whips out his iPod/iPhone. XP
9:03 PM- And ... The Lost Thing. 1 for 4
9:05 PM- Best Animated Feature!
9:06 PM- TOYSTORY3! :D 2 for 5
9:08 PM- Commercial
9:12 PM- And we're back! Anne Hathaway is taking about the history of the Oscars!
9:13 PM- Oooh, Brolin and Bardem in matching suits! ^_^ And they're presenting Best Adapted Screenplay!
9:14 PM- Sorkin wins! :D 3 for 6
9:16 PM- And here goes Original Screenplay ... God, I love Javier's tone!
9:18 PM- And ... The King's Speech it is! 3 for 7
9:20 PM- And another commercial
9:23 PM- Anne Hathaway in a suit! ^_^ Song and dance number?
9:24 PM- Cut to embarrassed Hugh! XD
9:25 PM- That's ... that's ... XD And a Charlie Sheen joke!
9:26 PM- Will Russell hit on Helen? I hope not! ... Oh dear. XD
9:27 PM- In a Better World ... 3 for 8
9:29 PM- And Reese is presenting Supporting Actor!
9:32 PM- Aaand ... Christian Bale! 4 for 9
9:35 PM- Commercial time
9:39 PM- And the Oscars will still air on ABC until the world ends ... or past that. XD
9:40 PM- Ze Aussies are coming, ze Aussies are coming! XD Ze are presenting Sound Editing! And probably Sound Mixing, too. And Score, I would guess. Classic John Williams medley! :D
9:42 PM- Okay, Best Score it is.
9:43 PM- Oh, well ... I'm still very pleased that Trent and Atticus won. 4 for 10
9:45 PM- And here's ScarJo ... and Matthew who slurs a bit ... I think. XD Presenting Sound Mixing and Editing, I guess.
9:47 PM- INCEPTION! Sound Mixing! Alright! 5 for 11
9:48 PM- "Chris is the architect ..." ... Wait ... so who is in control of the dream? XD And now it's Sound Editing.
9:49 PM- And it's Inception ... 5 for 12
9:50 PM- And we're back to the commercials
9:54 PM- Tomei presenting ... the Science and Tech stuff.
9:55 PM- Here we go to Cate Blanchett, presenting for Makeup!
9:56 PM- Rick Baker wins! 5 for 13
9:58 PM- And here we go to Costume Design.
9:59 PM- Another win for Alice? XD 6 for 14
10:01 PM- Well, hello, Mister President! Nice to see you poking into the Oscars! And here's Kevin Spacey!
10:02 PM- For Best Song ... we start with Randy Newman for Toy Story 3.
10:05 PM- Mandy Moore ... and Zach Levi! :D
10:07 PM- And a commercial break partway through the Best Song part? XP
10:11 PM- Jake! Quite making James jealous! But you're presenting Best Documentary Short with Amy Adams! :)
10:13 PM- Congrats to Strangers No More. 6 for 15
10:14 PM- And to Best Live-Action Short!
10:15 PM- And I got it wrong. XP 6 for 16
10:17 PM- Remixing and Auto-tuning .. did they get the Gregory Brothers or Mike Relm for this? XD
10:19 PM- Oprah ... what're you doing presenting at the Oscars? XD But you're presenting Best Documentary.
10:21 PM- And another one for my brother XD 6 for 17
10:23 PM- And another commercial?! Geez!
10:26 PM- Oh, Billy ... you've put on some weight ...
10:29 PM- Oooooh, the first televised Oscars!
10:30 PM- Yeah ... a talking Bob Hope is a little unnerving ... but hey, it's Jude and Robert! :D I love the bromance.
10:33 PM- INCEPTION! :D YES! 7 for 18
10:34 PM- And to Film Editing we go!
10:35 PM- Congrats to The Social Network! And it's another I lost. XD 7 for 19
10:36 PM- I hope I will break into the double digits tonight. XD I won't get them all right.
10:37 PM- And another commercial XP
10:41 PM- Mkay, James, innuendos? Really? XP But at least the Songs are continuing.
10:42 PM- Florence of Florence & The Machine did the vocals for this song?! WHOA! :D
10:46 PM- Randy Newman got it? :/ Oh well ... 7 for 20
10:48 PM- And another commercial break XP
10:52 PM- And here's Celine Dion honoring the ones we've lost.
10:55 PM- And to another commercial? XD Or no! Halle Berry talking about Lena Horne ... and another commercial ... after Lena finishes singing?
11:00 PM- Well, they didn't keep the ceremony under 2 and a half hours. But here's Hillary Swank introducing Kathryn Bigelow introducing Best Directing.
11:02 PM- Whoa! That's a shock! Congrats, Tom! 7 for 21
11:05 PM- Heeeere's Annette!
11:06 PM- Oh, wonderful awards recap!
11:08 PM- And another commercial XP
11:11 PM- And we're back! Get to the final awards! JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFF! And here we go, glad-handing the Lead Actress nominees.
11:16 PM- Called it! 8 for 22
11:18 PM- Quick! Zoom in on Natalie's belly!
11:19 PM- Anne, you're flubbing your words. XD Hrm ... last year's Lead Actor and Actress winners presenting to this year's.
11:21 PM- Is Jeff going to win this again? Nah.
11:25 PM- COOOOOOOOOOLIN! :D 9 for 23 Can I make it to double digits?!
11:29 PM- C'mon! Can't we get this ceremony under 3 hours?

11:31 PM- STEVEN! :D FINALLY! Get on with the presentation!

11:35 PM- EXCELLENT montage!

11:36 PM- And the Oscar goes to ... THEKING'SSPEECH! I got into the double digits! 10 for 24

And with that, I bid you all adieu. Thanks for following along and see you all next year at the Oscars! Allons-y!

2011 Oscar Picks

From one awards show to another we go. This time, it's the Oscars. And I'm a film buff (despite not seeing a fair amount of the classics like Gone With the Wind, Braveheart, and Dances With Wolves), so this is a big deal for me. And for the first time, I've seen all but two of the Best Picture nominees. So without further ado, Here are my picks. And yes, I'll be live-blogging the ceremonies on Sunday. And once again, I'll be competing with Danielle. Friendly competition, mind you. We haven't decided on what the winner will receive. ANYWAY (in reverse order) ...

Best Live-Action Short is one of the over-looked categories that I don't get to ... so I'm just going to pick Wish 143. It sounds amusing. Dying 21 year old cancer patient goes to a Make-A-Wish-like group and asks for sex before he dies. Also nominated are The Confession, The Crush, God of Love, and Na Wewe.

I'm going with Pixar's Day & Night out of habit for Best Animated Short ... 'cause it's Pixar and they're awesome. The Gruffalo, Let's Pollute, The Lost Thing, and Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage are also nominated.

Um ... *does Eenie Meanie Miney Moe* Poster Girl for Best Documentary Short? Also nominated were Killing in the Name, Strangers No More, Sun Come Up, and The Warriors of Qiugang.

I'll give Best Visual Effects to Inception. Seriously awesome stuff. Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Hereafter (Seriously, was it for the giant wave or for Clint?), and Iron Man 2 were also nominated.

Inception for Best Sound Mixing! The King's Speech, Salt, The Social Network, and True Grit were also nominated.

Let's give one to TRON: Legacy, shall we? Also nominated in Best Sound Editing is Inception, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Unstoppable.

Another category I don't pay much attention to, but I'll go with "If I Rise" from 127 Hours for Best Song. Also nominated are "Coming Home" from Country Strong, "I See the Light" from Tangled, and "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3.

The epicness of Inception or the awesome electronica of The Social Network ... Zimmer it is! Also nominated for Best Score is 127 Hours, How to Train Your Dragon, and The King's Speech.

Um ... let's just give The Wolfman Best Makeup, shall we? It's Rick Baker! Also nominated were Barney's Version and The Way Back.

Oh ... the smooth flowing ballet-like editing of Black Swan or the stacatto cutting of The Social Network? I'll go with Black Swan. Also nominated in Best Editing are 127 Hours, The Fighter, and The King's Speech.

I'll say Alice in Wonderland for Best Costume Design. Also nominated were I Am Love, The King's Speech, The Tempest, and True Grit.

Grrr, another tough category ... part of me is saying The Social Network, but another is saying Black Swan for Best Cinematography ... I'll go with Black Swan. Also nominated are Inception, The King's Speech, and True Grit.

I'll pick Alice in Wonderland for Best Art Direction. Also nominated were Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Inception, The King's Speech, and True Grit.

We can either go political (Gasland, Inside Job, Restrepo) or odd (Exit Through the Gift Shop) or inspiring (Waste Land) for Best Documentary. Sounds like Exit Through the Gift Shop is going to take it, so I'll go with it.

Best Toy Animated Story Feature 3. Additionally, How to Train Your Dragon and The Illusionist received nominations.

Um ... I don't get to see many foreign films ... but let's go with Biutiful for Best Foreign Language Film. Dogtooth, In a Better World, Incendies, and Outside the Law are also nominated.

Let's give one to Nolan for Inception, shall we? Also nominated in Best Original Screenplay are Mike Leigh (Another Year), Scott Silver + Paul Tamasy + Eric Johnson (The Fighter), Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg (The Kids Are All Right), and David Seidler (The King's Speech).

Gaaaaaaah, why must the Best Adapted Screenplay category be another tough one? Um ... I'm going with Sorkin for The Social Network. Also nominated were Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours), Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3), The Coen Brothers (True Grit), and Debra Granik and Anne Roselini (Winter's Bone).

I'd honestly be happy with any of the nominees for Best Director, but I think I'll have to go with Fincher (The Social Network). But Aronofsky (Black Swan) would be a pleasant surprise. Additionally, David O. Russell (The Fighter), Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), and the Coen Brothers (True Grit) were nominated.

Natalie Portman. Black Swan. Best Actress. Need I say more? Additionally, Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone), and Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) were nominated.

Best Actor, without a doubt, goes to Colin Firth as King George VI in The King's Speech. Additionally, James Franco (127 Hours), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Jeff Bridges (True Grit), and Javier Bardem (Biutiful) were nominated.

I'd be all for Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross in True Grit for Best Supporting Actress, but Helena Bonham Carter was pretty good in The King's Speech ... Hailee it is! Additionally, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo were up for their performances in The Fighter and Jacki Weaver got a nod for her part in Animal Kingdom.

Best Supporting Actor seems to be a bit of a toughie for me. See, I've heard fantastic things about Christian Bale in The Fighter, but Geoffery Rush was excellent in The King's Speech ... but I'll go with Bale. Additionally, John Hawkes (Winter's Bone), Jeremy Renner (The Town ... and also fantastic in The Hurt Locker), and Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right) garnered nominations.

For Best Picture, I'm going with The King's Speech. My explanation is here. Additionally, The Social Network, True Grit, Black Swan, Inception, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, The Fighter, Toy Story 3, and Winter's Bone are nominated.

Let's see how my picks do tonight. What are some of yours? And who will do better with their picks?