The tradition continues! (C'mon, two years is a tradition, right?) Lexi and I are combining our Academy Award predictions into one article again this year.
Despite the fact that 2012 was a weak year for movies, there's a surprising amount of close calls in this year's Oscar race. Let's see who has the better average.
Last year, Lexi went first and I commented. This year, we'll switch it up. I'm first.
See how our Oscar predictions pan out when the 85th Annual Academy Awards broadcasts live on ABC, Sunday February 24, 2013, 7pm ET/4pm PT.
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Seamus McGarvey, "Anna Karenina"
Robert Richardson, "Django Unchained"
Claudio Miranda, "Life of Pi" - Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
Janusz Kaminski, "Lincoln"
Roger Deakins, "Skyfall"
JOE: You can count on "Life of Pi" to grab the technical awards this year. It was a visual feast, thanks largely to Claudio Miranda's stunning cinematography. The "Pi" has it.
LEXI: That is one good-looking piece of "Pi". Dig in.
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Jacqueline Durran, "Anna Karenina"
- Lexi's pick
Paco Delgado, "Les Misérables"
- Joe's pick
Joanna Johnston, "Lincoln
"
Eiko Ishioka, "Mirror Mirror"
Colleen Atwood, "Snow White and the Huntsman"
JOE: This one likely comes down to "Anna Karenina" or "Les Miz". My batting average for this category is garbage so, for those of you doing Oscar pools, you might want to ignore this, but I'm picking "Les Miz" due to the sheer range of costumes on display in Tom Hooper's epic.
LEXI: Joe Wright's "Anna Karenina" has very little going for it outside of the costumes. The Academy loves to give this award to period pieces and since "Les Miz" is mostly noted for its music, I think "Anna" will take it.
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn, "Argo"
Wylie Stateman, "Django Unchained"
Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton, "Life of Pi"
Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers, "Skyfall
"
Paul N.J. Ottosson, "Zero Dark Thirty" - Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
JOE: I'm still waiting for someone to take me through the thought process behind choosing the best Sound Editing. I know that it's an incredibly important part of the cinematic art form, I just don't know it when I hear it. Still, this feels like a close race to me. I'm going to go with "Zero Dark Thirty".
LEXI: Uh, sure, "Zero Dark Thirty" for the win. It's not looking like it will take any of the big prizes this year so this could be a consolation.
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey "
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott, "Life of Pi
" - Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick, "Marvel’s The Avengers "
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill, "Prometheus "
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson, "Snow White and the Huntsman"
JOE: I can think of far more than 3.14 ways that "Life of Pi" deserves this one.
LEXI: That tiger is not even real. Nothing can trump that.
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
William Goldenberg, "Argo"
- Lexi's pick
Tim Squyres, "Life of Pi
"
Michael Kahn, "Lincoln"
Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg, "Zero Dark Thirty" - Joe's pick
JOE: William Goldenberg had quite a year. Both his entries deserve this one, but I'll pick "Zero Dark Thirty". Either way, he's going to go home happy.
LEXI: Gotta go with "Argo" on this one.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
"Frankenweenie"
- Lexi's pick
"Pirates! Band of Misfits
"
"Wreck-It Ralph
"
"ParaNorman"
"Brave" - Joe's pick
JOE: "ParaNorman" and "Frankenweenie" were cute if slightly underwhelming entries this year, but "Brave" stands out for the sheer audacity of its premise. I'm still startled that the majority of the film features the mother in bear-form. It may not be a great film, but it's clearly unforgettable.
LEXI: "Wreck-It Ralph" has no shot but is super fun for anyone with a hint of geeky gamer in them - gasp, it's Q*bert! - and "Brave" continues Pixar's recent downslide. On the contrary, Tim Burton came back to life with "Frankenweenie" and totally won me over. This one's for you, Sparky.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Dario Marianelli, "Anna Karenina"
Alexandre Desplat, "Argo"
Mychael Danna, "Life of Pi" - Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
John Williams, "Lincoln
"
Thomas Newman, "Skyfall"
JOE: None of the scores this year particularly moved me, though I'll wager "Life of Pi" may have a good chance with it's blending of cultures and styles.
LEXI: I'm with Joe: the scores are a snore.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Before My Time," "Chasing Ice"
"Pi’s Lullaby," "Life of Pi"
"Suddenly," "Les Miserables"
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend," Ted"
"Skyfall," "Skyfall" - Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
JOE: I may be selfish for wanting to award the best James Bond theme in years, but give this one to Adele.
LEXI: Adele should win every category, even ones she's not nominated in.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild
"
Chris Terrio, "Argo
"
Tony Kushner, "Lincoln"
- Joe's pick
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
- Lexi's pick
David Magee, "Life of Pi"
JOE: This is one of the toughest this year, and one of the few in which all the nominees are stellar. "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is the most unique of the contenders, though it's unclear how much of that film was improv'd vs. scripted. "Argo" did a pitch-perfect job dramatizing real events, and "Life of Pi" is probably the best adaptation that you could hope for from that "unfilmable" novel. But Tony Kushner's feat - turning the inner-workings of Civil War-era government into viable drama - is truly award-worthy.
LEXI: "Silver Linings Playbook" is the only movie I saw twice in theaters this year, largely due to the screenplay. (And the acting, and the dance sequence, and the quirky charisma, and ...) It's by far the most quotable.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
John Gatins, "Flight"
Mark Boal, "Zero Dark Thirty"
- Joe's pick
Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained
" - Lexi's pick
Michael Haneke, "Amour "
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, "Moonrise Kingdom"
JOE: This one feels like a horserace between "Zero" and "Amour". "Moonrise" was too quirky for its own good, "Flight" is a Lifetime movie" and "Django" will likely alienate more voters than it'll win. The question is, is "Amour" too heart-wrenching for Academy voters? I'm going to give this to "Zero".
LEXI: Tarantino's latest is wildly uneven, but the man can write an entertaining screenplay. Since "Django" was nominated for best picture and a few other awards it won't win, Quentin's got this one.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Sally Field, "Lincoln
"
Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
- Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
Amy Adams, "The Master"
JOE: Jacki Weaver's performance was too lowkey to be recognized, while Sally Field playing crazy feels too easy, and not enough people saw "The Master". It's sad that Helen Hunt won't get the award for her fearless performance in "The Sessions" (then again, I'm still annoyed that John Hawkes got snubbed entirely). Now we know the dream that Anne Hathaway was dreaming when she sung that song: taking home an Oscar.
LEXI: Hathaway will win and deserves to win, especially after that whole hosting debacle.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained "
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook
"
Alan Arkin, "Argo"
Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln" - Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
JOE: I'd give it to Arkin, but that role was a bit too one-note. It's down to Jones or De Niro. The question is, does Tommy Lee Jones playing a curmudgeon feel too easy? 'Cause he makes it look so effortless. Meanwhile, it feels like De Niro just updated a few of his past performances for "Playbook". I'd give it to Jones.
LEXI: Mr. Grumpy last won for "The Fugitive" 20 years ago, and he may break his dry spell on Sunday. A possible upset could be De Niro in "Playbook," simply because people are happy to see him in a new movie that doesn't suck.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
- Joe's pick
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
- Lexi's pick
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
JOE: This is one of those categories that's more about "who will the voters pick" vs "who should win". Quvenzhané Wallis was unforgettable as Hushpuppy, but I can't see the Academy giving this to her. Same with Naomi Watts - as great as she was, the real impossible thing about that movie is how many white people were in it. This is a complete toss-up between Lawrence, Chastain and Riva. My hope is for Riva, but I'm assuming it'll be one of the others. Let's say Chastain.
LEXI: I believe the popular choices will cancel each other out and leave an opening for Riva to snag it. I haven't seen "Amour" yet (sadly) but everyone who has thinks it's brilliant and applauds her performance. Wallis is incredible but she's a fetus and I just don't see that happening.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln" - Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
Denzel Washington, "Flight"
Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"
JOE: Duh. This is Daniel's Day, Lewis. Everyone else is an also-ran.
LEXI: Lewis can't lose.
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook
"
Ang Lee, "Life of Pi
"
Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"
- Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
Michael Haneke, "Amour
"
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
JOE: See "Best Picture".
LEXI: Since neither Ben Affleck nor Kathryn Bigelow are nominated (really, Academy?), they will give it to safe-bet Spielberg.
BEST PICTURE
"Beasts of the Southern Wild
"
"Silver Linings Playbook
"
"Zero Dark Thirty
"
"Lincoln
"
"Les Miserables
"
"Life of Pi
"
"Amour
"
"Django Unchained"
"Argo" - Joe's pick; Lexi's pick
JOE: This is one of those years where Best Director, Picture and Screenplay are inextricably linked. The best film of the year was "Argo". That part's not up for debate. "Lincoln" was fantastic, so you give the Best Director award to Spielberg (since you can't give it to Affleck, thank you Academy) and that's his prize. Plus, Kushner should get the Adapted Screenplay award. That way, "Lincoln" has its moment, but "Argo" gets Best Picture. It's extremely rare that a different film gets Best Picture and Director, but this is the perfect year for it.
LEXI: I'm glad to see "Beasts" and "Playbook" on here; could do without "Lincoln" and "Les Miz". Everyone likes "Argo" and for good reason: It feels like a movie made in another era. Or at least another year, one that isn't quite so underwhelming. Go "Argo."
