NEWS: Oscar Nominations & Why It's A Sh*t Year

Oscar nominations below and my thoughts:


Best Picture
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"The Help"
"Moneyball"
"War Horse"
"The Tree of Life"

It's tough to go through this as I still haven't seen a lot of these films yet. However, I do think it comes between Tree Of Life and The Artist. Both have more artistic integrity and this is something that the Oscars will strive for. However, all the films here are quite predictable apart from Hugo, Scorcese's kids movie. Has anyone seen this?


Prediction: The Artist


Best Actor
Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"


I can't believe Clooney, the Oscar golden boy for his mock-independent films, will win again this year. I also think it's too much for Dujardin to win, instead it will be between Hollywood veterans Pitt and Oldman. It depends how Hollywood they want to go, but I would imagine Oldman as the older man and in such a well-respected piece of material will probably get the gold.


Prediction: Gary Oldman


Best Actress
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"


I'd like to see Rooney Mara win this, but there is much more serious roles here. Close plays a man in Nobbs, and Streep practically plays a man in The Iron Lady but I can't help but think Viola Davis will get it - mainly as a nod towards the film rather than the acting.


Prediction: Viola Davis


Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max Von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"


How Jonah Hill has got an Oscar nomination is beyond me, but then I haven't seen Moneyball so maybe it really is an Oscar worthy role. However, this time round I can't help but think Plummer will get it unless Sydow is amazing and I don't know it?


Prediction: Christopher Plummer


Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"


God what a boring line-up, The Help I thought was actually offensive in its portrayal of the issue at heart and the rest are just so boring. So ...

Prediction: Berenice Bejo

Best Director
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

It has to be Malick right? Allen could get it, but this is really the only interesting category as it could truly go any way. People love Payne and Scorsese might just steal it away, even though he won for The Departed not too long ago. If Hazanavicius won against such director heavyweights I'd be extremely surprised.

Prediction: Terrence Malick

Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
JC Chandor, "Margin Call"
Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids"

In terms of the screenplay, I think Farhadi could pick this up for quite a heavily worded piece of work as opposed to comedy Bridesmaids (a simple nod to women in Hollywood), Hazanavicius (where it's a bit strange for a silent movie to win best screenplay) and the only real competitors I see are Allen and Chandor, but I think Farhadi will nip it.

Prediction: Asghar Farhadi 'A Seperation'

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"
John Logan, "Hugo"
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"
Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughn, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

Surely Aaron Sorkin can't win again? I think Tinker Tailor will nip it, it's amazing source material and translated to screen very well.

Prediction: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Animated Feature
"A Cat In Paris"
"Chico & Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"

No idea. Puss In Boots?

Prediction: Puss In Boots

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Bullhead (Belgium)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)

Ummm.... A Seperation?

Prediction: A Seperation

Original Score
"The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams
"The Artist," Ludovic Bource
"Hugo," Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse," John Williams

Predictably, it's going to be Bource. Remember, they love The Artist

Prediction: Ludovic Bource

Best Original Song
"Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Just two songs? Must be The Muppets.

Prediction: The Muppets

Best Achievement in Art Direction
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"War Horse"

Hugo looks like a lot of art direction has gone into it, I can't see War Horse doing much as it's not very original, but The Artist does actually look like a silent film and for that, it must win.

Prediction: The Artist

Best Achievement in Cinematography
"The Artist"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Prediction: The Tree Of Life

Best Achievement in Costume Design
"Anonymous"
"The Artist"
"Hugo"
"Jane Eyre"
"W.E."

I have no idea really. Let's say ...

Prediction: Hugo

Best Documentary Feature
"Hell and Back Again"
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
"Pina"
"Undefeated"

Haven't seen any of them. Let's go by title.

Prediction: Undefeated

Best Documentary Short Subject
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement?"
"God Is the Bigger Elvis"
"Incident in New Baghdad"
"Saving Face"
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"

Who knows?

Prediction: Saving Face

Best Achievement in Film Editing
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"

Prediction: The Artist

Best Achievement in Makeup
"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"

Prediction: Harry Potter

Best Animated Short Film
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Prediction: La Luna

Best Live Action Short Film
"Pentecost"
"Raju"
"The Shore"
"Time Freak"
"Tuba Atlantic"

Prediction: Time Freak

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
"Drive"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

Drive, one of the most amazing films for years, gets a mention for sound editing ... it's an absolute disgrace.

Prediction: Drive

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

Prediction: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

Prediction: Hugo

Overall, this year looks awful, it's all about The Artist and The Descendants really. For a years worth of cinema to be boiled down to this shows it's either an awful year for cinema or otherwise the Academy Awards needs a kick up the arse. I'd say we should do our own bloody awards and it will be a lot more on the money than this pile of shit.

Seriously, one Oscar nomination for Drive? The Oscars can fuck right off.