Best Supporting Actress
Sally Field, “Lincoln“
Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables“
Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
Amy Adams, “The Master”
Winner: Quite possibly the easiest win all night, Anne Hathaway’s performance in “Les Mis” really tugs at the heart strings. It’s so full of passion and pure, unquestionable emotion. She definitely deserves it.
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained“
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Alan Arkin, “Argo”
Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”
Winner: While I would love to see Christoph Waltz win for his virtuoso performance in his second Tarantino picture, “Django Unchained,” I have a feeling Tommy Lee Jones will take it for “Lincoln” – and I’m not disappointed to say that.
Best Adapted Screenplay
“Lincoln”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Argo”
“Life of Pi”
Winner: “Beasts of the Southern Wild” isn’t a fantastic movie, but it has a pretty fantastic script. “Lincoln” might come away with the win. I’d take “Argo” and its clever, entertaining, and tense script.
Best Original Screenplay
“Django Unchained”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“Amour”
“Flight”
Winner: I’m going to get gutsy (I did say “fearless” in my post title, didn’t I?) and honor Quentin Tarantino for a clever, bold, adventurous, controversial, fun, exciting, and just plain awesome script about a freed slave getting revenge and saving his wife from an evil slave master in “Django Unchained.” Great stuff.
Best Leading Actress
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Winner: Now I’m about to really go out on a limb. The 9-year-old Wallis may not have had the best performance, but she certainly, far-and-away had the best performance considering her age. Normally I would say “Compare them all equally,” but her performance was so real, so raw, so impressive and memorable, I can’t see this going to anyone else. Chastain is a favorite, but nothing about her performance got to me like Wallis did. This is an opportunity for the Academy to change this girl’s life forever. And she deserves it.
Best Leading Actor
Daniel Day Lewis, “Lincoln”
Denzel Washington, “Flight”
Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables”
Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis. Easy. Next.
Best Director
David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”
Michael Haneke, “Amour”
Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Winner: Steven Spielberg, for making one towering landmark of a motion picture. He commands his stars (three Oscar-nominated) to get the best out of each anf every one of them. But no matter who wins, it will be who wasn’t nominated who will get the most attention.
Best Picture
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Zero Dark Thirty”
“Lincoln”
“Les Miserables”
“Life of Pi”
“Amour”
“Django Unchained”
“Argo”
Winner: “Argo” certainly has the momentum, with a recent DVD release, award season sweeps, and the big Ben Affleck “Best Director” snub. But I can’t say it deserves it. Would I see it again. Absolutely. But “Lincoln” deserves “Best Picture.” If Ben Affleck had been nominated for “Best Director,” we wouldn’t even be considering “Argo” as “Best Picture.” Day-Lewis and Spielberg deserve to see their hard work recognized.
Cinema or Cine-meh 