Exclusive: 85th Academy Awards, Blind's Eye Predictions



People bet on the Oscars to win money.  Some predict the Oscars for the fun of it.  I'll be doing my predictions for the 85th Oscars with a blind's eye (as the title of this post suggests).  I may be all right or all wrong.  Let's see!

(My prediction is italicized and in bold. My second choice is only italicized.)



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


For Best Picture, you can say there are only two films that have a chance of winning this award, Lincoln and Life of Pi with Lincoln having a bit of an edge.  Unlike the last few years where Best Picture was a one film race, this is a year where more than one film has a good chance of winning.  While I predict Lincoln to win, I wouldn't be surprised if Life of Pi won.

Best Director
Michael Haneke - Amour
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild


Since I said Lincoln would win Best Picture, it's only natural to say Steven Spielberg will win another Oscar for Best Director.  But, I'm actually going to go with Ang Lee to win his second Oscar for Life of Pi. Life of Pi was considered impossible to film from the novel and seeing what Ang Lee created, he made nothing short of a masterpiece. If this happens, this would be the second time in 7 years to have this happen which Ang Lee won his first Best Director Oscar for Brokeback Mountain but Crash ended up winning Best Picture.

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight

For me, it's going to be odd to have to hear the phrase "Academy Award Nominee" in front of Bradley Cooper's name from now on.  Anyway, I predict Daniel Day-Lewis to win for Lincoln.  I think picking him is the safe pick but don't be surprised to hear Denzel Washington's name for Flight be called.  Gutsy on Washington I know.

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts - The Impossible

Jessica Chastain already won the Golden Globe for Zero Dark Thirty so if that is any indication then she should win the Oscar as well.  A not-so-surprise pick?  Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook. Quvenzhane Wallis is now the youngest person to be nominated for an Oscar beating Tatum O'Neal for her nomination (and win) for Paper Moon.


Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

Unlike the previous five years when the winner was known before the nominees were even announced (Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight, Christian Bale for The Fighter) this is a year where there really isn't a clear cut, set in stone winner. Going on a complete blind's eye here (as I've been doing) I'm going to say that Robert De Niro wins for Silver Linings Playbook.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook

There are two nominees here that I believe have a chance.  Sally Field for Lincoln and Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables and I will say Anne Hathaway wins her first Academy Award. 

Best Writing - Original Screenplay
Michael Haneke - Amour
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained
Flight - John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal

This is a tough one.  Amour doesn't have a chance and Django Unchained doesn't have one as well. I'm going to go on a complete roll of the dice here and say Moonrise Kingdom wins.

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay
Argo - Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi - David Magee
Lincoln - Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

I want to say Life of Pi because that film was absolutely amazing.  But if history says anything, historical films usually win so I will say Tony Kushner's script for Lincoln wins this one.


Best Animated Feature
Usually, this category is won before the beginning of time but this year is different.  Brave was a strong film but I don't see it actually winning even though it won the Golden Globe which is usually a good indicator.  The Pirates! Band of Misfits has absolutely no chance of winning so that leaves us with Frankenweenie, ParaNorman and Wreck-It-Ralph.  I will choose Wreck-It-Ralph to win.

Best Foreign Language Film
If Amour doesn't win this then why in the world is it nominated for other major categories like, say, Best Picture???


Best Documentary - Feature
This is a tough category to choose since I've never heard of any of these films.  I will throw a dart into someone's eye and say The Gatekeepers wins this.


Best Documentary - Short Subject
Redemption wins this. I guess. Moving on.


Best Live Action Short Film
Like the previous two categories, I have never heard of any of these films.  I will say Buzkashi Boys wins.


Best Animated Short Film
After watching all three nominees, I'll say Adam and Dog wins.  What do you think?


Best Original Score
I'll be bias here and say Mychael Danna's score for Life of Pi wins this one.  The score to this film was beautiful to say the least and definitely lifted scenes to a more heavenly emotion.


Best Original Song
If Adele's Skyfall from, uh, Skyfall, doesn't win this then that can be considered the biggest upset of the entire evening.

Best Sound Editing
Usually adventure genre films win this and judging from the nominees, Skyfall looks poised to win this technical award.


Best Sound Mixing
If one film wins Best Sound Editing then usually that means that film wins this award as well.  Look above to see who I say wins this.  Alright, Skyfall wins this.


Best Production Design
The Hobbit looks like a good safe choice to win this but I'm actually going to go with Anna Karenina.


Best Cinematography
Hmmm... Again Life of Pi looked perfect with Claudio Miranda's exquisite camerawork.  Unfortunately, I'm going to go wtih Roger Deakins for Skyfall.  I just think Skyfall will dominate the technical awards.


Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock's sole nomination and it will stay that way; A nomination.  I'm going to go with The Hobbit for this one.


Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina wins another technical award with this win for Best Costume Design.


Best Film Editing
Zero Dark Thirty has to win something right?  I guess so as I'm going with Zero Dark Thirty to win this.


Best Visual Effects
The Avengers was pretty much a visual effects spectacle so I can't see how it doesn't win.  Although I wouldn't be surprised if The Hobbit won this one.


The Oscars air on ABC on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 7pm EST.





For the full list of nominees, go to the Oscars website!