Okay! So with less than a week to go before the world (for a very small percentage of us) will revert back to normal and we'll hang up our Oscars thinking caps after our celebration (of post mortem) reports are written. With best Picture covered already, i move on to those "lower categories" before we have a look at the remaining "big ones:

Best Documentary Short:

• Inocente – Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
• Kings Point – Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
• Mondays at Racine – Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
• Open Heart – Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
• Redemption – Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill

Can't comment on, haven't seen or heard about any of them

Best Live Action Short:

• Asad – Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
• Buzkashi Boys – Sam French and Ariel Nasr
• Curfew – Shawn Christensen
• Death of a Shadow (Dood Van Een Schaduw) – Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
• Henry – Yan England

Ditto, South Africa needs to jack up plans to bring these to deep, dark Africa.

Best Animated Short:

• Adam and Dog – Minkyu Lee
• Fresh Guacamole – PES
• Head over Heels – Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
• The Longest Daycare – David Silverman
• Paperman – John Kahrs

I've only seen one of them, twice actually, and it was so beautiful! Paperman is able to take you on such a relatable journey, adding their dose of magic to a love story. The animation is unique and making most of the film in black and white helped The Artist win an award last year (you know, a few little trinkets), which i think helps Paperman stand out amongst the competition. I'm planning to view Head over Heals today though, so i'll let you know if that alters my opinion...

Best Documentary Feature:

• 5 Broken Cameras – Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
• The Gatekeepers – Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, and Estelle Fialon
• How to Survive a Plague – David France and Howard Gertler
• The Invisible War – Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering
• Searching for Sugar Man – Malik Bendjellouland Simon Chinn

Although i haven't seen any of them, several people i have spoken to regard Searching for Sugarman as the best of this lot. However, South African's do have a slight bias seeing as though our country is featured in the film. There's also a large amount of internet buzz for this film, not to mention it has already won a few of the major precursors (BAFTA, Critics Choice, Special Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance last year). How to Survive a Plague is also incredibly compelling (again, so I've heard), but Sugarman should take this.

Best Original Song:

• "Before My Time" from Chasing Ice – J. Ralph
• "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted –Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane
• "Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi – Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri
• "Skyfall" from Skyfall – Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
• "Suddenly" from Les Misérables – Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer, and Alain Boublil

Okay, so with Skyfall winning the Golden Globe for its title song, many would think that this is in the bag for Adele. yet, i can't seem to shake the feeling that the Academy is going to do something incredibly stupid this year (like they did last year with Man or Muppet - but that's a whole 'nother post all on its own), i feel like Ted could get this, and maybe even Suddenly. I'm rooting for Skyfall, but don't feel comfortable betting on it to win.

Best Sound Mixing:

• Argo – John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, and Jose Antonio Garcia
• Les Misérables – Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, and Simon Hayes
• Life of Pi – Ron Bartlett, D. M. Hemphill, and Drew Kunin
• Lincoln – Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, andRonald Judkins
• Skyfall – Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, andStuart Wilson

Both Sound categories are tricky (heck, i have know idea what was intended to be heard and and blotted out, mixed together and balanced properly), however, I do think that Les Mis and Skyfall are stand outs here, along with possibly Argo. In the end I think if Argo gets Best Picture, its gonna need other awards to provide backing as to what makes it the Best Picture. if not, I'm backing Les Mis.

Best Sound Editing:

• Argo – Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
• Django Unchained – Wylie Stateman
• Life of Pi – Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
• Skyfall – Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
• Zero Dark Thirty – Paul N. J. Ottosson

Argo, Skyfall and Pi, feature in both categories which I think gives them a leg up. In the end I'm going with Skyfall (because I'd really hate to see them walk home with nothing if Ted wins song).

Best Visual Effects:

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, and R. Christopher White
• Life of Pi – Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer, and Donald R. Elliott
• Marvel's The Avengers – Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, and Dan Sudick
• Prometheus – Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, and Martin Hill
• Snow White and the Huntsman – Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould, and Michael Dawson

If the Academy is looking for a film which best integrates the real with the unreal, then they'd go with Prometheus or The Hobbit. If they're looking for a special-effects-driven commercial film, then they'd go with Snow White or The Avengers, but The Academy is the Academy, and i feel as though Pi is a few strokes ahead of its competitors. Although some of the visuals are quite noticeably unreal, they way the film was able to tell an incredible story utilising the many advances of visual effects in recent years the way Martin Scorsese and David Fincher used them for Hugo and Benny Button, tells me that Pi is almost certain to win (a Best Picture nomination, solid usage of 3D and over 500 million at the box office don't hurt its chances either).

Best Make up and Hairstyling:

• Hitchcock – Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, and Martin Samuel
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater, and Tami Lane
• Les Misérables – Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Let's ask ourselves an important question here: why is Hitchcock even here? Last time i checked anyone could put on a prosthetic nose and a fat suit and it wouldn't be considered marvelous film-making, but then again i haven't managed to see the film yet (it's due out in SA within the month). The Hobbit (like Benny Button) is able to blurr the boundaries between what is make up and what is special effects, which actually may work as a disadvantage. In terms of realistic make up, Les Mis wins, if its pushing the boundaries of what could be done with a brush, please voters, give it to The Hobbit!

Best Costume Design:

• Anna Karenina – Jacqueline Durran
• Les Misérables – Paco Delgado
• Lincoln – Joanna Johnston
• Mirror Mirror – Eiko Ishioka
• Snow White and the Huntsman – Colleen Atwood

I'm just discarding Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman straight off the bat because, if I'm honest, i really did not like either of them enough to give them ANY award (sorry costumers, but great job anyway). I'd like to say Les Mis, or Lincoln because of the sheer mass of costumes and detailing that went into producing them - heck, Mary Todd's ball gown was replicated from scratch - beads, buttons and ugly frilly things in between. But i have a feeling Anna Karenina will sneak in here and walk away out the back door with an award in hand.

Best Production Design:

• Anna Karenina – Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, and Simon Bright
• Les Misérables – Eve Stewart and Anna Lynch-Robinson
• Life of Pi – David Gropman and Anna Pinnock
• Lincoln – Rick Carter and Jim Erickson

This is one impressive category, which could really go 20/20/20/20/20. In the end i feel like whoever gets costume design will get Production design as well. however, I'm hoping for The Hobbit to come out from the back row of the theatre and collect.

Best Foreign Language Film:

• Amour (Austria)
• Kon-Tiki (Norway)
• No (Chile)
• A Royal Affair (Denmark)
• War Witch (Canada)

Do we even need to debate this one? Amour is nominated for four other awards including Best Picture... (BUUUUUT The Academy does some stupid things, and many people could say that Amour's many nominations, award them automatically? - Stranger things have happened)

The other awards to be posted by the end of the week (I say this with great hope and  faith in my horrid time management skills)

Peace, Love and Other Things

Best Picture (maybe should've saved this for last)

So, 10 days to go till the big night, and what a race its shaping out to be (in some categories). While critics and Oscarologists are pretty much handing Argo a statue for Best Picture, other categories are wide oopen. Let's have a looksee:
Best Picture (with their total nominations attacted):
Lincoln (12)
Life of Pi (11)
Les Miserables (8)
Silver Linings Playbook(8)
Argo (7)
Django Unchained (5)
Zero Dark Thirty (5)
Amour (5)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (4)
First off, its great to see such a rich category of BP nominees. The last two years we've had the outliers of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Blind Side with only two nominations (one being BP). This year, even those on the low end of nominations have huge pluses with screenplay and directing nods to back them up, which tells, no, screams at the public that if there was ever a time to be watching films, its now!
Also, there is such a variety of films, everything from musicals to Tarantino and History to modern History, there truly is something for everyone here.
I still haven't managed to see Les Mis or Amour, and Zero Dark Thirty was only released in SA this morning. Out of those that i have seen, my favourite are in this order: Pi, Beasts, Argo, Django, Lincoln (which may move up to first after a second viewing), Silver Linings.
All stand out because of varying attributes, Pi for its visuals blending so beautifully with its story, Silver Linings for its actors, Lincoln for its sheer epic nature and attention to detail, Beasts for its ability to capture poetry on film, and Argo for being able to capture both the critics and the worldwide audience (having a well-known actor behind the camera and another beloved actor producing seriously doesn't hurt its appeal either!).
From what I've heard from the other three, Les Mis was incredible in its capturing the essence of musical theatre for the screen, Zero Dark Thirty is another Bigelow masterpiece and Amour not only pulls at the heart strings, but yanks at them with a chainsaw, which we as art house lovers consume with the guilty pleasure of a chocolate sundae! So who wins?
If you were to randomly select a date from Mid October to now, you would notice the front-runner has changed several times, with Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Les Mis, Argo and Silver Linings Playbook each getting their chance to test out the top spot (even Beasts got a chance when it won at Sundance a year ago). I honestly don't think I'd mind ANY of these wining the top prize... except for the now front-runner, Argo! I saw it again last week, and having LOVED it the first time, I find myself still thinking its a great film, but not THE Best Picture of 2012. That belongs to a film with greater craft, appeal, story, visuals, greater... SOMETHING, other than the fact that your producers are famous and know all over the world.
There's bound to be an upset in one category this year, because of all the talent. Here's hoping that one shows up in the big category, and instead of people going "OMG!, that sucks!!! *cough cough, Crash* people around the world will be cheering! The Oscar race will have returned to some reasonable sense of honour and reality...

Golden Globes Predix Part 1

So I was browsing online last night and it hit me that next week are the Golden Globes!!! That said, I need to start compiling my list of who should win and who will win [Films I have seen]:

Best Supporting Actor
Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln
Phillip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
Alan Arkin – Argo
Leonardo diCaprio – Django Unchained
Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained
Who should win: DiCaprio took on his first villain role ever, yet he shares this category with four previous Oscar and Golden Globe winners (3 of which won in this category – Hoffman has only won lead, although he has been nominated for his supporting roles too). All of these are phenomenal actors and any one of them should win. I’d like to give it to DiCaprio.
Who will win: Tommy Lee Jones has been receiving a bucket load of attention(and critics awards) for his role as Thaddeus Stevens. In a race that’s very much 20-20-20-20-20 I’m tossing a coin and going to go with him.

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Fields – Lincoln
Anne Hatheway – Les Miserables
Helen Hunt – The Sessions
Nicole Kidman – The Paperboy
Amy Adams – The Master
Who should win: I’d love to see Hatheway win for her collective work on Les Mis and TDKR. This past year was amazing for her, with two roles that she seems to have slaughtered despite scientism from critics for both (heck, I didn’t think that she could pull off Catwoman, but she did). Give her a globe, give her something to sing about…
Who will win: again we have a category filled with previous winners and nominees, and although I don’t think it’s as close as the men’s race equivalent, its still pretty close. In the end, I think Hatheway takes it.

Best Director
Katherine Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
Ben Affleck – Argo
Quinton Tarantino – Django Unchained
Ang Lee – Life of Pi
Who should win: Wow! What a category, matching up exactly to the Best Picture – Drama nominees. Its tough. Spielberg and Lee have both won twice, Bigelow and Tarantino have been nominated once before. I’m hoping Affleck wins. Argo was completely exhilarating, and the pacing was perfect!
Who will win: it’s really anybody’s game. I feel that Bigelow is slightly ahead (as seen by her critic award wins) but critics are not by any means the deciding vote. I don’t want to bet on anything, but if it was mandatory, I’d go with Affleck.

Best Screenplay
Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty
Tony Kushner – Lincoln
Quinton Tarantino – Django Unchained
Chris Terrio – Argo
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Who should win: All the candidates are adapted screenplays (which I haven’t come across before) which makes it difficult for me to even try to predict. Having only seen two makes it even more tricky. I’m going to go with Argo or Lincoln, although any one of these films could take it and I wouldn’t mind – they’re all winners.
Who will win: Most probably Lincoln or Argo, but be prepared for anything.

Best Original Score
Dario Marianelli – Anna Karenina
Alexanrde Desplat – Argo
John Williams – Lincoln
Mychael Danna – Life of Pi
Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil – Cloud Atlas
Who should win: Alexandre Desplat
Who will win: Its hard to say. I’ve seen 3 of them and yet, I can’t really remember any of them with great enthusiasm. I’d go with Desplat, just because he did so many other amazing film scores this year (Rise of the Guardians, Zero Dark Thirty, Moonrise Kingdom and even foreign competitor Rust and Bone!). Come on, not even Spielberg worked that hard!

Best Original Song
“For You” (Keith Urban and Michael McDevitt) – Act of Valour
“Not Running Anymore” (Jon Bon Jovi) – Stand Up Guys
“Safe and Sound” (Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars) – The Hunger Games
“Skyfall” (Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth) – Skyfall
“Suddenly” (Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boubil and Herbert Kretzmer) – Les Miserables
Who should win: We all loved Skyfall even before we saw the film, and it along with the song, became a mega-hit.
Who will win: Last year Madonna won, maybe they’ll honour another legend this year, but maybe that legend turns out to be Taylor Swift or Jon Bon Jovi. Suddenly also has a great chance the way “Listen” had with Dreamgirls, but that one didn’t win. Skyfall.

Best Animated Feature
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Wreck-it-Ralph
Rise of the Guardians
*Sidenote: ParaNorman was sidelined for Hotel Transylvania. I haven’t seen Norman in action, but judging from internet buzz (and my brother), the Globes got it wrong.
Who should win: Not Brave. I’m such an avid Pixar fan, but I must say, this time they missed to plot slightly. It was beautifully rendered, but the story was weak. Hotel T? No. Rise of the Guardians, maybe. Like Brave (but better) it was beautifully shot, but the plot was slightly lacking in places. If the other two are as impressive as their trailers, then I hope Ralph takes it – its about time Disney won something without the help of Pixar.
Who will win: With ParaNorman out of the picture, I’m thinking Frankenweenie, with Ralph and Guardians in a close second. Brave = a possible upset

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour
The Intouchables
Rust and Bone
A Royal Affair
Kon-Toki
Who should win: Critically, it should be Amour (which has a foot-in for best picture at the Oscar nominations announcement next week) or Rust and Bone (which has Cotillard nominated for actress already). It must also be said though, that The Intouchables is one of the highest grossing French films ever produced and is also well-liked by critics. I’m thinking, for the globes, The Intouchables should take it and leave Amour to win the Oscar
Who will win: Its between the first 3. I’m thinking The Intouchables – because the Globes seem to take the audience into consideration at least some of the time…

Part 2 (with the major awards) to follow soon! ;)