And the Oscar goes to…

If you read my blog, then you know I’m an Oscar nut. This year, the 84th Annual Academy Awards will be hosted by the often hilarious Billy Crystal. This is sure to be an improvement from last year’s epic fail. While I’m not terribly excited for the nominees, I did love THE ARTIST and I can’t wait to see THE DESCENDANTS lose. Director of THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius (pronounced has-ah-nah-VEESH-us… isn’t that just fun to say?) is sure to win the night and Jean Dujardin (another fun one to say) will be right by his side.

Without further ado, here are my Oscar predictions…

Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”

George Clooney in “The Descendants”

Jean Dujardin in “The Artist” – My Pick

Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

 

Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”

Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”

Nick Nolte in “Warrior”

Christopher Plummer in “Beginners” – My Pick

Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

 

Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”

Viola Davis in “The Help”

Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady” – My Pick

Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

 

Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”

Jessica Chastain in “The Help”

Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”

Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”

Octavia Spencer in “The Help” – My Pick

 

Animated Feature Film

“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli

“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal

“Kung Fu Panda 2” Jennifer Yuh Nelson

“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller

“Rango” Gore Verbinski – My Pick

 

Art Direction

“The Artist”
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould – My Pick

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2“
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

“Hugo”
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

“Midnight in Paris”
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

“War Horse”
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

 

Cinematography

“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman – My Pick

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth

“Hugo” Robert Richardson

“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki

“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

 

Costume Design

“Anonymous” Lisy Christl

“The Artist” Mark Bridges – My Pick

“Hugo” Sandy Powell

“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor

“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

 

Directing

“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius – My Pick

“The Descendants” Alexander Payne

“Hugo” Martin Scorsese

“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen

“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

 

Documentary (Feature)

“Hell and Back Again”
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky

“Pina”
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel – My Pick

“Undefeated”
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas

 

Documentary (Short Subject)

“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson – My Pick

“Incident in New Baghdad”
James Spione

“Saving Face”
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

 

Film Editing

“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius – My Pick

“The Descendants” Kevin Tent

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker

“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

 

Foreign Language Film

“Bullhead” Belgium

“Footnote” Israel

“In Darkness” Poland – My Pick

“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada

“A Separation” Iran

 

Makeup

“Albert Nobbs”
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin – My Pick

“The Iron Lady”
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

 

Music (Original Score)

“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams

“The Artist” Ludovic Bource – My Pick

“Hugo” Howard Shore

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias

“War Horse” John Williams

 

Music (Original Song)

“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets”
Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie – My Pick

“Real in Rio” from “Rio”
Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett

 

Best Picture

“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer – My Pick

“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer

“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers

“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers

“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers

“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers

“The Tree of Life” Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill, Producers

“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

 

Short Film (Animated)

“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa

“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe – My Pick

“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

 

Short Film (Live Action)

“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane

“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren – My Pick

“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George

“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

 

Sound Editing

“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis – My Pick

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce

“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

 

Sound Mixing

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson

“Hugo”
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

“Moneyball”
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco and Ed Novick

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin – My Pick

“War Horse”
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

 

Visual Effects

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson

“Hugo”
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning

“Real Steel”
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett – My Pick

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan – My Pick

“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon

“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

 

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius

“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig

“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor

“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen – My Pick

“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Oh, Oscar…

This morning, when I arrived at work, I burst through the doors and announced to my co-workers “At this time tomorrow morning I will have the Oscar nominations in my hot little hands.” My brilliant message was met by bored eyes. I then said “Hey, chin up! James Franco isn’t hosting this year.” This was answered with a faint “Who’s James Frankfort?” from the back of the office. Though my co-workers were not as jazzed as yours truly, I didn’t let it get me down. Because tomorrow morning… I will have the Oscar nominations in my hot little hands!

And guess what else! You there! Yes, you! You can watch LIVE as the nominees are announced right here. If you’re located in the midwest, like I am, you can probably tune in at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

Dustin Hoffman isn’t Having Any Fun

A haunting image of Dustin Hoffman who appeared to be bored to tears during the telecast of the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards only to perk right up after he did his bit on stage. I’m guessing a little gin restored his pluck once he knew he didn’t have to do anything for the rest of the evening. Ricky Gervais was invited back this year to host after last year’s debacle. He was crude and mean-spirited last year, but don’t we love that? I personally think that people take themselves to seriously. I guarantee that at some point in your esteemed careers, Hollywood actors, that some tabloid has said something about you that was far more heinous than anything Gervais may’ve said. Last night I would say that he reeled it in a bit, but he looked like he still had a good time. Nevermind that every time I we saw Elton John he was completely nonplussed with the whole ordeal.