King's Guide: Final Predictions for the Oscars 2013

Well the Oscars are this Sunday. I am actually excited to see all the shenanigans Seth MacFarlane gets up to.    I am excited to see what everyone will be wearing and whether or not we are going to have memorable acceptance speeches. I have composed a list of  my final predictions. There will be no clear winner for this year, several films will pick up multiple awards. I have tallied that Les Miserables should pick up the most wins for the night. Let me know what you predictions are. Make sure to check back on Monday for a full rundown of the big night.

Best Picture
Will Win: Argo
Could Win: Lincoln

Best  Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Will Win: Daniel Day- Lewis for Lincoln
Could Win: Joaquin Phoenix for The Master

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Will Win: Emmanuelle Riva for Amour
Could Win: Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln
Could Win: Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained or Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables
Could Win: Sally Field for Lincoln or Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Achievement in Directing
Will Win: Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Could Win: David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Original Screenplay
Will Win: Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained
Could Win: Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty

Best Adapted Screenplay
Will Win: Chris Terrio for Argo
Could Win: David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Animated Film
Will Win: Brave
Could Win: Wreck-It Ralph

Best Foreign Language Film
Will Win: Amour
Could Win: A Royal Affair

Best Cinematography
Will Win: Life of Pi
Could Win: Skyfall

Best Achievement in Editing
Will Win: Argo
Could Win: Zero Dark Thirty

Best Production Design
Will Win: Les Miserables
Could Win: Life of Pi

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Will Win: Anna Karenina
Could Win: Les Miserables

Best Achievement in Makeup
Will Win: Les Miserables
Could Win: The Hobbit

Best Original Score
Will Win: Life of Pi
Could Win: Skyfall

Best Original Song
Will Win: "Skyfall" for Skyfall 
Could Win: "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" for Ted

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Will Win: Les Miserables
Could Win: Skyfall

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Will Win: Skyfall
Could Win: Zero Dark Thirty

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Will Win: Life of Pi
Could Win: The Hobbit

Best Documentary
Will Win: Searching for Sugar Man
Could Win: The Gatekeepers

Best Documentary, Short Subject
Will Win: Open Heart
Could Win: Inocente

Best Short Film, Animated
Will Win: Paperman
Could Win: The Simpsons- The Longest Daycare

Best Short Film, Live Action
Will Win: Curfew
Could Win: Death of a Shadow

State of the Race

Everyone in the US is getting ready for the big game tomorrow. They are getting treats for their parties and placing final bets. It is sort of like the World Cup but it happens every year. Lets face it, I have never been a football gal. The month of February for us Movie Buffs has always been about Oscar. All the premieres, all the press junkets, all the critical praise boils down to this magical moment. With three weeks before the big night, things are shaping up quite nicely this award season.

It appears that Argo may be the film to beat for Best Picture thanks to its recent wins at Golden Globes, Producers Guild Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards. With Ben Affleck out of the mix, Steven Spielberg is on lock to win Best Director. Daniel Day- Lewis and Anne Hathaway are pretty much guaranteed to win in their respective categories. If they do not win it will be an upset. Actually, I can see Daniel Day- Lewis losing in two instances, one if Silver Linings Playbook does a sweep or the possibility of Joaquin Phoenix getting the most votes from the Academy. Those are the two possibilities that I could envision Mr. Day-Lewis not winning. The same goes for Anne Hathaway, if Silver Linings Playbook does a sweep then there is a possibility that Jacki Weaver may win this category.  Once again Best Supporting Actor is anyone's category. I think the academy is leaning towards Tommy Lee Jones for this prestigious award. Honestly it really is anyone's game in this category. Once again if Silver Linings Playbook is going to sweep then Robert De Niro will win this category.

The Best Actress category is still a toss up between Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain. Whomever wins the BAFTA will most likely win come February 24th. As of right now, I do not think anyone of them is in the lead for this category. This is the toughest category for me because I am torn between who I want to win. Honestly, I thought Quvenzhane had the best female performance of the year. I absolutely adore both Jennifer and Jessica. It really is a three women war going on in my head, trying to figure who I want to win the golden statue.

This has been my update for the big six categories. As the awards approach I will make my final predictions. So far it has been one hell of an award season. 

Nominations are in

Earlier this morning the 85th Academy Awards nominations were announced by host Seth MacFarlane and the lovely Emma Stone. Being a great amateur film critic I got up literally at the crack of dawn  to catch the nominees. There were quite a few surprises this morning.

• Best Director

One of the biggest snubs was in the Best Director category  As you are aware I predicted that both Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow were shoo-ins for this category. These two directors have been the frontrunners along with Steven Spielberg. I was completely floored that they did not pick up a nomination. The two directors that were nominated instead were Michael Haneke for Amour and Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild. I am pleasantly pleased that Mr. Zeitlin was nominated. I always knew that Quentin Tarantino was a bit of a wild card but I was hopeful he would get a nod. David O.Russel got a well deserved nomination in this category for the darling Silver Linings Playbook.

• Best Supporting Actress

One of the biggest surprises in this category was Jacki Weaver picking up nomination for her part in Silver Linings Playbook. I did not even predict her for a wild card but I am extremely pleased that she picked up this nomination. I believe that this award really is between Sally Field and Anne Hathaway. The only reason that none of them would pick up this award is if Silver Linings Playbook does a sweep. It could happen.

• Best Supporting Actor

Leonardo Dicaprio was once again overlooked by the Academy. Which I find to be a complete shame because he was absolutely brilliant in Django Unchained. I am happy that Christoph Waltz got a nomination because he was my wild card.

• Best Actress

I did a great job at predicting the nominees in this category. My wild card pick Quvenzhane Wallis is the youngest nominee in this category. As of right now Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence are the frontrunners in this category. I would not count out Emmanuelle Riva either.

• Best Actor

The only category I had 100% accuracy.  Daniel Day-Lewis is the favorite in this category but I would not count out Denzel Washington and Bradley Cooper.

• Best Picture

I was happy to see the majority of my picks getting nominated this morning. The only one that failed to pick up a nomination was Moonrise Kingdom. The Best Foreign Film favorite Amour picked up the final nomination in this category. Sources are suggesting that it will be hard for Argo and Zero Dark Thirty to win in this category because they failed to pick up Best Director nods. If that is the case Lincoln is looking as the shoo-in but I wouldn't be surprised if Silver Linings Playbook wins instead.

• Overall

Besides the snubs in Best Director and Best Supporting Actor category I am pleased with the nominees this year. Lincoln leads the list of with 12 nominations followed by the beautiful Life of Pi with 11 nominations.