By Tommy Bond, Film Critic
Well folks, it’s that time of year again. The 84th Annual Academy Awards are coming up at the end of February, and that means the buzz on the nominees is well under way.
Questions abound, such as: “Can suave bad boy George Clooney take down the silent film star Jean Dujardin in a tight Best Actor race?”, “Has anyone actually seen any of the documentaries?”, “Should I take my nap during the acceptance speeches for Best Sound Mixing, or Best Sound Editing, or both?”, and of course we all want to know, “Who will win Best Picture of 2011?”
We all have our opinions, we all think we know who should win. But who will actually walk away with the golden statue when all of the campaigning and baby-kissing is said and done?
Below are my picks in all 24 categories for this year’s Oscar winners.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY): The nominees are The Artist, Bridesmaids, Margin Call, Midnight in Paris, A Separation. Tommy’s pick: Midnight in Paris.
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY): The nominees are The Descendants, Hugo, The Ides of March, Moneyball, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. My pick: The Descendants.
VISUAL EFFECTS: The nominees are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Hugo, Real Steel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Tommy’s pick: Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
SOUND MIXING: The nominees are The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo, Moneyball, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, War Horse. Tommy’s pick: Hugo.
SOUND EDITING: The nominees are Drive, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, War Horse. Tommy’s pick: Hugo.
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION): The nominees are Pentecost, Raju, The Shore, Time Freak, Tuba Atlantic. Tommy’s pick: Pentecost.
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED): The nominees are Dimanche/Sunday, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, La Luna, A Morning Stroll, Wild Life. Tommy’s pick: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG): The nominees are “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, “Real in Rio” from Rio. Tommy’s pick: “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE): The nominees are The Adventures of Tintin, The Artist, Hugo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, War Horse. Tommy’s pick: The Artist.
MAKEUP: The nominees are Albert Nobbs, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Iron Lady. Tommy’s pick: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The nominees are Belgium’s “Bullhead”, Canada’s “Monsieur Lazhar”, Iran’s “A Separation”, Israel’s “Footnote”, Poland’s “In Darkness”. Tommy’s pick: Iran’s “A Separation”.
FILM EDITING: The nominees are The Artist, The Descendants, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo, Moneyball. Tommy’s pick: The Artist.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT: The nominees are The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, God is the Bigger Elvis, Incident in New Baghdad, Saving Face, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossum. Tommy’s pick: Incident in New Baghdad.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: The nominees are Hell and Back Again, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Pina, Undefeated. Tommy’s pick: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.
DIRECTING: The nominees are The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius), The Descendants (Alexander Payne), Hugo (Martin Scorsese), Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen), The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick). Tommy’s pick: The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius).
COSTUME DESIGN: The nominees are Anonymous, The Artist, Hugo, Jane Eyre, W.E. Tommy’s pick: The Artist.
ART DIRECTION: The nominees are The Artist, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, War Horse. Tommy’s pick: Hugo.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The nominees are The Artist, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo, The Tree of Life, War Horse. Tommy’s pick: The Tree of Life.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: The nominees are A Cat in Paris, Chico & Rita, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, Rango. Tommy’s pick: Rango.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: The nominees are Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Jessica Chastain (The Help), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs), Octavia Spencer (The Help). Tommy’s pick: Octavia Spencer (The Help).
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: The nominees are Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn), Jonah Hill (Moneyball), Nick Nolte (Warrior), Christopher Plummer (Beginners), Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close). Tommy’s pick: Christopher Plummer (Beginners).
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: The nominees are Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Viola Davis (The Help), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn). Tommy’s pick: Viola Davis (The Help).
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: The nominees are Demian Bichir (A Better Life), George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Brad Pitt (Moneyball). Tommy’s pick: George Clooney (The Descendants).
BEST PICTURE: The nominees are The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse. Tommy’s pick: The Artist.
Well, there you have it. The uber-nominated The Artist will only win 4 Oscars, but no one will care because it’ll be bringing home the heaviest piece of hardware – Best Picture.
When will we have another sweeping epic like LOTR: Return of the King, Titanic, or Ben Hur (which all hold the record for most wins at 11)? Will we ever see a 12-Oscar winner? Maybe next year…
Until then, I’ll see you at the movies. Keep watchin’.
Catch the Oscars live on Sunday, February 26th at 5pm PT/8pm ET on ABC!
Editor’s Note:
Participate in Student Publications’ Academy Awards Contest.
Choose your nominations for each award and submit a list of your picks to stupub@okcu.edu. We will announce the winners during the week following the Academy Awards.
The top three scorers will receive a $25 gift card to a local eatery. The first-place winner will select first from the gift card options. The runner-up will pick next, and the third-place winner will choose last.
In the event of a tie, we will draw a name for the winner.
Good luck!
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