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I guess I just like liking things

Shiny

Shiny

The Academy Awards are this weekend, and they’re important because they claim to be – at least, that’s pretty much how I understand it. I’m all for things getting awarded for quality, but I’m with the growing number of people that think there should be some sort of retroactive award. Let’s look back 20, 30, 40 years at those movies and see which one is still important or has held up the best.  There are plenty of  “this should’ve won, not that” lists floating around, so that’d be a logical outgrowth.  Also: let’s get some diversity in the voter pool for this things, huh? Age, race, gender – all of it.

Anyway, I haven’t seen most of the films nominated this year because I’d rather spend my time/money on comicbook movies. I have seen 8 of last year’s 9 Best Picture nominees, but I’ve only seen two of this year’s crop so far. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make picks!  Even if I haven’t seen a particular movie, I tend to be aware of it enough to make a not-quite-ignorant judgment on it.  I wouldn’t use this list as a betting help if I were you.  Movies and performances I’ve seen are italicized, and my picks are bolded.

 

BEST PICTURE

Amour – I don’t really care if I never see this one

Argo – No, I haven’t seen this one and, yes, I want it to win. Ben Affleck’s turning out to be a pretty good director.

Beasts of the Southern Wild – Saw this one recently and I think it was good, I just don’t think I completely understood it.

Django Unchained – I meant to go to this one several times, but chickened out every time because of its length.

Les Misérables– I liked it, but I liked the stage version, too, so I was expecting to.

Life of Pi – Sure, I’ll see this one eventually

Lincoln – Seemed like more of a small screen watch than a big screen one

Silver Linings Playbook – Have been really wanting to see this one but I have to wait for my wife to have time to.

Zero Dark Thirty – Sure, I’ll see this eventually

 

ACTOR in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables) – Come on, give Wolverine an award already.

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

Denzel Washington (Flight)

 

ACTRESS in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) – She seems nice. They give awards for nice, right?

Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

 

ACTOR in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin (Argo)

Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) – Because he’s Grumpy Cat in human form

Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

 

ACTRESS in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams (The Master) – Because she’s great!

Sally Field (Lincoln)

Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables) – Because how can you not want her to get an award? Meanie.

Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

 

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Brave – I liked it a lot, but it’s a clear 2nd place this year

Frankenweenie – I haven’t seen this version yet, but I love the original short it’s based on

ParaNorman – This one’s been sitting at my house from Netflix for two weeks now.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Love the Wallace & Gromit crew, so this one’s definitely on my Must Watch list

Wreck-It Ralph – Fantastic all around, and of course I like the idea of Q*bert being in an Oscar-nominated movie

 

DIRECTING

Amour (Michael Haneke)

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)

Life of Pi (Ang Lee) – Ang Lee will get leftover love from me for a long time because of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Lincoln (Steven Spielberg)

Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell)

 

MUSIC Original Song

“Before My Time” (Chasing Ice) – I was unaware of this song until just today, but I think it’s beautiful. Scarlett Johansson sings it and does a wonderful job.

“Everybody Needs A Best Friend” (Ted) – I kind of feel like people need to stop encouraging Seth MacFarlane.

“Pi’s Lullaby” (Life of Pi)

“Skyfall” (Skyfall) – If this doesn’t win it will be the worst decision of the evening.

“Suddenly” (Les Misérables) – I don’t even remember this song.

Who ya got?

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