Kellene’s 2013 Oscar Winner Predictions

BEST PICTURE
•Amour
•Argo
•Beasts of the Southern Wild
•Django Unchained
•Les Miserables
•Life of Pi
•Lincoln
•Silver Linings Playbook
•Zero Dark Thirty
An odd thing has happened since Oscar nominations came out last month.
Argo, specifically, Ben Affleck has won every directing award possible. And yet, he’s not nominated for best director. Whoops. Bad decision now. So because of that, I think the Academy will try to make amends and give him best picture. Despite me going nuts last month about Lincoln – and how it’s got momentum behind it to win.
That may not be the case anymore. Especially since ballots aren’t due for another few days.

BEST ACTOR
•Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
•Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”
•Denzel Washington, “Flight”
•Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables”
•Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
Do I really need to say anything about this one? It’s a lock.

BEST ACTRESS
•Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
•Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
•Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
•Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”
•Quvenzhane Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
I still have apprehensions about this category. There are no clear winners, unlike the men’s lead group. BAFTA says one thing, SAG says another. I know the Academy wants to attract younger viewers, and a great way to do that is to let Jennifer Lawrence win, but I think BAFTA may have an edge on this one – they’ve predicted several previous upsets – so I’ll go with them on this one. Riva.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
•Alan Arkin, “Argo”
•Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained”
•Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
•Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”
•Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”
Three could emerge on this. Jones, Waltz and DeNiro. Ok, so Waltz has played a similar character before which he won, but the Academy may want to recognize DeNiro since they haven’t for awhile – a la Streep last year. And then there’s Tommy Lee Jones who won a SAG. Waltz won this year’s BAFTA.
Correction: February 22 – now that some time has passed, I’m feeling like Robert De Niro will now win because of the forementioned Streep concept. So I change my answer to De Niro.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
•Amy Adams, “The Master”
•Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”
•Sally Field, “Lincoln”
•Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
•Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Hathaway. No huge clear winner in this one too, but she’s the closest I think. And she seems to be getting the most attention for it.

BEST DIRECTOR
•Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
•David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
•Behn Zeitlin, “Beast of the Southern Wild”
•Michael Haneke, “Amour”
•Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”
Since Affleck is not nominated, this should be an easy win for Spielberg. But I’m also starting to wonder if Russell is becoming a dark horse.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
•“Amour”
•“Django Unchained”
•“Flight”
•“Moonrise Kingdom”
•“Zero Dark Thirty”
Django. Yes, it’s racist. Aside from that, it won a BAFTA and Golden Globe. Can’t beat that. Point is Tarantino does his own thing, and creates his own thing, and does not listen to others or let’s outside influences curtail creative decisions. Good for him. May I be that creatively free one day.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
•“Argo”
•“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
•“Life of Pi”
•“Lincoln”
•“Silver Linings Playbook”
I really think Argo will get this. Why? See my best picture comment above.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
•“Brave”
•“Frankenweenie”
•“ParaNorman”
•“The Pirates! Band of Misfits”
•“Wreck-It Ralph”
I’m torn on this one. I feel like Brave will win since it’s Pixar, and they stress story is king. But Wreck-It Ralph is such a fresh and new idea. A really hard one to imagine and finish. Gotta go games.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
•“Amour”
•“A Royal Affair”
•“No”
•“Kon-Tiki”
•“War Witch”
Amour. Lock.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
•“Anna Karenina”
•“Django Unchained”
•“Life of Pi”
•“Lincoln”
•“Skyfall”
Life of Pi seems to be locks for visual effects, cinematography and score. You’d think it would be something else, but nope.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
•“Anna Karenina” •“Les Miserables”
•“Lincoln”
•“Mirror Mirror”
•“Snow White and the Huntsman”
I first thought it would be Lincoln, but now I keep seeing Anna Karenina, even though it’s up against costuming legend – oh yes, I said it! – Coleen Atwood. I love her, but she might be getting beat this year.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
•“5 Broken Cameras”
•“The Gatekeepers”
•“How to Survive a Plague”
•“The Invisible War”
•“Searching for Sugar Man”

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
•“Inocente”
•“Kings Point”
•“Mondays at Racine”
•“Open Heart”
•“Redemption”
Correction: February 22 – I’m feeling more Redemption than Open Heart, so I’ll change my answer to Redemption. Why? Gut.

BEST FILM EDITING
•“Argo”
•“Life of Pi
•“Lincoln”
•“Silver Linings Playbook”
•“Zero Dark Thirty”

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
•“Hitchcock”
•“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
•“Les Miserables”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
•“Anna Karenina”
•“Argo”
•“Life of Pi”
•“Lincoln”
•“Skyfall”
Life of Pi seems to be locks for visual effects, cinematography and score. You’d think it would be something else, but nope.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
•“Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice”
•“Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from “Ted”
•“Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi”
•“Skyfall” from “Skyfall”
•“Suddenly” from “Les Miserables”
It’s like another public coronation for Adele. But she also made a beautiful song. How can you not deny her this award?

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
•“Anna Karenina”
•“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
•“Les Miserables”
•“Life of Pi”
•“Lincoln”

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
•“Adam and Dog”
•“Fresh Guacamole”
•“Head Over Heels”
•“Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare’”
•“Paperman”

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
•“Asad”
•“Buzkashi Boys”
•“Curfew”
•“Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)”
•“Henry”

BEST SOUND EDITING
•“Argo”
•“Django Unchained”
•“Life of Pi”
•“Skyfall”
•“Zero Dark Thirty”

BEST SOUND MIXING
•“Argo”
•“Les Miserables”
•“Life of Pi”
•“Lincoln”
•“Skyfall”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
•“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
•“Life of Pi”
•“Marvel’s The Avengers”
•“Prometheus”
•“Snow White and the Huntsman”Life of Pi seems to be locks for visual effects, cinematography and score. You’d think it would be something else, but nope.

The 85th Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 24th, 2013 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and broadcast live on ABC.