2013 Academy Awards Nominees and Predictions

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The 2013 Oscar nominations were announced last week and I was very excited by the diversity of this years group of films.  I think there is a great mix of indie and blockbuster as well as movies with action, romance, comedy, drama, historical, and contemporary.  There were some great surprise nominations as well as some pretty shocking snubs.  So who got nominated and what do I think?  Let's discuss!

Side note, when you see an * that indicates a movie I have seen.

Best Picture

Argo*
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild*
Django Unchained
Les Miserables*
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook*
Zero Dark Thirty*


This year there are nine nominees out of a possible ten and I think they are all great candidates.  I love how diverse these movies are; there is a foreign film, two fantasies (both indie and blockbuster), romance, two political thrillers (one modern and one historical), a historical drama, a western, and even a musical.  Lincoln is leading the pack with twelve nominations but Life of Pi is right behind with eleven.  Rounding out the top is Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook with eight nominations each.

Who will win?  I thought Lincoln would have this one in the bag, but after Argo's surprise Golden Globe win for Best Picture-Drama I'm not as sure.  I still think Lincoln will win, but it's not quite as slam dunk as I thought. 

Who should win?  Of the five movies I have seen my vote would be for Argo.  I thought it was brilliant, well acted, and just well put together.   I really loved the costumes and makeup, I thought it was perfectly 1979 and told an important story in American and Canadian history.

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Best Actor

Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook*
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables*
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight*

For best actor there are pretty surprising nominations.  Joaquin Phoenix is a surprise, not because he didn't do an amazing job (he did), but because  he is so anti awards shows he might not even show up.  I am also surprised to see Denzel Washington here.  I wasn't that impressed with flight and I didn't think his performance was anything that spectacular.  There's also a pretty big snub for John Hawkes in The Sessions. 

Who will win?  This is a great category with some really fantastic performances, but it's pretty obvious that Daniel Day-Lewis is going to snag another win.
 
Who should win?  Like I said I haven't seen Lincoln yet, but I would really like to see Hugh Jackman take home the award.  His dedication to the role was admirable plus he can SANG.  He did win the Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy or musical, but then Day-Lewis won for best actor in a drama, so that doesn't carry much weight.

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 Best Actress

Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty*
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook*
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild*
Naomi Watts - The Impossible

Best actress is an awesome category this year.  I love that it has both the oldest nominee (Emmanuelle Riva will turn 86 on Oscar night) and the youngest nominee (Quvenzhane Wallis is 9 years old and was only 6 when Beasts of the Southern Wild was filmed!). 

Who will win?  I really think this will be a show down between Jessica Chastian (who took the golden globe for best actress in a drama) and Jennifer Lawrence (who got the golden globe for best actress in a comedy or musical). 

Who should win?  I've seen both Zero Dark Thirty and Silver Linings Playbook and in my opinion Jennifer Lawrence gave the much stronger performance.  However, some voters may see her as more of a supporting character given the film is really about Bradley Cooper's character so I think more voters will go for Jessica Chastian.

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Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Argo*
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook*
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

What a tough category to predict!  These are five amazing actors who all have fantastic careers, gave phenomenal performances, and all have won Oscars before.  This really is anyone's race.

Who will win?  I predict Tommy Lee Jones will win, even though Waltz took home the golden globe.

Who should win?  Leonardo DiCaprio?  What a snub!  I just want Leo to win an Oscar, he has made such amazing films and just never can seem to squeak out a win.  I was shocked he wasn't nominated and I wish I could have a write in vote.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables*
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook*

Overall this is a great category, but I am really surprised to see Jacki Weaver on this list.  I didn't think her character was stand out in the film at all and there are other actresses that deserve a nomination more in my opinion (Nicole Kidman for one).

Who will win?  Of course, all the other nominees are really fighting for second place because Anne Hathaway is going to take this one home.  This is the one category that I feel 100% confident in and I will be DUMBFOUNDED if someone else one.

Best Director
Michael Haneke - Amour
Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild*
Ang Lee - Life of Pi 
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook*

This is the most surprising category with Michael Haneke and Benh Zeitlin and major snubs to Ben Affleck for Argo, Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty, Tom Hooper for Les Miserables, and Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained.

Who will win - I think the voters will be safe and choose Steven Spielberg but based on such surprising nominations we might see an underdog come out on top.

Who should win - Ben Affleck.  Homeboy should have been nominated. At least he took home the golden globe.

So those are the major categories!  What are your predictions?  Do you think any movies were left out?  Post in the comments below and be sure to tune in  Sunday February 24th to see who will win!