It is that time of year again. This was a good year, but not great year for movies. There were a bunch that I really liked. It is not like 2010 when there were 5 or 6 Best Picture worthy films, but there's at least 3 that are that good this year (Argo, Lincoln, and Silver Linings Playbook). Below you can find out more about this years nominations and how to follow along as well as some predictions.
The 2012 Movies
Here's the 2012 nominees for each category.
Here's a montage Google put together showing clips of the year's top movies. I love these montages!
Who Should Win. Who Will Win
Here's my annual list of who I think will win and who I think should win.
Best Picture
Should Win: Argo – The best all around movie. A bit too cute at times, but still it is Oscar worthy.
Will Win: Argo – There's some solid competition from Silver Linings Playbook and Lincoln, but Argo is dominating all the other awards and should win the Oscar.
Best Actor
Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis – In a category that usually wins for powerful performances, Day-Lewis' understated perfromance should take the prize.
Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis – Bradley Cooper was the driving force behind Silver Linings Playbook and in many other years he would have won. But not this year.
Best Actress
Should Win: Jessica Chastain – I thought her character carried a fairly mediocre movie. Overall, I thought this was a weak year for his category, though I have yet to see "The Impossible" and there's a good chance Naomi Watts' performance could be the best.
Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence – She's very popular in Hollywood circles and was very good in this character driven story.
Best Supporting Actor
Should Win: Alan Arkin – He gave a great movie a nice comedic touch. Christoph Walz is a close second, as he really drove "Django" but he was basically playing the same character as he did in "Inglorious Bastards". And Robert DeNiro played Robert DeNiro, that's a no win from me.
Will Win: Christoph Walz – He takes it. A perfect git for Tarantino's style.
Best Supporting Actress
Should Win: Helen Hunt – She was just fantastic in a rare instance of the supporting character often outshining the challenged character in "The Sessions".
Will Win: Anne Hathaway – She was spectacular in "Les Mis" and folks lover her.
Best Director
Should Win: Ben Afflect / David O. Russell – Remarkably, Affleck did not get nominated. So he can't win, but should. Since he's not there Russell deserves it. "Silver Linings Playbook" was a different type of movie in certain ways and he pulled it off well. Speilbert would be a close second for "Lincoln"
Will Win: Steven Speilberg – He'll get credit for making a different kind of movie for him, getting a great performance out of Day-Lewis, and "Lincoln" is very good.
Keeping up with the Oscars
Here's some great tools to follow along with what is happening.
- The Official Oscars Apps for iPhone/iPad and Android:
- Watch your favorite celebrities as they walk the Red Carpet
- Follow the winners backstage in the Dolby Theatre
- See the stars mingle on Hollywood’s biggest night
- The Social Oscars – The Nate Silver of Films: Brandwatch uses social metrics and critics choices to help predict the winners.
- Google's Oscar site: You can see Google's picks based on search activity
Past Best Picture Winners
Here's a list of all past nominess and winners on Wikipedia.
Here's 12 past Oscar Best Picture winners that are currently streaming on Netflix. This includes the last 2 winners: "The Artist" and "The King's Speech".
And here's a quick montage of clips from all past winners which is pretty good.