85th Academy Awards

I don't have much time to blog anymore. *shrug*

I do, however, like talking about movies, and I thought I could take this opportunity to tell you what I think about the upcoming Acadamy Awards. If you don't care about movies, or don't care what I think about movies, then I don't understand why we are friends.

For the past few years, Steve and I have tried to see every Oscar-nominated movie before the awards show. This has proven impossible, mostly because the foreign films (and some docs) are never released in the United States, much less in Utah, before the ceremony. We usually come pretty close, though, and this year is no exception.

*I need to point out that I recognize that the Oscars are not all-inclusive and that there are many great and admirable films that do not get nominated, and there are many craptastic films that do. Oscar-nominated movies do, however, provide a good starting point for wading through the thousands of movie options out there, and it's fun to have a quantifiable goal to work towards with someone who cares about movies just as much as you do.*

Here are my predictions and picks for this year:

BEST PICTURE

WILL WIN: Argo
SHOULD WIN: Ok. Bad one to start out with. I haven't seen Amour yet (seeing it tomorrow!) so I can't make an entirely informed decision here. Honestly...I didn't love any of the best picture noms. In fact, I am on a personal quest to find the Real Best Picture of 2012 and have already checked out half a dozen movies from the library that I missed last year but that I think have real potential. As of right now, I don't think any of the nominees (excluding Amour) are worthy of this title.

BEST DIRECTOR

WILL WIN: Ang Lee
SHOULD WIN: Meh. Again, discounting Michael Haneke because I haven't seen Amour yet, I am not blown away by the nominees. Ang Lee is winning raves for "filming the unfilmable" (no such thing, in my opinion); Spielberg and Russell were lucky that their pictures were elevated by such fine actors, otherwise their names would not be on this roster; and Benh Zeitlin's first feature, though it wins props for being original, was a little bit of a snoozefest. *spin the bottle* Ang Lee it is.

BEST ACTOR in a leading role

WILL WIN: Daniel Day-Lewis
SHOULD WIN: Daniel Day-Lewis. I'm thinking of naming my firstborn son Daniel Day-Lewis, Jr. The man is supremely gifted, and he managed to infuse life and passion into an otherwise mediocre movie. Joaquin Phoenix was also crazy fantastic, and I maintain that Hugh Jackman is one of the most entertaining and talented actors working today, but DDL has the edge for his complete physical and spiritual embodiment of Honest Abe.

BEST ACTRESS in a leading role

WILL WIN: Jennifer Lawrence
SHOULD WIN: Again, I haven't seen Amour yet, so of the remaining four nominees, my pick is Naomi Watts in the little-seen The Impossible. Her performance was intensely physical as well as gut-wrenchingly tender; no matter how much Jessica Chastain stares at a computer screen or how much eyeliner Jennifer Lawrence wears, they really can't compare to the radiant Ms. Watts. Quetzalcoatl Wallis (I think I spelled that right) was okay, I guess...but I really believe that a watchable child actor is more a reflection of the considerable child-wrangling talents of the director than of the acting chops of the child.

BEST ACTOR in a supporting role

WILL WIN: Robert De Niro
SHOULD WIN: This is a tough one. Did I mention I'm thinking of naming my second firstborn son Christoph Waltz, Jr.? His turn in Django Unchained is carefully controlled and delightfully quaint; no one turns a phrase in quite the same charming Austrian way as Herr Waltz. I thought Tommy Lee Jones was excellent in Lincoln, but I can't help but think that he is more or less like that in real life. I didn't see this role as a real stretch for him. Same goes for Alan Arkin, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, for that matter (creepy, I know). I was glad to see Robert De Niro in anything other than a Ben Stiller atrocity, but I can't say I was really moved by his performance. So...I'mma go for Christoph Waltz. For fun.

BEST ACTRESS in a supporting role

WILL WIN: Anne Hathaway
SHOULD WIN: Anne Hathaway. Although the contenders in this category are all strong (much stronger than their male counterparts, as a matter of fact), Annie's much-hyped "I Dreamed a Dream" is, in a word, revelatory.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

WILL WIN: Brave (a curse and a pox upon Pixar, *spit spit*)
SHOULD WIN: Frankenweenie. Maybe I'm a little too harsh on Brave (I will admit I liked it), but Frankenweenie is Tim Burton's finest work in years. ParaNorman and The Pirates! Band of Misfits are also worth watching; Wreck-It Ralph has some impressive voice talent, but I didn't find it was anything beyond the typical assault-on-the-senses animated confections that are a dime-a-dozen these days. Please see Frankenweenie. You'll be glad you did.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

WILL WIN: Searching for Sugar Man
SHOULD WIN: Searching for Sugar Man. Disclaimer: The Gatekeepers doesn't come out until March, so it is exempt from my consideration. Side note and possible *spoiler alert*: Steve and I are seeing Rodriguez, the subject of Sugar Man, in concert in April. I've never seen an Oscar-winning musician live in concert before. Woo!

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

WILL WIN: Inocente
SHOULD WIN: Mondays at Racine. My heart broke like twelve times watching this movie. In a good way.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

WILL WIN: Paperman
SHOULD WIN: Paperman. (Its music gives it the edge). I also loved Fresh Guacamole.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

WILL WIN: Curfew
SHOULD WIN: Curfew. Although I was touched by the emotion behind Curfew, I was unimpressed by the performances. Still, it's probably the most memorable of all the nominees (although I did enjoy the stylishness of Death of a Shadow, it did not resonate with me on any emotional level).

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Pending...

ALL OTHER CATEGORIES:

Congratulations on your nomination! But I don't really care.

What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear any opinions/reviews of any of these movies/actors.

(And for the curious, here are the movies we did NOT see, but will hopefully catch when they are released this year):

Chasing Ice
The Gatekeepers
Kon-Tiki
No
A Royal Affair
War Witch