Generation Film!

It’s always fun to practice my speculative abilities as to which films will garner notice this year for the Academy Awards. The Academy is quite often wrong on most of their accolades so it’s actually quite easy to get into the mindset of the Academy and guess which films will be recognized and which ones will be, unfortunately, bypassed. So after seeing a good number of the films rumored to be chosen, especially some that I have utterly rejected as plausibilities (J. Edgar being one of them), here is a first phase list of the 6 major categories for this years Oscars.

Best Picture

1) The Artist

2) The Descendants

3) Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy

4) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

5) The Tree of Life

6) Midnight in Paris

7) War Horse

8 Hugo

9) Moneyball

10) The Help

I will make note here that I think nominating The Help or Moneyball would only be to desperately try and reach a populist tone. Moneyball was good, a sort of nerdy number crunching sports film that had good acting and an intriguing perspective, while The Help was…well it just was. It was delightful at times and light hearted, but it wasn’t even close to attempting something far grander than what all other average films deliver. We’re looking for the best aren’t we? Other possibilities that could surprise (including the fact that we might not have 10 nominations this year…maybe 7) are the films Young Adult, A Dangerous Method, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, We Bought a Zoo, and please include any I might not be thinking of. Apparently there is a big movement behind getting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows nominated, though I’m pretty sure that is a non-issue. If none of the others got Oscar notoriety I can’t see this one, which is tonally similar and technically the same as the others, getting a nomination.

Best Director

1) Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

2) Steven Spielberg (War Horse)

3) Terrance Malick (Tree of Life)

4) Tomas Alfredson (Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy)

5) Alexander Payne (The Descendants)

Other possibilities will be Academy darling Stephen Daldry (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), Bennett Miller (Moneyball), or Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Best Actor

1) George Clooney (The Descendants)

2) Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy)

3) Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

4) Michael Fassbender (Shame)

5) Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)

My choice of Michael Shannon might be wishful thinking…it seems Brad Pitt will be chosen for Moneyball. But other possibilities are Woody Harrelson (Rampart) or a strange and undeserved nomination for Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar).

Best Actress

1) Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)

2) Viola Davis (The Help)

3) Charlize Theron (Young Adult)

4) Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)

5) Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)

This category isn’t necessarily set. There are multiple other actresses with strong performances this year that could get a nomination. These possibilities include Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy Mae Marlene),  Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Olivia Coleman (Tyrannosaur), Felicity Jones (Like Crazy), or Rooney Mara (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

Best Supporting Actor

1) Albert Brooks (Drive)

2) Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

3) Patton Oswalt (Young Adult)

4) Viggo Mortensen (A Dangerous Method)

5) Max Von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

If Plummer gets nominated, he will win. But other possible nominations are Benedict Cumberbatch (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady), Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn), or Nick Nolte (Warrior).

Best Supporting Actress

1) Octavia Spencer (The Help)

2) Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

3) Jessica Chastain (either Tree of Life or The Help)

4) Carey Mulligan (Shame)

5) Sandra Bullock (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

This category is pretty open for grabs as nominations are concerned and the possibilities include Jodie Foster (Carnage), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), or Melanie Laurent (Beginners)

Any choices I’m not considering? Have your own opinion on who should win or what should be nominated? Let me know. Also hold me to my predictions…maybe I’ll be drastically wrong.