oscar watch 2013: my picks!

After watching all except 2 movies that I could not get my eyes on (The Gatekeepers - not yet released in St. Louis; The Master - out of theater, but doesn't come out on DVD until the 26th), I have my hopes for  who will take home Oscar.

This is not a list of  who I think will win, but who I would *want* to win. I categorized the nominees into groups by how I would feel if they won. If you want to know who I think will win, look for the asterisk*.



Best Movie:
Happiest: Argo*
Happy:  Silver Linings Playbook or Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty
Fine: Life of Pi, Django Unchained,  or Beasts of the Southern Wild
Angry: Amour, Les Mis

Best Animated Movie:
Happiest: Wreck-it-Ralph
Happy: Frankenweenie, Pirates! Band of Misfits
Fine: ParaNorman (cute, but not worth winning), Brave* (yes, I know impeccable animation, but the movie was so boring. UGH! Totally wasted potential for an awesome, strong, heroine for little girls to look up to).
Angry: n/a

Best Documentary:
Happiest: Searching for Sugar Man
Happy: The Invisible War, 5 Broken Cameras, How to Survive a Plague,
Fine: The Gatekeepers* (couldn't see it, so have no opinion)
Angry: n/a

Best Actor:
Happiest: Daniel Day Lewis*, Lincoln
Happy: Hugh Jackman, Les Mis; Bradley Cooper,Silver Linings Playbook
Fine: Joaquin Pheonix, The Master (I put him here because I can't really have an opinion since I didn't see the movie)
Angry:  Denzel Washington, Flight (I hated this movie & didn't think he did anything new or note-worthy. I certainly didn't get lost in his role.)

Best Actress
Happiest: Jessica Chastain*, ZD30
Happy: Jennifer Lawrence*, Silver Linings Playbook; Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Fine: Emannuelle Riva, Amour; Naimi Watts, The Impossible
Angry: n/a

Best Supporting Actor:
Happiest: Christopher Waltz, Django Unchained
Happy: Tommy Lee Jones*, Lincoln; Robert DiNero, Silver Linings Playbook
Fine: Alan Arkin, Argo; Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master (again, only here b/c I didn't see it)
Angry: n/a

Best Supporting Actress:
Happiest: Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Happy: Anne Hathaway*, Les Mis;  Jackie Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Fine: Sally Field, Lincoln; Amy Adams, The Master (again...didn't see her)
Angry: n/a

Best Director:
Happiest: Ben Affleck, Argo - wait, he wasn't nominated (OUTRAGEOUS!)
Happy: Ang Lee, Life of Pi; Steven Speilberg*, Lincoln; David O Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Fine: Benh Zeitlin, Beasts S/W
Angry: Michael Haneke, Amour

Best Cinematography:
Happiest: Django Unchained, Robert Richardson
Happy: Skyfall, Roger Deakins; Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda; Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey
Fine: Lincoln*, Janusz Kaminski;
Angry: n/a

Best Score:
Happiest: Silver Linings Playbook (not actually nominated)
Happy: Anna Karenina, Argo, Skyfall, Life of Pi,
Fine :Lincoln*
Angry: n/a

As it turns out, I've seen all the movies up for Writing, so I'll go ahead and give my picks for those, too. :)

Best (adapted) Screenplay:
*I guess I should have read the writings from which these were adapted. I've read Life of Pi, but not the others, & I'm going to just have ignore if I think it was adapted well, but only concentrate on which one I thought was written best in general.
Happiest: Silver Linings Playbook
Happy: Argo, Lincoln*, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi -- I almost put this at "fine," because I love the book so much, and was not happy with a couple of the changes they made. Overall, one of the better adaptations I've seen & I'm not supposed to be judging on the "adaptation."
Fine: n/a
Angry: n/a

Best (original) Screenplay:
Happiest: Django Unchained*
Happy: Moonrise Kingdom, Zero Dark Thirty
Fine: n/a
Angry: Flight -- are you KIDDING me?! I cannot believe this was nominated for writing. Can.Not.Believe!; 
Amour