Fearless OSCAR Predictions, Part II

CATEGORY
Want-THINK (If I only list one name, it means I Want AND THINK they will win)

BEST PICTURE
Zero Dark Thirty - ARGO

BEST ACTOR
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, LINCOLN

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain/Naomi Watts (tie) - JENNIFER LAWRENCE, Silver Linings Playbook

at the OSCAR Nominees Luncheon

I hope they BOTH WIN!

BEST DIRECTOR
STEVEN SPIELBERG, LINCOLN

BEST SUPP. ACTOR
ROBERT DE NIRO, SLP

BEST SUPP. ACTRESS
ANNE HATHAWAY, LES MIZ

BEST FOREIGN-FILM
AMOUR Want AND Think! (Although "A Royal Affair" (Denmark) was quite entertaining)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Q. Tarantino, Django - M. HANEKE, AMOUR 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Tony Kushner, Lincoln - DAVID O. RUSSELL, SLP

CINEMATOGRAPHY 
Django Unchained - LIFE OF PI

COSTUME DESIGN
Lincoln - LES MISERABLES

FILM EDITING
Zero Dark Thirty - ARGO

PRODUCTION DESIGN
LES MISERABLES

ORIGINAL SCORE
Skyfall - LINCOLN

ORIGINAL SONG
"Suddenly" Les Miz  - "SKYFALL" SKYFALL

SOUND EDITING
Django Unchained - LIFE OF PI

SOUND MIXING
Skyfall - ARGO

VISUAL EFFECTS
Snow White - LIFE OF PI

Fearless OSCAR Predictions, Part I

I skipped the Best Documentary Shorts program this year (3-1/2 hours of depressing docs? No thanks) in favor of the Animated and Live Action Shorts Programs. NOTE TO ACADEMY: You have got to stop ripping-off the public by padding the 58 minutes of animated films nominated each year with the sub-par filler that fills your 90 minute program so you can charge a separate admission.

Now I feel qualified to pick winners in those two categories, as well as these other awards (that most people miss because they are TALKING during the show! -- pet peeve #1). Feel free to use these in your OSCAR pools!

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
This is no contest in my mind (even though I have only seen two of the five nominees). I am sure The Gatekeepers, The Invisible War, and How to Survive a Plague are worthy efforts, but there is only one clear choice:
WANT & THINK: Searching for Sugarman

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Usually the high gloss of a major studio like Disney is a turn-off to Academy votes -- and me -- but the Best Animated Short this year is Disney's own "Paperman." While I WANT that to win, I think the voters will choose an underdog (Like last year's excellent "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore").
WANT: Paperman
THINK: Adam and Dog (2nd choice: Fresh Guacamole).

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Did not see any of them, but unlike the DOC SHORTS category, I'm going to make a prediction!
WANT: Frankenweenie
THINK: Brave

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
I sincerely hope the voters do not send a message by choosing the Made-in-Afghanistan BUZKASHI BOYS, a sincere but inept and dramatically-inert effort to bring the struggles of Afghani children to a wider audience. The same intention guides the South African film about Somali refugees in ASAD, but the execution (using a similarly non-professional cast)  and light touch make this a clear winner in my book (and it features a cat!). The U.S. indie "Curfew" by Shawn Christensen, is the other worthy film in this category, but it is definitely a long-shot.
WANT & THINK: ASAD

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
I missed the memo that added "Hairstyling" to the roster of Oscar recipients -- if I were a Stuntman, I would REALLY be pissed now! By default, I WANT : HITCHCOCK.
But I THINK the voters will choose the most-UNdeserving nominee of this season (outside of Quvenzhane Wallis (more on that next post) : LES MISERABLES.

TOP TEN FOREIGN FILMS of 2012

I had no trouble picking a Top Ten among the foreign-language films I saw this year. Not only are these ten movies ones that will stay with you long after you leave the theater, most are by celebrated international directors who are at the top of their game, and a couple will prove to be lasting classics. The first five films in particular encapsulate everything I love about Foreign Films: they challenge, surprise, and engross you.

I pride myself on the scope of my selections, too -- my list goes from one end of Europe (Norway) to the other (Italy)! I can't remember the last time an Italian film made the cut. The country's absence has been missed.

I admit that I am drawn to more films from these countries than say Asia, but that is because I have been burned too many times by over-rated Asian films: examples that come to mind like Yi, Yi ... (Taiwan), Uncle Boonmee ... (Thailand) and anything created by the ponderous Chinese-Malaysian director Ming-liang Tsai, have made me gun shy. (I will go see anything by directors Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-Wai, on the other hand).

Links are to my reviews - (Director) Country:

1. ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA - (Nuri Bilge Ceylan) TURKEY
I haven't written about this 157-minute cinematic masterpiece in full, but it is enthralling! Great characters, great faces ... haunting.

2. CAESAR MUST DIE - (the Taviani Brothers) ITALY
Another unexpected gem: Shakespeare performed by prisoners in a maximum security Roman prison...brilliant! (just now released in the US).

3. THE KID WITH A BIKE -  (the Dardenne Brothers) BELGIUM A simple story that will tear you up inside.

4. THE TURIN HORSE -  (Bela Tarr) HUNGARY

5. FAREWELL, MY QUEEN - (Benoit Jacquot) FRANCE

6. Rust and Bone - (Jacques Audiard)  France

7. Amour - (Michael Haneke) Austria

It is shocking that this unrelentingly bleak film received a Best Picture Oscar nomination. 

8. Elena - (Andrei Zvyagintsev) Russia

9. The Intouchables - (Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano) France

10. Oslo, August 31st - (Joachim Trier) Norway

The one French film I deliberately excluded was Leos Carax's HOLY MOTORS. Too impenetrable to be enjoyed.  I felt like I was missing too many of the cinematic references (and when that happens to the foreignfilmguy, you know they are obscure!).