Well here we are again, looking foolishly ahead to what Oscar will like. It’s a tough business being obsessed with award shows but I wouldn’t have it any other way. So for your viewing pleasure here are my nominees and some thoughts.

  • How will the “Oscar bait” do? There are so many baity projects this year from gangsters to presidents to singing revolutionaries. I currently have Les Miserables as the film to beat with Lincoln a close second. 
  • Will we see a lone director? I just get a feeling that with the amount of sci-fi and fantasy films coming out that someone will get a Best Director nomination without getting a Best Picture.
  • How will The Dark Knight Rises fare? I currently have it tapped for 7 nominations (although none of the “big” categories) but this is really an interesting case. Many think that the outcry against The Dark Knight not getting nominated spurred the Academy to change the voting rules. But this isn’t a year of a guaranteed 10 nominees for Best Picture, so will the final Nolan Batman film get the #1 votes necessary?
  • Crazy Nominees? It is taking everything in my power not to add Jennifer Lawrence to the Best Actress group and you can see I’m going out on a limb and say that Tom Cruise playing extremely against type as an aging rocker in a musical (!) will net him a nomination. And what about those Sundance hits Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Surrogate?

BEST MOTION PICTURE (Top 10)

  • Anna Karenina
  • Argo
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Django Unchained
  • Hyde Park on Hudson
  • Lincoln
  • Les Miserables
  • The Master
  • On the Road
  • Zero Dark Thirty

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Ben Affleck
    “Argo”
  • Paul Thomas Anderson
    “The Master”
  • Alfonso Cuaron
    “Gravity”
  • Tom Hooper
    “Les Miserables”
  • Steven Spielberg
    “Lincoln”

BEST ACTOR

  • Daniel Day-Lewis
    “Lincoln”
  • John Hawkes
    “The Surrogate”
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman
    “The Master”
  • Hugh Jackman
    “Les Miserables”
  • Brad Pitt
    “Killing Them Softly”

BEST ACTRESS

  • Viola Davis
    “Won’t Back Down”
  • Hellen Hunt
    “The Surrogate”
  • Keira Knightley
    “Anna Karenina”
  • Laura Linney
    “Hyde Park on Hudson”
  • Carey Mulligan
    “The Great Gatsby”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

  • Russell Crowe
    “Les Miserables”
  • Tom Cruise
    “Rock of Ages”
  • Leonardo DiCaprio
    “Django Unchained”
  • Sean Penn
    “The Gangster Squad”
  • Joaquin Phoenix
    “The Master”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  • Amy Adams
    “The Master”
  • Annette Benning
    “Imogene”
  • Sally Field
    “Lincoln”
  • Anne Hathaway
    “Les Miserables”
  • Kerry Washington
    “Django Unchained”
    BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
    • Brave
    • Beasts of the Southern Wild
    • Django Unchained
    • The Master
    • Zero Dark Thirty
    BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
    • Anna Karenina
    • Argo
    • The Gangster Squad
    • Lincoln
    • On the Road

      • BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

      • Brave
      • Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
      • Frankenweenie
      • Rise of the Guardians
      • The Secret World of Arrietty

      BEST ART DIRECTION

      • Anna Karenina
      • Beasts of the Southern Wild
      • The Great Gatsby
      • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
      • Lincoln

      BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

      • Anna Karenina
      • Beasts of the Southern Wild
      • The Dark Knight Rises
      • Gravity
      • The Master

      BEST COSTUME DESIGN

      • Anna Karenina
      • Argo
      • The Great Gatsby
      • Les Miserables
      • Lincoln

      BEST FILM EDITING

      • The Dark Knight Rises
      • Django Unchained
      • Les Miserables
      • The Master
      • Zero Dark Thirty

      BEST MAKEUP

      • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
      • The Hunger Games
      • Les Miserables

      BEST SOUND MIXING

      • The Avengers
      • The Dark Knight Rises
      • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
      • The Hunger Games
      • Zero Dark Thirty 

      BEST SOUND EDITING

      • The Avengers
      • The Dark Knight Rises
      • Gravity
      • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
      • Zero Dark Thirty

      BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

      • The Avengers
      • The Dark Knight Rises
      • Gravity
      • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
      • Prometheus

      BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

      • The Dark Knight Rises
      • Django Unchained
      • Lincoln
      • Moonrise Kingdom
      • On the Road

      BEST ORIGINAL SONG

      • Brave
      • Les Miserables
      • Sparkle