Rex Offers You His 2012 Oscar Predictions
LemonWade’s Oscar obsessive Rex Okpodu has crunched the data, read the tea leaves, and peered into his peerless crystal ball to come up with these expert predictions about who’s going to win on Sunday. Want to win your Oscar pool on Sunday? Then read on!
Best Picture
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> The Nominees are:
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> * “The Artist”
> *
> * “The Descendants”
> *
> * “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”
> *
> * “The Help”
> *
> * “Hugo”
> *
> * “Midnight in Paris”
> *
> * “Moneyball”
> *
> * “The Tree of Life”
> *
> * “War Horse”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: The Artist. This silent frontrunner has been the talk of the film world since Cannes last spring. Having swept the Critics choice, the Globes, the Guilds and BAFTA, The Artist is poised to be the first silent film since 1929’s Wings to be named Best Picture. It will be the first black-and-white film since Schindler’s List in 1993 to win.
>
Best Director
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> The Nominees are:
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> * Michel Hazanavicius “The Artist”
> *
> * Alexander Payne “The Descendants”
> *
> * Martin Scorsese “Hugo”
> *
> * Woody Allen “Midnight in Paris”
> *
> * Terrence Malick “The Tree of Life”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist,” because having won the DGA over veterans like Scorcese and Allen, there is a strong chance of this repeating on Oscar night.
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> Best Actor
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> * Demián Bichir “A Better Life”
> *
> * George Clooney “The Descendants”
> *
> * Jean Dujardin “The Artist”
> *
> * Brad Pitt “Moneyball”
> *
> * Gary Oldman “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: Jean Dujardin “The Artist”
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> Early in the season, it looked liked Clooney was a shoo-in to win this race but then Dujardin’s SAG and BAFTA wins plus having charmed the pants off everyone in town makes this a very tight race to predict.
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> On the other hand, Clooney is Hollywood ‘s favorite poster boy and therefore a formidable opponent.
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> That said, Dujardin’s precursor victories plus the strong coattails of The Artist make him a strong front runner for the big prize on Oscar night.
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> Dujardin is the fourth Frenchman nominated in this category after Maurice Chevalier , Charles Boyer, and Gerard Depardieu, and he would be the first to win it.
>
>
> Best Actress
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> * Glenn Close “Albert Nobbs”
> *
> * Roney Mara “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
> *
> * Viola Davis “The Help”
> *
> * Meryl Streep “The Iron Lady”
> *
> * Michelle Williams “My Week with Marilyn”
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> And the Oscar goes to: Viola Davis for “The Help”
>
> Like the lead actor category above, this is another very tight race to predict.
>
> Davis looks likely to beat Streep because she has never previously won (Streep already has 2 Oscars though not for 29 years).
>
> Being in a box office hit and best pic contender (unlike Streep) also helps Viola.
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> A win here offers a chance to make history as the second black best actress winner.
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> Finally Davis has already beaten Streep in the strongest precursor (SAG).
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> The only other nominee with any hope of pulling off an upset is Williams, who is young, sexy, played the iconic star (Monroe) and showed a lot of skin on screen and off (the belle of the ball factor).
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>
> Best Supporting Actor
>
> The Nominees are:
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> * Kenneth Branagh “My Week with Marilyn”
> *
> * Jonah Hill “Moneyball”
> *
> * Nick Nolte “Warrior”
> *
> * Christopher Plummer “Beginners”
> *
> * Max von Sydow “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
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> And the Oscar goes to: Christopher Plummer for “Beginners”
>
> The battle of the octogenarians in a category lately styled “for the old geezers Oscar acting category”.
>
> On one hand we have revered 82-year-old has thespian Plummer who has won every major precursor award pitted against another 80 year old and acting great, Max Von Sydow.
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> Either of them would become the oldest person to ever win an acting Oscar.
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> The smart money is on Plummer but Von Sydow is in a best picture contender albeit a weak one.
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>
> Best Supporting Actress
>
> The Nominees are:
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> * Bérénice Bejo “The Artist”
> *
> * Jessica Chastain “The Help”
> *
> * Melissa McCarthy “Bridesmaids”
> *
> * Janet McTeer “Albert Nobbs”
> *
> * Octavia Spencer “The Help”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: Octavia Spencer “The Help”
>
> Octavia has also swept the precursor awards (including SAG), the winner of which has repeated at the Oscars eight of the last 10 years.
>
> Conventional wisdom was that two contenders from the same film hurt each other but, as we saw from last year’s win by Melissa Leo, a strong contender can have enough momentum to overcome that.
>
> There is no reason to suppose Octavia will not achieve the same this year.
>
>
> Best Adapted Screenplay
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “The Descendants”
> *
> * “Hugo”
> *
> * “The Ides of March”
> *
> * “Moneyball”
> *
> * “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “The Descendants”
>
> If “The Descendants” loses best picture, director and possibly lead actor to “The Artist,” this is the next big category which could be its consolation prize.
> Best Original Screenplay
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “The Artist”
> *
> * “Bridesmaids”
> *
> * “Margin Call”
> *
> * “Midnight in Paris”
> *
> * “A Separation”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “Midnight in Paris”
> Like the sister category above, the Academy could use this category to reward Allen for his career top grosser Paris-based fantasy but The Artist could be on a roll and also take this category.
> The other 2 strong contenders for this prize are A Separation, (which could join Talk To Her (2002) as a rare non-English-speaking winner of this category) and box office winner Bridesmaids.
> Best Foreign Language Film
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “Bullhead”(Belgium)
> *
> * “Footnote”(Israel)
> *
> * “In Darkness”(Poland)
> *
> * “Monsieur Lazhar”(Canada)
> *
> * “A Separation”(Iran)
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “A Separation” (Iran)
>
> It’s hard to bet against a Holocaust drama (In Darkness), but almost every precursor group has gone for Iran’s A Separation which is also a strong contender in the original screenplay category.
>
> A Separation is only the second Iranian film nominated in this category and would be the first to win.
>
>
> Best Animated Feature Film
>
> The Nominees:
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> * “Chico & Rita”
> *
> * “A Cat in Paris”
> *
> * “Kung Fu Panda 2”
> *
> * “Puss in Boots”
> *
> * “Rango”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “Rango”
>
> The combination of Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp’s reunion, a 2D film in a time dominated by 3D sequels has grossed nearly $250 million and won every major award for which it was eligible (except the PGA and Golden Globes which were won by The Adventures of Tintin, which ridiculously was not Oscar nominated).
>
Best Art Direction
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “The Artist”
> *
> * “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”
> *
> * “Hugo”
> *
> * “Midnight in Paris”
> *
> * “War Horse”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “Hugo”
>
>
> Best Cinematography
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “The Artist”
> *
> * “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
> *
> * “Hugo”
>
> * “War Horse”
> *
> * “The Tree of Life”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “The Tree of Life”
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Best Costume Design
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “Anonymous”
> *
> * “The Artist”
> *
> * “Hugo”
> *
> * “Jane Eyre”
> *
> * “W.E.”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “Hugo”
>
Best Film Editing
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “The Artist”
> *
> * “The Descendants”
> *
> * “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
> * “Hugo”
* “Moneyball”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “The Artist”
>
> Best Makeup
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “Albert Nobbs”
> *
> * “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”
> *
> * “The Iron Lady”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “The Iron Lady”
>
>
> Best Original Score
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “The Artist”
> *
> * “The Adventures of Tintin”
> *
> * “Hugo”
> *
> * “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
> *
> * “War Horse”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “The Artist”
>
>
>
> Best Original Song
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “The Muppets”
> * “Rio”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “The Muppets”
>
>
>
> Best Sound Editing
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “Drive”
> *
> * “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
> *
> * “Hugo”
> *
> * “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
> *
> * “War Horse”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “Hugo”
>
>
> Best Sound Mixing
>
> The Nominees are
>
> * “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
> *
> * “Hugo”
> *
> * “Moneyball”
> *
> * “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
> *
> * “War Horse”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “War Horse”
>
>
> Best Visual Effects
>
> The Nominees are
>
> * “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”
> *
> * “Hugo”
> *
> * “Real Steel”
> *
> * “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
> *
> * “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
>
>
> Best Documentary Feature
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> * “Hell and Back Again”
> *
> * “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
> *
> * “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
> *
> * “Pina”
>
> * “Undefeated”
>
> * And the Oscar goes: “Undefeated”
>
>
> Best Documentary Short Subject
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> “The Barber of Birmingham : Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement?”
>
> “God Is the Bigger Elvis”
>
> “Incident in New Baghdad ”
>
> “Saving Faceâ€
>
> “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossomâ€
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “Saving Faceâ€
>
> Best Animated Short Film
>
> The Nominees are:
>
> Dimanche/Sunday
>
> The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
>
> La Luna
>
> A Morning Stroll
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> Wild Life
>
> And the Oscar goes to: “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
>
>
>
> Best Live Action Short Film
>
> The Nominees are:
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> “Pentecost”
>
> “Raju”
>
> “The Shore”
>
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic ”
And the Oscar goes to: “Tuba Atlantic”
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