2012 Oscars

The Oscars were last weekend and beforehand I picked out, as usual, my opinions on who would win and my predictions on who would actually win. Here is that list along with the results and a bit of commentary.

Best Picture
Should Win: The Artist
Will Win: The Artist
Did Win: The Artist
The most important Oscar went to my favorite movie of the year so I am pleased. Though I do remain disappointed that Drive wasn't even nominated.

Best Director
Should Win: Michael Hazanavicius
Will Win: Alexander Payne
Did Win: Michael Hazanavicius
I was pleasantly surprised at this. I knew Scorcese would never win and I was pessimistic that the Academy wouldn't recognize Hazanavicius which is why I predicted Payne.


Best Actor
Should Win: Jean Dujardin
Will Win: Jean Dujardin
Did Win: Jean Dujardin
All I can say is why wasn't Ryan Gosling nominated for Drive?

Best Actress
Should Win: anyone but Meryl Streep
Will Win: Viola Davis
Did Win: Meryl Streep
I was among those who Meryl Streep addressed at the beginning of her acceptance speech. It's really hard to stay mad at that woman.

Best Supporting Actor
Should Win: Christopher Plummer because he’s Canadian
Will Win: I dunno. Nick Nolte?
Did Win: Christopher Plummer
I knew Jonah Hill didn't stand a chance and I figured it would go to one of the old timers, but which one it would be was more difficult to call. In the end, Plummer had the best acceptance speech of the night.

Best Supporting Actress
Should Win: Berenice Bejo
Will Win: Berenice Bejo
Did Win: Octavia Spencer
I probably should have had this one, but for some reason I thought it was Viola Davis who had all the buzz and not Spencer. Oh well.

Best Original Screenplay
Should Win: The Artist
Will Win: The Artist
Did Win: Midnight in Paris
I found this result to be rather disappointing. That is all.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Should Win: The Descendants
Will Win: Hugo
Did Win: The Descendants
I find it interesting that neither of what I considered to be the top contenders for Best Picture (The Artist and Hugo) won for screenplay.

Best Documentary
Should Win: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Will Win: Hell and Back Again
Did Win: Undefeated
And now we enter into the world of random guesses based mostly on the title of the movies.

Best Foreign Film
Should Win: Monsieur Lazhar
Will Win: Footnote
Did Win: A Separation
I dropped the ball on this won. If I had noticed that A Separation was also nominated for screenplay then I probably would have called it.

Best Animated Feature
Should Win: Rango
Will Win: One of the foreign ones
Did Win: Rango
I don't really have anything to add here.

Best Original Score
Should Win: The Artist
Will Win: The Artist
Did Win: The Artist
If it didn't go to The Artist, I would have been pissed.

Best Original Song
Should Win: Man or Muppet
Will Win: Man or Muppet
Did Win: Man or Muppet
Bret McKenzie is awesome.

Best Cinematography
Should Win: The Artist
Will Win: Hugo
Did Win: Hugo
I guess I can accept that Hugo had nice cinematography.

Best Live Short
Should Win: Tuba Atlantic
Will Win: Time Freak
Did Win: The Shore
Based on the clips they played when they listed the nominees, The Shore looked to be the most boring.

Best Animated Short
Should Win: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Will Win: Dimanche
Did Win: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Looks like a nice short.

Best Documentary Short
Should Win: God is the Bigger Elvis
Will Win: The Barber of Birmingham
Did Win: Saving Face
I haven't seen any of the movies in this category.

Best Costumes
Should Win: The Artist
Will Win: The Artist
Did Win: The Artist
People in the 20's/30's sure were snappy dressers. And had sweet mustaches.

Best Makeup
Should Win: Harry Potter
Will Win: Harry Potter
Did Win: The Iron Lady
Ok. Sure. Why not.

Best Art Direction
Should Win: The Artist
Will Win: Hugo
Did Win: Hugo
I find it slightly humorous that a movie called "The Artist" didn't win for Art Direction.

Best Special Effects
Should Win: Planet of the Apes
Will Win: Harry Potter
Did Win: Hugo
I highly expected them to give the Harry Potter phenomenon at least some recognition now that its basically over. I was wrong.

Best Film Editing
Should Win: The Artist
Will Win: The Artist
Did Win: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Of all the wins on Oscar night, this one was the most random.

Best Sound Editing
Should Win: Drive
Will Win: Hugo
Did Win: Hugo
It is my great displeasure to say that this is the only category Drive was nominated in.

Best Sound Mixing
Should Win: Moneyball
Will Win: Hugo
Did Win: Hugo
Every other year they tell us the difference between sound editing and sound mixing and I always forget within 5 minutes. It doesn't really matter anyway since if a movie wins in one category it almost always wins in the other.