Oscar Chat

So firstly, I don't really like the Oscars, mostly because films I like rarely win as many awards as I think they should. Also, the judges seem to live in the past: every year, innovators are ignored in favour of commercially successful films. Yet, on the other hand, hugeky successful sci-fi or fantasy films rarely win any of the Big Five (Actors, Director, Screenplay, Film) with Star Wars & LOTR being notable exceptions. Then there's "Oscar-bait':

I'd like to thank the person who cast me as a blind, autistic, Parkinson's disease-ridden mute, for making this award almost inevitable.

—David Mitchell, Mock The Week

The rules for a film's eligibility also feel really....wrong. A film must be show in LA County & Manhattan for at least a week, advertised in one of the mainstream papers for the city, and can only begin its commercial run in LA County (exceptions apply for foreign language/documentary/animated). With that said, however, I still like the show itself. They're usually pretty fun and I'm planning on watching them live this year. Looking through the nominations, I realised there were quite a few films with multiple nominations that I didn't see, either on purpose or through apathy. I made an effort to watch as many of them as I could handle but still missed more than a few.Despite that, I'll do that thing everyone else does: my own pick to win, and my pick for what the judges will choose.

Full list of nominations is available here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jan/24/oscars-nominations-2012-list

Films with multiple noms that I did not see include: Extremely Loud, My Week With Mariyln (turned it off halfway through), The Descendants, Hugo, Beginners, War Horse.


Best Supporting Actress:


My Pick: Octavia Spencer - The Help. I think Janet McTeer was excellent but didn't have quite enough screen time.
Judges Pick: Berenice Bejo - The Artist


Best Supporting Actor


My Pick: Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Judges Pick: Christopher Plummer - Beginners. He's old and hasn't won yet, he might die before the next awards!


Best Leading Actress


My Pick: None of them.  Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs. I think it should be Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin, though.
Judges Pick: Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady


Best Leading Actor


My Pick: Gary Oldman - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Judges Pick: Jean Dujardin - The Artist


Best Director


My Pick: I haven't seen any of these except The Artist, which I'm not picking.
Judges Pick: Martin Scorsese - Hugo


Best Original Screenplay


My Pick: Bridesmaids, because I haven't seen/didn't like the others.
Judges Pick: A Separation
Also, let's just pause for a moment and consider the absurdity of The Artist being nominated in this category. Ok, next one now.


Best Adapted Screenplay


My Pick: Ides of March. I think Clooney should have been nominated for Best Director, so maybe this will make up a little bit.
Judges Pick: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy


Best Picture


My Pick: I can't honestly choose any of these. Kevin, The Ides of March & Drive should all be on this list instead of this masturbatory shit Hollywood is obsessed with.
Judges Pick: The Artist. If Hollywood loves anything, it loves itself.
Winner: The Artist

Best Cinematography


My Pick: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Judges Pick: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo


Best Documentary


My Pick: If A Tree Falls: The ELF
Judges Pick: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory


I don't really feel like going through the others because I can't judge sound mixing/editing, or makeup, etc.