Oscar Predictions 2012

In honor of today's Academy Awards, I figured it would be time to put my predictions online. My predictions will be based on who I want to win, who will win and who was snubbed for each nomination. I'm only predicting 7 of the 24 categories, the awards I care about the most. For the nominees I haven't seen a * will be placed next to the name. Here are my choices!

Best Picture:
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help*
Hugo
Midnight in Paris*
Moneyball*
The Tree of Life*
War Horse


Who Should Win: Hugo. I personally feel that this is the best film of 2011 right here. This film is Martin Scorsese's passion project, one telling the story of early cinema in a magical, beautiful way that all ages can enjoy. I feel the Academy should give the award to a film that tells old stories in a new way.

Who Will Win: The Artist. This film has won many awards already, and it is the frontrunner for the award. Unlike Hugo, it shows the magic of early cinema in an old fashioned way that is extremely entertaining and fun to watch.

Snubbed: Drive, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. These films were all worthy of the big award and each made an impact in 2011. Why these films weren't nominated still questions my mind to this day. I honestly wish the Best Picture list was 10 nominees this year so one of these films would be nominated for the award.

Best Director:
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris*
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life*


Who Should Win: Martin Scorsese. Hugo is his passion project and he made all of the decisions to why this was such a success to me. Making this a children's film, shooting it in 3D, telling the story of early cinema: all were extremely risky decisions and worked beautifully together. If he or any other director didn't use these decisions, Hugo would not have been as good as a film.

Who Will Win: Michel Hazanavicius. This man recreated the old fashioned silent film. His choices of editing, music, casting, shooting in black and white all helped recreate silent films. It is one of the smartest directing choices all year and I feel the Academy will award it to him.

Snubbed: Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive. This is one of the most original, distinctive and stylistic films I have seen all year. It's all thanks to this director's decisions of music, editing and casting. I feel this film was criminally snubbed this year and I will not understand why.

Best Actor:
Demian Bichir, A Better Life*
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
Brad Pitt, Moneyball*


Who Should Win: George Clooney. His performance in The Descendants is the best of his career. Here, he gives the most realistic, human and heartbreaking performances I have seen last year. This performance deserves an award to mark his successful career.

Who Will Win: Either Clooney or Jean Dujardin. I honestly think Clooney has a strong chance to win this award, he has won early accolades for this performance. However, Dujardin has won recent awards for his performance in The Artist and later awards normally mean that a likely Oscar win. He plays the silent leading man wonderfully. I will be happy if either actor wins this award.

Snubbed: Ryan Gosling. Gosling had a strong 2011 with great performances in Drive, Crazy Stupid Love and The Ides of March. It is shocking that he wasn't nominated for any of these performances. This is the second year he was snubbed for Best Actor, last year being snubbed for Blue Valentine. Gosling has been making smart movie choices recently, so hopefully he will be nominated for the award in the future.

Best Actress:
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs*
Viola Davis, The Help*
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady*
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn*


Who Should Win: Rooney Mara. I'm so happy she was nominated for this award. I honestly feel she deserves it as well. To get this role, she had to smoke, get piercings and dye her eyebrows. For an actress to completely transform herself in a role like that, I feel the Academy should give her the award. I have accepted though that she will not win the award.

Who Will Win: Either Viola Davis or Meryl Streep. I haven't seen The Help or The Iron Lady, but both are the front runners for the award. Streep has won early accolades for her performance, and Davis has won later awards for her performance. As I said earlier, later wins equals likely Oscar win, so I think Davis will eventually win the award of the two. However, either actress winning will not shock me.

Snubbed: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene. The younger sister of the Olsen twins has proved herself as a fantastic actress here in her debut performance. This performance is the most haunting, intriguing and daring performance I've seen from any actress in 2011. I'm shocked the Academy did not recognize her for the award, but I feel her career will grow and someday she will get nominated.

Best Supporting Actor:
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn*
Jonah Hill, Moneyball*
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners*
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close


Who Should Win: Nick Nolte. I am thrilled he was nominated for this performance. I honestly feel this is the best supporting performance of 2011. Here, Nolte gives a performance so heartbreaking, human and riveting to watch that the Academy should award to, since the Academy and the audiences love crowd pleasers. I do not think he will win the award, but I really hope that the Academy awards him this.

Who Will Win: Christopher Plummer. I have not seen Beginners, but it is common knowledge that Plummer is a lock for the award. He has won every acting award already for this performance and he has not won an Oscar yet. The Academy will give this award to him as a lifetime achievement.

Snubbed: Albert Brooks, Drive. This is the most undeserving snub of the award season. Brooks plays a character out of his comfort zone and in a brilliant, haunting way as well. He plays a heartless villain like no other and more than deserved this nomination. I feel he might have won this award, if wasn't going up against Plummer or Nolte.

Best Supporting Actress:
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help*
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs*
Octavia Spencer, The Help*


Who Should Win: Berenice Bejo. She nails the part of the silent leading lady beautifully. She has the charisma and charm that most actresses in that era had. I wouldn't be surprised if the Academy gives her a surprise win here.

Who Will Win: Octavia Spencer. I haven't seen The Help, but Spencer is a lock for this award. She has won every acting award for her performance in this film, and has been praised for stealing the show in this film. The Academy loves show stealers, so I think they will give it to Spencer as a result.

Snubbed: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants. I feel that this is the best supporting female performance of 2011. Woodley has proved herself to be a phenomenal actress outside of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She gives another human and heartbreaking performance that deserved a nomination. I question why the Academy did not nominate her for this award, and this is one of this year's criminally snubbed performances.

Best Animated Feature:
A Cat in Paris*
Chico & Rita*
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots*
Rango


Who Should Win: Rango. This is the most unique, hilarious and daring animated films I have seen in a while. It's not afraid to be different and the animation is top quality here.

Who Will Win: Rango. This is also the best animated film of 2011 and it is a lock for the award. The Academy loves well animated films, as well as animated films that appeal to both children and adults. I feel since this is a Pixar-less year, Rango has the best chance.

Snubbed: Winnie the Pooh. Disney has produced one of the most nostalgic, beautiful and heartwarming animated films of 2011. I am shocked that the Academy didn't nominate this award based on the nostalgia value it brings. Not to mention, the 2D animation is quite refreshing and it is one of my favorite animated films of 2011, second to Rango.

Hope everyone enjoyed my predictions! Check out tonight's show to see if my seven predictions were correct. Comment if you want my input for another category or to put up your predictions!