But hooray! I got a new, better job with normal hours! So Keepin' It Reel lives on!
Two years ago I guessed 18 of the major 24 categories correctly and ended up winning a couple hundred dollars in an office contest. Last year, I went an even more impressive 19 out of 24 correct. Let's see if I can improve on that and go 20 out of 24 right this year! (Probably not, again, I haven't seen a LOT of these movies, but we shall see)
Best Live Action Short Film
WILL WIN: Curfew
(If I didn't have time to watch theatrical releases, I definitely didn't have time to seek these out)
Best Animated Short Film
WILL WIN: Paperman
SHOULD WIN: The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare
(I actually did see Paperman and it's really good, but The Simpsons being nominated for an Oscar is awesome)
Best Documentary Short
WILL WIN: Open Heart
(I haven't seen any of these and Open Heart looks like the kind of thing I'll never see, but it looks interesting)
Best Documentary Feature
WILL WIN: Searching for Sugar Man
(Again, didn't see any of these, just guessing here)
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Life Of Pi
(The supposedly "un-filmable" story probably deserves an Oscar for Visual Effects)
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
WILL WIN: Zero Dark Thirty
(Why not? I don't see it going home empty handed)
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
WILL WIN: Les Miserables
(Sure)
Best Original Song
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: "Skyfall" from Skyfall
(Adele is a god)
Best Original Score
WILL WIN: Life of Pi
(I heard it's good - haven't seen Life of Pi!)
Best Achievement in Make-Up
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
(The Oscars LOVED LOTR, but no love for Hobbit? It'll win this probably)
Best Achievement in Costume Design
WILL WIN: Anna Karenina
SHOULD WIN: Lincoln
(I love how shitty movies like Anna Karenina ALWAYS win Oscars in these categories)
Best Achievement in Production Design
WILL WIN: Life of Pi
SHOULD WIN: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
(I'll go with the "un-filmable" movie again, but The Hobbit deserves something, no?)
Best Achievement in Editing
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Argo
(Argo will start to clean up here)
Best Achievement in Cinematography
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Life o Pi
(Sleeper hit that will gain a big following post Oscars I'm guessing)
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
WILL WIN: Amour
(Haven't seen any of these, but if it was nominated for Best Picture, it must be a sure bet here)
Best Animated Feature of the Year
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Wreck-It-Ralph
(Wreck-It-Ralph is AWESOME!)
Best Adapted Screenplay
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Chris Terrio for Argo
(What a great movie)
Best Original Screenplay
WILL WIN: Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained
SHOULD WIN: Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola for Moonrise Kingdom
(Moonrise Kingdom was awesome and massively underrated. But QT pretty much owns this category)
Best Achievement in Directing
WILL WIN: Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
SHOULD WIN: Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild
(BOTSW was mesmerizing, it was almost like a documentary because of how real it felt. Still, not enough people saw it. Steven Spielberg wins here.)
Best Performance by An Actress in a Supporting Role
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables
(DUH)
Best Performance by An Actor in a Supporting Role
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook
(This is a tough category to predict: I could see Tommy Lee Jones or Philip Seymour Hoffman winning too. But The Master was a garbage movie and Daniel Day-Lewis was the real stand-out in Lincoln. I love the fact that De Niro is nominated again two decades after his last nomination. He's so good in Silver Linings Playbook - it's the first "real" De Niro we've seen in years.)
Best Performance by An Actress in a Lead Role
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook
(Another tough category to predict. I could see Emmanuelle Riva, the oldest Oscar nominee ever winning because I hear that movie's great, but I think Lawrence has the mainstream edge. Plus, she is BEYOND hot despite the chipmunk cheeks, so there's always that. Quvenzhane Wallis is also insanely talented in her movie. It doesn't even seem like she's acting.)
Best Performance by An Actor in a Lead Role
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln
(There is NO ONE on Daniel Day-Lewis' level. If I was an actor, I would pretty much just give up and not make a movie the same year that DDL is making one.)
Best Motion Picture of the Year
WILL WIN AND SHOULD WIN: Argo
(I'm pretty much in agreement with the Academy for the first time ever if this is indeed how the voting will go. Argo's awesome and in my opinion, the best movie of the year. And that's saying a lot, because some of the other movies, especially Silver Linings Playbook, were really good too.)
Make sure to check back in tonight after the Oscars to see how I did! I'll be posting another blog post in the next few days to give my thoughts on this year's show! It's a bold but pretty awesome choice having Seth MacFarlane host (most people probably don't know who he is) but thank God the Oscars producers are learning from the GIANT mistake of having James Franco and Anne Hathaway host years ago!
-Jared
