Amph SEVENTH ANNUAL GUESS THE OSCARS CONTEST!! (Winner gets colors!)

Okay, so the categories are below. PM me with your guesses in each category. You have to guess in each category in order to be eligible. Partial ballots won't be accepted. Also, you can post your guesses in this thread for the purpose of discussion, but those ballots won't be accepted. Only ballots PMed to me count as official ballots.


Best picture:
"Amour" Nominees to be determined
"Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
"Django Unchained" Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
"Les Misérables" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
"Life of Pi" Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
"Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
"Silver Linings Playbook" Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
"Zero Dark Thirty" Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers

Achievement in directing
"Amour" Michael Haneke
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" Benh Zeitlin
"Life of Pi" Ang Lee
"Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
"Silver Linings Playbook" David O. Russell
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook"
Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
Hugh Jackman in "Les Misérables"
Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
Denzel Washington in "Flight"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin in "Argo"
Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"
Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"


Performance by an actress in a leading role
Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in "The Master"
Sally Field in "Lincoln"
Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"
Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best animated feature film of the year
"Brave" Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
"Frankenweenie" Tim Burton
"ParaNorman" Sam Fell and Chris Butler
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits" Peter Lord
"Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore

Achievement in cinematography
"Anna Karenina" Seamus McGarvey
"Django Unchained" Robert Richardson
"Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda
"Lincoln" Janusz Kaminski
"Skyfall" Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design
"Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran
"Les Misérables" Paco Delgado
"Lincoln" Joanna Johnston
"Mirror Mirror" Eiko Ishioka
"Snow White and the Huntsman" Colleen Atwood

Best documentary feature
"5 Broken Cameras"
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
"The Gatekeepers"
Nominees to be determined
"How to Survive a Plague"
Nominees to be determined
"The Invisible War"
Nominees to be determined
"Searching for Sugar Man"
Nominees to be determined

Best documentary short subject
"Inocente"
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
"Kings Point"
Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
"Mondays at Racine"
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
"Open Heart"
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
"Redemption"
Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill

Achievement in film editing
"Argo" William Goldenberg
"Life of Pi" Tim Squyres
"Lincoln" Michael Kahn
"Silver Linings Playbook" Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
"Zero Dark Thirty" Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg


Best foreign language film of the year
"Amour" Austria
"Kon-Tiki" Norway
"No" Chile
"A Royal Affair" Denmark
"War Witch" Canada

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
"Hitchcock"
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
"Les Misérables"
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli
"Argo" Alexandre Desplat
"Life of Pi" Mychael Danna
"Lincoln" John Williams
"Skyfall" Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
"Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

Achievement in production design
"Anna Karenina"
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
"Les Misérables"
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
"Life of Pi"
Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
"Lincoln"
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Best animated short film
"Adam and Dog" Minkyu Lee
"Fresh Guacamole" PES
"Head over Heels" Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
"Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"" David Silverman
"Paperman" John Kahrs

Best live action short film
"Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
"Buzkashi Boys" Sam French and Ariel Nasr
"Curfew" Shawn Christensen
"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)" Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
"Henry" Yan England

Achievement in sound editing
"Argo" Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
"Django Unchained" Wylie Stateman
"Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
"Skyfall" Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
"Zero Dark Thirty" Paul N.J. Ottosson

Achievement in sound mixing
"Argo"
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
"Les Misérables"
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
"Life of Pi"
Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
"Lincoln"
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
"Skyfall"
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Achievement in visual effects
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
"Life of Pi"
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
"Marvel's The Avengers"
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
"Prometheus"
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
"Snow White and the Huntsman"
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Adapted screenplay
"Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
"Life of Pi" Screenplay by David Magee
"Lincoln" Screenplay by Tony Kushner
"Silver Linings Playbook" Screenplay by David O. Russell

Original screenplay
"Amour" Written by Michael Haneke
"Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino
"Flight" Written by John Gatins
"Moonrise Kingdom" Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
"Zero Dark Thirty" Written by Mark Boal

 

Sent.

Best picture:
"Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Achievement in directing
"Lincoln" Steven Spielberg

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"


Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"

Best animated feature film of the year
"Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore

Achievement in cinematography
"Skyfall" Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design
"Les Misérables" Paco Delgado

Best documentary feature
"Searching for Sugar Man"
Best documentary short subject
"Inocente"

Achievement in film editing
"Argo" William Goldenberg

Best foreign language film of the year
"Amour" Austria

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
"Les Misérables"
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Skyfall" Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"

Achievement in production design
"Lincoln"
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Best animated short film
"Paperman" John Kahrs

Best live action short film
"Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura

Achievement in sound editing
"Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton

Achievement in sound mixing
"Skyfall"
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Achievement in visual effects
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"


Adapted screenplay
"Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio

Original screenplay
"Amour" Written by Michael Haneke

 

I think the Academy somehow now nominating Affleck for Best Director might result in him getting more votes for Best Picture. I mean, I would vote for Argo for Best Picture anyway. But it's been doing well at the guild awards, so it might wind up being the very rare upset winner with no director nominee.

 

Um, I would say yes, unless this is like totally crazy, insanely accurate insider info.

 

Putting it in the exalted company of Driving Miss Daisy. Yeah, I had to look that up.

 

I only knew that because I'd heard it mentioned. It is a rarity and doesn't exactly make sense. I mean, in this case it would just be that the director got totally shafted, not that somehow the film was really good without great direction (such as is possible sometimes with a great script and actors... The King's Speech comes to mind).

I'd say it's more that he's trying to make a really lazy joke, Stephen

 

I wondered why the hell he said he loved Kevin Spacey, but then I didn't think any deeper about it.

Also, I stand by Driving Miss Daisy. It's a great movie.

 

i don't really get the argo love. i mean i liked it, but of the four nominees i've seen thus far it was easily my least favorite.

 

It seems awfully light weight for a serious BP contender. I mean, it's a great thriller that doesn't really have pretensions to being anything but a great thriller. I'm surprised (in a pleasant way) that the Academy is all over it. It reminds me of when The Fugitive got nominated for Best Picture.

 

PM = Start Conversation, right?

 

Indeed. I'm still in the habit of calling them PMs.

 

Okay, we need more entries for this!

 

i'm still trying to watch all the movies!

 

They are afraid as I shalt win.

 

Keep them coming, you guys!

 

Below are my picks. I may have given too much love to Anna Karenina and not enough to Lincoln.


Best picture:
"Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
Achievement in directing
"Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Hugh Jackman in "Les Misérables"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"


Performance by an actress in a leading role
Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"

Best animated feature film of the year
"Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore

Achievement in cinematography
"Anna Karenina" Seamus McGarvey
Achievement in costume design
"Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran
Best documentary feature
"5 Broken Cameras"
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi

Best documentary short subject
"Open Heart"
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern

Achievement in film editing
"Argo" William Goldenberg

Best foreign language film of the year
"Amour" Austria

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
Achievement in production design
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
Best animated short film
"Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"" David Silverman

Best live action short film
"Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura

Achievement in sound editing
"Argo" Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn

Achievement in sound mixing
"Les Misérables"
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes

Achievement in visual effects
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
Adapted screenplay
"Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio

Original screenplay
"Zero Dark Thirty" Written by Mark Boal

 

All right, we're coming down to the wire! Get your votes in now! Votes will be accepted up until the moment the broadcast begins!

 

My guess:

Best Picture: Lincoln

Achievement in directing: Spielberg for Lincoln

Performance by an actor in a leading role: Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role: Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"

Performance by an actress in a leading role: Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role: Sally Field in "Lincoln"

Achievement in cinematography: "Django Unchained" Robert Richardson

Achievement in costume design: "Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran

Best documentary feature: "5 Broken Cameras"

Best documentary short subject: "Open Heart"

Achievement in film editing: "Lincoln" Michael Kahn

Best foreign language film of the year: "A Royal Affair" Denmark

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling: "Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song): "Skyfall" from "Skyfall"

Achievement in production design: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

Best animated short film: "Paperman" John Kahrs

Best live action short film: "Buzkashi Boys" Sam French and Ariel Nasr

Achievement in sound editing: "Django Unchained" Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing: "Argo"

Achievement in visual effects: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

Adapted screenplay: "Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio

Original screenplay: "Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino

 

okay, i'm going to do my picks now even though there are a couple films i'm going to try to watch tonight. if those viewings change anything i'll let you know. i want to do picks for who i think should win as well who will win and also leave some comments about some of the other films so apologies for this epic post. unless of course you're actually interested in my oscar thoughts, in which case you're welcome! films i think should win are in italics. films i think will win are in bold. and films i haven't seen are in red.

Best picture:

"Amour" - a well executed film about a very difficult subject. incredibly difficult to watch. while i appreciate it and think it was definitely worthy of its nomination, i can't really say that i "liked" it or that i would ever watch it again.

"Argo" - a very well executed thriller with great pacing. while i don't think it will win best picture, i could see it doing very well in the more technical categories such as editing and sound mixing.

"Beasts of the Southern Wild" - easily my favorite nominee this year, and the only one i've watched twice. i thought pretty much all of the nominees were good, but this was the only one i felt was truly great. i bawled my eyes out for the last 20 minutes. wallis' performance is one of the most amazing things i've seen captured on film.

"Django Unchained" - great tarantino fun. a little messy in the third act, but definitely a worthy addition to his filmography. samuel l. jackson was a major snub in the best supporting actor category.

"Les Misérables" - great sets and costumes and a gut-wrenching performance from hathaway were the major positives that i took away. the vast majority of the film was composed of close-ups of people singing and i couldn't really see how it was best picture material.

"Life of Pi" - my second favorite after "beasts". just a great story, well acted, with brilliant, often subtle use of effects.

"Lincoln" - the more i look over the list of nominees the more i have to side with the people saying that this is the year of lincoln. it wasn't my favorite, but it was very good and the cast was amazing.

"Silver Linings Playbook" - apparently if you add an element of mental illness to the rom-com formula you have an oscar contender. don't get me wrong, i enjoyed the film immensely but it still feels out of place here.

"Zero Dark Thirty" - overall it was ok, jessica chastain was great, but the third act felt like a separate film entirely and that's where it lost me.

Achievement in directing
"Amour" Michael Haneke
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" Benh Zeitlin
"Life of Pi" Ang Lee
"Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
"Silver Linings Playbook" David O. Russell - this should have been affleck or tarantino. any of the other best picture nominees really.

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook" - again really? i mean he was good, and i think surprised a lot of people but was his role really that challenging? i wouldn't mind his nomination at all if there wasn't someone clearly more deserving. and in this case there is in the person of jean-louis trintignant.
Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln" - i think he's made himself the obvious choice, though phoenix was also excellent. i honestly think trintignant would have had a chance to win had he been nominated.
Hugh Jackman in "Les Misérables"
Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
Denzel Washington in "Flight"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin in "Argo"
Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln" - stole every scene he was in. brilliant performance.
Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained" - i think if he hadn't won for a pretty similar role in another tarantino film he would be my favorite here.


Performance by an actress in a leading role
Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook" - it pains me to pick her, it really does. i think all of the other nominees would be more deserving, but this just seems like the way it's going. and i'm not saying she was bad, she was excellent. i just think the others were better in more demanding roles.
Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild" - as i said earlier, simply one of the most amazing performances i've seen.
Naomi Watts in "The Impossible" - one of the films that i plan to watch tonight.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in "The Master" - it's strange that there is a film with three acting nominations and no best picture nomination, especially when there is an open tenth slot. but i can't say i disagree with the academy on this one. it's a bleak and rather aimless film that does feature some stellar performances.
Sally Field in "Lincoln" - a deserving performance, wouldn't be surprised to see her win.
Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables" - the highlight of the film.
Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best animated feature film of the year
"Brave" Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman - just voting for the only film in this category i've seen. i would like to see wreck-it ralph eventually, but honestly don't have much interest in the others.
"Frankenweenie" Tim Burton
"ParaNorman" Sam Fell and Chris Butler
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits" Peter Lord
"Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore

Achievement in cinematography
"Anna Karenina" Seamus McGarvey
"Django Unchained" Robert Richardson
"Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda
"Lincoln" Janusz Kaminski
"Skyfall" Roger Deakins - i think this should win (though i didn't much enjoy the film) but i see the award going to one of the best picture noms, of which i think "life of pi" is the most deserving.

Achievement in costume design
"Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran
"Les Misérables" Paco Delgado - haven't seen enough of the films nominated here to comment on who should win. i did watch all the trailers though to get some indication and i still think les mis will take it.
"Lincoln" Joanna Johnston
"Mirror Mirror" Eiko Ishioka
"Snow White and the Huntsman" Colleen Atwood

Best documentary feature
"5 Broken Cameras"
"The Gatekeepers" - another that i'm going to try to watch the night. it looks pretty heavy though and i'm starting to burn out on heavy films.
"How to Survive a Plague"
"The Invisible War"
"Searching for Sugar Man" - this film was such a breath of fresh air, wonderfully paced with the inclusion of the songs. the other nominees that i saw were important films, i'm glad that i watched them, but this feels like the winner to me.


Best documentary short subject
"Inocente" - total guess. i hope to see this eventually.
"Kings Point"
"Mondays at Racine"
"Open Heart"
"Redemption"


Achievement in film editing
"Argo" William Goldenberg - as mentioned earlier, i'm expecting "argo" to clean up in the more technical categories.
"Life of Pi" Tim Squyres
"Lincoln" Michael Kahn
"Silver Linings Playbook" Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
"Zero Dark Thirty" Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg


Best foreign language film of the year
"Amour" Austria - this seems the obvious choice. i really want to watch the others though. "no" and "kon-tiki" look particularly amazing.
"Kon-Tiki" Norway
"No" Chile
"A Royal Affair" Denmark
"War Witch" Canada

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
"Hitchcock"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" - this is the one award the hobbit should win, but again i see it going to the film that was nominated for best picture instead.
"Les Misérables"

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli
"Argo" Alexandre Desplat
"Life of Pi" Mychael Danna - shocked that the score for "beasts of the southern wild" wasn't nominated. that would have been my first choice, so now i'm forced to go with my second.
"Lincoln" John Williams
"Skyfall" Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall" - i'm not really a fan of any of these song. this was a decent bond theme, but really i'm just going with the big name.
"Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"

Achievement in production design
"Anna Karenina"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Misérables" - another category where i don't really have a feel for who should win. i'm thinking les mis takes it, but wouldn't be at all surprised to see it go to lincoln.
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"


Best animated short film
"Adam and Dog" Minkyu Lee
"Fresh Guacamole" PES
"Head over Heels" Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
"Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"" David Silverman
"Paperman" John Kahrs - unfortunately i haven't been able to find these so i have to take a shot in the dark here.

Best live action short film
"Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
"Buzkashi Boys" Sam French and Ariel Nasr
"Curfew" Shawn Christensen - and again.
"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)" Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
"Henry" Yan England

Achievement in sound editing
"Argo" Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
"Django Unchained" Wylie Stateman
"Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
"Skyfall" Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
"Zero Dark Thirty" Paul N.J. Ottosson

Achievement in sound mixing
"Argo" - again i can see the academy giving all these technical awards to argo, almost as a consolation prize.
"Les Misérables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"


Achievement in visual effects
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Life of Pi" - not as in your face as the other nominees, but the effects were just as incredible, often subtle to the point where you didn't even notice them and most importantly aided the telling of the story. and yeah, i think it's often the case that a best picture nominee triumphs over films that weren't best picture nominees no matter what the category is.
"Marvel's The Avengers"
"Prometheus"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"


Adapted screenplay
"Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
"Life of Pi" Screenplay by David Magee
"Lincoln" Screenplay by Tony Kushner - and this concludes "the year of lincoln".
"Silver Linings Playbook" Screenplay by David O. Russell

Original screenplay
"Amour" Written by Michael Haneke - this is just a feeling, i honestly didn't think this screenplay was anywhere near the best, but i just see it going this way.
"Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino
"Flight" Written by John Gatins
"Moonrise Kingdom" Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola - the screenplay was almost perfect. the performances by the young stars were great. the movie was very sweet and i thought the best candidate for the vacant tenth slot in the best picture category.
"Zero Dark Thirty" Written by Mark Boal

 

Back on the subject of Argo being 'light weight' and the comparison to The Fugitive... I have never felt a film needed to be dark and utterly serious and weighty to be best picture. It's supposed to be about the best film, not the most profound film. Those aren't the same thing. A lot of 'profound' films are utterly forgettable. Meanwhile, something like The Fugitive? That's a genuinely fantastic film. Argo is the film from this year that I'll probably still want to watch again in 10 and 15 years. To me, that's part of good filmmaking.

Lincoln probably would have had my vote, though, had Spielberg ended it when Lincoln walked off down the hall, though. It's still a very good movie but it could have been a nearly perfect one.

 

The Lincoln documentaries are in full swing. I hedged my Oscar picks.

 

It's not that Argo might not be the best movie of the year or that it's too lightweight. It's that it's not the kind of movie the Academy likes to recognize and that it might be too lightweight for the Academy. I'm with you, sj; it's maybe an entirely perfect movie and the fact that it's a "genre" movie doesn't detract from it at all. But the Academy is rarely as egalitarian as us right thinking people; this is why I can't wait until you're in the Academy.