Digital Polyphony

Oscar Noms and Picks

Best Picture

"The Artist"

"The Descendants"

"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

"Hugo"

"Midnight in Paris"

"The Help"

"Moneyball"

"War Horse"

"The Tree of Life"

Surprises: Two here, certainly. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Moneyball. Both solid movies, but getting a Best Picture nomination is the biggest surprise.

Doesn't Belong: The Help. It feels forced into the race here. I would even say Moneyball also, but Moneyball wasn't pandering at least.

Snubs: Whoever was to be number ten. Why only nine? You’re already doing the ten nominations for the studios marketing departments as is, yet there’s a ton that could have easily been on here to make it ten. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Bridesmaids? I can think of quite a few. The fact you could put in one extra and conciously decide not to is just a blatent slap in the face. I know other pics were on the nomination ballot.

Likely to Win: The Artist. It’s a great film, what more can you say? It’s also incredibly appealing to those that will give it a chance. Highly entertaining, funny,sweet…it might play it safe at times but still too good to pass up.

The Darkhorse: Everything else. Honestly, it’s The Artist’s award to lose, so everything else would be a complete surprise to win at the last minute. The best candidate is Hugo, the Academy really graced it and The Artist with the most nominations.

My Choice: The Artist

Best Actor

Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"

George Clooney, "The Descendants"

Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"

Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

Surprises: Brad Pitt is certainly the surprise here. I liked Moneyball, but it’s very surprising to see him nominated for it.

Snubs: Biggest here, and one of the biggest of the entire list, is Michael Fassbender. Go see Shame and tell me I’m wrong…or A Dangerous Method for that matter. I liked him in both. Ryan Gosling had two great performances as well with Drive and Ides of March.

Likely to Win: George Clooney has been snatching up Best Actor wins all over the place and he split with Dujardin at the Golden Globes. I honestly think either could win, but I'm stepping outside my own preference and calling Dujardin to win this one.

The Darkhorse: Gary Oldman. I’m surprised Tinker Tailor got as many noms as it did. It’s very British. Very odd little movie as well. I liked it, though, so I’m kind of routing for Gary even though he’s not my choice.

My Choice: George Clooney

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"

Surprises: I think it's great Rooney Mara made the cut. I was a bit worried as she's been pretty overlooked for most of the Awards season.

Snubs: Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin. Just a huge surprise to me, maybe the distributor just didn’t get her name out there enough.

Likely to Win: Michelle Williams has had it pretty much locked from the get go. Don’t be surprised if Viola Davis gets up on stage, though. It’s really down to those two.

The Darkhorse: Glenn Close and/or Meryl Streep. Streep is a great performance in an average film, so it may not be so clear for her, however Close has been nominated a lot of timesand never won making her the sentimental favorite.

My Choice: Michelle Williams

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"

Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"

Nick Nolte, "Warrior"

Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"

Max Von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Surprises: I mentioned in my review that Max Von Sydow had one of the best performances nobody was talking about, he’s a pleasant surprise here. Also Jonah Hill. He finally got some acknowledgement.

Snubs: Two fairly big ones, actually. Albert Brooks in Drive and Ben Kingsley in Hugo. Both had been garnering accolades for the past few months. Brooks getting his fair share of critics choices and Kingsley is in the top-nominated film yet didn’t get a nod. If you want to get technical, I’ll throw in Andy Serkis as well. Hell, also Patton Oswalt, but the last two here I can’t say I’m surprised.

Likely to Win: Christopher Plummer has pretty much had it in the bag since the film came out.

The Darkhorse: Kenneth Branagh. His performance is terrific in My Week With Marilyn and really starting to get noticed more and more.

My Choice: Christopher Plummer in Beginners. It’s a natural, human role that is subtly fantastic.

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"

Jessica Chastain, "The Help"

Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"

Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"

Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Surprises: How about that? Melissa McCarthy getting a nod. I love it.

Snubs: Hard to say,really.

Likely to Win: Octavia Spencer. The Help is going to need to get some love, I’m sure, and it’s not going to be in any other category (and it’s oddly MIA in Adapted Screenplay), so Octavia is probably going to be the one to grab this one.

The Darkhorse: Melissa McCarthy. She made this movie.

My Choice: Berenice Bejo. There’s a bit of a darkhorse quality to her, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she won, but I really loved her performance in The Artist and is my personal choice.

Best Director

Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"

Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"

Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

Surprises: Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris. Nobody has really been talking about Woody except in the writing category. Maybe the Academy just really wants to make sure he'll show up.

Snubs: David Fincher and Spielberg, really. The thing is, if you put them on, who do you take off? It was a tight race this year.

Likely to Win: Michel Hazanavicius created a film that the Academy will love.

The Darkhorse: Martin Scorsese. If only because Hugo is the top nominated film, though it’s pretty much The Artist’s show to lose.

My Choice: Michel Hazanavicius. Though I loved Payne and Scorsese’s efforts as well, The Artist is a film that demanded uniqueness and was driven by the directing more than any other aspect.

Best Original Screenplay

Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"

JC Chandor, "Margin Call"

Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids"

Surprises: Margin Call and Bridesmaids are the two biggest surprises, but I also have to consider the fact there’s a foreign film in the category as well which I thought was odd considering there’s quite a lot that didn’t get a nod.

Snubs: Beginners is the big one for me. One of the best reviewed films of the year yet its script is being criminally overlooked. Others would be 50/50 and Win Win. I’m very surprised how much Win Win has dropped out of favor over the months. Goes to show how early-acclaim in the year can sudden dissipate with the “what have you done for me lately” voters.

Likely to Win: Midnight in Paris. Allen is on a high right now with the Globe win and his script is pitch-perfect.

The Darkhorse: The Artist. You never know with this film this year.

My Choice: Midnight in Paris is really one of the best scripts all year.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"

John Logan, "Hugo"

George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"

Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"

Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughn, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

Surprises: None, really. Maybe Tinker, Tailor, but it’s about what I expected.

Snubs: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, perhaps.

Likely to Win: The Descendants. Which is good because I don't think there's a lot of others I would go for.

The Darkhorse: Hugo. It took a very regular story and turned it into something unique and distinct.

My Choice: The Descendants. It's Payne at his very, very best and it all starts with one of the best scripts of the year.

Best Animated Feature

"A Cat In Paris"

"Chico & Rita"

"Kung Fu Panda 2"

"Puss in Boots"

"Rango"

Surprises: A Cat in Paris is a big surprise.

Snubs: Probably the biggest snub on the entire show, Adventures of Tintin is amazingly missing here. Motion capture or not, it was still animated. From subtle movements to backgrounds to simple scene directing requiring animation in mind.

Likely to Win: I honestly don’t know.

The Darkhorse: Still, not sure. It's really a toss up and impossible to predict. I thought Tintin was the shoe-in.

My Choice: Rango is still my favorite film of the year. Not sure if it will win, but it's my choice.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Bullhead (Belgium)

Footnote (Israel)

In Darkness (Poland)

Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)

A Separation (Iran)

Surprises: It's always hard to see all the foreign films, but it's A Seperation's award to lose anyways.

Snubs: The Skin I Live in and I Saw the Devil. Now I think I Saw the Devil might be for last year, but it wasn’t nominated then either so it goes either way. I’m not surprised it’s not nominated, though, because horror/thrillers usually get the shaft in these things. I am surprised that The Skin I Live In wasn’t, though, because of Almodovar.

Likely to Win: A Separation

The Darkhorse: In Darkness

My Choice: A Separation

Original Score

"The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams

"The Artist," Ludovic Bource

"Hugo," Howard Shore

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias

"War Horse," John Williams

Best OriginalSong

"Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

"Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyricby Siedah Garrett

This is a hard to do anything for. My favorite music is probably found in Muppets, and it's up for Original Song (and only one of two). As for Score, I don't know. None really grabbed me this year (Tintin maybe?)...though I will say lack of Trent Reznor is surprising.

Best Achievement in Art Direction

"The Artist"

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"

"Hugo"

"Midnight in Paris"

"War Horse"

Likely to Win: The Artist

The Darkhorse: Hugo

My Choice: Hugo

Best Achievement in Cinematography

"The Artist"

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"

"Hugo"

"The Tree of Life"

"War Horse"

Likely to Win: Man, all these are some great looking films. I’ll just say The Artist.

The Darkhorse: The Tree of Life

My Choice: The Tree of Life. It’s Malick, it’s to be expected.

Best Achievement in Costume Design

"Anonymous"

"The Artist"

"Hugo"

"Jane Eyre"

"W.E."

W.E.? Really? No My Week with Marilyn or, you know, a good film worthy of getting acclaim even if it’s a small award? Not that it matters, The Artist will win this one easily.

Best Achievement in Film Editing

"The Artist"

"The Descendants"

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"

"Hugo"

"Moneyball"

Likely to Win: The Artist, and I’ve got no problem with that.

The Darkhorse: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

My Choice: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Achievement in Makeup

"Albert Nobbs"

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"

"The Iron Lady"

I was going to leave this off, but it must go to The Iron Lady. A fantastic job aging Meryl Streep there.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"

"Hugo"

"Real Steel"

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

Surprises: Real Steel. Very surprised, it’s a very basic effects-heavy picture.

Snubs: I don't know. There's Captain America, Source Code, Super 8...

Likely to Win: Hugo is going to be up for a lot, but I only see it winning a select few on the technical level, this being one of them.

The Darkhorse: Harry Potter might get a due for an Oscar, considering it’s the last of the series.

My Choice: Rise of the Planet of the Apes is my choice, if only because the Academy probably sees Cesar less as a “performance” and just an “effect.: Fair enough, but you better put Serkis on stage if that’s the case. At least do that for the man.