Reza wrote:
Yes, scary how shallow the choices are out there this year.
In some categories certainly, but this does look like it could be the first time since the field expanded where the most likely best picture candidates are all very widely liked, by critics at least. I haven't had the chance to see anything with a shot yet - Moonrise Kingdom aside - but Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, The Sessions, Amour, Argo, The Master, Moonrise Kingdom, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Flight all have a lot of support. Not to mention the as yet unseen Les Miserables, The Hobbit, Promised Land, Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty. There should be something to please everyone this year, I hope - although some of the aforementioned are clearly going to be crowded out.
No room for a Blind Side or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close this year, it would seem.
Gun to head now I'd go for a smaller total than last year - with so many widely hailed contenders it seems that only a handful would pull in the required votes. My first predictions:
Best Picture
Argo
Flight
Les Miserables (although the most recent trailer underwhelmed me massively)
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Best Director
Ben Affleck - Argo
Michael Haneke - Amour
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
John Hawkes - The Sessions
Anthony Hopkins - Hitchcock
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight
Best Actress
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren - Hitchcock
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Maggie Smith - Quartet
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
John Goodman - Flight
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Best Supporting Actress
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Sally Field - Lincoln
Ann Hathaway - Les Miserables
Scarlett Johanssen - Hitchcock
Frances McDormand, Promised Land
Best Original Screenplay
Amour
Flight
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Adapted Screenplay
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Sessions
Silver Linings Playbook
Best Cinematography
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Zero Dark Thirty