Oscar Index: Critics Have 'Amour' For 'Zero Dark Thirty' & 'The Master,' But Who's 'Les Miserables' This Christmas?
Best Actor
From In Contention and Gold Derby to Anne Thompson, the Gurus O Gold, and Ropes of Silicon, this right now pretty much seems to be the consensus for the Best Actor slate. There are still holdouts for Joaquin Phoenix, but Bill Murray, who tells GQ in a great new interview that the road to the Oscars is “paved with glass and razor wire” has nothing to fear. Tepid response to Hyde Park on Hudson pretty much assures this will be a one-president race.
1. Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
2. Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
3. Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
4. Denzel Washington (Flight)
5. John Hawkes (The Sessions)
Ones to watch: Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), Richard Gere (Arbitrage)
Best Actress
This field is ripe for surprises. Oscar pundits are generally rallying around this quintet, but Helen Mirren’s SAG nomination keeps her in consideration, as does Emmanuelle Riva’s devastating performance in Amour.
1. Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
2. Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
3. Marion Cotillard (Rust & Bone)
4. Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
5. Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Ones to watch: Helen Mirren (Hitchcock), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
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Comments
BTW, It was John Payne in "Miracle On 34th Street"
Lisa: Thank you for pointing that out. That is a particularly egrigous mistake as I have already watched the movie about four times on AMC in the past week.
Just saw Les Mis last night and it is definitely Oscar worthy. Excellent adaptation of the play. I have some issues with the play and the unrealistic love story, but I can't fault the film adaptation for sticking so close to the original material. Hathaway deserves the Oscar for her performance and Hooper was tremendous. For me, it's a race between him and David O Russell for best director.
Spielberg being nominated for best director for Lincoln is a joke. The direction on that film is like watching a made for TV movie. DDL nails it as Lincoln, but the direction is boring, stilted and weak. But then again, the Oscar's almost never reward directors and cinematographers for their craft. It's more a popularity contest that doesn't actually reward achievements in those fields. I don't think most Academy voters know what good direction is, frankly. It's more, "I like that movie, let's give him Best Director."
you forgot to mention about FLIGHT in the best picture category
I didn't forget as much as I don't think it's got enough liftoff to be nominated in this category. And in the future I will try to keep aviation puns to a minimum.
That and Flight was terrible. What an unbearable soundtrack! The Stones a billion times. Great. Totally modern.
Zemeckis really needs to give it up. And the trailer! What a bait and switch. This is a movie about... Alcoholism?? Lame.
Anthony Hopkins for Hitchcock has to be somewhat of a contender.
weird that the write up seems to say that beasts of the southern wild's odds are improving, but the chart has it going down.
Geez, what happaned to the love for Joaquin? When that movie came out, everyone was quick to proclaim him a winner, and now he's not even getting nominated/predicted. Still the performance of the year, in my book.
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