THE 2012 ACADEMY AWARDS NOMINATIONS PREDICTION GAME

Much like the American presidential elections or the Miss Universe pageant, I follow the Academy Awards race not because I care who wins, but because the getting there is so much fun to watch. 2012 holds some vestige of promise – unlike last year, there isn’t yet one definite winner. (In retrospect, it was always going to be The King’s Speech last year, as much as one might have wished for a The Social Network upset.) Annually, I submit myself to the fool’s errand of trying to pick the nominees – so here we go again.

This year, I humbly submit a play-along-at-home game. It works like this. Write down your 10 possible nominees for the main categories in order of likelihood. Your top choice receives 10 points, second 9, third 8, etc. For every nomination you get correct, you get that many points. Total ‘em up at the end and see if you can beat my score! (Spoiler alert: You probably can.)

BEST PICTURE

THE ARTIST (10)
HUGO (9)
THE DESCENDANTS (8)
THE HELP (7)
WAR HORSE (6)
MONEYBALL (5)
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (4)

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (3)
THE TREE OF LIFE (2)
BRIDESMAIDS (1)

BEST DIRECTOR

MICHEL HAZANAVICUS, THE ARTIST (10)
MARTIN SCORSESE, HUGO (9)
ALEXANDER PAYNE, THE DESCENDANTS (8)
WOODY ALLEN, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (7)
STEVEN SPIELBERG, WAR HORSE (6)

DAVID FINCHER, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (5)
TATE TAYLOR, THE HELP (4)
TERRENCE MALICK, THE TREE OF LIFE (3)
BENNETT MILLER, MONEYBALL (2)
GEORGE CLOONEY, THE IDES OF MARCH (1)

BEST ACTOR

JEAN DUJARDIN, THE ARTIST (10)
GEORGE CLOONEY, THE DESCENDANTS (9)
BRAD PITT, MONEYBALL (8)
GARY OLDMAN, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (7)
MICHAEL SHANNON, TAKE SHELTER (6)

MICHAEL FASSBENDER, SHAME (5)
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, J. EDGAR (4)
WOODY HARRELSON, RAMPART (3)
DEMIAN BICHIR, A BETTER LIFE (2)
RYAN GOSLING, THE IDES OF MARCH (1)

BEST ACTRESS

MERYL STREEP, THE IRON LADY (10
VIOLA DAVIS, THE HELP (9)
GLENN CLOSE, ALBERT NOBBS (8)
TILDA SWINTON, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (7)
MICHELLE WILLIAMS, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (6)

ROONEY MARA, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (5)
CHARLIZE THERON, YOUNG ADULT (4)
ELIZABETH OLSON, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (3)
KRISTEN WIIG, BRIDESMAIDS (2)
KIRSTEN DUNST, MELANCHOLIA (1)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, BEGINNERS (10)
ALBERT BROOKS, DRIVE (9)
KENNETH BRANAGH, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (8)
JONAH HILL, MONEYBALL (7)
NICK NOLTE, WARRIOR (6)

BEN KINGSLEY, HUGO (5)
ARMIE HAMMER, J. EDGAR (4)
MAX VON SYDOW, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (3)
GEORGE CLOONEY, THE IDES OF MARCH (2)
PATTON OSWALT, YOUNG ADULT (1)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

OCTAVIA SPENCER, THE HELP (10)
MELISSA MCCARTHY, BRIDESMAIDS (9)
BERENICE BEJO, THE ARTIST (8)
JESSICA CHASTAIN, THE HELP (7)
SHAILENE WOODLEY, THE DESCENDANTS (6)

JANET MCTEER, ALBERT NOBBS (5)
VANESSA REDGRAVE, CORIOLANUS (4)
CAREY MULLIGAN, SHAME (3)
JUDI DENCH, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (2)
SANDRA BULLOCK, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (1)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, WOODY ALLEN (10)
MICHEL HAZANIVICUS, THE ARTIST (9)
TOM MCCARTHY, WIN WIN (8)
ANNIE MUMOLO & KRISTEN WIIG, BRIDESMAIDS (7)
WILL REISER, 50/50 (6)

ASGHAR FARHADI, A SEPARATION (5)
MIKE MILLS, BEGINNERS (4)
DIABLO CODY, YOUNG ADULT (3)
TERRENCE MALICK, THE TREE OF LIFE (2)
ABI MORGAN, THE IRON LADY (1)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

AARON SORKIN & STEVEN ZALLIAN, MONEYBALL (10)
ALEXANDER PAYNE, NAT FAXON & JIM RASH, THE DESCENDANTS (9)
JOHN LOGAN, HUGO (8)
TATE TAYLOR, THE HELP (7)
STEVEN ZALLIAN, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (6)

PETER STRAUGHAN & BRIDGET O'CONNOR, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (5)
RICHARD CURTIS AND LEE HALL, WAR HORSE (4)
GEORGE CLOONEY, GRANT HESLOV & BEAU WILLIMON, THE IDES OF MARCH (3)
ERIC ROTH, EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE (2)
LYNNE RAMSEY & RORY KINNEAR, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (1)

THE 2011 ACADEMY AWARDS PREDICTIONS EXTRAVAGANZA

I go once more into the breach, dear friends, once more and predict who will win (and pontificate on who should win) the 2011 Academy Awards. Every single category predicted!!!  Every single category most likely incorrect!!! Feel free to leave your predictions in the comments. Here we go:

The (Pod) Casting Couch - Episode Five

In the latest episode of The Podcasting Couch, Shannon Harvey, Simon Miraudo, Laura Hewison and myself discuss the John Cameron Mitchell film Rabbit Hole and chat about the best and worst Best Picture Oscar winners of all time. Listen and subscribe here!

http://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/the-podcasting-couch-episode/id417226504?i=91565306

FILM REVIEW: BLACK SWAN

Surprise! I'm secretly Annette Bening.

So I figure the mark of a good film is that it stays with you. You should leave the cinema thinking about it – and it should at least occupy some space in your mind in the following days.

So when I sat down to think about the Darren Aronofsky psychological ballet thriller (love that description) it occurred to me that this was, in fact, the first time that I’d really thought about it all day – and I saw it yesterday.

After discussing it in detail on a new podcast I gave it a score of 16/25 – which would equate to roughly 12.8 out of 20 – but getting further away from it I think I might like it even less than that.

Here’s why, after the jump;

The Oscar Predictions and Nominations Wrap

Well after the Golden Globes performance I had to redeem myself and hopefully my Oscar picks went some of the way to doing that. Let’s have a look at the nominations and the favourites after the jump:

SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN - THE 2011 OSCAR NOMINATION PREDICTIONS

Okay so my Golden Globes picks didn’t go that well. But sometimes you just have to get back on the horse – and what better horse than the Oscars? We’re still a little way away from the ceremony itself, but on Tuesday (American time) the nominations will come out. So let’s have a crack at redeeming my Nostradamus credentials.