XDA

I'm going to take a second to pat myself on the back. The big 9 here are best picture, director, writers (2), actor, actress, supporting actor, actress, and best foreign picture. In my friendly competition with fellow ex-prosecutor Dave, we add best song as a tie-breaker for a meaningful 10. Last year, I was 9/10 right in the meaningful 10. Dave did the opposite even though he taught me how to pick them. (It's the "best" if the pick puts Hollywood as a whole in a good light, and always pay close attention to the Guild votes). So here we go:

Best Picture:           Argo (Hollywood types actually save people from death in Iran--this is a no-brainer)
Best Director:         Steven Speilberg (difficult to justify my choice here, but I feel it is so)
Best Actor:             Daniel Day Lewis (plus of actually being the best acting)
Best Actress:          Jennifer Lawrence (certainly the most attractive of the lot--extra points for playing                                          crazy woman widow who puts out but finds true love with equally crazy person)
Best Sup Actor:      Tommy Lee Jones (I could be wrong; very difficult field this time--not Waltz or Hoffman)
Best Sup Actress:   Anne Hathaway (lost weight- cut off all her hair- in Hollywood, that's acting!)
Best Orig Screenplay: 0 Dark 30 (I could be wrong, the "torture" is helpful deniers might scotch this)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Argo (see Best Picture comment)
Best Foreign Film:   Amour (good to see my favorite living Continental European Actor, Jean-Louis                                              Trintignant still working even though he has not aged well at all)

Best Song: Suddenly (could be the instantly forgotten Skyfall because its singer has only one name)

Now the rest for which the true answer is Bill Murray's* 'Who cares?":

Best Live Action Short: Curfew
Best Animated Short: Maggie Simpson... (everyone loves Maggie)
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugarman
Best Animated Movie: Brave
Best Sound Mixing: Les Mis
Best Sound Something elseing:  Argo
Best Costume: Les Mis
Best Make-up: Hitchcock
Best Special Effects: Life of Pi (everyone loves tigers)
Best Cinematography: Anna Karenina
Best Film Editing: Argo
Best Score: Lincoln  (you get to a point where having won before is no longer a disadvantage)
Best Design: Les Mis
Best Short Documentary: Redemption (title tells it all)

Oh, another tip. You don't have to have seen the movie to know if it's a winner or not. I only say Lincoln, Silver Lining... and 0 Dark 30 last year.

*Murray actually picked best picture and actress that year--very good, Bill, both were surprises.

Labels: Oscar Picks 2013