Oscar Buzz

Updated 2/24

The time has finally arrived. The Oscars are just a few days away and therefore my final predictions are listed below.

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Best Picture

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
• The Help
• Hugo
• Midnight in Paris
• Moneyball
• The Tree of Life
• War Horse

Prediction: The Artist

The Artist has too much momentum to stop. Winners of the DGA, PGA, and the BAFTA, it has won the majority of major awards on the road to the Oscars. Even though it has one of the lowest grosses of the nine nominees, the year of nostalgia in the eyes of The Academy will award The Artist. If there is another movie that could play the upset role, it would be The Help, but don’t count on it.

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Best Actor

• Demián Bichir for A Better Life
• George Clooney for The Descendants
• Jean Dujardin for The Artist
• Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• Brad Pitt for Moneyball

Prediction: Jean Dujardin

While all of the actors nominated deserve this award, the momentum of The Artist will benefit Jean Dujardin. Did he have the best performance of the year? That’s debatable, but nonetheless this will be one of the three major awards The Artist will walk away with by the end of the night.

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Best Actress

• Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs
• Viola Davis for The Help
• Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
• Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn

Prediction: Viola Davis

The match-up is Meryl Streep against Viola Davis, and I believe Davis deserves the Oscar and will win. Her leading performance in The Help was exceptional and arguably the best performance of any actor in 2011. Can she breeze past the legend of Meryl Streep? We’ll find out soon enough.

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Best Supporting Actor

• Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn
• Jonah Hill for Moneyball
• Nick Nolte for Warrior
• Christopher Plummer for Beginners
• Max von Sydow for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Prediction: Christopher Plummer

For some reason, Albert Brooks wasn’t nominated in this category. Therefore, this is all Christopher Plummer. His performance as a elderly man who comes out of the closet in the indie-gem, Beginners, was a delight to watch.

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Best Supporting Actress

• Bérénice Bejo for The Artist
• Jessica Chastain for The Help
• Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids
• Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs
• Octavia Spencer for The Help

Prediction: Octavia Spencer

While Berenice Bejo could steal another one here for The Artist, expect Octavia Spencer of The Help to continue their dominance in the acting awards. Boasting the strongest ensemble cast of the year, it’s only fitting that Davis and Spencer win their respected categories.

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Best Director

•  Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
• Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
• Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
• Alexander Payne for The Descendants
• Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Prediction: Michel Hazanavicius

Winning the DGA is a great indicator that Michel Hazanavicius is going to win this award on Oscar night. While Martin Scorcese has a chance to upset the big favorite, I’m sticking with my gut that The Artist is going to lead the night with the most Oscars, this being one of them.

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Original Screenplay

• The Artist: Michel Hazanavicius
• Bridesmaids: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo
• Margin Call: J.C. Chandor
• Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen
• A Separation: Asghar Farhadi

Prediction: The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius

This one is down to Midnight in Paris or The Artist. There is a chance that The Artist will sweep, meaning not only will they win the major awards, but the secondary awards as well. While Midnight in Paris won the WGA, I have a feeling that the Woody Allen film will be shut out and Michel Hazanavicius will leave the Oscars with a few trophies in his hands.

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Adapted Screenplay

• The Descendants: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
• Hugo: John Logan
• The Ides of March: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
• Moneyball: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

Prediction: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

While Tinker Tailor might have the strongest screenplay of this category, The Descendants will be the film to win this award. As one of the best films of the year, The Academy usually awards great films with at least one Oscar, and this will be the one for The Descendants.

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Best Animated Feature

• A Cat in Paris
• Chico & Rita
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Puss in Boots
• Rango

Prediction: Rango

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Best Foreign Language Film

• Bullhead (Belgium)
• Footnote (Israel)
• In Darkness (Poland)
• Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
• A Separation (Iran)

Prediction: A Separation

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Best Cinematography

• The Artist: Guillaume Schiffman
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Jeff Cronenweth
• Hugo: Robert Richardson
• The Tree of Life: Emmanuel Lubezki
• War Horse: Janusz Kaminski

Prediction: The Tree of Life

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Best Editing

• The Artist: Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
• The Descendants: Kevin Tent
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
• Hugo: Thelma Schoonmaker
• Moneyball: Christopher Tellefsen

Prediction: The Artist

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Best Art Direction

• The Artist: Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
• Hugo: Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
• Midnight in Paris: Anne Seibel, Hélène Dubreuil
• War Horse: Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

Prediction: Hugo

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Best Costume Design

• Anonymous: Lisy Christl
• The Artist: Mark Bridges
• Hugo: Sandy Powell
• Jane Eyre: Michael O’Connor
• W.E.: Arianne Phillips

Prediction: The Artist

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Best Makeup

• Albert Nobbs: Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, Matthew W. Mungle
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
• The Iron Lady: Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland

Prediction: The Iron Lady

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Best 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

Prediction: The Artist

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Best Original Song

• The Muppets: Bret McKenzie(“Man or Muppet”)
• Rio: Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Siedah Garrett(“Real in Rio”)

Prediction: The Muppets, “Man or Muppet”

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Best Sound Mixing

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Bo Persson
• Hugo: Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
• Moneyball: Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco, Ed Novick
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Peter J. Devlin
• War Horse: Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Stuart Wilson

Prediction: Hugo

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Best Sound Editing

• Drive: Lon Bender, Victor Ray Ennis
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Ren Klyce
• Hugo: Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl
• War Horse: Richard Hymns, Gary Rydstrom

Prediction: Hugo

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Best Visual Effects

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, John Richardson
• Hugo: Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, Alex Henning
• Real Steel: Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor, Swen Gillberg
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, Daniel Barrett
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler, John Frazier

Prediction: Hugo

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Best Documentary

• Hell and Back Again: Danfung Dennis, Mike Lerner
• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front: Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman
• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
• Pina: Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
• Undefeated: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin, Rich Middlemas

Prediction: Undefeated

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Key dates to remember:

- Tuesday, December 27, 2011: Nominations ballots mailed
– Friday, January 13, 2012: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT
- Tuesday, January 24, 2012: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT
– Wednesday, February 1, 2012: Final ballots mailed
– Monday, February 6, 2012: Nominees Luncheon
- Saturday, February 11, 2012: Scientific & Technical Awards presentation
– Tuesday, February 21, 2012: Final polls close 5 p.m. PT
- Sunday, February 26, 2012: 84th Academy Awards presentation