Oscar Forecast

Word of the day : misnomer
                                              : the use of a wrong or inappropriate name or designation


Well, it's a Saturday in Statesboro... which means the family will search for something to do.  We'll try out the International Festival... because there's so many international citizens in this county?

In Thursday's post, I forgot to mention one of the opening new movies, a film I thought opened next week, but officially opened in New York and L.A. yesterday.

Silver Linings Playbook     One of the most acclaimed films of the year, hyped-up, and a surefire multi-Oscar contender.  Director David O. Russell's adaptation of Matthew Quick's quirky novel casts Bradley Cooper (a Best Actor outsider) as a bipolar man recently released from an institution and living with his parents (Jacki Weaver and assured Oscar nominee Robert DeNiro).  Along comes a mysterious woman with plenty of problems of her own; in the part, Jennifer Lawrence is the front-runner for Best Actress.  A terrific cast (which includes Julia Stiles and Chris Tucker) in an offbeat movie that mixes romance, silliness, drama, and poignancy.
Verdict: Very Interested 

I went looking around at various Oscar-prognostication sites to see what the latest predictions are in the races; nominations are announced January 10.  Here they are:

(* denotes a film that actually hasn't been screened by critics yet)

Best Picture

- Argo                                   FRONTRUNNER
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- *Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- The Master
- Silver Linings Playbook
- *Zero Dark Thirty

(Possible: Amour, *Django Unchained, *The Hobbit, Skyfall)

Best Actor 

- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln            FRONTRUNNER
- John Hawkes, The Sessions 
- Anthony Hopkins, Hitchcock 
- Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
- Denzel Washington, Flight 

(Possible: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook; Richard Gere, Arbitrage; Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables; Jean-Louis Trigniant, Amour)

Best Actress

- Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone 
- Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook        FRONTRUNNER
- Helen Mirren, Hitchcock 
- Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Naomi Watts, The Impossible  

(Possible: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty; Emmanuelle Riva, Amour)

Best Supporting Actor

- Alan Arkin, Argo  
- Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook  
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained 
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master 
- Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln             FRONTRUNNER 

(Possible: Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike; Ewan McGregor, The Impossible)  

Best Supporting Actress
 
- Amy Adams, The Master
- Sally Field, Lincoln 
- Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables          FRONTRUNNER    
- Helen Hunt, The Sessions
- Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 

(Possible: Susan Sarandon, Arbitrage; Kerry Washington, Django Unchained; Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Director

- Ben Affleck, Argo                       FRONTRUNNER
- Tom Hooper, Les Miserables 
- Ang Lee, Life of Pi
- David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
- Steven Spielberg, Lincoln 

(Possible: Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom; Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master; Michael Haneke; Amour; Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained)

I'll be back in about six weeks or so to give my own final predictions on the eve of nominations-unveiling, but if this current forecast holds, it will truly be extraordinary, in the sense that while in a normal year, there are anywhere from six to ten first-time nominees, this year there will only one: the 10-year old Wallis from Beasts of the Southern Wild: though I guess you could say Affleck (Who won an Oscar in the Original Screenplay category) would be a newbie too, for he has never been nominated for a Director Oscar.

Also, if this holds, fifteen of these nominees have already won before; six of them have won twice! 

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NFL Picks for the weekend:

Atlanta over Arizona    (Falcons rebound)
Tampa Bay over Carolina    (the Bucs can score)
Dallas over Cleveland
Houston over Jacksonville     
Green Bay over Detroit     (tough game)
Cincinnati over Kansas City    
St. Louis over NY Jets  
Washington over Philadelphia     (I'm done with the Eagles, just done)
New Orleans over Oakland
Denver over San Diego  
New England over Indianapolis
Baltimore over Pittsburgh
SF over Chicago     
   
Last Week's Record: 7-6-1
Season Record: 90-55-1

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Have a good weekend!  I gotta go read and walk Daisy!