Looking at Film from Every Angle

85th Academy Awards (2012): Winner Predictions

AWARDS
4 3 – 2 – – 1 – – – – – – –	Life of Pi Les Miserables Argo Skyfall Lincoln Django Unchained Wreck-It Ralph Silver Linings Playbook Searching for Sugar Man Open Heart Head Over Heels Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) Anna Karenina Amour

Predictions are in the order I think they have a chance of winning the award (except the short film categories, which are unranked and each listed as “Toss Up”). I have added notations to each indicating how strong I think they are a contender.

LEGEND:
Winner Prediction (c-Win Pred Date Set) — Chance at Win —
Other Nominees — Chance at Win —

Best Picture

Argo – Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney (c-2/5) — Weak Lead —

Silver Linings Playbook – Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon — Potential Spoiler —
Lincoln – Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg — Potential Spoiler —
Life of Pi – Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womack — Potential Spoiler —
Amour – Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Michael Katz — Unlikely —
Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison — Unlikely —
Les Miserables – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh — Unlikely —
Django Unchained – Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone — No Shot —
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald — No Shot —

Best Animated Feature

Wreck-It Ralph – Rich Moore (c-2/3) — Weak Lead —

Brave – Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman — Potential Spoiler —
ParaNorman – Sam Fell, Chris Butler — Potential Spoiler —
Frankenweenie – Tim Burton — Potential Spoiler —
The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Peter Lord — No Shot —

Best Director

Lincoln – Steven Spielberg (c-1/8) — Close Race —

Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell — Close Race —
Life of Pi – Ang Lee — Close Race —
Amour – Michael Haneke — Potential Spoiler —
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Benh Zeitlin — No Shot —

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln (c-2/5) — Strong Lead —

Denzel Washington – Flight — No Shot —
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook — Potential Spoiler —
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master — Potential Spoiler —
Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables — Potential Spoiler —

Best Actress

Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook (c-9/28) — Weak Lead —

Emmanuelle Riva – Amour — Potential Spoiler —
Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty — Potential Spoiler —
Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild — Unlikely —
Naomi Watts – The Impossible — No Shot —

Best Supporting Actor

Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained (c-2/20) — Close Race —

Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook — Close Race —
Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln — Close Race —
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master — Close Race —
Alan Arkin – Argo — No Shot —

Best Supporting Actress

Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables (c-11/23) — Strong Lead —

Sally Field – Lincoln — Potential Spoiler —
Amy Adams – The Master — Potential Spoiler —
Helen Hunt – The Sessions — Unlikely —
Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook — No Shot —

Best Original Screenplay

Django Unchained – Quentin Tarantino (c-2/20) — Close Race —

Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal — Close Race —
Amour – Michael Haneke — Potential Spoiler —
Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola — Unlikely —
Flight – John Gatins — No Shot —

Best Adapted Screenplay

Argo – Chris Terrio (c-2/20) — Close Race —

Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell — Close Race —
Lincoln – Tony Kushner — Close Race —
Life of Pi – David Magee — Unlikely —
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin — No Shot —

Best Original Score

Life of Pi – Mychael Danna (c-2/1) — Weak Lead —

Argo – Alexandre Desplat — Potential Spoiler —
Skyfall – Thomas Newman — Potential Spoiler —
Anna Karenina – Dario Marianelli — Unlikely —
Lincoln – John Williams — Unlikely —

Best Original Song

Skyfall (Music and Lyric: Adele Adkins, Paul Epworth) – Skyfall (c-5/1) — Strong Lead —

Pi’s Lullaby (Music: Mychael Danna; Lyric: Bombay Jayashri) – Life of Pi — Potential Spoiler —
Everybody Needs a Best Friend (Music: Walter Murphy; Lyric: Seth MacFarlane) – Ted — Potential Spoiler —
Suddenly (Music: Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric: Herbert Kretzmer, Alain Boublil) – Les Misérables — Unlikely —
Before My Time (Music and Lyric: J. Ralph) – Chasing Ice — Unlikely —

Best Editing

Argo – William Goldenberg (c-2/5) — Strong Lead —

Zero Dark Thirty – Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg — Potential Spoiler —
Life of Pi – Tim Squyres — Potential Spoiler —
Silver Linings Playbook – Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers — Unlikely —
Lincoln – Michael Kahn — Unlikely —

Best Cinematography

Life of Pi – Claudio Miranda (c-2/5) — Weak Lead —

Skyfall – Roger Deakins — Potential Spoiler —
Lincoln – Janusz Kaminski — Unlikely —
Django Unchained – Robert Richardson — Unlikely —
Anna Karenina – Seamus McGarvey — Unlikely —

Best Production Design

Life of Pi – Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock (c-2/20) — Close Race —

Anna Karenina – Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer — Close Race —
Les Miserables – Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson — Potential Spoiler —
Lincoln – Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson — Unlikely —
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent, Simon Bright — Unlikely —

Best Costume Design

Anna Karenina – Jacqueline Durran (c-1/10) — Weak Lead —

Mirror Mirror – Eiko Ishioka — Potential Spoiler —
Les Miserables – Paco Delgado — Potential Spoiler —
Snow White and the Huntsman – Colleen Atwood — Unlikely —
Lincoln – Joanna Johnston — Unlikely —

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Les Miserables – Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell (c-2/20) — Close Race —

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane — Close Race —
Hitchcock – Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel — Potential Spoiler —

Best Sound Mixing

Les Miserables – Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes (c-5/1) — Weak Lead —

Life of Pi – Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill, Drew Konin — Potential Spoiler —
Skyfall – Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson — Potential Spoiler —
Argo – John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Jose Antonio Garcia — Potential Spoiler —
Lincoln – Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ronald Judkins — Unlikely —

Best Sound Editing

Skyfall – Per Hallberg, Karen Baker Landers (c-2/20) — Close Race —

Zero Dark Thirty – Paul N.J. Ottosson — Close Race —
Life of Pi – Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton — Close Race —
Argo – Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn — Potential Spoiler —
Django Unchained – Wylie Stateman — Potential Spoiler —

Best Visual Effects

Life of Pi – Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer, Donald R. Elliott (c-1/10) — Strong Lead —

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White — Potential Spoiler —
The Avengers – Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick — Unlikely —
Prometheus – Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, Martin Hill — Unlikely —
Snow White and the Huntsman – Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson — No Shot —

Best Foreign Film

Amour – Austria (c-1/10) — Strong Lead —

Kon-Tiki – Norway — Potential Spoiler —
A Royal Affair – Denmark — Potential Spoiler —
War Witch – Canada — Potential Spoiler —
No – Chile — Potential Spoiler —

Best Documentary Feature

Searching for Sugar Man – Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn (c-2/5) — Strong Lead —

How to Survive a Plague – David France, Howard Gertler — Potential Spoiler —
The Invisible War – Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering — Potential Spoiler —
The Gatekeepers – Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, Estelle Fialon — Potential Spoiler —
5 Broken Cameras – Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi — Unlikely —

Best Documentary Short Subject

Open Heart – Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern (c-2/20) — Close Race —

Inocente – Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine — Close Race —
Mondays at Racine – Cynthia Wade, Robin Honan — Close Race —
Kings Point – Sari Gilman, Jedd Wider — Potential Spoiler —
Redemption – Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill — Potential Spoiler —

Best Animated Short Film

Head Over Heels – Timothy Reckert, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (c-2/20) — Close Race —

Paperman – John Kahrs — Close Race —
Fresh Guacamole – PES — Potential Spoiler —
Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare” – David Silverman — Potential Spoiler —
Adam and Dog – Minkyu Lee — Potential Spoiler —