If I Picked the Academy Awards…2012 Edition
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done one of these, so I thought that I’d take today for another look back at the Academy Awards and reveal who I would have chosen if I had voted in the Academy Awards, and this time we’re looking at 2012. So let’s not delay, time for the picks. Normally I begin with Best Animated Feature, but since I haven’t seen any of the nominees, we will skip ahead to the screenplay categories:
Best Adapted Screenplay Nominees:
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
The winner: Argo
My pick: Lincoln
Some of my favorite movies of that year were in this category, so really any of these nominees would have been a good winner, especially for me Silver Linings Playbook and Argo, and my pick, Lincoln, not only transported me back to the life and times of Abraham Lincoln’s short second term, but all that old-timey talk and speeches are not only well performed by the excellent cast, but also well written by Tony Kushner.
Best Original Screenplay Nominees:
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty
The winner: Django Unchained
My pick: Zero Dark Thirty
Again a lot of good picks here, but I gotta go with Mark Boal’s excellent work on Zero Dark Thirty. Sure, Tarantino was a good pick for Django, but I thought that Boal’s script, filled with excellent moments with Jessica Chastain’s character and finely tuned speeches that transport us back to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, and the world we were living in, sure it wasn’t too long ago, but everyone involved did a beautiful job.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominees:
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
The winner: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
My pick: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
For the most part, this was an excellent category with great work around the board, but Hathaway’s tear-jerking performance in Les Miserables was perhaps the highlight of the film. Not only did she handle the dramatic turns of the character, but her singing was excellent, definitely overcoming the live-performance style of singing that didn’t exactly favor the rest of the cast.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Nominees:
Alan Arkin, Argo
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
The winner: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
My pick: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Again a lot of good work in this category, especially from De Niro and Waltz, but I have to go with Tommy Lee Jones playing Thaddeus Stevens, an unlikely voice in the fight for amending the 13th Amendment, and Jones is spot on. The demeanor of the character is a perfect fit for Jones, who outperforms every actor he’s with in all of his scenes, and with such a talented cast, that’s not easy to do.
Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominees:
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
The winner: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
My pick: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Once again there wasn’t a bad apple in the barrel here, and for me it comes down to Lawrence or Chastain, but personally I found Lawrence’s work the more difficult performance with lots of moments of comedy, drama, plus the whole dancing bit. She and Bradley Cooper make for an excellent pair and the chemistry is electric. Sure Katniss Everdeen made a lot more money at the box office, but this is the performance for me that made Lawrence the superstar she is today.
Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominees:
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
The winner: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
My pick: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
This category had a lot of good performances from Cooper’s layered performance in Silver Linings to Denzel’s character from Flight, but Day-Lewis transformed himself into Abraham Lincoln, and while the man is basically a chameleon every time he performs, this might just have been his finest performance to date, and with characters like Bill the Butcher, Daniel Plainview, and Christy Brown in his rear-view, that’s one hell of a resume.
Best Director Nominees:
Michael Haneke, Amour
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
The winner: Ang Lee, Life of Pi
My pick: Ang Lee, Life of Pi
I remember when the announcements came out for Best Director and both Kathryn Bigelow and Ben Affleck, who were arguably the top two contenders in the category, were both left off. It was shocking, but for the most part the other nominees were good picks, and of those nominated, Ang Lee’s technical achievement on Life of Pi was unmatched that year.
Best Picture Nominees:
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
The winner: Argo
My pick: Argo
Sure, Argo winning had a lot to do with Affleck’s snub but the film itself is outstanding and has some of the more tense sequences of any film that year. From his great direction to the very natural performances, the great period design and the other technical achievements are very well executed. A lot of great films were recognized in 2012 with either worthy wins or worthy nominations, but for me personally, it was great to see my favorite film of the year become the Best Picture winner.
So there are the picks for 2012. Again, a really great year for film with lots of different films worthy of various wins and nominations. Until next time, enjoy the picks.
