This year’s Academy Awards nominations send the most mixed signals. Since the awards for Best Picture and Director usually go hand in hand, Stephen Spielberg’s “Lincoln” looks to have the biggest chance of winning. Ben Affleck’s “Argo” has been winning awards left and right, so the pattern would suggest it would win the Oscar, but the lack of a Best Director nomination would take it out of the running. Then again, David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” has received the most prestigious nominations for all of the acting awards and Best Adapted Screenplay gives it a fighting chance, too. This Oscar season is one of the most jumbled in recent memory. Some wins will be deserving, while others will be way off the mark.
Best Picture
Will Win & Should Win: “Argo”
Best Director
Will Win & Should Win: Stephen Spielberg for “Lincoln”
Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Will Win & Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis for “Lincoln”
Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence for “Silver Linings Playbook”
Should Win: Emmanuelle Riva for “Amour”
Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Will Win & Should Win: Philip Seymour Hoffman for “The Master”
Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
Will Win & Should Win: Anne Hathaway for “Les Miserables”
Best Writing (Original Screenplay):
Will Win: “Zero Dark Thirty“
Should Win: “Django Unchained”/“Moonrise Kingdom”
Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
Will Win & Should Win: “Argo”
Best Cinematography:
Will Win: Claudio Mirando for “Life of Pi”
Should Win: Seamus McGarvey for “Anna Karenina”/ Robert Richardson for “Django Unchained”
Best Editing:
Will Win: “Argo”
Should Win: “Argo”/“Lincoln”
Best Animated Feature Film:
Will Win & Should Win: “Wreck-it Ralph”
Best Production Design:
Will Win: “Anna Karenina”
Should Win: “The Hobbit”
Best Costume Design:
Will Win & Should Win: “Anna Karenina”
Best Visual Effects:
Will Win: “Life of Pi”
Should Win: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Most Snubbed Movies:
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“The Hobbit”
“Django Unchained”
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