The Oscars typically close the award show season by giving out the most coveted and sought-after distinction for the film industry. This year however, some of the most deserving candidates are not even in the running.
The 85th annual Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to air 7 p.m. Sunday on ABC and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane – whose titles include comedian, actor, voice actor, producer and screenwriter.
Most years, predictions for the Oscars can be based off previous award shows from that season, such as the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards.
So far this year, the big movie winners have been films “Argo” and “Les Misérables.” As far as actors and actresses go, Daniel Day-Lewis, Hugh Jackman, Jessica Chastain, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway have already taken home trophies.
Nine films are competing on Sunday for the most desirable title, Best Picture, including, “Amour,” “Argo,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Django Unchained,” “Les Misérables,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Zero Dark Thirty.” “Lincoln” leads the pack with 12 nominations, while “Life of Pi” is close behind with 11.
Along with high praise and acknowledgment, this year’s nominations also bring about some obvious snubs. The category that has been most widely discussed for leaving out several deserving candidates is that of Best Director. Kathryn Bigelow (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Ben Affleck (“Argo”) and Tom Hooper (“Les Misérables”) were all left out of the running even though all three of their films obtained multiple other nominations, including Best Picture.
The Ben Affleck snub has garnered a lot of media attention because his film “Argo” is expected to win Best Picture, according to numerous media outlets, so it is really confusing as to why his film would get the nomination but he did not.
In January, Affleck won the Golden Globe for Best Director, so I would think he would be on his way to winning the Oscar as well.
Another obvious snub was for “Django Unchained” actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Unfortunately, DiCaprio is no stranger to getting snubbed by the Academy. No matter how well he has performed over his career, for some reason, lately he just cannot catch a break and obtain a nomination. DiCaprio has also never won an Oscar for any of the three nominations he has had, which is another argument all together.
As far as the hosting goes, MacFarlane should prove to be an interesting one for the ceremony. It will be the comedian’s first time hosting and his sharp tongue may or may not get him into trouble. The man behind the show “Family Guy” will most likely bring a few jaw-dropping one-liners with him this weekend.
Now, I’m definitely no expert on the film industry nor have I seen all the movies nominated in every category, but my attempt at predicting the winners for the top honors goes something like this:
Best Picture: “Argo,” which already walked away with the Golden Globe among other numerous awards and has been given a 93.6 percent chance of winning from the Huffington Post.
Best Actor: Day-Lewis, the lead in “Lincoln,” who won both the Golden Globe and the SAG Award for this role and also has the advantage of playing a historical figure, which generally wins votes (Reese Witherspoon as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line,” Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in “Milk”).
Best Actress: Chastain, in “Zero Dark Thirty,” had a phenomenal performance in my opinion, and like Day-Lewis, she snagged the Golden Globe for her work. She isn’t the top contender, behind Jennifer Lawrence from “Silver Linings Playbook,” but I have faith.
Best Supporting Actor: I’m going to say this race is too close to call between Tommy Lee Jones in “Lincoln,” and Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained.” Waltz received the Golden Globe, Jones received the SAG award and critics say both gave exceptional performances, so it’s really a toss up.
Best Supporting Actress: Hathaway in “Les Misérables,” who already won the Golden Globe and the SAG in her first musical role. Basically anything Hathaway touches is usually fantastic and although she has a small part in the film, the performance she gave is memorable.
Best Director: Steven Spielberg for “Lincoln,” seems logical because of the success and praise of the film, however this category really is up for grabs since Affleck isn’t in the running. But Spielberg has received high acclaim for this picture and has an 83.4 percent chance of winning, via Huffington Post.
