Academy Awards 2013 – My picks!

By Megan Cynaumon

Dear Avery,

Every year your Grandma and Grandpa host an Oscar Party, complete with foods named after movies and prizes for people who have the correctly guessed the winners of each category. So yeah…movies are a big deal in our family. As I’ve grown older, film has changed for me. Now I watch movies for the: character development, music and score, the art of direction, the writing and storyline. Not just for the kiss at the end.

2012 was a great year for film. The films featured this year were mostly time pieces ranging from Lincoln’s presidency, to the the 1980’s, to the early 2000’s. They couldn’t be more different from each other, but that is what makes film so wonderful. With that, I’d like to share with you my picks for this year’s top winners. (I hope in 20 years you can go back and watch all of these films because some of them will be classics!)

Best Motion Picture

Argo
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty 

I’ve seen 5 of these 9 films. And wow, are they all fantastic in their own right! While “Silver Linings Playbook” is more of my type of film with it’s witty humor, brilliantly crafted characters, and heart-felt ending.. it won’t win Best Picture. <sad trombone>. “Zero Dark Thirty” was the gritty film that you won’t want to see for a second time due to it’s sensitive story line and hard to watch torture scenes… but! it felt like you were apart of the seal team that took down Osama Bin Laden…and it made you feel prideful for the people who fight for our freedoms everyday. “Les Miserable” was beautifully moving with an incredible cast of actors whose singing limits where put to the test in this lively sung film. That in itself invoked so much emotion in each scene. “Lincoln” was tremendous because of the collection of actors. There wasn’t much to this movie but dialogue..little action and A LOT of talking. While the writing was phenomenal…I don’t think this win best picture. “Argo” is my pick for the year. The story was gripping, the direction was impeccable, and the last 30 minutes of this movie literally stopped me from breathing!

 

Achievement in Directing

Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke, Amour
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

While I really think that Ben Affleck for Argo and Tom Hooper for Les Mis got ROBBED from this category (which I think most film buffs would agree with)… I’d like to think that David O. Russell would win for Silver Linings Playbook. His direction felt like a separate character in the story…running right along with the main actors (literally and figuratively!). But, we all hail the infamous Steven Spielberg because he truly brought Abraham Lincoln to life in “Lincoln”.

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Denzel Washington, Flight
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

Hugh Jackman had the role of his career in Les Mis. And he was spectacular. Unfortunately, he is up against Daniel Day Lewis. Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln was the best casting in years! He made me want to go back and spend time with Lincoln himself. He was portrayed as such a compassionate storyteller who cared deeply for his family and for his people. And the make up to make him LOOK like Lincoln was spot on. He hit this role out of the park.

 

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

I saw “Zero Dark Thirty” before “Silver Linings Playbook”, so naturally I thought Jessica Chastain should win because her character went through such an amazing development, the audience really loved her and connected to her. But, Jennifer Lawerence stole the show in “Silver Linings”. She has become one of Hollywood’s best young actresses…and I can’t wait to watch her career unfold.

 

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin, Argo
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

This line-up of actors is incredible. Some of the BEST actors in our age. Christoph Waltz has easily emerged as one of my favorite dramatic actors (too bad I haven’t seen Django!). But this was pretty obvious.  Tommy Lee Jones gives a sensational performance and easily would have stolen this film from anyone else if it weren’t for Daniel Day Lewis. 😉

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, The Master
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables 
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Sally Field, Lincoln

This was the easiest of all categories — hands down! Despite Anne Hathaway being in this film for all of 20 mins, she was amazing. When she sang “I Dreamed a Dream”, and nailed it. It wasn’t the best sounding version of the song, but it was the most PASSIONATE. I heard her interviewed about that scene prior to seeing the film, and she said “I didn’t want to sing that song pretty…I wanted it to be real.” <<< That she did. Bravo, Anne, Bravo!

Those are my top picks for this year… Let’s see how I do!

With Love,

Aunt Megs