A few thoughts on the Oscar telecast before we get into my predictions from yesterday.
- In the same week an ESPN writer is fired for using a headline that could be considered insensitive to Jeremy Lin, Billy Crystal dons black face for the Oscars.
- There’s enough time for a special Cirque de Soleil performance, but not for the 2 nominees for Best Song? Who says Hollywood is out of touch?
- Emma Stone truly is lovely, isn’t she?
- The Marty Scorsese drinking game would certainly get one drunk tonight.
- Wait, Whitney Houston died? Why wasn’t that in the news or something?
So, how did my predictions fare? Out of 24 categories, I managed to get 9 correct. Here are my predicted winners along with the actual winners.
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Prediction and Winner: The Artist
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Prediction: George Clooney for The Descendants
Winner: Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Prediction and Winner: Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Prediction: Jonah Hill for Moneyball
Winner: Christopher Plummer for Beginners
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Prediction and Winner: Octavia Spencer for The Help
Best Achievement in Directing
Prediction: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Winner: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Prediction: The Artist: Michel Hazanavicius
Winner: Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Prediction and Winner: The Descendants: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Prediction and Winner: Rango: Gore Verbinski
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Prediction: Footnote: Joseph Cedar(Israel)
Winner: A Separation: Asghar Farhadi(Iran)
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Prediction: The Artist: Guillaume Schiffman
Winner: Hugo: Robert Richardson
Best Achievement in Editing
Prediction and Winner: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Prediction: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
Winner: Hugo: Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Prediction and Winner: The Artist: Mark Bridges
Best Achievement in Makeup
Prediction: Albert Nobbs: Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, Matthew W. Mungle
Winner: The Iron Lady: Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Prediction: War Horse: John Williams
Winner: The Artist: Ludovic Bource
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Prediction and Winner: The Muppets: Bret McKenzie(“Man or Muppet”)
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Prediction: Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Peter J. Devlin
Winner: Hugo: Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Prediction: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Ren Klyce
Winner: Hugo: Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Prediction: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, John Richardson
Winner: Hugo: Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, Alex Henning
Best Documentary, Features
Prediction: Hell and Back Again: Danfung Dennis, Mike Lerner
Winner: Undefeated: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin, Rich Middlemas
Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Prediction: Incident in New Baghdad: James Spione
Winner: Saving Face: Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Best Short Film, Animated
Prediction: A Morning Stroll: Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe
Winner: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore: William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg
Best Short Film, Live Action
Prediction and Winner: The Shore: Terry George, Oorlagh George