Rhodes + Krassner open the Balcony for their (drum roll please) Oscar Picks of 2013!!!
Since Nick has been so busy with the TV MANIA project, we were unable to get in all the categories we usually do. However, fear not, we covered the mains!
Without further ado...
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY -
The Nominees:
Argo, Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi, David Magee
Lincoln, Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell
Both Katy and Nick think "Argo" WILL take this prize, and think it SHOULD. However, hedging bets, Nick thinks "Silver Linings Playbook" could be the wild card in this race. Katy wishes the Academy would celebrate films like "Beasts of the Southern Wild" for it's originality and uniqueness. She is now holding her breath.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY -
The Nominees:
Amour, Michael Haneke
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Flight, John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal
Nick thought "Amour" was extraordinary, and he is happy the film has been recognised as much as it has. He wouldn't be upset to see it win, but he'd love to see "Django Unchained" upset the apple cart and win the Oscar. Nick feels the film is beautifully written and completely insane, hence it is his personal favourite. Nick is picking "Django" as his WILL and SHOULD win.
Katy disagrees! She believes "Amour" WILL win this award from the Academy but would love to live in a world where "Moonrise Kingdom" could get this award. She loved the movie and found it to be an original, fun and quirky story.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM -
The Nominees:
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
Amour (Austria)
No (Chile)
War Witch (Canada)
Kontiki (Norway)
This is a no-brainer. Though both Katy and Nick admit they haven't seen all the films (however Nick promises he will eventually see them all...) they both agree "Amour" will definitely win Best Foreign Language Film. No question. So no point in talking about the other films (sorry Denmark, Chile, Canada & Norway. No hard feelings).
ANIMATED FEATURE -
The Nominees:
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph
This is one of Nick's favourite categories each year.
Katy thinks "Wreck-It-Ralph" WILL win (in fact, she thinks it is a shoe-in). It has a lot of momentum behind it and it doesn't look like there will be an upset. Her SHOULD win is "ParaNorman." Go Norman, go! However, if it was up to Katy, "Toy Story 3" would just win year after year, nominated or not.
Nick is alarmed "Frankenweenie" is not nominated for Best Picture, so , in that case, he would really, really, really like to see it win the Oscar for Best Animated Film. Nick feels it is one of those projects that was exceptionally meaningful to the director, Tim Burton, and Nick is astounded it didn't do better at the box office. Nick thought "Frankenweenie" was funny, touching, gothic and unique. He would also like to give a special shout out to the character 'Edgar.' Nick, very sadly, feels "Wreck-it-Ralph" WILL win, though, without a doubt, "Frankenweenie" SHOULD win.
Are you picking up what Nick is putting down?
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
The Nominees:
Amy Adams, The Master
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Sally Field, Lincoln
Katy is ALL worked up over this category and can not contain herself. She is so disturbed by Anne Hathaway's constant campaigning (see this) for her role in "Les Miserables." OK, so she lost a lot of weight, cut her hair and sang the crap out of that one song. But she was in the movie for less than 30 minutes and is SO ANNOYING, that Katy is beside herself that she WILL win her first Oscar for this role. Whereas Anne was terrific in "Rachel Getting Married," Katy doesn't feel she is Oscar-worthy in this role. And she sort of acts like Taylor Swift each time she wins. PULEEZE. She DOES NOT DESERVE THIS AWARD!!!! Katy's SHOULD win is Amy Adams, who was incredible in "The Master."
Nick agrees Anne Hathaway WILL win, and he is happy with that because "Les Miserables" is a British production from Working Title films. Katy threw up from Nick's support of this travesty (Fan Community members who listen to the audio of this Oscar chat will hear her). Nick agrees that Amy Adams' performance in "The Master" should be honoured by Oscar but he is still, to Katy's great annoyance, supporting Anne's undoubted win. BARF (sorry).
SUPPORTING ACTOR
The Nominees
Alan Arkin, Argo
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
This is a tough category to call. Nick would very much like to see Christoph Waltz win for "Django Unchained," as he feels Christoph and Quentin have created the most interesting character of this lot. However, Nick feels Robert De Niro WILL win this Award, not necessarily because he was so amazing in "Silver Linings Playbook," but because he is a sentimental favourite.
Katy agrees that Robert De Niro WILL win for the same reasons Nick lists - he is a favourite, and is probably being honoured for all his other films along with this one. Katy thinks it is possible Tommy Lee Jones could pull a win for "Lincoln" and upset De Niro. She loved Phillip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master," but doesn't understand why he is nominated as Supporting when it wasn't a supporting role. Katy thinks Alan Arkin was a true supporting character and believes he is the actor who SHOULD win for his fun turn in "Argo."
BEST ACTRESS
The Nominees:
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Nick would love to see Emmanuelle Riva win for her "eloquently executed" performance in "Amour," or Naomi Watts for "The Impossible," because he is such a big fan of her work. However, Nick believes that Jennifer Lawrence WILL win for "Silver Linings Playbook" but is going with Emmanuelle Riva as his SHOULD win.
Katy did not, and would not, see "The Impossible," but does believe Naomi's performance was Oscar-worthy. She also thinks Jessica Chastain could possibly be paying the price for the bad publicity "Zero Dark Thirty" has received lately, mostly from the US Intelligence people who are familiar with the the story and have spoken out against its authenticity. While Jessica was once the front-runner, Jennifer Lawrence now holds that position.
However, Katy thinks that while she is always terrific, Jennifer Lawrence continues to play the same "plucky tough girl" roles in each movie she is in. Katy does not think her turn in "Silver Linings Playbook" was a Best Actress performance. Katy is going to go out on a limb and say Jessica Chastain WILL win for "Zero Dark Thirty" and the AMAZING Quvenzhané Wallis SHOULD WIN for "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Did you see that child in that movie. Holy sh*t.
BEST ACTOR
The Nominees
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Denzel Washington, Flight
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Hi Daniel Day-Lewis! Enjoy Oscar night!
Nick thinks this is as much as a one man race as he has ever seen at the Oscars. If Daniel Day-Lewis does NOT win, time will stand still, says Nick. He is an actor's actor, he was wonderful in "Lincoln" as he is in all his films, and there isn't the faintest possibility he won't win this Award. Katy agrees - DDL will take the top prize for his portrayal of Honest Abe (funny an Englishman is playing a US President though, no?). Nick also thinks he SHOULD win.
Katy feels Bradley Cooper SHOULD win for "Silver Linings Playbook." She thought it was a career defining performance, and it was the first film that showed people that he was a real actor and not a pretty face. The role of "Pat" was a game-changer for him. Katy thought his performance was a revelation - but wants to give a shout-out to Joaquin Phoenix, who was incredible in "The Master."
BEST DIRECTOR
The Nominees:
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke, Amour
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
A wacky and fractious category if ever there was one!
Nick and Katy find it 'very, very strange" that Ben Affleck was not nominated for "Argo." Nick cannot understand how you can nominate a Best Picture but not nominate the Director who made that film in the directing category. They both agree Ben's direction of "Argo" was a true achievement - the pacing, dialogue, the look - and the fact that he is missing from the category is perplexing. Also annoying Nick is the fact that Quentin Tarantino is not nominated at all for "Django Unchained." Nick feels if there are nine Best Picture nominees, there should be nine directors as well. He has a point...
Although Nick doesn't think that "Lincoln" was terribly groundbreaking, he does think Steven Spielberg, a big Academy favourite, WILL win. He also feels that "The Life of Pi" is such an innovative movie that he'd be very happy to see Ang Lee win, so he's choosing Ang as his SHOULD win.
Katy agrees that Spielberg WILL win for "Lincoln," but wouldn't be too troubled if this category had a big upset. "Life of Pi" was original and stunning, visually, as well as unique. Ang Lee is Katy's SHOULD win for Best Director.
BEST PICTURE
The Nominees:
Argo
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
This is as much of a given as Daniel Day-Lewis winning Best Actor - both Katy and Nick say the Academy is going to make good to Ben Affleck and give this award to "Argo." Since "Frankenweenie" wasn't nominated ("shame!"), Nick would love to see "Django Unchained" win as he feels Tarantino has done more for American cinema than many others and hasn't been properly recognised for it. Nick is also upset that "On the Road" (the film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's classic) wasn't in this year's race in any category. He thought it was a terrific film. So Nick's WILL win is "Argo" and his SHOULD win is "Django Unchained."
Katy believes that the early front-runner for this Award was, at one point, "Zero Dark Thirty," which seems to have lost a lot of its momentum. Plus Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" won Best Picture two years ago and it's unlikely another film of hers will be honoured with Best Picture so soon after her last win.
Katy is sticking firm with "Argo" as her WILL win and SHOULD win. She thinks "Argo" has all the elements a BEST PICTURE should have - and really, the best film in this specific category.
Another Oscar year nearly gone by for Rhodes + Krassner. The 85th Annual Academy Awards is this Sunday (February 24) evening. Good luck to all the nominees, you're all winners in our eyes!
Watch out for some Oscar night tweets (and maybe some input from Nick) from @askkatybook on Twitter.
