Announcement: 2013 Academy Award Nominations List – Surprises & Snubs!
Here they are, folks, your 2013 Academy Award Nominations list! The nominees for the 85th Academy Awards were announced this morning by Emma Stone and this year’s Oscar host, Seth MacFarlane, from the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif. The last time an Oscar host announced the nominees was back in 1972. It’s a smart move in that it gives us an idea of how MacFarlane (famous for creating “Family Guy” and directing last year’s hit comedy “Ted”) will fare come Oscar night on February 24th. He and Stone were great together – Peter Brady’s all growned up! So, there’s up to 10 films could be nominated for Best Picture, so there are bound to be some surprises and snubs, in that category as well as the others.
Some of these movies are still in theaters, some are on now on DVD/Blu-ray, Netflix Watch Instantly and other outlets, but these are the supposed cream of the crop for 2012, so check them out! Linked below will be the available Keeping It Reel reviews for all nominated films.
Enjoy! And feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!!
BEST PICTURE
- Argo
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Lincoln
- Amour
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Life of Pi
- Les Misérables
- Django Unchained
- Zero Dark Thirty
Surprises: just nine?
Snubs: The Master & Moonrise Kingdom
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ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
- Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
- Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
- Denzel Washington – Flight
- Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
- Hugh Jackman – Les Misérables
Surprises: Joaquin Phoenix (he deserves to win, but some thought his bashing of the Oscars didn’t give him a chance)
Snubs: did Phoenix take John Hawkes (“The Sessions”) spot? – if so, awesome!
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ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
- Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty
- Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
- Emmanuelle Riva – Amour
- Naomi Watts – The Impossible
- Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Surprises: none.
Snubs: none
NOTE: Very cool to see such an age range here, with Wallis as the youngest and Riva being the oldest. This looks to be a race between Chastain and Lawrence though. Seeing as how “Zero Dark Thirty” was not nominated for Director, this could go to Chastain. An awesome upset would be Watts, who was amazing in “The Impossible”.
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ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
- Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln
- Robert DeNiro – Silver Linings Playbook
- Alan Arkin – Argo
- Christolph Waltz – Django Unchained
Surprises: Arkin taking Leonardo DiCaprio’s spot.
Snubs: DiCaprio not getting a nomination for “Django Unchained” is both a surprise and a snub. He and Waltz deserve a nomination.
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ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Amy Adams – The Master
- Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables
- Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook
- Helen Hunt – The Sessions
- Sally Field – Lincoln
Surprises: Weaver, who won an Oscar for “Animal Kingdom” is a surprise. Not that she doesn’t deserve it. This just makes “Silver Linings Playbook” a stronger candidate for Best Picture. Weinstein power!
Snubs: none (although it would’ve been nice to see Judi Dench nominated for “Skyfall”)
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DIRECTING
- David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
- Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
- Ang Lee – Life of Pi
- Michael Hanake – Amour
- Ben Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Surprises: Michael Hanake and Ben Zeitlin. Since Hanake’s film is nominated in both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film, he’s not getting this award. His nomination should’ve gone to Kathryn Bigelow. Although “Beasts” didn’t resonate with me as much as just about everyone else, I am surprised and thrilled that Ben Zeitlin has been nominated for his directorial debut.
Snubs: No Paul Thomas Anderson, but no surprise since “The Master” didn’t get a Picture nom. No Bigelow or Ben Afflieck. Bigelow deserved it more than Affleck, but with all the love “Argo” has received since it was released, it was thought that the director was a lock.
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Writing (Original Screenplay)
- Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty
- Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
- Michael Haneke – Amour
- Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom
- John Gatins – Flight
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
- Tony Kushner – Lincoln
- Chris Terrio – Argo
- David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
- David Magee – Life of Pi
- Lucy Alibar, Behn Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Surprises: What do you remember most from “Life of Pi”? Hint – not the screenplay
Snubs: Stephen Chobsky, who adapted and directed “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, from his own novel.
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BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
- Frankenweenie
- Brave
- ParaNorman
- Wreck-It Ralph
- Pirates! Band of Misfits
Surprises: none
Snubs: none
NOTE: Hooray for stop-motion!
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FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
- Kon-Tiki – Norway
- War Witch – Canada
- No – Chile
- Amour – Austria
- A Royal Affair – Denmark
Surprises: “Amour” will win this category, so then it didn’t need to be nominated for Picture, which would’ve given “The Master” or “Moonrise Kingdom” a shot.
Snubs: “The Intouchables” and “Rust and Bone”
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BEST DOCTUMENTARY FEATURE
- The Gatekeepers
- How to Survive a Plague
- 5 Broken Creatures
- The Invisible War
- Searching for Sugar Man
Surprises: can’t say, since Documentaries were a weak spot for me this year.
Snubs: “The Imposter” and “The Queen of Versailles”
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DOCUMENTARY (Short Subject)
- Inocente – Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
- Kings Point – Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
- Mondays at Racine – Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
- Open Heart – Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
- Redemption – Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
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ART DIRECTION (Production Design)
- Anna Karenina – Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
- Les Misérables – Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
- Life of Pi – David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
- Lincoln – Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
Surprises: none
Snubs: “The Impossible” deserved a nom here.
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CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Claudio Miranda – Life of Pi
- Roger Deakins – Skyfall
- Janusz Kaminski – Lincoln
- Robert Richardson – Django Unchained
- Seamus McGarvey – Anna Karenina
Surprises: none
Snubs: Mihai Malăimare, Jr., for “The Master”, continuing the lack of appreciation for that great film.
NOTE: Could this finally be the year that Roger Deakins wins an Oscar? “Skyfall” is some of the best work of his career, so here’s hoping.
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COSTUME DESIGN
- Snow White and the Huntsman – Colleen Atwood
- Anna Karenina – Jaqueline Durran
- Les Misérables – Paco Delgado
- Lincoln – Joanna Johnston
- Mirror Mirror – Eiko Ishioka
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FILM EDITING
- Argo – William Goldenberg
- Life of Pi – Tim Squyres
- Lincoln – Michael Kahn
- Silver Linings Playbook – Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
- Zero Dark Thirty – Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg
NOTE: the winner here will likely tell us who wins Picture
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MAKEUP
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
- Les Misérables – Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell
- Hitchcock – Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
Surprises: “Hitchcock” wasn’t all that.
Snubs: “Looper” should’ve received some love. Oscar forgot about that one, I guesss.
NOTE: I’m just glad it didn’t go to “Cloud Atlas”.
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MUSIC (Original Score)
- Anna Karenina – Dario Marianelli
- Life of Pi – Mychael Danna
- Skyfall – Thomas Newman
- Lincoln – John Williams
- Argo – Alexandre Desplat
SURPRISES: see below
SNUBS: Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin for “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
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MUSIC (Original Song)
- “Before My Time” from Chasing Ice, music and lyric by J. Ralph
- “Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from Ted, music by Walter Murphy; lyric by Seth MacFarlane
- “Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi, music by Mychael Danna; lyric by Bombay Jayashri
- “Skyfall” from Skyfall, music and lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
- “Suddenly” from Les Misérables, music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
NOTE: nice to see the Oscar host get some love!
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SHORT FILM (Animated)
- Adam and Dog – Minkyu Lee
- Fresh Guacamole, PES
- Head over Heels – Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly
- Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare” – David Silverman
- Paperman – John Kahrs
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SHORT FILM (Live Action)
- Asad – Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
- Buzkashi Boys – Sam French and Ariel Nasr
- Curfew – Shawn Christensen
- Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) – Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
- Henry – Yan England
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SOUND EDITING
- Argo – Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
- Django Unchained – Wylie Stateman
- Life of Pi – Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
- Skyfall – Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
- Zero Dark Thirty – Paul N.J. Ottosson
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SOUND MIXING
- Argo – John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
- Les Misérables – Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
- Life of Pi – Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
- Lincoln – Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
- Skyfall – Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson
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VISUAL EFFECTS
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Joe Letteri, Eric Saindan, Dacvid Clayton and R. Christopher White
- Life of Pi – Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
- Marvel’s The Avengers – Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
- Snow White and the Huntsman – Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson
- Prometheus – Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
(photos courtesy of AFP)