Oscars 2012

Oscars 2012: There are only five categories for Oscar nominations I care about.  Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role, Actress in a Leading Role, Actor in a Supporting Role, and Actress in a Supporting Role. 

Here are the nominees for the categories:

Best Picture: Hugo, Midnight In Paris, The Artist, Moneyball, The Descendants, Tree of Life, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Warhorse, The Help (since when could there be NINE nominees for best picture)

Actor in a Leading Role:  Brad Pitt (Moneyball), George Clooney (The Descendants), Demian Bichir (A Better Life), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)

Actress in a Leading Role: Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Viola Davis (The Help), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)

Actor in a Supporting Role: Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn), Jonah Hill (Moneyball), Nick Nolte (Warrior), Christopher Plummer (The Beginners), Max Von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

Actress in a Supporting Role: Berenice Bojo (The Artist), Jessica Chastain (The Help), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs), Octavia Spencer (The Help)

My predictions:

Best Picture: Of the nominees I have seen Moneyball, The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and The Help.  My personal favorite of those movies is The Help with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close coming in a close second.  My prediction for the Oscar winner is The Artist, because it is different, having no dialogue, and there is a lot of talk about how great the movie is.

Actor in a Leading Role: I have only seen two of the nominees performances, George Clooney and Brad Pitt, and I was not impressed with either performance, though I thought George Clooney was better than Brad Pitt.  My prediction for the winner of the Oscar is Jean Dujardin, again because of all the talk.

Actress in a Leading Role: Again I have only seen two of the performances, Viola Davis and Rooney Mara.  I enjoyed both movies greatly and my enjoyment of these movies hinged on the leading actress' performances and both were superb.  Thought I am a super fan of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo I think Viola Davis' acting in The Help was so moving, therefore she is my pick for the winner of the Oscar.

Actor in a Supporting Role: For this category I have seen four of the five performances.  I have not seen Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn.  I was most impressed with Nick Nolte in Warrior and Christopher Plummer in The Beginners.  Though my personal pick is Nick Nolte in Warrior, a fantastic movie I might add, I predict the winner of the Oscar will be Christopher Plummer.

Actress in a Supporting Role:  I have seen Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer in The Help and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids.  I am slightly confused with Melissa McCarthy's nomination.  I was not a big fan of the movie Bridesmaids or of her performance.  Though I have not seen Berenice Boho or Janet McTeer I choose Octavia Spencer from The Help as the winner of the Oscar.  I thought she played her character, Minnie, perfectly!

There is a really cool game at the Oscars, www.oscar.com called My Picks.  You should check it out and see how good you do on the night of the Oscars, www.oscar.go.com/mypicks