Oscars, Oscars everywhere, but not a Drive to win!

Oscar day is less than two days away now, so I thought I'd skip the usual discussion of a movie I watched the last few days and discuss my particular pick of winners instead, either movies I think will win, or movies I hope will win (wouldn't it be great if these two were one and the same?). First of all, I must protest against the Academy's decision not to nominate Drive for Best Picture, which it easily deserves. What is the point of expanding the number of Oscar nominees for Best Picture from five to ten if you ignore the tenth? So only nine nominees this year, but at least most people agree which movie would have been number ten, and which movie would have won in general. By omitting Drive and not picking a tenth movie, the Academy might as well have outright stated this movie would have won if it wasn't too violent for the Academy's taste, even though decreasing the gore levels would have made Drive a less effective movie. Similarly, also very disappointing to see Michael Fassbender is not nominated for Best Actor for his revealing role in Shame, but of course we can't have a civilized institute like the Academy promoting nudity in movies. Both cases of severe neglect were rather predictable, the Academy being the rigid backward uptight American institute it is, obviously uncomfortable with actors showing what they consider 'explicit nudity' (a penis) or films displaying extreme violence (a man getting his head kicked into pulp while using an elevator), despite such actors and films being actually excellent and already enjoying a rather large amount of positive critique around the globe. It's the same small minded thinking that robbed Mickey Rourke of his well deserved Oscar for The Wrestler just for using a swear word the day before the ceremony, but it's the way it is so we can do nothing but complain about it. A lot.

So, eliminating two given winners, what remains? Still a fair amount of good motion picture making fortunately, though also a decent amount of nonsensical nominations (War Horse for best picture? Really?). So here are my predictions:

-Best Picture: The Artist. Not only is it celebrating Hollywood's roots (and to some extent, the Academy's) in a fantastic way, it's also the most original constructed piece among the nine nominees, using all the ancient techniques that started it all. Plus, it's actually from France, and it would be deliciously ironic to have a French movie win this American price by largely just eliminating the language barrier altogether, yet illustrating that a well crafted motion picture can charm audiences everywhere. Also, with Drive out of the picture, the competition just doesn't seem up to it. All good movies, sure, but few of them seem like actual Best Picture material.

Second choice: Hugo.

-Best Leading Actor: Jean Dujardin for The Artist. Such a riveting and charming performance! The full emotional spectrum, but doing away with dialogue, thus making it harder for the actor to convey his character's feelings, and Dujardin excelled at this.

Second choice: George Clooney for The Descendants.

-Best Leading Actress: Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. A very challenging and sometimes shocking performance, made more difficult by various metal appliances, some excessive body paint and an obligatory Swedish accent (though in this movie her male counterpart didn't need one, since he's already an established star and apparently doesn't need to show why he is by turning to silly accents). Considering Rooney's limited experience so far this is a genuine tour-de-force. Definitely a young actress to keep watching!

Second choice: Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady.

-Best Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn. One great Shakespearean actor playing another, and doing a grand job at it. Besides, the poor man has been nominated four times before for an equal number of different departments of making movies, and he always left empty handed. Fifth time is the charm, or keeping with tradition?

Second choice: Christopher Plummer for Beginners.

-Best Supporting Actress: Bérénice Bejo for The Artist. Same reasons as Jean Dujardin above, plus the fact she's even more charming and just generally cute. Just as we want this pair to live happily ever after together in the movie, we want them to leave with one of those funny gold statues together.

Second choice: Octavia Spencer for The Help.

-Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist. I could tell you why, but I don't want to sound repetitive by now. So I'll just say he should win an Oscar because he made a good movie that really, really deserves it. And I might also refer you to my article on The Artist, since I'm not above shameless self-promotion.

Second choice: Martin Scorsese for Hugo.

-Best Original Screenplay: The Artist. You try and write a screenplay for a movie that has no dialogue.

Second choice: Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris.

-Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants. The other nominees, except for Hugo, seem too politically charged or too subversive to win in this category under the current conservative climate in the Academy. So it's a toss-up between Hugo and The Descendants, and I go for the latter because the Academy usually favors a movie that is all about characters, while Hugo (which of course is not at all lacking in the character department) also has that visual element to it the Academy often seems to regard with a bit of disdain. If there's one category that's basically a wild guess, it's this one.

Second choice: Hugo.

-Best Animated Movie: Kung Fu Panda 2. I would have said Rango, but I figure it's much too subversive and bizarre for the Academy's limited taste. Kung Fu Panda 2, though potentially suffering from being a sequel (also something the Academy often is intolerant of), seems like a safer bet. The other choices are either too artsy or simply not Oscar material (Puss in Boots? Come on!).

Second choice: Rango.

-Best Foreign Movie: In Darkness. Holocaust drama. What more needs there to be said about this one? Kate Winslet is living proof.

Second choice: Rundskop.

-Best Cinematography: Hugo. Martin Scorsese + 3-D = kickass camera work.

Second choice: The Tree of Life.

-Best Editing: The Artist. Though containing a lot of fairly straight forward montage due to the use of old techniques needed to give the movie a classic feel, there's also some fabulous split-screen and wiping going on which is simply too beautiful to ignore. Striving not to be boring, the editor and director turned to various daring pieces of editing (some nearly extinct these days) to convey the overall mood much more dramatically.

Second choice: Hugo.

-Best Art Direction: Hugo. Only a master of motion pictures like Scorsese could make such a wonderful combination of history and fantasy come alive so breathtakingly visually, making use of the set dressing in such a vivid fashion. The other contestants, though good in their own right, don't even come close.

Second choice: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

-Best Costume Design: Anonymous. Underwhelmed by this year's offer of costumes, I go for the safe bet of splendid Elizabethan outfits. Fairly typical.

Second choice: Jane Eyre.

-Best Makeup: The Iron Lady. Look what they did to poor Meryl Streep, she looks like an old hag! And so did Margaret Thatcher.

Second choice: Albert Nobbs.

-Best Score: The Artist. Very little dialogue and sounds effects, so the music has an even bigger job at making the action feel compelling and emotional, and it succeeds at every turn.

Second choice: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

-Best Song: 'Man or Muppet' from The Muppets. Great song, also kinda catchy (like it or not). You haven't lived until you've wondered whether Jim Parsons could actually be a Muppet while pretending to be singing to this song. Anyway, it's the Muppets, song is their forte. Plus, the competition is practically non-existent.

Second choice: Rio.

-Best Sound Mixing: Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Okay, so the movie is utter trash, but the sound effects are great, again. It's not enough to carry the movie, but at least it makes these digital robots turning into cars feel somewhat real.

Second choice: Hugo.

-Best Sound Editing: Drive. Making great use of simple sound effects and good songs to achieve a maximum level of dynamics and full audience participation in this hellish joy ride. Besides, Drive should at least take home one Oscar after being ignored so drastically. Since this is the only category it's nominated for (Humbug! Shenanigans!), it might as well be this one. Otherwise, I would feel fine if the director of the movie winning Best Picture (unless it be The Artist) gets viciously assaulted by the director of Drive while on the elevator with this films's score in the background. Seems poetic justice.

Second choice: Hugo.

-Best Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It's about time Andy Serkis got an Oscar for mo-capping so many fantastic digital creatures (even though he won't be the one to accept it). Motion Capture is a grand effects breakthrough but the Academy has yet to really acknowledge its potential. Here's their chance to right this wrong.

Second choice: again, Hugo.

-Best Documentary: Pina. A documentary about ballet, making full use of 3-D's potential. Seems like quite a cinematic achievement, for 3-D, documentaries and ballet.

Second choice: Undefeated.

And there you have it. Time will prove me right. Or wrong. Or 7 out of 21 right or wrong. Or another possible combination. Depending on how wrong I was, expect a follow-up to this piece next week. If I turn out to be 100% correct (fat chance!), I'll leave it at this and celebrate it by watching a Drive/Shame double feature.