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Road to Oscars : 5 Days More

Feb 21 2012.

We're five days away from the 84th Annual Academy Awards. Admittedly over the years the Oscars have become highly overrated and politically influenced, nevertheless it is the most glamorous and prestigious red carpet event. And it’s rumoured you win an Oscar and you increase your fee ;). Anyway the nominees are......

Best Picture "The Artist" "The Descendants" "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" "Hugo" "Midnight in Paris" "The Help" "Moneyball" "War Horse" "The Tree of Life"	Best Original Song "Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie "Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Best Actor Demian Bichir, "A Better Life" George Clooney, "The Descendants" Jean Dujardin, "The Artist" Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"	Original Score "The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams "The Artist," Ludovic Bource "Hugo," Howard Shore "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias "War Horse," John Williams
Best Actress Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs" Viola Davis, "The Help" Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady" Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"	Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Bullhead (Belgium) Footnote (Israel) In Darkness (Poland) Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) A Separation (Iran)
Best Supporting Actor Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn" Jonah Hill, "Moneyball" Nick Nolte, "Warrior" Christopher Plummer, "Beginners" Max Von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"	Best Animated Feature "A Cat In Paris" "Chico & Rita" "Kung Fu Panda 2" "Puss in Boots" "Rango"
Best Supporting Actress Berenice Bejo, "The Artist" Jessica Chastain, "The Help" Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids" Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs" Octavia Spencer, "The Help"	Best Adapted Screenplay Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, "The Descendants" John Logan, "Hugo" George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March" Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball" Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughn, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Best Director Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris" Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist" Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life" Alexander Payne, "The Descendants" Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"	Best Original Screenplay Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris" JC Chandor, "Margin Call" Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation" Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist" Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids"

Best Original Song "Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie "Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett	Best Achievement in Makeup "Albert Nobbs" "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" "The Iron Lady"
Best Achievement in Art Direction "The Artist" "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" "Hugo" "Midnight in Paris" "War Horse"	Best Animated Short Film Dimanche/Sunday The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore La Luna A Morning Stroll Wild Life
Best Achievement in Cinematography "The Artist" "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" "Hugo" "The Tree of Life" "War Horse"	Best Live Action Short Film "Pentecost" "Raju" "The Shore" "Time Freak" "Tuba Atlantic"
Best Achievement in Costume Design "Anonymous" "The Artist" "Hugo" "Jane Eyre" "W.E."	Best Achievement in Sound Editing "Drive" "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" "Hugo" "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" "War Horse"
Best Documentary Feature "Hell and Back Again" "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" "Pina" "Undefeated"	Best Achievement in Sound Mixing "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" "Hugo" "Moneyball" "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" "War Horse"
Best Documentary Short Subject "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement?" "God Is the Bigger Elvis" "Incident in New Baghdad" "Saving Face" "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"	Best Achievement in Visual Effects "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" "Hugo" "Real Steel" "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Best Achievement in Film Editing "The Artist" "The Descendants" "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" "Hugo" "Moneyball"	Best Achievement in Visual Effects "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" "Hugo" "Real Steel" "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

Best Film Nominee 'The Artist

Best Film Nominee 'Hugo"

The Oscars have caused even more of a buzz this time. While making a distinction between politics and art, one of the biggest contenders for the best foreign language film is the Iranian entry: A Separation, which won the golden globe for best film in the same category. So will A Seperation walk humbly away with the golden statue symbolizing all is well, or would Spielberg push for Footnote?

In the Best actor Category is the usual-usual. The race is between the charming Clooney, handsome Pitt and the very talented Jean Dujardin. While Clooney did win the globe for best performance in motion picture drama, Jean Dujardin won best performance in motion picture comedy or musical. While Clooney’s performance is just well a shrug, Jean Dujardin does seem like he might cross the finish line before given that his performance is exceptional in an exceptionally artistic film. However one does feel and hope for Brad Pitt. Will his good looks still cloud the panel’s judgement?

Ps – What happened to Leonardo Dicaprio for J. Edgar??

Continuing the “who will the damn Oscar!!!” nerve wracking curiosity are the ladies. The harsh competition for best actress is between Viola Davis for her role as Aibileen Clark in The Help and Meryl Streep for her role as Margret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. While the globes favoured Portrayal of the British political figure, will the Oscars do the same?

The golden globe for best supporting actress in a motion picture went well deservingly to Octavia Spencer for her role as Minny Jackson in The Help, the critics have it that she will be nailing the Oscars as well.

The question is will Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences make history by awarding the two prestigious acting statuettes to two black women simultaneously or will they just award it to Meryl Streep? Besides the politics and the fact that she has been nominated a record of 16 times, she is fabulous isn’t she?

Personally I prefer making history; Because Viola Davis is rather brilliant too.

The Academy Awards ceremony (The Oscars) is on Sunday, February 26, 2012.

(Compiled by Shazanna Hamid)