Oscars Results

Well, the Oscars Awards Ceremony is over and the trophies have been given.  So how did I do in my predictions?  Below are all the nominees.  My predictions are in Bold and Underlined.  The actual winners are colored red.

BEST PICTURE:

• Amour
• Argo
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• Django Unchained
• Les Miserables
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Zero Dark Thirty

BEST DIRECTOR:

• Amour – Michael Haneke
• Beasts of the Southern Wild – Benh Zeitlin
• Life of Pi – Ang Lee
• Lincoln – Stephen Spielberg
• Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

• Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
• Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
• Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables
• Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
• Denzel Washington – Flight

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

• Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty
• Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
• Emmanuelle Riva – Amour
• Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
• Naomi Watts – The Impossible

 BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

• Alan Arkin – Argo
• Robert DeNiro – Silver Linings Playbook
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
• Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln
• Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

• Amy Adams – The Master
• Sally Field – Lincoln
• Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables
• Helen Hunt – The Sessions
• Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook

WRITING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

• Amour
• Django Unchained
• Flight
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Zero Dark Thirty

WRITING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

• Argo
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• Life of Pi
• Lincoln
• Silver Linings Playbook

Not too bad, six out of eight correct.  As my friends will attest, though I believed Lincoln to deserve Best Picture and Director awards, I told them not to count Argo out of the race, especially after taking home first place at nearly every other awards ceremony that exists for motion pictures.  Many have felt that Director Ben Affleck was actually snubbed by the Academy for not being nominated for Best Director.  That could be one of the downfalls of expanding the Best Picture category to nine nominees and keeping the Director category at only five. In fact, over the last 25 years, only 5 times has the Best Picture not guaranteed the Best Director awards.  2013 marks the 6th historic time this has occurred, and it certainly won't be the last.  

Argo Review

4 Stars

Argo is the name of the 1980 science fiction movie set in Iran with a storyline and feel similar to Star Wars.  The film was never made . . . and they never intended to make it either.  During the Iran hostage crisis, six Americans were able to get free when the embassy is invaded by Iranian protestors and found asylum in the home of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber).  When the CIA ordered that they be rescued and brought home, it was up to CIA exfiltration expert Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to figure out a way to do just that. Argo was his elaborate plan: a Canadian movie set in Iran.  Mendez posed as one of the film's producers, the CIA set up a fake Canadian film studio and sent out press releases advertising the movie, even members of Hollywood's film industry were brought in to bring legitimacy to the film that was never going to be made.  Based on true events, the plan was to get their phony film crew into Iran, make contact with the six refugees, and sneak them out of the country as part of their film crew.

I predicted 4 stars and Argo was a solid 4 star experience.  The preview was spot on: an incredible and almost unbelievable story, great characters, and a non-stop heart-pounding ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time.  Ben Affleck was great as Ben Affleck, or Tony Mendez. Affleck is one of those actors who is pretty much the same character in every one of his movies, but I still like him.  I think he's been in some bad movies (Gigli), but I don't think he performed badly in any of those movies.  But I don't ever see him delivering an Oscar-worthy performance.  So, he should set his aspirations of trophies and commendations to behind-the-scenes work, like Good Will Hunting.  And Argo is up for an Oscar for Best Picture.  I'm not sure why Affleck didn't get recognized for his job Directing this movie, but Beasts of the Southern Wild Director Benh Zeitlin and Silver Linings Playbook Director David O. Russell did get nominated.  

Speaking of nominations, Alan Arkin was nominated for Actor in a Supporting Role for his part as Hollywood Film Producer Lester Siegel. He was great for the whole ten to fifteen minutes he was in the movie, but I don't think that warrants an Oscar Nomination, especially being put up against Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained).  Regardless of the awards this movie should or should not be receiving in my opinion, Argo was thoroughly entertaining, extremely well-done, rivetingly intense and well worth the price of admission.  I will definitely see it again and there's a good chance of it making my home collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Argo Preview

Argo is the name of the 1980 science fiction movie set in Iran with a storyline and feel similar to Star Wars.  The film was never made . . . and they never intended to make it either.  During the Iran hostage crisis, six Americans were able to get free and found asylum in the home of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber).  When the CIA ordered that they be rescued and brought home, it was up to CIA exfiltration expert Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to figure out a way to do just that. Argo was his elaborate plan: a Canadian movie set in Iran.  Mendez posed as one of the film's producers, the CIA set up a fake Canadian film studio and sent out press releases advertising the movie, even members of Hollywood's film industry were brought in to bring legitimacy to the film that was never going to be made.  Based on true events, the plan was to get their phony film crew into Iran, make contact with the six refugees, and sneak them out of the country as part of their film crew.

The preview shows an almost unbelievable story told by an amazing cast.  Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, Argo looks to be intriguing, entertaining, and a nail-biting story of epic heroism. Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, and John Goodman lend their talents to the film and seem to be in top form. In 2010, Ben Affleck's last project in Directing and Acting, The Town, earned an Oscar nomination for Supporting Actor Jeremy Renner and an AFI award win for movie of the year.  Argo has been nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture of the Year and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin.  Is this the year Affleck takes home the trophy? He's certainly up against some stiff competition.  Judging from the preview, this movie will earn those nominations, though I'm not so sure about actually winning them when you look at the other films and actors who were also nominated.  I'm predicting a 4 star experience overall that is worth the price of admission and might make it to my home collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.