The Oscars

Well, it is that time of the year again! Christmas is over and with it so is 2012. On February 24th, we will find out who will add the ever coveted Oscar Statue to their collections. This is an exciting time of the year for me because I like movies. That's really it. The people don't choose the winners, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does, but the winners are ultimately the best movies of the year. In this entry I am going to go over the nominees. After that, I will break down who I think will win their award(s) and who I think should win but before I get to that; I want to give a VERY brief history of the Oscars.

On May 16, 1929, the first set of awards were given out at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. There were 270 people in attendance and the winners had already been announced. Over the years, the ceremony went through numerous changes to format. The Oscar statuette, actually called the Academy Award of Merit, consists of a knight holding a sword. He is standing on a film reel that has five spokes which coincide with the original five categories within The Academy: writers, directors, actors, producers, and technicians. The source of the name of the award, Oscar, is unconfirmed. There are many that claim they influenced the name (Bette Davis has stated that it is named after her husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson) and there is a rumor that someone proclaimed that it looked like King Oscar II. Whatever the true origin may be is irrelevant. The Oscar is the most coveted award in film if not all of entertainment.

The Categories and Nominees

Over a dozen awards are given out every year at the Oscar's Ceremony. The categories that are recognized have changed through the years. Best Assistant Director, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score, and Best Original Story are among the discontinued awards. The categories that will be awarded this year are:
Best Visual Effects
The Hobbit, Life of Pi, The Avengers, Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman
Best Film Editing
Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Hunstman
Best Makeup
Hitchcock, The Hobbit, Les Miserables
Best Cinematography
Anna Karenina, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall
Best Production Design
Anna Karenina, The Hobbit, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln
Best Sound Mixing
Argo, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall
Best Sound Editing
Argo, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Skyfall, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Original Song
"Before My Time" from Chasing Ice, "Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from Ted, "Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi, "Skyfall" from Skyfall, "Suddenly" from Les Miserables
Best Original Score
Anna Karenina, Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall
Best Animated Short
Adam and Dog, Fresh Guacamole, Head Over Heels, The Longest Daycare, Paperman
Best Live Action Short Film
Asad, Buzkashi Boys, Curfew, Death of A Shadow, Henry
Best Documentary (Short)
Inocente, Kings Point, Mondays At Racine, Open Heart, Redemption
Best Documentary (Feature)
5 Broken Cameras, The Gatekeepers, How to Survive A Plague, The Invisible War, Searching for Sugar Man
Best Foreign Language Film
Amour, Kon-Tiki, No, A Royal Affair, War Witch
Best Animated Feature
Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates, Wreck-It Ralph
Best Adapted Screenplay
Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Original Screenplay
Amour, Django Unchained, Flight, Moonrise Kingdom, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook) Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Best Leading Actor
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), Denzel Washington (Flight)
Best Leading Actress
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Quvezhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
Best Director
Michael Haneke (Amour), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Best Picture
Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

In my next post I will breakdown who I think will win and who I think should win.