The Oscars 2013 - A Mixed-bag, Hilarious but Underwhelming winner-fest.

                 So I watched the Oscars last night, which I was unable to watch live. At first, sure i was a bit taken away by everything but now i realize that this ceremony was one of the most mediocre ones they have done recently. First and foremost, Seth MacFarlane did a good job hosting the Oscars. Performance of the host is the first thing that people really talk about so yes he was actually good. I personally am very cool with the crass and inappropriate jokes when they are not targeted towards someone or something but are a representatives of inside jokes, perceptions and are self-deprecating. Seth does this for a living with his TV shows so he knows how to deliver them so easily and casually and once again, he was a good host alright. I don't think the ceremony itself was rightly directed or executed though. During the many jokes, we weren't able to see the audience reactions i mean that is important isn't it? If a joke is directed towards George Clooney or Amy Adams etc, isn't that as equally important to show their reactions because it helps you laugh at even the dullest of jokes during these things. But the worst thing about this year's Oscar was the abundance of musical performances (which were great) but they ended up increasing the running time and were just oddly timed in general. I appreciate that this year they mostly relied on the live acts but still, there should have been a particular limit. Plus in most of the categories, they didn't presented the nominees in the creative fashion that they do most of the times. Just showing a picture won't do, presenting a particular category through scenes from the movie is always good.

So below, I am going to take a look at the many good, fine and bad things that happened overall.

The 85th Academy Awards (The Oscars) 2013 Winners.

Well the 85th Academy Awards happened last night and as predicted by pretty much everyone, Argo won Best Picture prize. Hollywood made a big joke out of itself for awarding something that felt were suppose to do because poor Ben Affleck was snubbed. Now i personally wasn't able to catch The Oscars live because of the power outage we experienced throughout the country but I will be watching its repeat telecast and maybe I'll talk length about the ceremony later in details. So Ang Lee won Best Director for his wonderful directorial achievement that is Life of Pi. Jennifer Lawrence at last, i personally was rooting for Jessica Chastain and Emmanuelle Riva. Though i am literally pissed about Christoph Waltz taking supporting actor Oscar for the "same" performance twice, not a Tarantino hater but still this is idiotic. Also Brave? It wasn't the best animated film though i admire it for the astounding visuals and technical accomplishment but it was far from Pixar's better movies. What more can i say, i am overall disappointed at the winners but lets see if i like the actual ceremony.

Below is the full list of winners:

Best Picture
Argo (Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov)

Best Directing
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

85th Academy Awards - My Final Predictions.

                   So would it be Argo that will eventually win the best picture award with the possible screenplay and editing prizes? Is the director prize really going to Spielberg or we are going to see a surprise winner? Will Zero Dark Thirty win anything at all? Is Life of Pi this year's Hugo? There are thousands of questions in our minds right now as this year's award season turned out to be quite unpredictable in the start, its still is in many categories but best picture looks like it belongs to Argo after the many accolades it got mainly from the guilds. Its honestly the talk of the town, a movie, its stars and makers as well as its content, the story and the "Argo fuck yourself" kind of dialogues that people are just going crazy for. Its simply ridiculous that Zero Dark Thirty caught up in the stupid controversy or else it was suppose to win damn it! I am not sure if the Ben Affleck snub in the director category at the Oscars gave his movie the edge because it was already there, the award bodies always supports the least offensive films which is something i really hate specially when it comes to critics. Critics speaks and thinks and writes for themselves, why on earth did they decided to suddenly join the crowd and start hating the amazing movie that is Zero Dark Thirty? It was winning best film and director prizes one after the other but then Argo which was the exact opposite entertaining politics based movie that started getting the limelight. And whatever happened to the Spielberg/lovable president biography/serious film love that everyone was suppose to give it? And don't even get me started on the Silver Linings Playbook bashing that is going on just because its a romantic comedy.

                   Its either Argo, Silver Linings Playbook or Lincoln that is winning the main prize. The director prize can go to anyone apparently. No one else is winning the best actor award except Daniel Day-Lewis as well as supporting actress prize that belongs to Anne Hathaway only. Lead actress is pretty much between Jennifer Lawrence and Emmanuelle Riva now. Supporting actor has all the awarded actors in it. Except for Alan Arkin, every one of them have won some prizes for their performance this year. The critical edge goes to Hoffman while the general consensus screams of Jones. Waltz in his typical performance as the Tarantino movie star (which have already earned him a prize just a few years ago) he did won the Globe and BAFTA but i don't see him winning the Oscar. And then there is DeNiro in his best performance since God knows when so it can be anyone here. The technical categories belongs to Life of Pi. I will hope that Zero Dark Thirty at least gets the original Screenplay prize.

Well below are my final predictions for the upcoming Academy Awards that will honor the best in cinema for the year 2012:

Note: The numbering indicates their chances of winning. The ones on number 1 are my predicted winners while the nominees with star in front of them are my preferred winners.

Best Picture

1) Argo
2) Silver Linings Playbook
3) Lincoln
4) Life of Pi
5) Zero Dark Thirty*
6) Beasts of the Southern Wild
7) Django Unchained
8) Amour
9) Les Miserables

Oscars 2013 Nominations - the Goods, the Bads and the snubs.

                  Well the nominations for the 85th Annual Academy Awards were announced with bigger surprises than this already unpredictable award season have offered so far. First of all i really liked the way both Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone presented the nominees with lots of sarcasm and some really nice humor, i don't think they have ever done that before. Looking forward to Seth MacFarlane hosting the Oscars on the 24th of February. So coming back to the nominees, well there were some really big surprises and on the whole, this year's awards race have been quite exciting. The excitement was due to the unpredictability of it i mean it is fun when you don't know who is going to win and its far too boring for a movie to actually build that surefire winner consensus long before the ceremony.

85th Annual Academy Awards Nominations 2013.

Below is the complete list of all the Oscars Nominees for 2012, my complete take on them along with snubs, surprises, shocks later tonight.

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

Best Achievement in Directing
Michael Haneke for Amour
Ang Lee for Life of Pi
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln
Hugh Jackman for Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master
Denzel Washington for Flight

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts for The Impossible

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin for Argo
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams for The Master
Sally Field for Lincoln
Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables
Helen Hunt for The Sessions
Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook

My Predictions for the 85th Academy Awards Nominations.

                    Well its that time of the year once again when critics or bloggers like me spend their days thinking about movies and their Oscars chances. There are just a few days left in the announcement for the Academy Awards nominations. The entire awards season comes to an end with the Oscars and as much as i see and appreciate critics awards individually, it all just seems moving towards this one prestigious event. I always have a love-hate relationship with the Oscars but i always look forward to them. 2012 Oscars race have been very interesting, one of the best ones that i can remember simply because there are so many good movies and none of them is a sure-fire frontrunner, nominee or winner so far. There are too many odds against every movie that there is. Argo and Zero Dark Thirty are both politics related movies but one is pretty entertaining account and the other one is "too harsh" as most of them say. If Lincoln has too much talky scenes with men sitting around and talking history and politics then Les Miserables is too daring and bold adaptation of a beloved musical. I have been changing my predictions a lot from the past few weeks, i am not sure which movie is going to make it in which category. As always, i had lots of trouble predicting the technical categories but anyway here is my predictions for the Oscars based on the precursor awards stats, my gut feelings and the usual awful academy politics.

Best Picture: (I'll go with 9)

1. Lincoln
2. Argo
3. Zero Dark Thirty
4. Silver Linings Playbook
5. Les Miserables
6. Life of Pi
7. Django Unchained
8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
9. Moonrise Kingdom

Best Director:

1. Ben Affleck, Argo
2. Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
3. Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
4. Ang Lee, Life of Pi
5. David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Precursor Awards Count List 2012-13

This list will include every major/minor film awards count for every major category for the Awards Season 2012-13. Scroll down below to see which awards win/nominations details have been added so far. This will be updated every week.

(Total Number of Wins) / (Total Number of Nominations)

Best Picture

Zero Dark Thirty - (12)/(20)
Argo - (12)/(19)
Silver Linings Playbook - (3)/(15)
Lincoln - (3)/(15)
Amour - (3)/(3)
Moonrise Kingdom - (2)/(14)
The Master - (2)/(12)
Les Miserables - (1)/(10)
Life of Pi - (1)/(9)
Safety Not Guaranteed - (1)/(1)
Beasts of the Southern Wild - ()/(11)
Django Unchained - ()/(10)
Skyfall - ()/(3)
Bernie - ()/(2)
Cloud Atlas - ()/(2)
Looper - ()/(1)
The Cabin in the Woods - ()/(1)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - ()/(1)
The Avengers - ()/(1)
The Impossible - ()/(1)
Take This Waltz - ()/(1)
The Sessions - ()/(1)
Middle of Nowhere - ()/(1)
Keep the Lights On - ()/(1)
The Loneliest Planet - ()/(1)
Sound of My Voice - ()/(1)
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - ()/(1)

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty - (14)/(21)
Ben Affleck, Argo - (11)/(17)
Ang Lee, Life of Pi - (4)/(11)
Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master - (3)/(9)
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln - (2)/(12)
Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom - (2)/(5)
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook - (1)/(8)
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained - (1)/(4)
Michael Haneke, Amour - (1)/(4)
Tom Hooper, Les Miserables - ()/(6)
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild - ()/(5)
Leos Carax, Holy Motors - ()/(2)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - ()/(2)
Rian Johnson, Looper - ()/(1)
Miguel Gomes, Tabu - ()/(1)
Juan Antonio Bayona, The Impossible - ()/(1)
Sarah Polley, Take This Waltz - ()/(1)
Ben Lewin, The Sessions - ()/(1)
Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet - ()/(1)
Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On - ()/(1)
Kim Ki-Duk, Pieta - ()/(1)

Best Lead Actor Male

Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln - (27)/(21)
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master - (7)/(20)
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook - (3)/(13)
John Hawkes, The Sessions - (1)/(18)
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables - (1)/(12)
Denzel Washington, Flight - ()/(12)
Denis Lavant, Holy Motors - ()/(4)
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour - ()/(3)
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson - ()/(2)
Jack Black, Bernie - ()/(2)
Anders Danielsen Lie, Oslo, August 31st - ()/(1)
Matthias Schoenaerts, Bullhead - ()/(1)
Matthias Schoenaerts, Rust and Bone - ()/(1)
Mads Mikkelsen, The Hunt - ()/(1)
Richard Gere, Arbitrage - ()/(1)
Anthony Hopkins, Hitchcock - ()/(1)
Jamie Foxx, Django Unchained - ()/(1)
Ben Affleck, Argo - ()/(1)
Omar Sy, The Intouchables - ()/(1)
Thure Lindhardt, Keep the Lights On - ()/(1)
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - ()/(1)

Best Lead Actor Female

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty - (17)/(22)
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook - (16)/(22)
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour - (7)/(12)
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea - (1)/(3)
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild - ()/(12)
Naomi Watts, The Impossible - ()/(9)
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone - ()/(9)
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock - ()/(7)
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed - ()/(3)
Michelle Williams, Take this Waltz - ()/(2)
Greta Gerwig, Damsels in Distress - ()/(2)
Keira Knightley, Anna Karenina - ()/(1)
Laura Linney, Hyde Park On Hudson - ()/(1)
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs - ()/(1)
Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - ()/(1)
Maggie Smith, Quartet - ()/(1)
Nina Hoss, Barbara - ()/(1)
Aubrey Plaza, Safety Not Guaranteed - ()/(1)
Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere - ()/(1)
Emilie Dequenne, Our Children - ()/(1)
Laura Birn, Purge - ()/(1)
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - ()/(1)

Best Supporting Actor Male

Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master - (14)/(21)
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln - (11)/(18)
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained - (6)/(12)
Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike - (2)/(4)
Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild - (2)/(3)
Matthew McConaughey, Bernie - (2)/(1)
Javier Bardem, Skyfall - (1)/(10)
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained - (1)/(4)
Ezra Miller, Perks of Being a Wallflower - (1)/(2)
Alan Arkin, Argo - ()/(13)
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook - ()/(8)
Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe - ()/(3)
Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty - ()/(2)
Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom - ()/(2)
Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained - ()/(2)
Michael Fassbender, Prometheus - ()/(1)
Ewan McGregor, The Impossible - ()/(1)
William H. Macy, The Sessions - ()/(1)
John Goodman, Argo - ()/(1)
Christopher Walken, Seven Psychopaths - ()/(1)
John Goodman, Flight - ()/(1)
Eddie Redmayne, Les Miserables - ()/(1)
David Oyelowo, Middle of Nowhere - ()/(1)
Michael Pena, End of Watch - ()/(1)
Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths - ()/(1)
Yu Jun Sang, In Another Country - ()/(1)

Best Supporting Actor Female

Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables - (26)/(20)
Amy Adams, The Master - (4)/(20)
Sally Field, Lincoln - (4)/(17)
Helen Hunt, The Sessions - (3)/(17)
Ann Dowd, Compliance - (2)/(6)
Judi Dench, Skyfall - (1)/(8)
Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower - ()/(4)
Samantha Barks, Les Miserables - ()/(3)
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy - ()/(3)
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook - ()/(2)
Emily Blunt, Looper - ()/(2)
Gina Gershon, Killer Joe - ()/(2)
Isabelle Huppert, Amour - ()/(1)
Jennifer Ehle, Zero Dark Thirty - ()/(1)
Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - ()/(1)
Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises - ()/(1)
Edith Scob, Holy Motors - ()/(1)
Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect - ()/(1)
Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister’s Sister - ()/(2)
Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice - ()/(1)
Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere - ()/(1)
Helene Florent, Cafe De Flore - ()/(1)

Best Screenplay

Lincoln - (11)/(19)
Argo - (10)/(19)
Zero Dark Thirty - (7)/(19)
Looper - (7)/(8)
Silver Linings Playbook - (6)/(20)
Moonrise Kingdom - (6)/(18)
Django Unchained - (4)/(13)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - (2)/(12)
The Master - (1)/(13)
Life of Pi - (1)/(11)
Amour - (1)/(6)
Safety Not Guaranteed - (1)/(1)
Beasts of the Southern Wild - ()/(8)
The Cabin in the Woods - ()/(7)
Flight - ()/(4)
Seven Psychopaths - ()/(2)
Take this Waltz - ()/(2)
Cosmopolis - ()/(2)
Sound of my Voice - ()/(1)
Cloud Atlas - ()/(1)
Les Miserables - ()/(1)
Arbitrage - ()/(1)
The Sessions - ()/(1)
Anna Karenina - ()/(1)
Keep the Lights On - ()/(1)
Ruby Sparks - ()/(1)
The Deep Blue Sea - ()/(1)
Robot & Frank - ()/(1)
Celeste and Jesse Forever - ()/(1)
Holy Motors - ()/(1)
Tabu - ()/(1)
Oslo, August 31st - ()/(1)
Rust and Bone - ()/(1)
The Intouchables - ()/(1)
Pieta - ()/(1)

Best Foreign Movie

Amour - (19)/(20)
Holy Motors - (6)/(14)
The Intouchables - (6)/(13)
Rust And Bone - (1)/(13)
The Kid with a Bike - (1)/(6)
Headhunters - (1)/(5)
Oslo, August 31st - (1)/(2)
The Raid: Redemption - (1)/(1)
Pieta - (1)/(1)
A Royal Affair - ()/(8)
Once Upon A Time in Anatolia - ()/(4)
Kon-Tiki - ()/(3)
War Witch - ()/(3)
The Turin Horse - ()/(2)
Tabu - ()/(2)
No - ()/(1)
The Hunt - ()/(1)
The Fairy - ()/(1)
Sister - ()/(1)
Our Children - ()/(1)
Beyond the Hills - ()/(1)
Alps - ()/(1)
Restoration - ()/(1)
Cesar Must Die - ()/(1)
I Wish - ()/(1)
Let the Bullets Fly - ()/(1)
Hipsters - ()/(1)

Best Animated Film

ParaNorman - (10)/(18)
Wreck-It Ralph - (10)/(17)
Frankenweenie - (6)/(19)
Brave - (4)/(18)
Rise of the Guardians - (3)/(10)
Chico & Rita - (1)/()
The Pirates! Band of Misfits - ()/(4)
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted - ()/(3)
The Secret World of Arrietty - ()/(3)
Hotel Transylvania - ()/(2)
The Rabbi’s Cat - ()/(1)
Tatsumi - ()/(1)
Ice Age 4: Continental Drift - ()/(1)

Best Cinematography

Life Of Pi - (13)/(16)
Skyfall - (9)/(15)
The Master - (4)/(11)
Zero Dark Thirty - (1)/(4)
Lincoln - ()/(10)
Les Miserables - ()/(8)
Beasts of the Southern Wild - ()/(5)
Anna Karenina - ()/(4)
Moonrise Kingdom - ()/(3)
Django Unchained - ()/(3)
Cloud Atlas - ()/(1)
The Turin Horse - ()/(1)
Tabu - ()/(1)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - ()/(1)
Killing Them Softly - ()/(1)
End of Watch - ()/(1)

Best Film Editing

Zero Dark Thirty - (7)/(11)
Argo - (2)/(10)
Cloud Atlas - (1)/(5)
Silver Linings Playbook - (1)/(3)
Life of Pi - ()/(6)
Skyfall - ()/(5)
The Master - ()/(4)
Les Miserables - ()/(3)
Lincoln - ()/(3)
Moonrise Kingdom - ()/(1)
Django Unchained - ()/(1)
Killing them Softly - ()/(1)
The Dark Knight Rises - ()/(1)
The Sessions - ()/(1)
Flight - ()/(1)
Holy Motors - ()/(1)

Best Art Direction/Production Design

Anna Karenina - (3)/(11)
Les Miserables - (2)/(9)
Life of Pi - (2)/(5)
Moonrise Kingdom - (2)/(5)
Lincoln - (1)/(8)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - (1)/(5)
Cloud Atlas - (1)/(4)
The Master - (1)/(4)
Skyfall - (1)/(2)
Prometheus - (1)/(2)
Beasts of the Southern Wild - (1)/(1)
Argo - ()/(2)
The Dark Knight Rises - ()/(2)
Django Unchained - ()/(1)
A Royal Affair - ()/(1)
Holy Motors - ()/(1)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - ()/(1)
Zero Dark Thirty - ()/(1)
The Impossible - ()/(1)
Flight - ()/(1)

Best Visual Effects

Life of Pi - (8)/(7)
Flight - (1)/(2)
The Impossible - (1)/(1)
The Avengers - ()/(6)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - ()/(5)
Prometheus - ()/(5)
Cloud Atlas - ()/(3)
Snow White and the Huntsman - ()/(2)
The Dark Knight Rises - ()/(2)
Skyfall - ()/(1)
Battleship - ()/(1)

Best Original Score

Beasts Of The Southern Wild - (3)/(9)
The Master - (3)/(8)
Moonrise Kingdom - (3)/(7)
Life of Pi - (2)/(8)
Skyfall - (2)/(5)
Cloud Atlas - (2)/(5)
Django Unchained - (2)/(2)
Argo - (1)/(11)
Lincoln - (1)/(10)
The Dark Knight Rises - (1)/(3)
Anna Karenina - ()/(5)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - ()/(2)
Zero Dark Thirty - ()/(2)
Hitchcock - ()/(2)
Rust and Bone - ()/(1)
Not Fade Away - ()/(1)

Best Costume Design

Anna Karenina - (3)/(7)
A Royal Affair - (1)/(2)
Les Miserables - ()/(6)
Lincoln - ()/(5)
Snow White And The Huntsman - ()/(4)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - ()/(3)
Cloud Atlas - ()/(3)
Mirror Mirror - ()/(2)
Farewell, My Queen - ()/(1)
Moonrise Kingdom - ()/(1)
The Hunger Games - ()/(1)
Great Expectations - ()/(1)
Beasts of the Southern Wild - ()/(1)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - ()/(1)
Silver Linings Playbook - ()/(1)
Skyfall - ()/(1)
Zero Dark Thirty - ()/(1)
Argo - ()/(1)

Best Makeup

Les Miserables - (1)/(3)
Cloud Atlas - (1)/(1)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - ()/(3)
Hitchcock - ()/(2)
Lincoln - ()/(2)
Anna Karenina - ()/(1)
Holy Motors - ()/(1)

Best Sound

Les Miserables - (2)/(5)
Skyfall - ()/(5)
Life Of Pi - ()/(5)
Django Unchained - ()/(3)
Argo - ()/(3)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - ()/(3)
Zero Dark Thirty - ()/(2)
Prometheus - ()/(2)
The Avengers - ()/(1)
The Dark Knight Rises - ()/(1)
Lincoln - ()/(1)
Flight - ()/(1)
Snow White And The Huntsman - ()/(1)
Kon-Tiki - ()/(1)
Berberian Sound Studio - ()/(1)

Best Original Song

Skyfall, Skyfall - (6)/(8)
Suddenly, Les Miserables - (1)/(7)
Learn Me Right, Brave - ()/(3)
Ted, Everybody Needs a Best Friend - ()/(2)
When Can I See You Again, Wreck-It Ralph - ()/(2)
Fire In The Blood/Snake Song, Lawless - ()/(2)
For You, Act of Valor - ()/(2)
Still Alive, Paul Williams: Still Alive - ()/(2)
Cosmonaut, Lawless - ()/(1)
Chasing Ice, Before My Time - ()/(1)
Life of Pi, Pi's Lullaby - ()/(1)
Touch the Sky, Brave - ()/(1)
Song of the Lonely Mountain, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - ()/(1)
Not Running Anymore, Stand Up Guys - ()/(1)
Safe & Sound, The Hunger Games - ()/(1)
Love Always Comes As A Surprise, Madagascar 3 - ()/(1)

Best Ensemble

Silver Linings Playbook - (3)/(8)
Lincoln - (3)/(8)
Les Miserables - (3)/(6)
Argo - (2)/(9)
Moonrise Kingdom - (2)/(8)
Your Sister's Sister - (1)/(1)
Seven Psychopaths - (1)/(1)
Django Unchained - ()/(2)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - ()/(2)
The Avengers - ()/(1)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - ()/(1)
Zero Dark Thirty - ()/(1)
Bernie - ()/(1)
Safety Not Guaranteed - ()/(1)
Tabu - ()/(1)
Holy Motors - ()/(1)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - ()/(1)

Awards:
BAFTA 2013 Winners
USC Scripter Awards 2013
Visual Effects Society Awards 2013
Annie Awards 2013
Art Directors Guild Awards 2013
Directors Guild of America Awards 2013
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2013 Winners
Producers Guild of America Awards 2013 Winners
London Film Critics Circle Awards 2013
International Cinephile Society Nominations 2013
Georgia Film Critics Association Awards 2013
Motion Picture Sound Editors Nominations 2013
Costume Guild Nominations 2013
North Carolina Film Critics Association 2013 Winners
USC Scripter Nominations 2013
Georgia Film Critics Association Nominations 2013
Golden Globe Awards 2013 Winners
ACE Eddie Nominations 2013
Critics Choice Awards 2013 Winners
Academy Awards 2013 Nominations
Iowa Film Critics Awards 2013
American Society of Cinematographers Nominations 2013
BAFTA 2013 Nominations
Directors Guild of America Nominations 2013
Denver Film Critics Society Awards 2013
Cinema Audio Society Awards 2013 Nominations
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2013
Visual Effects Society Awards 2013 Nominations
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2013
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards 2013
North Texas Film Critics Association Awards 2013
North Carolina Film Critics Association Awards 2013 Nominations
Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2013
National Society of Film Critics Awards 2013
Writers Guild of America Awards 2013 Nominations
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards 2013
Denver Film Critics Society Awards 2013 Nominations
Art Directors Guild Awards Nominations 2013
Producers Guild of America Nominations 2013
Central Ohio Film Critics Association 2012 Nomiantions
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2012 Nomiantions
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2012 Nominations
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards 2012
Nevada Film Critics Society Awards 2012
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards 2012 Nominations
Black Film Critics Circle Awards 2012
Utah Film Critics Association Awards 2012
Austin Film Critics Association Awards 2012
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 2012
Dallas Fort-Worth Film Critics Association Awards 2012
London Film Critics Circle Awards 2012 Nominations
Chicago Film Critics Awards 2012
St. Louis Film Critics Awards 2012
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards 2012
Indiana Film Journalists Association Awards 2012
Satellite Awards 2012
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2012
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards 2012
Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2012 Nominations
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2012 Nominations
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2012
Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2012
Golden Globe Awards 2013 Nominations
Las Vegas Film Critics Awards 2012
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2012 Nominations
Critics Choice Awards 2012 Nominations
Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2012 Nominations
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2012 Nominations
St. Louis Film Critics Awards 2012 Nominations
Washington DC Area Film Critics Awards 2012
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2012 Nominations
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2012
New York Film Critics Online Awards 2012
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2012
Washington DC Area Film Critics Awards 2012 Nominations
Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards 2012
National Board of Review Awards 2012
Satellite Awards 2012 Nominations
Annie Awards 2013 Nominations
New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2012
Independent Spirit Awards 2013 Nominations
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2012 Winners
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2012 Nominations

Oscars 2013 - My Complete List of Predictions

                This is my attempt to predict the possible frontrunners and contenders in each category for the next year's Oscars based on what i have been hearing, the festival/screenings buzz, Critics Reviews, the Whole Oscars Game that i have been seeing from last 2 or 3 years and on my own guts.

               Silver Linings Playbook and Argo got a major boost from Telluride/Toronto Film Festivals with people, critics and experts predicting them to be the winners. Argo looks like one, its a thriller based on a historical/political event directed by an actor/screenwriter turned director who have been improving a lot with his previous two efforts being great. It got humor, its entertaining with good performances so its likely the winner. However there is something about Silver Linings Playbook that people can't stop talking about. Its a sort of romantic comedy-drama and if it wins, it will join the list of  other Oscar winning Sort of Rom-Coms like Annie Hall, The Apartment and Weinstein's own Shakespeare in Love. Recent secret screening of Lincoln was a huge success too. With many more movies to come and a few that many people have already seen, this year is sure very interesting and unpredictable. But I'll try anyway....

Best Picture:-

Frontrunners:

1. Silver Linings Playbook
2. Argo
3. Les Miserables
4. Lincoln
5. The Master
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild
7. Life of Pi
8. Zero Dark Thirty
9. Django Unchained
10. Moonrise Kingdom

Contenders:

1. Amour
2. The Impossible
3. The Sessions
4. Anna Karenina
5. Hitchcock
6. Flight

Oscars 2013 - My First Attempt at Predictions

              So yesterday, it was announced that "The Silver Linings Playbook" won the Audience Choice Best Picture Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie being from the infamous Weinsteins already made it something to look forward to but winning this award which did wonders for recent winners like Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech and both of them for being "Crowd-Pleasing" Movies might do the same for Silver Linings. Okay maybe not exactly but you never know... Argo was destined to win this award due the very enthusiastic response that it got (it was a runner up along with The Impossible). Both of these "Crowd-Pleasing" movies can definitely win or at least get nominated for many awards including the Oscars. Roger Ebert as you may know already predicted Argo to be the winner.

Oscars 2013 - The Race so Far

                    Awards season and particularly Oscars Season is really fascinating if not very accurate when it comes to giving awards to the very deserving movies and actors. But still i find myself waiting and anticipating them and here in this case, predicting them. This year's Academy Awards left me in a state of shock for nominating movies that didn't deserved to be called as the 9 best movies Hollywood made last year. Nor were a few actors deserving enough to actually get nominated over much more brilliant performances but Academy always had this very annoying habit of honoring actors and movies that aren't actually based on how great a movie was, talk about politics.

My Review of the 84th Annual Academy Awards 2012

So i woke up a while ago as i didn't sleep the entire night to watch the biggest and most important event of the year. Some surprises, disappointments and many more things and its was a night to remember.

84th Annual Academy Awards 2012

Best Cinematography - Hugo
Best Art Direction - Hugo

Best Costume Design - The Artist
Best Makeup - The Iron Lady
Best Foreign Language Film - A Separation
Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Best Film Editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Sound Editing - Hugo
Best Sound Mixing - Hugo
Best Documentary Feature - Undefeated
Best Animated Feature - Rango
Best Visual Effects - Hugo
Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Best Original Score - The Artist
Best Original Song - Man or Muppet (The Muppets)
Best Adapted Screenplay - The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay - Midnight in Paris
Best Live Action Short - The Shore
Best Documentary Short - Saving Face
Best Animated Short - The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore
Best Director - Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Best Lead Actor - Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Best Lead Actress - Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Best Picture - The Artist

Hugo - 5
The Artist - 5
The Iron Lady - 2
Midnight in Paris - 1
The Descendants - 1
The Help - 1
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - 1
Beginners - 1
A Separation - 1
The Muppets - 1
Rango - 1

My Final Oscars Predictions 2012

Throughout the month i have been covering every category, Academy Awards are just few hours away so i am compiling my predictions.

Here are my predictions with a potential spoiler and my own choices:

Best Picture:

Who will win: The Artist
Potential Spoiler: The Artist
My Choice: Moneyball

Oscars 2012 Nominations Special (Picture)

Here we are with just 2 nights left and its Oscars time, the only category left for me to discuss is the main and the most important category Best Picture. As always, i am going to write what i think about the movie and its chances at the Oscars night followed by a well lets say winner as no predictions here, we know whose going to win.

Best Picture:

                   So this year, it really wasn't about just the old 5 or the newly imposed 10 nominations in this category but they number could have been anywhere between 5 to 10 depending on the absolute favorite picks and their best of the best preferences. With this new rule came some backfires like due to the fact that with just 5 slots on the ballot a voter who had a favorite movie regardless of what the overall buzz was favoring, he or she would put it on the top to increase it chance of getting nominated. Critics and everyone were predicting 8 nominees but a shock/surprise was just about to blow the everything out of them on the day of Oscars nominations announcement.

Oscars 2012 Nominations Special (Lead Actor - Male)

Here we are at the final acting and the second last overall category for the discussion and yes i have many thing to talk about.

Best Actor in a Lead Role Male:

Well this time, once again, its one of the most or should i say the strongest category of the year with 4 of the best performance of the year that i simply can't make up my mind for. I loved all of them, i think all of them has particular reasons as to why they deserve the Oscar and many things else.

Oscars 2012 Nominations Special (Lead Actor - Female)

So now we come to the last 3 categories, this one is of course about Best Actress in a Lead Role. I am just going to give my view on the race and my early predictions.

Best Actor in a Lead Role Female:

Yes i wont say i am truly satisfied by the Academy choices this time, an actress category is always strong but this time it just isn't. I understand the lack of good movies and i understand the lack of truly great performances but then there were many but got snubbed. Before i write anything else, i haven't seen My Week with Marilyn yet so yeah just wanted to let you people now.

Oscars 2012 Nominations Special (Supporting Role - Female)

Ok the Academy Awards are just around the corner and i have 3 more categories to cover so yes here i am with the Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Female:

Well let me just say, this is one of the most strongest categories this year or perhaps the strongest. The race is very tough and tight though we already know who the big winner would be but still i am very happy with all the nominees.

Oscars 2012 Nominations Special (Supporting Role - Male)

Well now we come to the first part of one of my most favorite categories, acting and the first of which is supporting performance male and later on female. I will give my take on the current race and give my early predictions.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Male:

I will admit this year, the supporting male category doesn't have one of the most strongest contenders that you will expect and the race is not much of a big deal here. There just weren't mindblowing performances this year in a supporting role male and the few that were, didn't made the list but Plummer is a true standout followed by Nolte.

Oscars 2012 Nominations Special (Screenplays)

So after the Visual and Sound Tech categories and the other minor ones, we come to the Big five awards. The first one are the screenplay so in this Nominations Special, i would give my take and early predictions on both original and Adapted Screenplay race.

Oscars 2012 Nominations Special Part 4

Well in this part 4 of my Oscar coverage, i would discuss three categories one of which is very important and main one. I am going to give my take and early predictions on Best Animated Movie, Foreign Language Film and Best Director.