My Oscar'12 predictions: nominees

As soon as next Tuesday, January 24th, the Academy will announce the 2012 Oscar nominees. The height of the cinematic year promises to be one of the most competitive in recent years and I'm therefore hoping to be surprised in every single category.



Bellow, my predictions. I allow myself the right to two alternatives by branch. I am going for the leaders The Artist and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with 10 nominations, The Help with 8, Hugo with 7, Moneyball with 6, The Descendants and Midnight in Paris with 5, Bridesmaids and War Horse with 4, Drive, My Week with Marilyn and Rise of the Planet of the Apes with 3. Besides the absence of Refn's film in the major categories, I must sadly highlight the probably dim presence of Tree of Life, the total absence of Carnage and also my happy belief in surprises from Young Adult and We Need to Talk About Kevin.

BEST FILM

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball

[Alternatives: War Horse, Tree of Life]


BEST DIRECTOR

Alexander Payne ("The Descendants")
David Fincher ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Martin Scorsese ("Hugo")
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")

[Alternatives: Steven Spielberg ("War Horse"), Bennet Miller ("Moneyball")]


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Asghar Farhadi ("A Separation")
Diablo Cody ("Young Adult")
Kristen Wig and Anna Mumolo ("Bridesmaids")
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")

[Alternatives: Will Reiser ("50/50") and Tom McCarthy "Win Win")]


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash ("The Descendants")
John Logan ("Hugo")
Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin ("Moneyball")
Steve Zaillian ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Tate Taylor ("The Help")

[Alternatives: George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willemont ("The Ides of March"), Lynne Ramsay ("We Need to Talk About Kevin")]


BEST ACTOR

Brad Pitt ("Moneyball")
George Clooney ("The Descendants")
Jean Dujardin ("The Artist")
Leonardo DiCaprio ("J. Edgar")
Michael Fassbender ("Shame")

[Alternatives: Gary Oldman ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy"), Ryan Gosling ("Drive")]


BEST ACTRESS

Charlize Theron ("Young Adult")
Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady")
Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn")
Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk About Kevin")
Viola Davis ("The Help")

[Alternatives: Rooney Mara ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"), Keira Knightley ("A Dangerous Method")]


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Albert Brooks ("Drive")
Christopher Plummer ("Beginners")
Jonah Hill ("Moneyball")
Kenneth Branagh ("My Week with Marilyn")
Nick Nolte ("Warrior")

[Alternatives: Patton Oswalt ("Young Adult"), Philip Seymor Hoffman ("The Ides of March")]


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Bérénice Bejo ("The Artist")
Jessica Chastain ("The Help")
Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids")
Octavia Spencer ("The Help")
Shailene Woodley ("The Descendants")

[Alternatives: Janet McTeer ("Albert Nobbs"), Kate Winslet ("Carnage")]


BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio

[Alternatives: Arthur Christmas, Kung Fu Panda 2)


BEST FOREIGN FILM

A Separation (Iran)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
Pina (Germany)

[Alternatives: "Omar Killed Me" (Morroco), "Bullhead" (Belgium)]


BEST DOCUMENTARY

Bill Cunningham New York
Buck
Paradise Lost 3
Pina
Project Nim

[Alternatives: If a Tree Falls, Undefeated]


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubetzki ("Tree of Life")
Guillaume Schiffman ("The Artist")
Janusz Kaminski ("War Horse")
Jeff Cronenweth ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Robert Richardson ("Hugo")

[Alternatives: Hoyte van Hoytema ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy"), Wally Pfister ("Moneyball")]


BEST EDITING

Alisa Lepselter ("Midnight in Paris")
Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Christopher Tellefsen ("Moneyball")
Dino Jonsäter ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy")
Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")

[Alternatives: Kevin Tent ("The Descendants"), Thelma Schoonmaker ("Hugo")]


BEST ART DIRECTION

The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Bridesmaids]


BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
My Week with Marilyn

[Alternatives: W.E., Jane Eyre]


BEST MAKE-UP

Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II
The Iron Lady

[Alternatives: The Artist, My Week with Marilyn]


BEST SOUND MIXING

Drive
Fast Five
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
War Horse

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol]


BEST SOUND EDITING

Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Moneyball
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
War Horse

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Hanna]


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Tree of Life

[Alternatives: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Captain America: The First Avenger]


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close")
Howard Shore ("Hugo")
John Williams (War Horse")
Ludovic Bource ("The Artist")
Trent Raznor & Atticus Ross ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")

[Alternatives: Cliff Martinez ("Drive"), Mychael Danna ("Moneyball")]


BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Masterpiece" ("W.E.")
"The Living Proof" ("The Help")
"Life's a Happy Song" (The Muppets")

[Alternative: "Pictures in My Head" ("The Muppets"), "Think You Can Wait" ("Win Win")