2012 Oscar Picks

Well, it's that time of year again, and boy am I excited.  I'm going to cut right to the chase and give you my picks for the 84th Academy Awards.

Best Picture:

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
• The Help
• Hugo
• Midnight in Paris
• Moneyball
• The Tree of Life
• War Horse

My Pick:

The Artist


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Best Director:

• Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
• Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
• Terrance Malick - The Tree of Life
• Alexander Payne - The Descendants
• Martin Scorsese - Hugo

My Pick:

Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

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Best Actor:

• Demian Bichir - A Better Life as Carlos Galindo
• George Clooney - The Descendants as Matt King
• Jean Dujardin - The Artist as George Valentin
• Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as George Smiley
• Brad Pitt - Moneyball as Billy Beane

My Pick:

Jean Dujardin - The Artist as George Valentin

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Best Actress:

• Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs
• Viola Davis - The Help as Aibileen Clark
• Rooney Mara - The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo as Lisabeth Salander
• Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher
• Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe

My Pick:

Viola Davis - The Help as Aibileen Clark

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Best Supporting Actor:

• Kenneth Branagh - My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier
• Jonah Hill - Moneyball as Peter Brand
• Nick Nolte - Warrior as Paddy Conlon
• Christopher Plummer - Beginners as Hal Fields
• Max von Sydow - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as The Renter

My Pick:

Christopher Plummer - Beginners as Hal Fields

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Best Supporting Actress:

• Berenice Bejo - The Artist as Peppy Miller
• Jessica Chastain - The Help as Celia Foote
• Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids as Megan Price
• Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs as Hubert Page
• Octavia Spencer - The Help as Minny Jackson

My Pick:

Octavia Spencer - The Help as Minny Jackson

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Best Original Screenplay:

• The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius
• Bridesmaids - Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
• Margin Call - J.C. Chandor
• Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen
• A Separation - Asghar Farhadi

My Pick:

Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen

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Best Adapted Screenplay:

• The Descendants - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash from "The Descendants" by Kaui Hart Hemmings
• Hugo - John Logan from "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick
• The Ides of March - George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon from "Farragut North" by Beau Willimon
• Moneyball - Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin from "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis
• Tinker Tailor Solider Spy - Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan from "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" by John le Carre

My Pick:

Moneyball - Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin

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For these next few categories, I'm just taking a stab in the dark since I haven't seen any of these films

Best Animated Feature:

• A Cat in Paris - Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• Chico and Rita - Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
• Kung Fu Panda 2 - Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• Puss in Boots - Chris Miller
• Rango - Gore Verbinski

My Pick:

Rango - Gore Verbinski

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Best Foreign Language Film:

• Bullhead (Belgium) in Dutch and French - Michael R. Roskam
• Footnote (Israel) in Hebrew - Joseph Cedar
• In Darkness (Poland) in Polish - Agnieszka Holland
• Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) in French - Philippe Falardeau
• A Separation (Iran) in Persian - Asghar Farhadi

My Pick:

A Separation - Asghar Farhadi

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Best Documentary - Feature:

• Hell and Back Again - Danfung Dennis and Mike Miller
• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front - Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman 
• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory - Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
• Pina - Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
• Undefeated - TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

My Pick:

Pina - Wim Wenders and Glen-Piero Ringel

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Best Documentary - Short Subject:

• The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement - Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
• God is the Bigger Elvis - Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
• Incident in New Baghdad - James Spione
• Saving Face - Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-CHinoy
• The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom - Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

My Pick:

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom - Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

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Best Live Action Short Film:

• Pentecost - Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
• Raju - Max Zahle and Stefan Gieren
• The Shore - Terry George and Oorlagh George
• Time Freak - Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
• Tuba Atlantic - Hallvar Witzø

My Pick:

Raju - Max Zahle and Stefan Gieren

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Best Animated Short Film:

• Dimanche - Patrick Doyon
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore - William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
• La Luna - Enrico Casarosa
• A Morning Stroll - Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
• Wild Life - Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

My Pick:

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore - WIlliam Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

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Best Original Score:

• The Adventures of Tintin - John Williams
• The Artist - Ludovic Bource
• Hugo - Howard Shore
• Tinker Tailor Solider Spy - Aberto Iglesias
• War Horse - John WIlliams

My Pick:

The Artist - Ludovic Bource

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Best Original Song:

• "Man or Muppet" from the Muppets - Bret McKenzie
• "Real in Rio" from Rio - Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett

My Pick:

"Man or Muppet" - Bret McKenzie

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Best Sound Editing:

• Drive - Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Ren Klyce
• Hugo - Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
• War Horse - Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

My Pick:

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

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Best Sound Mixing:

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
• Hugo - Tom Fleishman and John Midgley
• Moneyball - Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Gimmarco and Ed Novick
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
• War Horse - Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

My Pick:

Transfomers: Dark of the Moon - Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

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Best Art Direction:

• The Artist - Laurence Bennett and Robert Gould
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2 - Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
• Hugo - Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo
• Midnight in Paris - Anne Seibel and Helene Dubreuil
• War Horse - Rick Carter and Lee Sandales

My Pick:

Hugo - Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo

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Best Cinematography:

• The Artist - Guillaume Schiffman
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Jeff Cronenweth
• Hugo - Robert Richardson
• The Tree of Life - Emmanuel Lubezki
• War Horse - Janusz Kaminski

My Pick:

The Tree of Life - Emmanuel Lubezki

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Best Makeup:

• Albert Nobbs - Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson and Matthew W. Mungle
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 - Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
• The Iron Lady - Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

My Pick:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

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Best Costume Design:

• Anonymous - Lisy Christl
• The Artist - Mark Bridges
• Hugo - Sandy Powell
• Jane Eyre - Michael O'Connor
• W.E. - Arianne Phillips

My Pick:

Anonymous - Lisy Christl

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Best Film Editing:

• The Artist - Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
• The Descendants - Kevin Tent
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
• Hugo - Thelma Schoonmaker
• Moneyball - Christopher Tellefsen

My Pick:

The Artist - Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

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Best Visual Effects:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 - Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
• Hugo - Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning
• Real Steel - Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor and Swen Gillberg
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
• Transformers: Dark of the moon - Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Mathhew E. Butler and John Frazier

My Pick:

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

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Well, there you have it, my Oscar picks for 2012.  Let's discuss!  What are your thoughts?