It’s coming down to the wire in just 14 days we will have the question answered on everyone’s mind…what’s going to be nominated?
The time leading up to the Oscars is like waiting for a second Christmas. The anticipation as to what could possibly be under the brightly colored paper and adorned with a shiny bow is just too much to handle. So myself and the myriad of other film lovers, to help tide things over, play a game. We do our very best to figure out exactly what the Academy is going to nominate, simply put a prediction game.
For the last two years it has seemed that the Academy is truly trying their hardest to draw in an audience that was never supposed to watch the Oscars. I’m of course talking about the traditional movie goer. Please, I beg of you to berate me on this one, but do you honestly think films like The Blind Side, or Toy Story 3 were meant for such a prestigious honor? Don’t get me wrong they are good films in their own right but they just cannot compete with legends like Gone with the Wind, or The Godfather. So with the Academy now pulling their previous “10 films will be nominated” rule, they switch it up with saying “5-10 films can be nominated.” The pivotal word being “can”, this has me and my fellow comrades going nuts.
So what does this “can” word do for the Oscars? What new exciting events can occur because of this? Well for one thing it could bring the Academy back to the original stand by of just five best picture nominees. Of course on the other side, they could try their hardest to shove everything in and attempt to bring back viewers by nominating films like Jack and Jill, the abysmal Adam Sandler comedy flop of the year. Who knows but I’m here telling you that this is what I believe will be nominated and yes, I may even have the audacity to declare a winner (without having seen a majority of these films)!
Christian’s Predictions for Best Picture 84th Academy Awards
First and foremost I believe there will be a total of 6-7 nominees. A somewhere in the middle number, giving enough space to breathe for the Academy to bring in a crowd pleasing picture.
1. The Artist
2. Hugo
3. The Descendants
4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
5. Moneyball
6. Midnight in Paris
7. Drive
Now why do I think that these are the key players? Simply put by just listening. When people talk about films during this season everyone has an opinion, but these films stand alone amongst all the conversations. I’ve heard talk of Drive and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo being the dark horses of this year (no Warhorse pun intended) and Hugo and The Artist to be nominated simply because of the love story with film in each of these pieces. But which one will reign supreme? Which one has my guarantee winner seal of approval?
The Artist.
Why? Why the black and white, mostly silent, telling of a prime actor falling from grace as soon as he falls in love? Because simply put it’s a beautiful story, even though I haven’t seen it I can tell you that it is simply due to the visuals and the depth that they go to, to bring back Hollywood when it was in it’s hay day. The Academy will eat that up! Not only that but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has developed a pattern that they don’t even know. Every year they do a bit of a trade off, from happier story to depressing dark story. Sometimes we get flukes, but for the most part you will see it fall into one of those areas. So which category does The Artist fall under? That I don’t know but do a bit of fact checking, listen in on some coffee shop conversations and you will hear that the general consensus is that it’s the winner, without a doubt.
Then again, we will just have to wait and see. Wouldn’t it be ironic if it wasn’t nominated at all, despite the director getting a DGA nomination and all the critic buzz about it? The Academy are a tricky bunch and definitely do not take the nominees lightly, so we will just have to wait and see. Make sure to follow Stuff We Like for film reviews on all the Best Picture nominees, and join me on the Road to the Oscars as we try our hardest to guess what’s going to happen this year at the 84th Academy Awards!