Outstanding Oscars

Mia Zanzucchi

On Thursday, January 10^th, Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and Ted, and the 2013 Oscars host, announced the official Oscar nominations for this year. The 85^th Academy Awards will be presented live on Sunday, February 24^th on ABC36, starting at 7 in the evening.

Nominees for the elite Best Picture category include obvious choices like the highly anticipated movie-musical Les Misérables, Golden Globe winning Argo, the historical drama Lincoln, Ang Lee’s beautifully adapted Life of Pi, the intense Django Unchained, and Zero Dark Thirty, starring Jessica Chastain. Dark-horse Beasts of the Southern Wild and the French foreign Amour came as pleasant surprises, as did Silver Linings Playbook which opened to a very limited release, but has since given lead actress Jennifer Lawrence a Golden Globe win.

Denzel Washington received a well deserved Leading Actor nomination for playing wild pilot Whip Whitaker in Flight, but has stiff competition against Daniel Day-Lewis’ Abraham Lincoln and a singing Hugh Jackman as Victor Hugo’s Jean Valjean.

Life of Pi, The Avengers, Prometheus, The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey, and Snow White and the Huntsman will go head to head for Achievement in Visual Effects.

Already holding her Golden Globe, Adele will take her James Bond song “Skyfall” to the Oscars to battle it out with songs from Chasing Ice, Ted, Life of Pi, and the one song added to the movie version of Les Misérables not in the original stage version.

Best animated movie nominations include Brave, the Golden Globe winner for best animated film, Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and two spooky, Halloween-ey movies, ParaNorman and Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie.

Noteworthy is Leading Actress nominee 9 year old Quvenzhane Wallis who portrayed a very emotional and powerful Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild. She is the youngest performed to ever be nominated for a Golden Globe.

Best Picture-
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Personal Pick: Silver Linings Playbook
Prediction: Argo

Actress in a Leading Role-
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Personal Pick: Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany
Prediction: Quvenzhane Wallis as Hushpuppy

Actor in a Leading Role-
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
Personal Pick: Denzel Washington as Walker “Whip” Whitaker
Prediction: Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln

Best Director-
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Michael Haneke, Amour
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Personal Pick: Ang Lee’s Life of Pi
Prediction: Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln

Fan of award shows? Be sure to check out the 55th Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 10th starting live at 8 pm on CBS-27.

Editor’s note: The Oscars have since come and gone, but I like pictures and GIF’s so here you go. -Mia