The Oscars!

Hollywood's biggest night is here!

Haha, can you tell I've been watching lots of 'E!' as I recovered from my cold?  They love to give something a zhuzhy hook, and the Oscars are always referred to as 'Hollywood's Biggest Night'.  Now, if I lived in the States, I would *totally* have an Oscar night party (gowns! Bubbles!  Sweepstakes!), but the time difference makes that impossible here in London.  I could happily stay up till 5.30am to watch the whole shebang....but not if I need to be up at 5.45am to teach a full day!  So instead I'll get up at 5.15am to look at the gowns and the wins, and will record the whole thing to watch tomorrow evening.  The Oscars recorded is always delicious anyway - fast forward through the dull bits, replay the 'I-can't-believe-he-won/-wore-that/-said-that' moments, freeze frame Clooney.  Ah, Clooney.

As a former film studies student, I love the awards season and trying to guess who'll take home which prize....here are my picks for the big four, plus the supporting acting gongs.

Best Picture:  I'm feeling Argo for this.  It's always tricky to win Best Picture when your helmsman isn't nominated for Best Director, but Affleck's been getting great heat in the lead up to the awards.  If Argo doesn't win, perhaps Silver Linings Playbook might sneak it.  I enjoyed it, but don't think it's the best picture of the year...but with Weinstein on side, who knows? Other potential winners might be Lincoln (the Academy loves history!) or The Life of Pi (animals! Visuals! Ang Lee!).



Best Director: I think it has to be Spielberg, for Lincoln; but I love that Haneke is in the mix for Amour! Always lovely to see gentle, quieter, well-crafted pieces in the line up.



Best Actor (Leading):  Daniel Day-Lewis, man.  First up, he's awesome.  Second, he's playing Lincoln.  I think this category is his!

Best Actress (Leading): This to me is one of the wide open categories.  Chastain's been the front runner for a while, Lawrence everyone loves (including me.  She's my biggest girlcrush, tied equal with Emma Stone), and Wallis and Riva are the youngest and oldest ever noms in this category.  So I'm going to be controversial and plump for the fifth contender, Naomi Watts for The Impossible.  Chastain and Lawrence might have a stronger chance....but I'd love Watts to pull off an upset.  Plus, the Academy loves a good 'based on a true story'.



Best Actor (Supporting): Please, please, please not De Niro.  I love him, and some of his roles are in my top twenty performances ever.  But in Silver Linings Playbook I found his whole schtick a bit tired, frankly.  Maybe I've seen him playing a quirky parent too many times?  He's such a sublime actor, I don't want him to win for this performance!  Of the rest, my heart says Waltz for Django Unchained, my head says Arkin for Argo.

Best Actress (Supporting): And ye shall call her HATHAWAY, for that is her name.  She sings!  She gets thrown around!  She does close ups bestrewn with tears and a genuine snot bubble!  She dropped 15 lbs! She had her hair hacked off on camera!  If Anne Hathaway doesn't win for Les Miserables, I don't know what else she could do to win an Oscar.  I feel she's got this category sewn up....time will tell!



So those are my calls.  I'm almost always at least half-wrong....I wonder what tonight's ceremony will bring? Who do you think might win big tonight?