It's Oscar Time

I'm getting ready for the Oscars, are you?  I know a couple of people who are in LA right this minute for Oscars parties (Hi Amy M and James J) and I am totally jealous!!!  I always say that I want to throw a big Oscars bash, and this year adds another year to my streak of talking about wanting to have a party but not having one...Oh well.  I should get on the stick though, cause I'm not getting any younger.

OK...I know y'all have been waiting for my picks (not predictions) to win each of my five big categories; so, here we go:

Best Supporting Actor - Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained). 

This category is really tough for me, because I thought all these men did fine jobs in their roles.  Tommy Lee Jones and Christoph Waltz stood out a little more in my estimation, but my pick goes to Tommy Lee Jones.  He really brought the role of Thaddeus Stevens to life for me.

Best Supporting Actress - Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions) and Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook).

Another tough category, because every one of these ladies deserved the nomination, but my clear favorite is Helen Hunt.  She played a difficult role (a sexual surrogate) with such professionalism and aplomb.

Best Actor - Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) and Denzel Washington (Flight).

I had an easier time with this category...I thought Joaquin played crazy very well - and we all  know how much Oscar loves crazy, but Daniel Day-Lewis is my pick.  I never knew Lincoln, but the way that DD-L played him, he made me believe that's just how Lincoln was.

Best Actress - Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and Naomi Watts (The Impossible).

The choice was between Emmanuelle Riva and Jessica Chastain for me, and I am going with Emmanuelle Riva.  She was awesome in the difficult role of portraying a stroke victim.  

Best Picture - Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty.

I will be deeply disgusted with The Academy if Argo wins for Best Picture.  I thought it was one of the weaker nominations in this category.  I heard that many people feel that Ben Affleck was snubbed by not being nominated for the Best Director Oscar, and that the money is on Argo to win Best Picture to make it up to him.  That would be such a political move, but it is not unheard of with this group of people.  The Academy is notorious for overlooking an actor one year and then awarding him the gold little man the next for a lesser role to make up for the previous year's snub.  And then, there was the time that Halle Berry won the Best Actress Oscar...

Seriously?

I like each of the nominated movies for different reasons, although I really don't see why Argo and Silver Linings were even given a nod, but that's me.  When I think about which movie I think should win Best Picture, I think about which one entertained me the most, while possessing all the qualities I feel are important in a good movie (good story, good acting, pretty/visually interesting - just to name a few).  My pick for Best Picture is Lincoln.

Enjoy the show...

MK out.