Oscars 2013 Predictions

by Helen Earnshaw | 24 February 2013

Oscars

Oscars 2013 is set to be one of the most exciting ceremonies in recent years as we have the vast majority of the categories being wide open.

Before Christmas Lincoln was the movie that everyone was talking about and then when the award’s season got under way it was Zero Dark Thirty that looked like it was going to win just about everything.

But over the last few weeks we have seen the Oscar race take even more twists and turns than the best written plot… so who is going to win?

We take a look at the films and performances that are in the running and predict who we think will win what.

- Best Picture - Argo

There are nine films up for Best Picture; Lincoln, Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, Django Unchained, Armour, Beats of the Southern Wild and Les Miserables - with many of them picking up some form of awards in recent weeks.

But most recently it is Argo that has been grabbing all of the headlines as the dark horse has suddenly become the frontrunner.

Many believed that without a Best Director nod for Ben Affleck this film had no chance of winning the Best Picture gong; but the overlook in the Best Director category could well work in Argo’s favour for Best Picture.

However if there is to be a film to cause an upset then it could well come from Silver Linings Playbook as it has proved very popular with the Academy.

- Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis

On the award’s circuit this year there has really only been one actor taking home the major prizes - and that is Daniel Day Lewis.

He has already won the Bafta, Golden Globe ad Screen actors Guild Award for his role as Abraham Lincoln in biopic Lincoln.

Hugh Jackman, Bradley Cooper, Denzel Washington and Joaquin Phoenix are all nominated in this category but, so far, none of them have been able to stop Day-Lewis getting his hands on the major prizes.

If the Academy should spring a surprise then they would most likely plump for Jackman but I think we will see history made later tonight; Daniel Day Lewis would become the first actor to win three Best Actor Oscars should he triumph.

Best Actress - Jennifer Lawrence

The Best Actress category is a tough one to call as Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain have been considered the front runners for quite some time. They both deliver terrific performances as a widow and CIA operative in Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty.

Emmanuelle Riva did throw a spanner in the works at the Baftas when she won the Best Actress gong so could she spring a surprise? Naomi Watts and Quvenzhane Wallis complete the category.

- Best Supporting Actor - Tommy Lee Jones

Best Supporting Actor is another category that really is wide open with Tommy Lee Jones, Christoph Waltz, Alan Arkin, Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman are all in the running.

All five have won Oscars in the past and all five giver great performances in their respective movies. Jones and Waltz have been sharing the major honours in recent weeks while De Niro is in a movie that seems to be loved by the Academy.

Christoph Waltz did win a Best Supporting actor just three years ago for a similar performance and I think that this does give Tommy Lee Jones a slight edge. But don’t be surprised if Waltz walks away with the gong.

- Best Supporting Actress - Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway has won just about every award going in recent weeks for her performance as Fantine in Les Miserables.

With a Golden Globe, Bafta and Screen Actors Guild Award under her belt already and is the red hot favourite to add the Oscar to her collection.

Sally Field, Amy Adams, Helen Hunt and Jacki Weaver are the other nominees in the category and if any of them are going to spring a surprise it would be Field. It would be the biggest shock of the night if Hathaway doesn’t win this award.

- Best Director - Steven Spielberg

Excitingly Best Director is another category is another one that is tough to call with Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow, who have been picking up the gongs between them, both stunningly absent.

Affleck triumphed at the Baftas, Golden Globes and Directors Guild of America Awards and so his snub really is quite shocking.

Ang Lee, David O’Russell, Michael Haneke and Behn Zeitlin make up the rest of the nominees and perhaps it is Lee that poses the biggest threat.

Bearing in mind that Lincoln will not win Best Picture the Academy may just well plump for Spielberg as he has not won this award since his work on Saving Private Ryan.

Other Categories

- Best Original Screenplay - Armour

- Best Adapted Screenplay - Argo

- Best Foreign Language Film - Amour

- Best Animated Feature - Wreck It Ralph

- Best Cinematography - Life Of Pi

- Best Score - Life of Pi

- Best Original Song - Skyfall

- Best Documentary - Searching For Sugar Man

- Costume Design - Anna Karenina

- Make Up and Hair - The Hobbit

- Editing - Lincoln