Ella's Oscar Picks and Predicks.

Hah. I had way too much fun with such a silly title.

So, for as far back as I can remember, my little family and I have watched the Academy awards every year in its entirety, routing for certain artists, predicting wins, and saying "I knew it" after every single award is announced, even when we got it wrong. And because of that, I cannot ignore them. I don't care if they're a little bit rigged: it's the only race I ever watch (in fact, it's the only television I ever watch), so I take it quite seriously. In a fun way.

So, without further ado...

MY PREDICTIONS (who will win):

BEST PICTURE: 'ARGO' (Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Grant Heslov)

BEST ACTOR: DANIEL DAY-LEWIS (Lincoln)

BEST ACTRESS: JESSICA CHASTAIN (Zero Dark Thirty)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: CHRISTOPH WALTZ (Django Unchained)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: ANNE HATHAWAY (Les Mis)

BEST DIRECTOR: STEVEN SPIELBERG (Lincoln)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER: CLAUDIO MIRANDA (Life of Pie)

BEST COSTUME DESIGNER: JACQUELINE DURRAN (Anna Karenina)

 BEST EDITING: WILLIAM GOLDENBURG (Argo)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: AMOUR (Austria)

BEST HAIR AND MAKE UP: LES MISERABLES

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (Argo)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: SKYFALL (Adele)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: LIFE OF PI

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: ARGO (Chris Terrio)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: ZERO DARK THIRTY (Mark Boal)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: LES MISERABLES

I can't give my picks and predictions to categories in which I haven't seen all of the nominated films (e.g. short films, documentaries, foreign language film).

...and, MY PICKS (who I want to win):

BEST PICTURE: BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Consider that one of the criteria for 'best picture' is the level of magic in the film.

BEST ACTOR: JOAQUIN PHOENIX (The Master)

This character didn't exist before. Now it does, curtesy of Joaquin. You could say the same for Bradley Cooper's 'Pat' in Silver Linings but, unfortunately, Joaquin Phoenix blows everyone else out the water.

BEST ACTRESS: MARION COTILLARD (Rust and Bone)

Hands down brilliance and not even nominated!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN (The Master)

Because he made it happen for himself.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: ANNE HATHAWAY (Les Mis)

I genuinely didn't want to like Les Mis or its performances, but Anne Hathaway gave me no choice.

Try to dispute me after watching her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream. I'm not even going to bother.

BEST DIRECTOR: DAVID O RUSSEL (Silver Linings Playbook)

Because he saw the good actor in Bradley Cooper and showed it to the world.

And because he seems to extract great performances from actors I'd otherwise have overlooked.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER: ROGER DEAKINS (Skyfall)

Mainly because of his work in Bardem's opening scene.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMEN

I could be completely wrong but I think a lot of Charlize's costumes were made out of brilliantly recreated animal parts?

BEST EDITING: ZERO DARK THIRTY

(Co-edited by William Goldenberg from Argo!)

Particularly in the last 30 minutes of the film. Gripping.

BEST HAIR AND MAKE UP: LES MISERABLES

I so want Hitchcock to win something but the aging and the character in Les Mis was just too good.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: THOMAS NEWMAN (Skyfall)

Maybe I'm just a sucker for the 007 theme.

Also, his IMDB profile is so much more impressive than his google images.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: SKYFALL (Adele)

It isn't over 'til Adele sings. Then it's over.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: THE HOBBIT

I think creating that world must've been a lot of fun and hard work.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: LIFE OF PI

The CGI in this film made me think it deserved best cinematography. Tricky and brilliant.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

(Matthew Quick - David O Russell)

Because I don't often want to read the book once I've seen the film and I'm sure that counts for something.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: DJANGO UNCHAINED (Quentin Tarantino)

Because although it may just be an American remake of Inglorious Basterds, I love the satisfaction that Tarantino writes into his hilarious, clever revenge stories. And his rhythm is just perfect. Even without Sally Menke (bless).

And that's it. Until next year. And then one day I'll be at the ceremony.

Promise.

Django Unchained (and the A.C.T. preliminary callback)

On Friday I had my audition for A.C.T. and then got called back for the preliminary round of call backs that night in NYC, and THEN: I watched Tarantino's latest masterpiece, Django Unchained.

So, all-in-all it was a great day. The callback was a lot of fun - we had a very informative chat / Q&A with the lecturers, did a little voice warm up, a cold reading, our monologues (SO nice to audition with a little bit of an audience) and then had to sing a song each. Wow. Singing in America is like apologizing in South Africa - almost everyone is really good at it. And then they let us out and said that if they want to see us at the final callbacks on the 1st of March, we'll find out by then. So, now we wait.

And then Django Unchained. Wow. It is Tarantino's most complete movie yet. It is also his most vital. His storytelling talents match the heft of the tale. Also, Jamie, Christoph, Leo, Samuel and Kerry made for an ensemble quite as tight as the Silver Linings Playbook team (which, in my eyes - is close to perfection).


Also, in the scene where DiCaprio confronts Waltz and Foxx's characters he actually cuts his hand when slamming it into the table. He just kept going with the scene (which Tarantino called "mesmerizing"). Reminded me of bloody injuries in Streetcar last year. And, by the way, this is Samuel L Jackson's SIXTH film with Tarantino.  


So, Friday was the best day I've had in New York so far.

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