When Oscar nominations were announced yesterday, it was a surprise to hear some of the names and movies that were in contention. Indeed, this year has been much more unpredictable than previous years, and there doesn’t seem to be much of a consensus on which films will win at the Kodak.
A promo ad for the 2012 Academy Award Ceremony
However, there are some sure bets; for example, Anne Hathaway and Daniel Day-Lewis have a lock in their respective categories – Hathaway for Best Supporting Actress [Les Miserables] and Lewis for Best Actor [Lincoln]. However, the snubs were much more surprising: no Marion Cotillard for Best Actress, no Leonardo Dicaprio for Best Supporting Actor, no Kathryn Bigelow or Ben Affleck for Best Director. It seems as if the voting choices were all over the place, which could also have been due to the fact that this is the first year the Academy has decided to implement an online voting system.
Some people are saying that this has led to a large segment of the academy [a.k.a those older than 70 years old and don’t know how to use a computer] choosing not to vote out of frustration for the new system.
Statuettes prepared for the Academy Award ceremony on February 24th
However, the best bets right now, apart from Anne Hathaway and Daniel Day-Lewis, seem to be Lincoln for Best Picture, Jessica Chastain for Best Actress, Philip Seymour Hoffman for Best Supporting Actor, and Steven Spielberg for Best Director. Best Actress is probably the one of the major categories where could likely be an upset, with equal chances of the trophy going to Naomi Watts or Jennifer Lawrence if it doesn’t go to Chastain. In the Best Director category, only Ang Lee seems to have a legitimate shot at challenging Spielberg, but it’s unlikely due to Lincoln’s and Spielberg’s overwhelming popularity and success.
A preview of the 2013 Oscar contenders
