2013 Oscar Nominations
by Kam Williams

"Lincoln" and "Life of Pi" Lead Academy Award Sweepstakes
Quvenzhane Wallis, 9, and Emmanuelle Riva, 85, Nominated

Lincoln and Life of Pi emerged as the early favorites in the Academy Award Sweepstakes with 12 and 11 nominations respectively. Buy don't forget that just a year ago this critic warned of irrational exuberance when Hugo landed the most, only to ultimately be beaten by The Artist on Oscar night, thanks in part to an ad campaign carefully orchestrated by Harvey Weinstein.

And the Weinstein Company has a few horses in this year's race, most notably, Silver Linings Playbook, which has netted a nomination in every major category. So, don't be surprised to see that picture's stock rise considerably in the coming weeks. Another dark horse which might blossom into the favorite is Zero Dark Thirty, a film which suffered from political controversy and the fact that it only went into wide release on January 11th.

In terms of the acting categories, most of the buzz surrounds cutie-pie Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and grand dame Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) as the youngest and oldest actresses ever to be nominated, at 9 and 85 years of age, respectively. A lot of attention is being been paid to the contenders in the Best Supporting Actor category, too, since they all are former winners.

But practically overshadowing the nominees is the conspicuous absence of Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained), Ben Affleck (Argo) and Kathryn Bigelow) in the Best Director category. Joining them in the snub club are actors John Hawkes (The Sessions) and Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi), as well as actresses Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea) and Ann Dowd (Compliance).
Regardless, the 85th Academy Awards show is set to air live on ABC on Sunday, February 24th at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, and will be hosted by the ever-irreverent Seth MacFarlane.

 

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Amour

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables)

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

Denzel Washington (Flight)

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin (Argo)

Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams (The Master)

Sally Field (Lincoln)

Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)

Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

 

Best Achievement in Directing

Michael Haneke (Amour)

Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

 

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Amour: Michael Haneke

Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino

Flight: John Gatins

Moonrise Kingdom: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola

Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Argo: Chris Terrio

Beasts of the Southern Wild: Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin

Life of Pi: David Magee

Lincoln: Tony Kushner

Silver Linings Playbook: David O. Russell

 

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Brave

Frankenweenie

ParaNorman

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Wreck-It Ralph

 

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Amour (Austria)

War Witch (Canada)

No (Chile)

A Royal Affair (Denmark)

Kon-Tiki (Norway)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Anna Karenina

Django Unchained

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall

 

Best Achievement in Editing

Argo

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

 

Best Achievement in Production Design

Anna Karenina

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Anna Karenina

Les Misérables

Lincoln

Mirror Mirror

Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Achievement in Makeup

Hitchcock

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Les Misérables

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Anna Karenina

Argo

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Chasing Ice: J. Ralph("Before My Time")

Les Misérables: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer("Suddenly")

Life of Pi: Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree("Pi's Lullaby")

Skyfall: Adele, Paul Epworth("Skyfall")

Ted: Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane("Everybody Needs a Best Friend")

 

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Argo

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall

 

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Argo

Django Unchained

Life of Pi

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty

 

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

The Avengers

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Life of Pi

Prometheus

Snow White and the Huntsman

 

Best Documentary, Features

5 Broken Cameras

The Gatekeepers

How to Survive a Plague

The Invisible War

Searching for Sugar Man

 

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Inocente

Kings Point

Mondays at Racine

Open Heart

Redemption

Best Short Film, Animated

Adam and Dog

Fresh Guacamole

Head Over Heels

Paperman

The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare

Best Short Film, Live Action

Asad

Buzkashi Boys

Curfew

Death of a Shadow

Henry