Home Featured Content

Full Predictions For The 2013 Academy Awards

The 85th Academy Awards are being presented this Sunday night, and while we will have full coverage of the show and winners for you then, I thought it would be good to set the stage before the big event with my personal predictions for the awards.

Best Cinematography

Recommended Videos

Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey

Django Unchained, Robert Richardson

Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda

Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski

Skyfall, Roger Deakins

Another strong category, albeit one where the winner is bound to annoy me. There is a slight chance Roger Deakins, the deserving winner, finally receives his first Oscar for his incredible work in Skyfall, but Life of Pi, however overrated I feel the film’s cinematography is, has always been the favorite in this category. A flashy, effects-heavy drama with creative use of 3D, the film’s visuals are more than loud enough to overwhelm the competition, even if every single one of the other nominees are arguably more impressive as feats of pure cinematography (given the sheer amount of digital content, Life of Pi is more of an effects achievement). A safe bet if ever there was one.

Will Win: Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda

Should Win: Skyfall, Roger Deakins 

Best Film Editing

Argo, William Goldenberg

Life of Pi, Tim Squyres

Lincoln, Michael Kahn

Silver Linings Playbook, Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers

Zero Dark Thirty, Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

I cannot imagine the Academy’s technical love for Life of Pi will extend all the way into editing, but it is certainly possible, and if the film sweeps all the other technical awards, it may win here. Nevertheless, I think one of William Goldenberg’s nominations is the most likely winner, and since Argo is the Best Picture favorite – big winners often get an editing win as well – I am relatively confident it will take this award.

Will Win: Argo, William Goldenberg

Should Win: Zero Dark Thirty, Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg 

Best Visual Effects

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Life of Pi

The Avengers

Prometheus

Snow White and the Huntsman

Life of Pi all the way. No matter how much I may find the visuals overrated, this is the VFX favorite of 2012. It would, to be fair, be the film’s most deserving win, as the admittedly impressive visuals are almost entirely a result of very strong VFX work.

Will Win: Life of Pi

Should Win: The Avengers

Continue reading on the next page…