And the Oscar goes to...

by Dimitris Ioannou

The waiting is about to be over as in a few hours from now, the 84^th Oscar Academy Awards ceremony will take place at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood, California. With Billy Crystal hosting for ninth time the ceremony, after Eddie Murphy who was originally scheduled to host the awards stepped down due to an inappropriate joke his producer Brett Ratner made earlier this year, everybody already speaks for a worth watching show.

This year's nominees, which were announced back on January 12 by AMPAS president Tom Sherak and Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence, indicate that big surprises await us, as the two movies with the most nominations differ so much from one another. Martin Scorsese's “Hugo” leads the field with 11 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Writing-Adapted Screenplay among other. It is a 3D family mystery film about a boy who lives alone in a Paris railway station and the enigmatic owner of a toy shop there. The film uses in the best possible way some of the “coolest” new techniques managing however to reserve the great old fashioned storytelling but with a whole fresh new look.

From the other hand, we have the French black-and-white film “The Artist” by Michel Hazanavicius with 10 nominations such as Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Jean Dujardin. Having won most of the awards it has been nominated for at the Golden Globes, Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals and lately the BAFTAs, the Hazanavicius, staged in the late '20s Hollywood, romantic comedy drama will most likely leave the ceremony as the big winner.

Jean Dujardin who plays the silent film star George Valentin will have to compete with the great George Clooney of “The Descendants” for the Best Actor. The 50 year old Clooney portrays a middle aged man whose life takes a very dramatic turn after an accident that puts his wife into an irreversible come, leaves him as the only parent to deal with his two underaged daughters with which he is not very close to. Alexander Payne's movie is based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Though the French actor is very close to the golden statue, the Academy might want to reward Clooney for his efforts the last few years and give him his second Oscar after his Best Supporting Actor for the 2005 film “Syriana”.

Like everybody, Academy Awards love women too, so this year the nominees for Best Actress are women who play passionate characters. Most of the film critics worldwide would bet that 2012 is the year that Meryl Streep will win her third Oscar, as the Hollywoods' “Iron Lady” plays the “Iron Lady” of politics, Margaret Thatcher. The 62 year old actress is planning not to let Viola Davis “steal” her award, although the 46 year old Davis moved everyone with her performance in the drama film “The Help”. Even though Academy loves actors and actresses who take risks, Glenn Close who plays a woman living as a man in “Albert Nobbs” doesn't seem as a difficult opponent.

In the supporting roles categories two are the nominations that have distinguished in both men and women. Christopher Plummer for the “Beginners” and Octavia Spencer for “The Help” are most definitely the winners in their categories. Plummer plays Ewan McGregor's gay father, who after the death of his wife begins to explore that aspect of his life. Octavia Spencer, best known for her role as Constance Grady on the US sitcom “Ugly Betty” plays the feisty and unflappable domestic Minni Jackson, a role that already gave her a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.

The film industry celebrates and Hollywood is on fire. Just a few hours before the ceremony and the red carpets are already on. The presenters for the main categories are some of the biggest Hollywood movie stars. Tom Cruise is going to present the Best Picture award, Natalie Portman the Best Actor, Colin Firth the Best Actress, Melissa Leo the Best Supporting Actor and Christian Bale the Best Supporting Actress. Other stars who are scheduled to give an award are Halle Berry, Bradley Cooper, Angelina Jolie, Michael Douglas, Jennifer Lopez and also on stage will be the whole cast of the “Bridesmaids”.

Best Picture

War Horse
The Artist
Moneyball
The Descendants
The Tree of Life
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Actress

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Viola Davis, The Help
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Actor

Demian Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Director

Michel Hazanivicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best Original Screenplay

Michel Hazanivicius, The Artist
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, Bridesmaids
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants
John Logan, Hugo
George Clooney, Beau Willimon and Grant Heslov, The Ides of March
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, Moneyball
Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Foreign Feature

Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
A Separation

Best Animated Feature

A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Art Direction

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

Cinematography

The Artist
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Costume Design

Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Documentary Feature

Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Documentary Short Subject

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God Is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Film Editing

Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Kevin Tent, The Descendants
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Thelma Schoonmaker, Hugo
Christopher Tellefsen, Moneyball

Makeup

Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle, Albert Nobbs
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, The Iron Lady

Music (Original Score)

John Williams, The Adventures of Tintin
Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Howard Shore, Hugo
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John Williams, War Horse

Music (Original Song)

"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets, Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from Rio, Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett

Sound Editing

Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
War Horse

Sound Mixing

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon
War Horse

Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon

Short Film (Animated)

Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Short Film (Live Action)

Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic