By Kellen Quigley
Staff Writer
As the last weekend of February quickly approaches, the 85th annual Academy Awards draw near. This year, Seth MacFarlane will host the ceremony, which will air live on ABC at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Three-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg’s Civil War-era epic “Lincoln” leads with 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Close behind is the fantasy-adventure film “Life of Pi,” directed by Ang Lee, with 11 nominations, also including Best Picture and Best Director.
Although most critics predict “Lincoln” for Best Picture, seven other highly-acclaimed films also earned a Best Picture nomination. In addition to “Lincoln” and “Life of Pi,” “Amour,” “Argo,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Django Unchained,” “Les Misérables,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Zero Dark Thirty” all represent the epitome of cinematic achievement at this year’s award show.
Sophomore education major Anna Hribar said she has strong feelings about “Les Misérables.”
“The actors all portrayed the characters very well,” Hribar said. “It was moving and emotional.”
Zachary DeChane, a sophomore computer science major, agrees with Hribar’s feelings on “Les Misérables” having the potential to win.
“It’s a favorite among all my friends,” DeChane said.
I think the scale and presentation of both “Lincoln” and “Argo” secure either one the Best Picture award, but “Life of Pi” is not completely out of the running.
Other than Spielberg and Lee, directors Michael Haneke (“Amour”), Benh Zeitlin (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”) and David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook”) have earned nominations for Best Director. Both Spielberg and Lee have won before, and Russell earned his first nomination in 2010. This is the first directing nomination for both Haneke and Zeitlin.
“I think Spielberg has a really good chance,” said Arin Liszka, a sophomore political science major.
I agree with Liszka.
I wanted to see Ben Affleck, director of “Argo,” win the Best Director Oscar. He earned 15 nominations at other awards ceremonies for his direction and has won several, including the Golden Globe and BAFTA, but missed out on the Oscar nomination.
Based on critics’ reviews and what he’s won so far, Oscar veteran Daniel Day-Lewis, a two-time winner, leads the way for his portrayal of the 16th U.S. president in the Best Actor category. Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook”), Hugh Jackman (“Les Misérables”), Joaquin Phoenix (“The Master”) and Denzel Washington (“Flight”) also earned nominations.
Liszka said she thinks Day-Lewis will take the Best Actor award.
“Day-Lewis has already won nearly every acting award for ‘Lincoln,’” Liszka said.
If Day-Lewis does win, he will set an Academy Awards record of three Best Actor wins. Day-Lewis’ performance instantly took my vote because of his shocking resemblance to the president, both physically and emotionally, but I would not count out Jackman or Cooper completely.
Three age-related records were broken in the Best Actress category with this year’s nominations. Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”), 85, became the oldest female nominee in Oscar history, while Quvenzhané Wallis (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”), 9, became the youngest female nominee.
Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”) and Naomi Watts (“The Impossible”) also earned nominations. Lawrence, 22, broke a record by becoming the youngest female actor to earn two Best Actress nominations, her first being for “Winter’s Bone” in 2010.
I think Lawrence will win, but won’t count Riva out, especially considering she won the BAFTA for Best Actress two weeks ago.
With the exception of Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow, director of “Zero Dark Thirty,” missing out on Best Director nominations, I think this year’s nominees were all respectable. The ceremony will award some of the best films in several years, and regardless of who wins, it will be a night to remember.
