Oscar Opinons: Amour (2012)

So I was thinking, Oscars are coming up... and then I realized I've been slacking on my 'Oscar Opinions' segment I did last year. This year, again, I've seen all 9 nominees, and here are my thoughts.

QUICK OPINION:

Amour is a real heart-ripper. Everything about it is perfect, especially Trintignant and the screenplay by my favorite Twitter-er @Michael_Haneke. One thing that Haneke nailed is the characterization of Trintignant's Georges, a loving husband. The film has never a dull moment, and scene feel drawn out with good reason. The film is smart, engaging, and emotional. I would love to give it 4 stars now, but I realize the level of rewatchability is close to zero. I do feel Isabelle Huppert's character was a little underdeveloped, but this is just me now looking for qualms.

BEST MOMENT:

Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) is being spoon fed by Georges. Georges tries to feed her canned peaches, but she refuse by making the only noise she can- a grunt that hardly sounds like French. In frustration, Georges slaps her. It's gross, but it's heartwarming  when almost immediately Georges apologizes. Anne is equally devastated  and the viewer can see it in her eyes.

BEST PERFORMANCE:

As previously stated, I believe Trintignant was the best performance. His skill displayed as loving-animalistic and back again is so deft. I might as well include Riva into this too, the couple seem perfect together throughout the two hours. In a perfect world, the pair would be winning 'Best Couple' awards everywhere.

BAFTA Winners!

*BAM* JUSTICE *BAM*       BAFTA emitting too much intelligent voting. 

Django might now be the Original Screenplay frontrunner... unless one considers impulsive ballot filling for Zero Dark Thirty, since it is the only frontrunner contending for WGA. So happy for Christoph Waltz, I honestly hope he wins again.

BEST FILM: Argo

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM: Skyfall

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER: The Imposter

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: Amour

DOCUMENTARY: Searching For Sugar Man

ANIMATED FILM: Brave

DIRECTOR: Argo - Ben Affleck

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

LEADING ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

LEADING ACTRESS: Emmanuelle Riva - Amour

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables

ORIGINAL MUSIC: Skyfall - Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Life Of Pi - Claudio Miranda

EDITING: Argo - William Goldenberg

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Les Miserables - Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson

COSTUME DESIGN: Anna Karenina - Jacqueline Durran

MAKE UP & HAIR: Les Miserables - Lisa Westcott

SOUND: Les Miserables - Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Lee Walpole, John Warhurst

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS: Life of Pi - Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer

SHORT ANIMATION: The Making of Longbird - Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson

SHORT FILM: Swimmer - Lynne Ramsay, Peter Carlton, Diarmid Scrimshaw

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public): Juno Temple

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA: Tessa Ross

THE BAFTA FELLOWSHIP: Alan Parker

BAFTA predictions.

BAFTA's are one thing I unfortunately have been undermining in my prognostication career. The BAFTA's this year could quite possibly be the turning point for three of the big categories this year- Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. As lazy as I am, I have decided not to predict in every category. Like most teens, I am simply too lazy.

The winners will be...

BEST FILM- Argo
BEST BRITISH FILM- Les Miserables (boo boo! Skyfall 4 LYFE!)
BEST DIRECTION- Ben Affleck, Argo
BEST ACTOR- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
BEST ACTRESS- Emmanuelle Riva, Amour (If Chastain wins, I will be happy because she did have the best performance of the year. If Riva wins, I'll be happy for a correct prediction. How cynical of me.)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR- Since BAFTA really liked Django, then it is Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS- Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY- Michael Haneke, Amour (In reality, I think Zero Dark Thirty will take either of Amour's two big prizes. This is about predicting, and I'm playing it safe with Amour winning both)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY- Chris Terrio, Argo (boo boo! Lincoln!)
BEST FOREIGN FILM- Amour (duh!)

The best actress race: it's a three-horse race, but with a different horse.

Naomi Watts' Oscar chances are now dead-in-the-water, ever since she lost the Globe for Best Actress. Somehow, Emmanuelle Riva is the third horse in the already tricky two-horse race between Lawrence and Chastain. Chastain really needs the BAFTA to really get on Lawrence's level, and I think Chastain is ahead of Lawrence, BAFTA terms. The problem is 86-year old Emmanuelle Riva, for her devastating work in Amour. (Yes, I feel guilty for calling an old lady a 'problem'). Both Amour and Zero Dark Thirty have Best Director nominations, and that's already a good sign that both films are popular. ZDT, I believe, has more nominations, and has an important scene in England, if that's any consolation.

As of right now, here are the actresses ranked in likelihood of winning.

1. Jen Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
2. Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
3. Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
4. Quevenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
5. Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Whoever wins BAFTA changes the game. Crossing fingers for Jessica, but in this race, anything goes.