Complete Oscar Winners list!

From ABC.

1. Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz

2. Animated Short Film: "Paperman"

3. Animated Feature Film: "Brave"

4. Cinematography: Claudio Miranda for "Life of Pi"

5. Visual Effects: "Life of Pi"

6. Costume Design: "Anna Karenina"

7. Makeup and Hairstyling: "Les Miserables"

8. Live Action Short Film: "Curfew"

9. Documentary Short Subject: "Innocente"

10. Documentary Feature: "Searching for Sugar Man"

11. Foreign Language Film: "Amour"

12. Sound Mixing: "Les Miserables

13. Sound Editing: "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Skyfall" (A tie)

14. Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway

15. Film Editing: "Argo"

16. Production Design: "Lincoln"

17. Original Score: "Life of Pi"

18. Original Song: "Skyfall"

19. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio for "Argo"

20. Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantion for "Django Unchained"

21. Directing: Ang Lee

22. Actress: Jennifer Lawrence

23. Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis

24. Best Picture: "Argo"

Oscar Opinions: Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

One of the best war films ever made. Yeah, I went there.

QUICK OPINION:
Zero Dark Thirty is a flawless film that never bored for a second, and never ceased from being the lest bit exciting. Jessica Chastain cut the nice Ms. O'brien out of herself and dominated this film. Boal wrote Maya as one of the most interesting and best characters on the screen in a long time, maybe a character to define the decade (like Aaron Sorkin's Mark Zuckerberg.). Bigelow seemed in control of the entire film, and she and her time blew every expectation of the film out of the water.

BEST PERFORMANCE:
Jessica Chastain's Maya was my favorite performance of the year, so that one is obviously getting to be #1 here. Props to up-and-comer Jason Clarke for holding his own in the first half, a human being that understands the stress of war, despite the man on the outside. (Think Anthony Mackie in The Hurt Locker). Another great performance in a great film.

BEST MOMENT:
30 minutes into the film, when a certain scene involving a bus comes to pass, the film just sucked me in. I can't put a finger on my favorite scene. It's all great. I'll stop singing my praises and ask you (the readers) to see this before (or after) Oscar Sunday. Just see it.

Even if you don't like it, it is definitely thought-provoking.

FINAL OSCAR PREDICTIONS!

A third year of prognostication comes to a close, and its another year where the true best picture of the year DOES NOT WIN! (You can view all my picks here.)

Best Picture:
ARGO

Best Director:
 STEVEN SPIELBERG, LINCOLN

Best Actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis, LINCOLN

Best Actress:
Jennifer Lawrence, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Best Supporting Actor:
Tommy Lee Jones, LINCOLN

Best Supporting Actress:
Anne Hathaway, LES MISERABLES

Best Original Screenplay:
Mark Boal, ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Chris Terrio, ARGO

Oscar Opinions: Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

QUICK OPINION:
People go to see movies to have fun. Silver Lining Playbook is the fun film of the year, a real feel-good film, and one of the best. Bradley Cooper brought out his best work in the film, and so did Jennifer Lawrence. I appreciated the script by David O'Russell, and his deftness in making the film. Two years ago brought another crowdpleaser, The Fighter, and two year from now, O'Russell will bring out his CIA film. I am excited for anyone involved in Silver Linings, for what they will do in the years to come.

BEST PERFORMANCE:
Jennifer Lawrence is the most popular one, but Bradley Cooper carried the film's first 25 minutes and the 90 minutes that followed. He really brought out a performance I did not expect, and my opinion of him as an actor has changed due to his performance. Yeah, that must define a performance as a great one when it changes my opinion of an actor.

BEST MOMENT:
There are many heartfelt ones, but the dinner at the cafe is funny and the most heartfelt. It is a sweet scene, and I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it.

Oscar Opinions: Lincoln (2012)

This was one of the weirdest movies that had me with a goofy grin on my face.

QUICK OPINION:
I initially gave the picture 3 Stars, but this was out of impatience. The last 10 minutes went on for a good bit too long, and as previously stated, I gave the film 3 Stars just due to a sore bottom. Yes, 10 minutes could have been excised, but upon second thought, the film was incredibly dense and entertaining. Day-Lewis was a wise, well-written, and overall very likable as the titular Lincoln. I do think Sally Field's work in the film has been overestimated, but it is fine work, nonetheless. Major props to Kushner's eloquent screenplay, which had me (mentally) cheering, laughing, and the script also did an incredible job handling all of the subplots.

BEST PERFORMANCE:
No-brainer, but Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th president. He carried every scene he had, and was in a 7/8 of all the movie.

BEST MOMENT:
Easily all the scenes when Lincoln was telling his stories. All of them were slightly off topic, but they were the main reasons I held a goofy grin for 140 of the 150 minute runtime.

Oscar Opinions: Life of Pi (2012)

A great scene in a good movie.

A good movie, but an even greater book.

QUICK OPINION:
Life of Pi was a great book because we could easily see the uses of perspective Yann Martel used, one from old Pi's view, Pi on the boat's view, and a writer's view. The movie scripted by David Magee employed all three, but not to the same effect. Ang Lee should be commended for his visual genius he applied to the film, but the book, in my eyes, will remain unadaptable. No film can capture the perspective Martel was able to convey. On its own, though, Pi is still very enjoyable.

BEST PERFORMANCE:
Props to the visual team for creating a CGI beast that we (the audience) can feel attached to emotionally. I really liked that tiger, Richard Parker. Suraj Sharma is also very good as a performer, for he was able to carry one hour of the drama alone with a blue-screen tiger without me being bored or infuriated.

BEST MOMENT:
There are many wonderful scenes in the movie, but the one shot when Pi is on the boat and Richard Parker is on the boat, and roars, is a spine-tingling scene.

Oscar Opinions: Les Miserables (2012)

Every Oscar year, there is just one shoddy nominee.

QUICK OPINION:
Last year showed off Extremely Loud and Incredibly Gross Close, and somehow Les Mis was just such a clunker. Right from the get-go, something was off. The opening shot is a long shot, but not every long shot is not a good one. Hugh Jackman is prevalent throughout almost every scene, and I do have to admit his performance was good, but it was inconsistent. To be honest, the whole movie was inconsistent and messy. It nails a tone/mood, but since the songs are intercut throughout the story, diversions between the individual songs/scenes can lead to severe messiness. Forget it, the whole movie is a mess.

BEST PERFORMANCE:
Easy: Anne Hathaway's emotive work was Fantine. The shot was a bit too tight, but she devastated everyone in the audience. Great stuff.

BEST MOMENT:
I Dreamed a Dream was pretty great.

Oscar Opinions: Django Unchained (2012)

DJANGO!

QUICK OPINION:
What fun. Django Unchained is a supreme entertainment, brought to you by QT. I had this as my favorite film of the year, until the 1-2 punch of Zero Dark Thirty and The Master. Still, the film is great. The first half is the best thing Tarantino has done, by far. It was always funny, always witty, and left a big goofy grin on my face right when the 70's Columbia logo popped on screen. The second half, despite Leo DicCaprio's supreme sly performance, was oddly paced and a bit choppy compared to the first half. It had the same tone, but was somehow... different. The film got back on its feet in the last 10 minutes, and I feel good knowing that Tarantino ended one of his best films. I did feel bad ranking this as my favorite of 2012 at first because I KNEW there was a better (shorter) film in there.

BEST PERFORMANCE:
Christoph Waltz was extremely awesome, and so likable as the dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz. Despite being like Hans Landa from his Oscar winning Inglourious Basterds, it was just SO ENTERTAINING!

BEST MOMENT:
The KKK scene with Jonah Hill brought tears to my eyes. I mean, that guy's wife spent hours making those bags, and they neglected her work! He went home in frustration!

Next I will (forcibly) talk about the miserable Les Miserables.

Oscar Opinions: Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Beasts of the Southern Wild was a film that disappointed me on first release, but much thought has changed my opinion of the picture.

QUICK OPINION:
One thing that directly describes Beasts is that it is a bold film. It is something I've never seen before, and something I don't want to be redone again. With great talent, it introduced me to a fictional neighborhood and introduced me to a cast of colorful characters. The performance by Quevenzhane and Dwight Henry aren't really performance, but almost natural to the performers.

BEST PERFORMANCE:
I would love to say Quevenzhane Wallis had the best performance in the film, but I would love to shed light on one of the best supporting performances of last year: the previously mentioned Dwight Henry. He reminded me of Brad Pitt's character from the perfect The Tree of Life. Dwight's character is an ant disguised as a bull. He's dying right from the get-go, but his presence and sense of dominance is also visible from the get-go. It's great stuff.

BEST SCENE:
Almost like The Master, there is a face-to-face scene between the two leads. Quevenzhane's Hushpuppy and Dwight Henry's Wink are arm wrestling. Wink loses, and I'm not even sure if it was intentional. This is Hushpuppy's first exposure to the fact that Wink is truly dying. She knows from what he says, but this time she truly knows. She's the Man!

Oscar Opinions: Argo (2012)

QUICK OPINION:

Argo was once my favorite film of 2012. Now its not even on my top 10. I was overcome by hype. 96% on RottenTomatoes. I loved The Town, which I saw for the first time a day before Argo. I think about it more and more, and the more I realize how... dull it is. The script is fine, the performances aren't bad or anything, but it's just nothing special. Chris Terrio took too many liberties with the facts, and there was honestly no scene that blew me away. It's good, but it really is nothing special.

BEST MOMENT:

The opening when the US Embassy gets raided is a pretty cool scene.

BEST PERFORMANCE:

I really can't explain any performance that was extraordinary, so I'll cheat a little: Ben Affleck... as the film's director. His work with the basic subtleties of each scene was deft, and his style for the three different locations sounds like the work of a true talent.

Check back soon for re-evaluated thoughts on Beasts of the Southern Wild.