12 Days of Oscar: Best Picture

All 9 Nominees are deserving of accolade and praise.  There is little to say that has not been said about these films.  So I will simply say that I believe the Best Film and the Oscar will go to Argo.

Enjoy the Awards!

12 Days of Oscar: The Big Two

The director is the storyteller.  He may not have to write, act or narrate the story... but he is the story teller and if he is dedicated to his craft, his story will be timeless.

BEST DIRECTOR NOMINEES

Amour - Michael Haneke
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Ben Zeitlin
Life of Pi - Ang Lee
Lincoln - Steven Spielberg
Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

Okay, lets set the record straight.  These were five moving films masterfully directed.  With that being said they are not, in my opinion the five best directed of the year.  In fact I am still completely at a loss for how Ben Affleck and Tom Hooper were left out of this mix.  Others would also argue for Kathryn Bigelow and although I was truly a believer after The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty was not my favorite of those listed.
So in my opinion, this one has an asterisk.  I am pulling a bit for Lee, because of the loss of his deserved statue for Brokeback Mountain and David Russell for a wonderful, poignant and personal direction of an all star cast in an everyday struggle.  I believe Lincoln was an absolute showcase for Tony Kushner's screenplay and Daniel Day-lewis' Lincoln... but as far as a whole... it was not Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan or even Indiana Jones.  I could gracefully concede a Spielberg win if he faced, in my opinion, the best direction of the year in Ben Affleck's Argo.

Perhaps this is the one category where we need to open up a few more spots for nominee's.

My Favorite:  Wasn't Nominated.  Ben Affleck.  Argo.

My Oscar Prediction: Ang Lee for Life of Pi.

12 Days of Oscar: Day 2 - Acting in Leading Roles

Acting in a leading role is one of the “major” categories because the lead must be the focal point of the story without getting in the way of it.  The lead actor or actress is but a part of the big picture, but without a strong lead… all of the efforts to convincingly move the audience become improbable.

This year’s leading categories, like most, are filled with masterful performances.  Now to separate mastery from legendary.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE NOMINEES

Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

Emmanuelle Riva – Amour

Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

Naomi Watts – The Impossible

This year’s leading actress category is replete with strong female characters, which is always my benchmark.

Jessica Chastain does a remarkable job as the CIA operative who put the pieces together to find Bin Laden.  The screenwriter also helped her in removing her from “obligatory” love entanglements and made her a tough as nails professional.

Jennifer Lawrence is equally tough as the blunt, recent widow who is trying to move on with her life in Silver Linings Playbook.  Her dialogue and demeanor were perfectly delivered and Jennifer Lawrence is quickly establishing herself as “money” in the acting realm.

Emmanuelle Riva was haunting as both lucid and brilliant pianist and deteriorating stroke patient.  If one can get past the depressing nature of the subject matter, this was as good a performance as was given this year.

Quvenzhane Wallis was a firecracker of physical and emotional turbulence and resolve.  Her performance was amazing.

Naomi Watts made audiences wince and cheer as a mother, injured in the Indonesian tsunami that is determined to get her son to safety. 

My Favorite:  Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

My Oscar Prediction:  Emmanuelle Riva for Amour

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE NOMINEES

Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-lewis – Lincoln

Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables

Joaquin Phoenix – The Master

Denzel Washington – Flight

Bradley Cooper gives his best performance to date as a bipolar man working hard to win back his wife in the dramady Silver Linings Playbook. 

Hugh Jackman’s voice, vulnerability and dedication to Jean Valjean was nothing short of epic.  A true performance to go into the annals of cinema history.

Joaquin Phoenix would be the frontrunner here if not for a film that was “love it/hate it” and Phoenix’s disdain for awards in general.  Phoenix gave an absolutely stunning portrait of a man led by his basest desires trying through the help of Hoffman’s character to become a “more noble” man.  There wasn’t a moment that Phoenix was not spot on and in character.

Denzel Washington gave a fine performance as an alcoholic pilot.  Though convincing and well performed, if anything, the highlights of the film occur from special effects and John Goodman.  The story, though good, was not as powerful as the other films, making Washington’s performance seem average though it was much more.

Daniel Day-lewis was, and from now on may ever be thought of as Abraham Lincoln.  End of story.

My favorite:  Daniel Day-lewis for Lincoln

My Oscar Prediction:  Daniel Day-lewis for Lincoln

12 Days of Oscar: Day 3 - Acting in Supporting Roles

The Oscar acting categories are the best of the best every year and are, in some respects, unfair. This is because comedies are lumped in with weightier dramas, thrillers and tragedies.  When a musical enters the mix it often confuses the matter further. 

However, this year the musical performances and the comedic performances were just as relevant and powerful as the heavier social commentaries. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS NOMINEES

Amy Adams – The Master

Sally Field – Lincoln

Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

Helen Hunt – The Sessions

Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook

Amy Adams gave the best performance of her career as the outspoken yet doting wife of a charismatic cult leader in The Master.  In most other years I would say that Ms. Adams should wait on the edge of her seat when the envelope tears.  This year, besides having a clear frontrunner, I would say that the timing of the film release and its mixed reception overall will keep her at the back of this pack.

Sally Field gives a wonderful performance as the controlling and sharp witted Ms. Lincoln.  The difficulty here is that the amazing brilliance of Daniel Day Lewis eclipsed the scenery, sets, props and unfortunately for the rest of the cast… the other actors.

Helen Hunt transcended the nakedness of her character, both literally and ultimately figuratively in The Sessions.   I was amazed at how believable a “sexual surrogate” who is married could be, as it falls outside the norms of our society.  Her performance was nothing short of brilliant.

Jacki Weaver was the epitome of the worried mother of a bipolar son.  She was the definition of the accepting wife of an OCD husband.  She was the glue that held together a volatile mix of family and friends dealing with some form of mental illness.  Unfortunately for her Oscar chances, she played perfectly the mother/wife who takes a backseat for her larger than life family. 

Anne Hathaway.  The guttural mourning and angst of a promising life lost, even for as short as the performance was, will be a long lived cinema memory.  A performance that wrings the emotion from you is too powerful to ignore.

My Favorite: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

My Oscar Prediction: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR NOMINEES

Alan Arkin - Argo

 Robert DeNiro – Silver Linings Playbook

Phillip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln

Cristoph Waltz – Django Unchained

Alan Arkin provides a compelling character study of a producer who is involved in a top secret extraction process to free American Hostages from Iran.  The balance he provides between the external bullying producer and the internal worrying patriot is wonderful.

Robert Deniro gives, in my opinion, one of his best performances ever as the OCD father of a bipolar son.  He is so vulnerable and real in this role that during the film you forget every other DeNiro role.  That is no small feat with films such as Taxi Driver and the Deer Hunter.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant as a cult founder and leader.  That, however, is just the point.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman is always brilliant.  He gives nothing but Oscar worthy performances.  It is sometimes hard to recognize just how good he is because it all looks so easy for him.  To some extent he is becoming the Meryl Streep of male actors whose nominations are obligatory, but is often overlooked for the actual honor because of his skill.

Tommy Lee Jones gives a memorable performance in Lincoln as the lawmaker whose wish to outlaw slavery is personal.  It seems that most have a soft spot for Jones, even though he seems to always play a quick-witted but verbally abusive southerner.  Tommy Lee may come away from the Oscar as a sentimental favorite.  However, Alan Arkin could stand in that role as well.

Finally, Cristoph Waltz is perhaps the character with the most “panache”.  His character is so fun to watch with his counter culture views and verbal flourishes that you look forward to the next dimwit that provides cannon fodder for his dialogue.  Cristoph gets Tarrantino and plays his characters brilliantly.

My Favorite: Cristoph Waltz for Django Unchained

My Oscar Prediction: Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln

12 Days of Oscar: Day 4 - Live Action Short Film

This year's group of live shorts were fantastic.  Each film seemed to be the "one for Oscar" until you saw the next.

SHORT FILM LIVE ACTION NOMINEES

1) Asad - Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura

2) Buzkashi Boys - Sam French and Ariel Nasr

3) Curfew - Shawn Christensen

4) Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) - Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele

5) Henry - Yan England

Each of these movies is brilliant in its own way.  Asad is the story of a boy who is steered clear of the local trouble in Somolia through fishing,  Buzkashi boys is the unlikely friendship between the son of the local blacksmith and a young street beggar in Pakistan.  Curfew reveals a twenty something man who gains a new lease on life through an impromptu babysitting gig with his niece.  Death of a Shadow  (which stars Matthew Schoenarts of Rust and Bone and Bullhead fame) tells the tale of a photographer who must photograph the shadows of the dead to regain his own life.  Henry is a look from the inside at  dementia.
Each of these films has brilliant and unique twists that are entertaining, lovely or gut wrenching.  My favorite is the lightest, I believe the Academy will chose the tragedy.

My Favorite: Curfew

My Oscar Prediction: Buzkashi Boys

12 Days of Oscar: Day 5 - Foreign Film

I love foreign film.  Foreign film often relies little to nothing on effects or big budget items.  They are about relationships, internal dialogue and pushing the art.  Needless to say if you don't have a good screenplay, good character development and good internal/external dialogue/monologue, your film will not fly.  These films have mastered the art.

FOREIGN FILM NOMINEES

1) Amour (Austria)

2) Kon-Tiki (Norway)

3) No (Chile)

4) A Royal Affair (Denmark)

5) War Witch (Canada)

This is my one incomplete category.  As of this posting I have not yet seen War Witch and so I will list my favorite to date.  I was honestly very surprised that the Intouchables, Barbara or Rust and Bone did not make this list.  At this point I would have replaced Kon-Tiki, A very good film about Thor Heyerdahl's voyage across the pacific on a raft and No, a good subject but slow film about the campaign to oust Pinnochet in Chile.  I would have nominated the Intouchables and Rust and Bone.  The Intouchables, a film about an unlikely friendship built between a quadriplegic man and his caregiver was my favorite foreign film of the year.  However, since it was not nominated, I will go with the historical period romance out of Denmark.  The Academy has all but etched "Amour", a film about a man coping with his wife's stroke, on the Oscar.

My Favorite:  A Royal Affair

My Oscar Prediction:  Amour

12 Days of Oscar: Day 6 - Cinematography

The painters.  Film is, first and foremost, a visual medium.

CINEMATOGRAPHY NOMINEES

1) Anna Karenina - Seamus McGarvey

2) Django Unchained - Robert Richardson

3) Life of Pi - Claudio Miranda

4) Lincoln - Janusz Kaminski

5) Skyfall - Roger Deakins

Each picture contains beautiful cinematography unique to its genre.  Two of these films were unique and breathtaking.  Anna Karenina was a marvel of artistic transition and stylized movement between stage and location.  Life of Pi is a sea epic which differs from its predecessors by by being colorful and contemplative even among the tempest.

My Favorite - Anna Karenina

My Oscar prediction - Life of Pi

12 Days of Oscar: Day 7 - Clothes and Hair

It takes literally hundreds of people to make a successful film, even if the only things you notice are one or two actors.  The costumer and stylist make us believe that the actor is in a certain time period, a certain socioeconomic class or perhaps even a different species.  

COSTUME DESIGN NOMINEES

"Anna Karenina" - Jaqueline Durran

"Les Miserables" - Paco Delgado

"Lincoln" - Joanna Johnston

"Mirror Mirror" - Eiko Ishioka

"Snow White and the Huntsman" - Colleen Atwood

Each film is exquisitely and intricately adorned.  However, the sheer smorgasbord of delicacies that were draped upon Ms. Knightly were a costuming dream.

My Favorite -"Anna Karenina"

My Oscar Prdiction - "Anna Karenina"



MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING NOMINEES

"Hitchcock" - Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" - Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane

"Les Miserables" - Lisa Westscott and Julie Darnell

This is one of those categories that if they were separate, my vote would be different.  Hitchcock was a marvel of makeup for Anthony Hopkins, Les Miserables was a wonder of hairstyles and lean sick faces.  However, its hard for me to choose against Hobbits and Dwarves in the make up department.

My Favorite - "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

My Oscar Prediction - "Les Miserables"

12 Days of Oscar: Day 8 - Documentary Categories

Documentary filmmaking is the fine art of bringing attention to an issue or event by recording it.  Some documentarians let the story tell itself, while others use sardonic narration, music and creative editing to push the audience in a specific direction.  Whatever the case may be, documentaries are among the most interesting film works as they, to one degree or another, deal with real life.

Here are my favorites and predictions for the Documentary Feature and Documentary Short categories.

Documentary Feature Nominees

1) 5 Broken Cameras - Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi

2) The Gatekeepers - Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky and Estelle Fialon

3) How to Survive a Plague - David France and Howard Gertler

4) The Invisible War - Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering

5) Searching for Sugarman - Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn

The first four nominees deal with both violent and life threatening injustice.  5 Broken Cameras is a Palestinian view of Israeli settlements, The Gatekeepers is a look at Israel's fight against terrorism from the viewpoint of 5 heads of Israeli secret service.  How to Survive a Plague is a chronicle of the fight to get AIDS drugs to those afflicted in the 80's. The Invisible War reports the epidemic of rape in the US military and the systemic cover up.  The Gatekeepers and The Invisible War are riveting.  How To Survive a Plague is informative and moving.  5 Broken Cameras was chaotic at times and difficult to follow other than the repeated going through the gate, the Israeli buildings and the soldiers breaking the cameras.  
Go figure the one documentary most destined to become a musical trivia question is the most complete.

My Favorite:  Searching for Sugarman

My Oscar Prediction: Searching for Sugarman

Documentary Shorts Nominees

1) Inocente - Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

2) Kings Point - Sari Gilman and Jed Wider

3) Mondays at Racine - Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan

4) Open Heart - Keif Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern

5) Redemption - John Alpert and Matthew O'Neill

Kudos to each of these documentaries for showing real heart without being preachy.  Kings Point reveals the hidden side of aging in a retirement community in Florida.  Redemption looks at how many on the streets of New York stay alive by redeeming cans and bottles from the curbs and dumpsters of New York.  Open Heart is a moving documentary of Rwandan children chosen to travel to the Sudan for heart transplants.  Mondays at Racine is an emotional look at how cancer impacts the women who come to Racine's Salon once a month for free makeovers and companionship.  Inocente is the story of a homeless teenage girl who lives in a technicolor dream world of art despite her circumstances.

Inocente's smile and hope is medicine for the soul.

My Favorite: Inocente

My Oscar Prediction: Mondays at Racine

12 Days of Oscar: Day 9 Animation

Animation rocks!  Not all of it of course.  Animation is an amazing medium where the barely imaginable can be created for a relatively small budget and often more believably than their high budget  feature counterparts.

So here are my predictions and favorites for the Animated Feature and Animated Short categories.

Animated Feature Nominees

1) Brave - Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
2) Frankenweenie - Tim Burton
3) ParaNorman - Sam Fell and Chris Butler
4) The Pirates: Band of Misfits - Peter Lord
5) Wreck-It Ralph - Rich Moore

I loved three of these films and really liked two.  Brave presents a much needed strong female lead.  The screenplay takes the standard prince courts the princess tale and turns it on its head.  In fact, this years animation category seems an ode to the unlikely role player.  ParaNorman and Frankenweenie as the town oddballs turned town heroes were compelling... but ParaNorman seemed more relevant, timely and funny.  Wreck-it Ralph as the "bad-guy-turned-hero" also bucked the normal stereotype and added personality and a whole lot of color.  The Pirates was a cute stop action flick that I might have replaced as a nominee with Le Tableau or The Rabbi's Cat.  Buzz has it as a two way race between Wreck-it Ralph and Brave.

My Favorite:  ParaNorman

My Oscar Prediction:  Brave

Animated Short Nominees

1) Adam and Dog - Minkyu Lee
2) Fresh Guacamole - PES
3) Head Over Heels - Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
4) The Longest Daycare - David Silverman
5) Paperman - John Kars

Each of these films is brilliant.  The spiritual philosophy of Adam and Dog to the clever concoction that is Fresh Guacamole.  The drama in The Longest Daycare to the suspense of Head Over Heels.  And then there is the pleasure that is Paperman.

My Favorite:  Adam and Dog

My Oscar Prediction:  Paperman

12 Days of Oscar: Day 10 - Music

I could go into the scores and songs that have already racked up awards this awards season.  However, I am going to keep this particular entry short.  My favorites and who I think the Academy will pick based on previous buzz.

Original Score Nominees

1) Anna Karenina - Dario Marianelli
2) Argo - Alexandre Desplat
3) Life of Pi - Mychael Danna
4) Lincoln - John Williams
5) Skyfall - Thomas Newman

Am I wrong or does Skyfall still rely on some of the traditional 007 riffs? Argo was a great soundtrack but not necessarily the best score.  John Williams is John Williams and always a factor. 

My Favorite: Anna Karenina

My Oscar Prediction: Life of Pi


Original Song Nominees

1) "Before my Time" from Chasing Ice - Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
2) "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted - Music by Walter Murphy, Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
3) "Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi - Music by Mychael Danna, Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
4) "Skyfall" from Skyfall - Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
5) "Suddenly" from Les Miserables - Music by Claude Michael-Schonberg and Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

Why is there a discussion here.

My Favorite:  "Skyfall"

My Oscar Prediction: "Skyfall"

12 Days of Oscar: Day 11 - Technical Categories

The technical categories, visual effects, sound mixing, sound editing and production design are crucial to an effective film.  They are a base without which the film would seem uneven and at worst the meaning could be lost.  However, these areas are often overlooked as "side categories".  These artists spend countless thankless hours of obscurity honing the craft that makes Affleck, Lee and Spielberg look so good.  So here are the technical categories.

VISUAL EFFECTS Nominees

• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
• "Life of Pi" Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
• "Marvel's The Avengers" Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
• "Prometheus" Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
• "Snow White and the Huntsman" Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Each of these films has incredible visual moments.   The Avenger's may have been the most effect heavy film and the Hobbit is always first rate.  However, The Life of Pi was the most visually stunning film since Avatar and in many ways was a purer and more realistic film.

My Favorite:  Life of Pi

My Oscar Prediction: Life of Pi

SOUND EDITING Nominees

• "Argo" Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
• "Django Unchained" Wylie Stateman
• "Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
• "Skyfall" Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Paul N.J. Ottosson

Everyone of these films is a marvel of sound engineering.  I am liking 007.

My Favorite:  Skyfall

My Oscar Prediction: Skyfall

SOUND MIXING Nominees

• "Argo" John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
• "Les Misérables" Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
• "Life of Pi" Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
• "Lincoln" Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
• "Skyfall" Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Les Miserables made the mixing category despite missing the editing category for a reason.  Regardless, I still like editing and mixing to go hand in hand this year.

My Favorite:  Skyfall

My Oscar Prediction:  Skyfall

PRODUCTION DESIGN Nominees

• "Anna Karenina" Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
• "Les Misérables" Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
• "Life of Pi" Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
• "Lincoln" Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

The sets and props for each of these films were meticulously and amazingly crafted.  In my mind one stands above the rest.  

My Favorite:  Anna Karenina

My Oscar Prediction:  Lincoln


FILM EDITING NOMINEES

"Argo" - William Goldenberg

"Life of Pi" - Tim Sqyres

"Lincoln" - Michael Kahn

"Silver Linings Playbook" - Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers

"Zero Dark Thirty" - Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

I am no expert in film editing, but according to most film editors you don't have to be.  If you are aware of the editing, if the film is too long or confusing, then the editor hasn't done their job.  This is a vast overstatement as directors and producers often take an active role in the editing process.  Given complete control, the editors are experts and artists of the craft.

Argo, Lincoln, Life of Pi, and Silver Linings Playbook all flowed seamlessly without note. I saw each of these films twice and they all stood up to repetition.  I believe the last hour of Zero Dark Thirty was among the most compelling of the year.  However, the rest of ZDT really dragged for me. I was not concerned with the controversy, just the length.  As much as I love cinema and lose myself in it, I checked my watch several times during the first hour and a half of the movie.
I do believe that the Academy will award William Goldenberg one way or the other and this is a good place for the Academy to recognize ZDT where it may not have previously been recognized.

My Favorite - Argo

My Oscar Prediction - Zero Dark Thirty

12 Days of Oscar Nominees - Oscar Countdown

With 12 days left and 24 categories to cover, lets get started with what every film begins with... a screenplay.  These two categories are never overlooked by the actors and directors, but often overlooked by the public.  Dialogue, or even the lack of it, must be spelled out in the screenplay in order to convey the film's original message.  Let's look at the two screenplay categories.

Adapted Screenplay

The Nominees

Argo - Chris Terrio

Beasts of the Southern Wild - Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin

Life of Pi - David McGee

Lincoln - Tony Kushner

Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

Each of these adaptations demonstrates its own strength and weight.  

Argo moves through the rapidly unfolding events using a massive cast.  Yet, it is able to stay focused on the the predicament of the "house guests" of the Canadian Embassy and the ongoing effort to deliver them.  It is dialogue heavy but the words are not wasted and the script delivers palpable tension to a story that we are aware of the climax.

Beasts of the Southern Wild uses both spoken and narrated dialogue to create the picture of a very different world within our own country where folks learn to band together and survival is of the utmost importance, even while discovering our power in the humility brought on by nature.

Life of Pi uses narration throughout its film to tell a story of faith and survival.  This film was perhaps most daunting a piece to adapt. Dialogue was sparse and first person narration becomes the medium through which the story is masterfully told.

Lincoln, like Argo, is dialogue heavy.  This 19th century "West Wing" could have just as easily been called "13" or "The Amendment".  Internal dialogue is sparse but the character of Lincoln shines through in his storytelling and passion.

Silver Linings Playbook is balanced between internal and verbal dialogue.  This movie uses drama, philosophy and humor as each of its characters grow without really "overcoming" their mental health issues.  The dialogue is brilliant with special emphasis paid to each disorder and how it effects the "looking glass" of the character.

I still believe the Academy will recognize the storytelling prowess of Kushner, but my pick has changed.

My Favorite: Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

My Oscar Prediction: Lincoln - Tony Kushner.

Original Screenplay

The Nominees

Amour - Michael Haneke

Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino

Flight - John Gatins

Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal

Amour was sparse on actual dialogue and rife with internal dialogue.  This made the picture more of a director's vehicle, but the dialogue that was written was powerful.

Django Unchained - Dialogue rich and bustling with wit, charm and brutality, Tarantino's script successfully fuses humor with one of the darkest times in our nation's history.  A mesmerizing work of art.

Flight - The subject matter is what made this movie.  Other than the lines John Goodman delivered and the trial testimony... the dialogue, both internal and external was not memorable.  

Moonrise Kingdom - A chorus of dialogue, narration and situation in this race to come of age story.  A brilliant yarn.

Zero Dark Thirty - The visuals and blocking in the last 90 minutes of the film made it compelling.  The screenplay was not my favorite and didn't have that "I'm mad as hell" moment.

My Favorite:  Django Unchained

My Oscar Prediction: Django Unchained