Hello fellow movie lovers! The holidays are come and gone, and many of our favorite shows are starting to return to television (Downton Abbey anyone???). But it also marks the countdown to one of my favorite things of the whole year!
The Oscars!
As the Golden Globe nominations have already been made, the internet is abuzz with Oscar predictions too. Many people say that The Oscars is an old schoolers game, and that the Academy will follow suit and stick with their “Hollywood darlings” to win. But I think in the last few years more and more wild cards have made an impact. Just think Melissa McCarthy nominated for Best Supporting Actress last year in Bridesmaids! Or the surprising inclusion of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, where he was nominated for Best Director, and Christoph Waltz took home an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Most of you know that I am an Oscar freak fanatic! I love trying to guess who will be nominated and who’s going to win. I even host an annual Oscar Party at my house! It’s themed each year, full of wine and appetizers to die for! All guests receive a ballot of all the nominees and must mark their winning selection before the ceremonies begin. And then it’s pencil’s down! I collect all writing utensils and replace them with a colored marker. Guests check off and count how many correct selections they made and the top 3 people with the most right all win fabulous Hollywood worthy schwag bag prizes!
So with the slew of big films all releasing now, I thought I’d better get my butt to the movies!
Hollywood Darling and Tolkien Geek Nominee: The Hobbit, 3D
Over the course of its three films, The Lord of the Rings trilogy won 17 Oscars, and was nominated for a total of 30. I’d say that’s pretty good odds. They made almost all the big categories, with director Peter Jackson earning his award for Best Director. So what do we think will happen for this returning director and crew with their recent release of Part 1, The Hobbit?
(amazon.com)
Sadly for Martin Freeman, I don’t think he’ll be nominated for a Lead Actor. Don’t get me wrong, I loved him as Bilbo! He did fabulously! But, I think he’s up against too many Hollywood Heavyhitters like Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper, and Hugh Jackman.
I’m actually not so sure there will be any acting nominations, but let’s not rule out Ian McKellen as Gandalf for a Best Supporting Actor just yet! He’s been previously nominated for the role, so it could happen.
Where I think The Hobbit is going to shine is in the special effects categories. Let’s face it, they’re all well deserved! The credits for this movie were intense when you see how many people were involved in the making of the film. They had their own medical staff on hand! And model makers for those Tolkien landscapes. I’m expecting heavy nominations for The Hobbit in all Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Cinematography, and Art Direction categories. I think it’s going to also see nominations in the Costume and Make-up Categories.
(goodreads.com)
Who knew Tolkien dwarves could be so sexy?
Another thing Jackson does well is the musical scores and credit song. Annie Lennox took home an Oscar for LOTR: Return of the King’s “Into the West” and Enya was nominated for The Fellowship of the Ring’s “May It Be.” I would be quite happy for Neil Flinn to be nominated for “Song of the Lonely Mountain”.
With that said, I don’t think The Hobbit will take the win for Best Original song, assuming Adele is nominated for Skyfall, but it’s still a strong contender. Good luck, Neil Flinn!
And lastly, Peter Jackson and his film, The Hobbit, will both receive Oscar Nominations. I think Jackson stands a chance for Best Director again, but I don’t think the Academy is going to vote The Hobbit as best film. There’s not many science fiction/fantasy films that have earned that title. If you ask me, it’s going to go to a more acceptable indie flick like Silver Linings Playbook, or something more historic for the times like Argo or Zero Dark Thirty. We shall see…
For more Oscar fun, check out this movie byte for more Academy Award Predictions!
And stay tuned for more of my Countdown to the Oscars! Who do you think will be nominated this year?
Jess Witkins' Happiness Project 
Love your Oscar-themed party! I think it’s sad that SF/F films (and books for that matter) don’t get more respect, but perhaps we’ll see that change in the future. For this year, I think you’re right. I don’t expect The Hobbit to win best film.
Who knows? We could see more nominations for Life of Pi and Cloud Atlas in visual categories too. Here’s rooting for a good show!
I think that the main problem with sf/f fantasy is that usually it’s just a variation on a action or children movie with really shallow characters and cliche twists. The usual – let’s fight, let us be funny, let’s fight, “deep (pathetic) thought”, funny again and another fight – formula is too common in these genres. Look at adaptations of books by great sci-fi author P.K.Dick. If you are familiar with his work, then you must know that his stories are always about dialogues, inner doubts usually culminating into a great paranoia of the main character and clashes of different philosophies, presented in an attractive, dynamic way without the need of ANY action. But the adaptations? Next, Total Recall, The Adjustment Bureau – all were crappy. Why? Because they turned down the original idea behind the novel or short story (making a 100 minutes+ long movie from a short story is not a good idea either) and filled the movie with generic action…
I haven’t seen Hobbit yet, but as a Tolkien fan, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the adaptations of LOTR Trilogy, especially Return of the King. Once again, it was focused too much on the action side, without even realizing that this book was about Aragorn, about his character and finally the meeting of his people, people of Gondor. It’s his kindness and understanding of their needs, that made him a good king, not the fact, that he can kick some orcish butts.
Problem with SF/F movies is not that there is not enough material, or ideas, but it lies in the need of making everything straightforward and action, which means that it “has to be” shallow and generic in the end, which is a very sad thing.
Ooh, yay! I remember you fabulous Oscars posts from last year. 🙂 I think your old flame Harrison has a great chance for his latest thriller, Arbitrage, which I loved. Crap! It’s Richard Gere. LOL Um… Off to treat low blood sugar.
Lol. Yah Richard Gere will not do. Gimme Harrison Ford Gabriel Byrne Jeremy Irons! Yummmm
You should come to the party! I know you have a fancy ballgown hidden somewhere…
I think the dwarves’ beards should be nominated in a category all their own. And win! Those suckers were follicular-ly spectacular!
I second that. You should petition the Academy.
One of my goals this year is to see more movies! The only one I saw last year was Hope Floats and that is pretty sad. I’ve always been an avid movie-goer, til I remarried. 😦 Anyway, I have no idea who should or shouldn’t win ’cause I haven’t seen any of these. So why am I here commenting? Had to stop by to visit my friend!
You’re still invited to the party! I know you’d cook up something truly delectable for guests!
Now go take your honey out for dinner and a show! And I’m not saying that coyly my dirty-minded friend!
Love your movie award parties, Jess! We are on a mad dash to catch up on all the nominated films (flu bug nailed my husband and slowed us down) before the GG this Sunday! Gotta dash … !
Oh I feel you. My guy had a nasty cold. But inbetween naps and tea I dragged him to the movies. Let us know what you go see!
OK, so I’m waaayyy past the holidays, but I love this! The holiday craziness obviously didn’t slow down your humor and wit, Jess!
What a lovely compliment coming from my east coast twin! So happy to see your name back in my blog reader!
Happy to be back : )!
I’m already getting excited about the Oscars too! I think it’s going to be between Argo and Zero Dark Thirty for Best Picture and Director. I have my fingers crossed for Ben Affleck this year! However, I absolutely loved The Hurt Locker and I can’t wait to see Zero Dark Thirty this week.
Hmm I can’t decide if I want to watch that one or not. I know I should but I may postpone it. Let me know what you think after you see it!
Ben Affleck? Really? I heard he may be a nominee but I’m still skeptical.
Hi Jess. I’m sure I’m in a minority, but I didn’t like the movie that much. They just stuck to the book so closely there wasn’t much time to engage with the characters, it was just one long string of action. The book has enough extra to make it engaging, but the film, for me, no.
Feel free to stick pins in an effigy if you’d like 🙂
Cheers!
Opinions are welcome here Nigel! For The Hobbit. Don’t talk any smack about Dolly Parton or Cher or Queen Latifah. That I cannot abide. Those are some divas I love!!
For the last few years, I’ve had no right to vote–having seen so few of the nominated films. I did, however, see Les Miserables, and I expect some Oscars from that movie. Anne Hathaway should be crowned something for her performance of I Dreamed a Dream. But we’ll see how it goes. I’ll live vicariously through you, Jess! Enjoy.
After seeing your awesome Haunted House decorations, you can totally be a part of my Oscar party!
I haven’t seen Les Mis yet, but it’s on the list. I am hearing great things about it!
[…] and want to know what I was slightly right about, but mostly wrong? The Hobbit! No nominations for Directing, Cinematography, Costume, or Original Song! It did however get […]