7 March 2013
*For obvious time restraints we have decided to only comment on the four major categories of The Academy Awards: Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.
Best Actress:
—Aaron Sanders, Diversions Editor
Probably the most unpredictable category of the night, the race for Best Actress consisted of five worthy nominees who all could have walked away with the statue: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Naomi Watts (The Impossible), Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook). Like movie pundits, I was certain Jessica Chastain was the definite winner. Hailed as the crowning jewel of Zero Dark Thirty, Chastain had both critical and public momentum. Even Jennifer Lawrence’s performance in Silver Linings Playbook, which was released before Zero Dark Thirty, couldn’t hinder Chastain’s ascension. In a turn that could only occur in a movie, Jennifer Lawrence’s Tiffany in Silver Linings began to resonate with audiences, or at least with the Academy members. While I admired both Chastain’s and Lawrence’s performances, I have to say I was surprised when Jean Dujardin revealed the best actress to be Lawrence.
—Cole Nelson, Staff Writer
Jennifer Lawrence’s acceptance of the Best Actress Oscar award was, in my opinion, representative of the Academy’s choice for this category: a downfall. In Silver Linings Playbook, she plays an aggressive, distressed young woman who has a history of sleeping around. While Lawrence is talented, this role didn’t allow her to flourish; I wasn’t attached to her character. Even Quvenshane Wallis, the nine-year-old who has been receiving much attention for her debut role in Beasts of the Southern Wild, was more deserving of the award than Lawrence. To put it simply, I was disappointed with this decision.
—Shelby Clemons, Staff Writer
Although I had hoped Jennifer Lawrence would win this category, I did not actually expect her to win. Despite her accomplishments in other major award shows, I thought the Oscars would try to be more politically correct and give the award to Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) because she probably won’t ever be nominated again. I enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook, but looking back I don’t think it deserves to be in the same category as the other Oscar-nominated films. Overall, though, I am a big Jennifer Lawrence fan and I am ecstatic that she won the award. She’s a talented young actress who has a good career ahead of her, and she is the youngest person to be nominated for an Oscar twice. Young actresses nominated in this category often lose and don’t come back to be nominated again, let alone win. Her performance in Silver Linings Playbook was entertaining, but I think other actresses, like Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), were perhaps more deserving.
Best Actor:
—Aaron Sanders, Diversions Editor
From the get-go, everyone knew Daniel Day Lewis was going to win best actor. That didn’t mean we couldn’t root for Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) or Denzel Washington (Flight), right?
—Cole Nelson, Staff Writer
It isn’t (and never was) a surprise that Daniel Day-Lewis won the Best Actor Oscar for his spectacular performance in Lincoln. Several months ago in my review of the film, I acknowledged Day-Lewis’ powerful talent and predicted no other performance of the year would top his. Now he has a third golden trophy to add to his Best Actor collection.
—Shelby Clemons, Staff Writer
I did not see a lot of Oscar-nominated films, so I was a little in the dark when it came to this category. I predicted that Daniel Day Lewis would win, and it was no surprise that he did. He was picking up awards for his performance in Lincoln and the film was getting a lot of praise from both critics and my peers, so it was easy to guess that he would win. Since I’m not very educated on the nominated films, I can’t say I’m disappointed with this category.
Best Director:
—Aaron Sanders, Diversions Editor
Another toss-up category, this year’s best director was nearly impossible to call. Rounding out the nominees were Michael Haneke (Amour), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) and David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook), none of whom really stood out. And in light of the snubs for Ben Affleck (Argo), Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) and Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained), the best director category seemed lacking. So when Ang Lee was given the award for Life of Pi, all I thought was, “Thank God it didn’t go to Spielberg.”
—Cole Nelson, Staff Writer
When it came to this award, I knew it was down to Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg, and thought that Spielberg had a better chance at the trophy. While both men have received Oscars for Best Director in the past, Spielberg has one more than Lee. To my surprise, Ang Lee came out on top, and deservedly so, for Life of Pi. I wasn’t disappointed with this decision, although I did not expect it. On the other hand, I would have not been surprised if Beasts director Benh Zeitlin stunned all by taking this award as his own.
—Shelby Clemons, Staff Writer
Similar to my prediction of Daniel Day Lewis winning, I expected Steven Spielberg to win because of the buzz behind Lincoln. Other than that, I wasn’t sure who would win because of Ben Affleck’s snub for Argo (if he had been nominated, I think he would have won). I can’t say I’m surprised that Ang Lee won for Life of Pi, because the film was so highly praised. Though I haven’t seen the film, seeing short clips of it throughout the Oscars made me realize it’s definitely a film I need to see.
Best Picture:
—Aaron Sanders, Diversions Editor
This year’s bunch of Best Picture nominees was the best since the 2009 awards. Every film, save Les Miserables, was in fact the best the film industry had to offer. However, of the nine films, Ben Affleck’s Argo was unanimously the best picture. While I did enjoy Argo and do admit it was better than the majority of films to come out in 2012, I named and will continue to name Quentin Tarantino’s southern epic Django Unchained the best film of the year and possibly one of the more critically underrated films of 2012.
—Cole Nelson, Staff Writer
While Argo was well deserving, I did not expect it to take home the top honor of Best Picture. Rather, I saw Lincoln receiving the award, for it had Oscar written all over it and is easily comparable to the 2010 Best Picture winner The King’s Speech. I was a bit saddened that Beasts of the Southern Wild didn’t receive this award; the film grew on me over time. In the end, I assume the Academy prefers a story that depicts them as a hero over one that doesn’t depict them at all. Argo, well done. You deserve the recognition.
—Shelby Clemons, Staff Writer
It was no surprise to me whatsoever that Argo won this award. Again, I didn’t see many of the nominated films but just seeing tidbits and hearing all the hype made it easy to predict Argo would win. I knew Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook wouldn’t win because they just don’t seem on par with the other films. It seemed as though the other nominated films were all close contenders, but Argo was doing so well this award season that I would have been shocked if someone else won. Ben Affleck’s nervous speech was the cherry on top, because he seemed truly grateful for the win (even if his speech alluded awkwardly to marital problems).
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