In only a few days — January 10 — this year’s Academy Award nominations will be unveiled. Yeah, folks, it’s the Oscar season, once again. The time for voting is over and the time for speculation has begun!

I’ve chosen big movies that will possibly get a lot of nominations.

Five favourites this year

Zero Dark Thirty

Jessica Chastain. Source: forbes.com

This thriller tells the story of a very delicate operation overseas: the hunt of Osama Bin Laden. With a cast led by Jessica Chastain, it features the director-screenwriter duo from The Hurt Locker, director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal. It has been widely acclaimed by critics. Best picture, Best Director, and Best screenplay nominations seem very possible, and I can totally see Jessica Chastain winning a Best Actress award. Even if she’s quite young, her career up to now has been incredibly good (Anyone remembers her role in The Tree of Life?).

The Master

Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, this movie has created quite a buzz in the cinema world. The narration of a man who decides to found his own religion, and of those who follow him, The Master’s cast is led by Joaquim Phoenix, Philip Seymour-Hoffman and Amy Adams. The nominations in this case seem obvious, but does The Master have any chance at a win? The Academy has nominated Anderson five times in the past but he has always lost- maybe this is the year they right that wrong. On the actors department, things are more unclear. Nominations for Phoenix, Seymour-Hoffman and Adams (the last two in the supporting role category) are quite possible but could be cut from the final five.

Lincoln

Steven Spielberg’s latest film provides a closer look to one of the most beloved American president. Portrayed by the always efficient Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln is a very strong drama with intense interpretations. A nom in Best Picture and Best Director is expected, as well as one for Day-Lewis (this would be his fifth nomination! And the third Oscar should he win!).

Argo

A very possible winner, this thriller tells the story of a CIA operation that got six Americans out of Iran during the hostage crisis in 1979. Ben Affleck’s third movie behind the cameras has received much applaud, by both critics and public (unlike The Master , who has the staggering amount of 40 negative user reviews in metacritic), it handles the tension very well and has a happy ending. A probable winner (in my opinion) on the best picture category, but not many interpretations seem to be Oscar material. Alan Arkin, maybe. And I loved Scoot McNairy, although I would nominate him for his role in Killing Them Softly rather than this one.

Life of Pi (?)

Suraj Sharma in a still from Ang Lee’s film. Source: wired.com

Ang Lee’s latest work is the story of young boy who, after being in a shipwreck, is trapped on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. Although the critics have loved this movie, it feels a bit too exotic for the academy. Not to mention that Ang Lee already has two Oscars: one for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2003) and the other one for Brokeback Mountain (2005). It may be nominated in the big categories, but Life of Pi winning Best Picture seems a bit unlikely. But The Best Adapted Screenplay nomination is a must. This is a very good adaptation from a not-so-easy-to-adapt novel.

Other important movies: Django Unchained, Moonrise Kingdom (even if Wes Anderson may be a bit too weird for the Academy), Silver Linings Playbook, Beasts of the Southern Wild.

My wish list

Joseph Gordon-Levitt gets nominated! For his supporting roles in Lincoln or in The Dark Knight Rises or for his lead on Looper…  Like commenter cacherr1 said in one of my previous articles, 2012 was Gordon-Levitt’s year. It would be nice if the Academy recognized that.

The Avengers get many technical nominations (and wins): I like it when my favorite movies (not usually very intellectual films, I must confess) receive many Oscars even if it is in lesser known categories. Like Inception did two years ago. Go technical awards! Sound design! Editing! They exist too!

Source:sunnivaixchel.tumblr.com

The Dark Knight Rises is nominated as Best Picture: Not only because of this movie, but because the whole trilogy was great. Christopher Nolan was a great, deep director that showed us comic-book movies can have profound reflections about society and life. The trilogy has changed comic book movies. Isn’t that worth an award?

Looper is nominated in The best Original Screenplay category:  Ok, so I have a soft spot for time-travel and JGL, so I’m not the most unbiased source with this movie. But it was great, people. And it was great, in a great part, because it was original, because of its story. And Rian Johnson is a good writer in general (anyone seen Brick?).

So, who do you think will be nominated  in the main categories (picture and director)? Who were your favourite actors and actresses this year? And who would you like to be nominated/win the Oscars this year?

We’ll see this Thursday how things go!