MLS Entertainment predicts the 84th Academy Awards

Jean Dujardin as George Valentin and Berenice Bejo as Peppy Miller in Michel Hazanavicius's film THE ARTIST. Photo by: The Weinstein Company.

Article by Marcus Siu

This will be the year of “The Artist”.  The film that took the major awards at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, known as the “love letter to Hollywood’s Golden Age”, will also take most of the major Academy Awards tonight, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), and Best Director (Michel Hazanavicius).   This will be the first time a “silent movie” has taken “Best Picture” since the first Academy Award ceremony in 1927, when “Wings” took home the statuette, which ironically is the same year that “The Artist” takes place.

The other nine nominated films have pretty much no chance of pulling an upset.

Jean Dujardin as George Valentin in Michel Hazanavicius's film THE ARTIST. Photo by: The Weinstein Company.

Obviously, “The Artist” was not nominated in the Sound categories, but if the Academy gets it right, “The Artist” should also take awards for Cinematography, Original Score (not including uncredited music from the soundtrack of “Vertigo”), and Costume.  It has very good chances of also winning for Film Editing and Original Screenplay, as well.

Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer, left) shares a laugh with her best friend Aibileen Clark (Academy Award® nominee Viola Davis, right), in DreamWorks Pictures’ inspiring drama, “The Help,” based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett. “The Help” is written for the screen and directed by Tate Taylor, with Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan producing. Ph: Dale Robinette. ©DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer from “The Help”, who portray two African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi in the 60’s, should take home the Best Actress and Supporting Actress Oscars, though, Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) are both equally deserving for their roles they immersed themselves in, and would have won easily any other year.  Unfortunately, for Streep, the two-time Oscar winner (and 14 time Oscar loser), portrayed (ex Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) a global icon, who is not everyone’s cup of tea.  It also helps Davis, to have been in another Best Picture nominated film, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”.

The Supporting Actor Oscar will definitely go to Christopher Plummer in his “coming out of the closet/terminally ill” role as “Hal Fields”, in Mike Mill’s, “Beginner’s”.   He also had a nice supporting role in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, to top it off a great year.

Academy Award® nominee Christopher Plummer stars in writer/director Mike Mills' Beginners, a Focus Features release. Photo Credits: Andrew Tepper.

I’m hoping the Academy will add a new visual effects for “3D” category in a few years, so more visually films like Hugo, would be made using 3D cameras during filming, rather than utilizing 3D in post production.   After a screening that James Cameron attended, he called the film a “masterpiece” and told Martin Scorsese it was the best use of 3D he had seen, including his own films.

In any case, “Hugo” will probably take a few of the Production categories, including Art Direction, Sound Editing and Mixing.  It may also win Visual Effects, if the Academy doesn’t decide to “go totally ape” on us.

Asa Butterfield plays Hugo Cabret in HUGO, from Paramount Pictures and GK Films. Photo credit: Jaap Buitendijk. (c) 2011 GK Films, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

As for “The Descendents”, kudos to George Clooney, in possibly his best role to date.  If there was a category this year for Best Actor in a “talkie” movies, he would have gotten it for sure.  Like Streep, he just gets better and better each role he takes on.  However, they will most likely honor “The Descendents” with a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, that will deservedly go to writer-director, Alexander Payne, who was nominated in both categories this year.

Director Alexander Payne on set of THE DESCENDANTS. PHOTO BY: Merie Wallace.

As far as the Original Screenplay, I’m really hoping to see Woody Allen accept it for his nostalgic and whimsical hit, “Midnight in Paris”.  He has major competition from “The Artist”, which like his film, is also set in the 20’s, but in Paris instead of Hollywood.  Either way, the Golden Age wins.

Left to Right: Marion Cotillard, Alison Pill, Owen Wilson and Woody Allen. Photo by Roger Arpajou © 2011 Mediapro, Versátil Cinema & Gravier Productions, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Here’s are my predictions for the Oscars.

BEST PICTURE The Artist – Thomas Langmann, Producer

Actor in a Leading Role Jean Dujardin – The Artist

Actor in a Supporting Role Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Actress in a Leading Role Viola Davis – The Help

Actress in a Supporting Role Octavia Spencer – The Help

Animated Feature Film Rango – Gore Verbinski

ART DIRECTION Hugo – Production Design: Dante Ferretti Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

CINEMATOGRAPHY The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman

COSTUME DESIGN The Artist – Mark Bridges

DIRECTING The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky

Documentary Short Subject God Is the Bigger Elvis – Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson

FILM EDITING The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

Foreign Language Film A Separation Iran

MAKEUP The Iron Lady – Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland Music

(Original Score) The Artist – Ludovic Bource Music

(Original Song) Real in Rio – Rio Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

(Adapted Screnplay) The Descendants – Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash Writing

(Original Screnplay) Midnight in Paris – Written by Woody Allen

Short Film (Animated)  A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

(Live Action) Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane

SOUND EDITING Hugo – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

SOUND MIXING Hugo – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

VISUAL EFFECTS Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett Writing