Oscars 2012 — Page 6

It shows torture as being part of the hunt for Bin Laden. In fact, they don't really get all that much information from the detainees depicted. One of the higher-up characters even makes a point of saying that the name of the person Chastain's character believes it the key to finding Bin Laden was only given under duress.

Yes, at one point Chastain's character does say that she'd have more information if the detainee program depicted. But it's coming from an extremely biased, and at that point anxious and frustrated, character.

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AC1, have you seen Django? If so, the question still stands. Does Kerry Washington deserve some love?

As far as DJANGO is concerned, I'm all about Sam Jackson for Supporting Actor.

I haven't seen The Impossible, but the trailer rubbed me the wrong way. Do we really need another story of brave white people in another country?

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Okay, so far this winter break the only "Oscar buzz" I have seen were LES MISERABLES, ANNA KARENINA, DJANGO UNCHAINED, and THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL. I also sat through THE GUILT TRIP.

LES MISERSBLES was everything I could have dreamed of and more. Anne Hathaway should win, but Sally Field is tough competition. Hugh Jackman and Eddie Redmayne are also deserving of nominations.

DJANGO UNCHAINED was brilliant, even though the ending could have come sooner. Brilliant performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, and Christoph Waltz. I think Leo has the chance to win Best Supporting Actor.

I'm surprised at the lakc of love for ANNA KARENINA. It was one of my favorite films this year so far. Keira Knightly was brilliant - I wish she had a chance at Best Actress. The designs and scores were beautiful - the only other films I've been so visually stunned by were BLACK SWAN and MOULIN ROUGE. For sure it will win Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction. It also should have chances with Score and Cinematography.

MARIGOLD was cute, but I think that Dench had the more showier and dramatic role over Smith. It would be nice to see Dench nominated, but between Hathaway and Field she has no chance of winning.

Still to come for me: SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, ARGO, LIFE OF PI, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (on DVD on Tuesday).

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So far, among the major award contenders I have seen: Lincoln, Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, and Les Miserables. I've also seen Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which I really enjoyed but don't see as award-worthy. Same for Skyfall.

I think I would give awards as follows:

Best Picture: Argo
Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence
Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway

Of course, my opinions may change once I see Zero Dark Thirty.

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Amour was fantastic. Definitely see Riva as a nominee but I think the field is too crowded for Trintignant. Haneke is really polarizing among critics in the states and while this is not his usual sadistic piece of work, it still may be too harsh with Oscar voters. White Ribbon not winning was terrible, Cache not even being nominated was shameful, and Isabelle Huppert not getting nominated for The Piano Teacher was truly egregious in terms of snubs. I should be numb to the Haneke snubbing by now.

And I really want to see Berberian Sound Studio. Can't even find a good torrent.//What? How else do you think I can watch that many new releases?

Who knows, this could be like how we all expected Viola to win and then Meryl came through with the win.

You can also think of Sandra Bullock winning instead of Streep a few years back.

The youngest Best Actress winner is currently Marlee Matlin, who was 21. Janet Gaynor (the first winner) is next. She was 22, same age as Jennifer.

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Updated On: 1/2/13 at 08:52 AM

Not to mention both already have an Oscar nomination.

I've seen both. I found Chastain very actress-y in a role that's really hard for an audience to latch onto. Lawrence was terrific in a movie that's really about the guy (though her through-line is just as engrossing as his). Were it to come down to the two, I'd give it to Lawrence over Chastain any day of the week.

^ I was wondering if there was an actress that could come in and break up the battle of the ingenues that's taking shape right now. Cause even though I liked Lawrence A LOT...I'm not sure it's a Best Actress performance (whatever that means). I still would choose her over Chastain, if those were my choices. Haven't seen Weisz, but heard she was wonderful.

And, not to go too far afield right now, but I just watched DARK KNIGHT RISES this weekend and found it to be a terrific time. It's my second favorite movie of 2012 (after LINCOLN).