National Board of Review Predictions

The National Board of Review (NBR) are usually the first group to hand out awards, but this year, they will be second, as we won't see their winners until Wednesday, December 5. Here are my predictions for this group.

Best Picture: Argo

The Top 10:
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director: Ben Affleck, Argo
Best Debut Director: Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best Lead Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games and Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actor: John Goodman, Argo, Flight and Trouble with the Curve
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises and Les Miserables
Best Breakthrough Actor: Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Best Breakthrough Actress: Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Spotlight Award: Matthew McConaughey, Bernie, Killer Joe, Magic Mike and The Paperboy
Best Ensemble: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Best Original Screenplay: Moonrise Kingdom
Best Adapted Screenplay: Argo

Best Animated Feature: Frankenweenie
Best Documentary: The Central Park Five
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Freedom of Expression Award: Promised Land
Special Achievement in Filmmaking: Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tkywer, Cloud Atlas

Top 10 Independent Films:
Arbitrage
Bernie
Damsels in Distress
Hello, I Must Be Going
Killer Joe
Middle of Nowhere
Quartet
Safety Not Guaranteed
The Sessions
Your Sister's Sister

Top 5 Documentaries:
The House I Live In
Maria Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
The Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugar Man
West of Memphis

Top 5 Foreign Films:
Caesar Must Die, Italy
The Intouchables, France
No, Chile
A Royal Affair, Denmark
Rust and Bone, France

New York Film Critics Circle Predictions

The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) will be the first major critics awards to be unveiled on Monday, December 3rd. Here are my predictions!

Best Film: The Master
(Runner-Up: Amour)
Others to Consider: Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, Zero Dark Thirty

Best First Film: Beasts of the Southern Wild
(Runner-Up: The Sessions)
Others to Consider: Arbitrage, Hitchcock, A Late Quartet, Not Fade Away, Quartet, Safety Not Guaranteed, Sleepwalk With Me

Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
(Runner-Up: Michael Haneke, Amour)
Others to Consider: Ben Affleck, Argo; Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Ang Lee, Life of Pi; Steven Spielberg, Lincoln; Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom; Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Lead Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
(Runner-Up: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln)
Others to Consider: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook; Richard Gere, Arbitrage; John Hawkes, The Sessions; Anthony Hopkins, Hitchcock; Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour; Denzel Washington, Flight

Best Lead Actress: Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
(Runner-Up: Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Others to Consider: Linda Cardellini, Return; Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty; Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere; Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone; Greta Gerwig, Damsels in Distress/Frances Ha/Lola Versus; Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook; Melanie Lynskey, Hello, I Must Be Going; Michelle Williams, Take This Waltz; Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
(Runner-Up: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master)
Others to Consider: Alan Arkin, Argo; Bryan Cranston, Argo; Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained; James Gandolfini, Killing Them Softly/Not Fade Away/Zero Dark Thirty; John Goodman, Argo/Flight/Trouble with the Curve; Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike; David Strathairn, Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress: Helen Hunt, The Sessions
(Runner-Up: Sally Field, Lincoln)
Others to Consider: Amy Adams, The Master; Samantha Barks, Les Miserables; Pauline Collins, Quartet; Ann Dowd, Compliance; Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises/Les Miserables; Isabelle Huppert, Amour; Kelly Reilly, Flight; Kerry Washington, Django Unchained

Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner, Lincoln
(Runner-Up: Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master)
Others to Consider: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Moonrise Kingdom, The Sessions, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Cinematography: The Master
(Runner-Up: Lincoln)
Others to Consider: Amour, Anna Karenina, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Cloud Atlas, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Moonrise Kingdom, Skyfall, Zero Dark Thirty

Oscar Charts...Week 1

Have not done these in forever, but November is here! Oscar season is just a few weeks from kicking into full gear! Celebrations!

Best Picture:
1. Argo
2. Lincoln
3. Silver Linings Playbook
4. Les Miserables 
5. Beasts of the Southern Wild
6. The Master
7. Zero Dark Thirty
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8. Life of Pi
9. Hitchcock
10. Amour
11. Moonrise Kingdom
12. The Sessions
13. Django Unchained
14. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
15. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

 Best Director:
1. Ben Affleck, Argo
2. Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
3. Michael Haneke, Amour
4. Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
5. Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
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6. Tom Hooper, Les Miserables
7. David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
8. Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
9. Ang Lee, Life of Pi
10. Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
11. Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
12. Peter Jackson, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
13. Sacha Gervasi, Hitchcock
14. Ben Lewin, The Sessions
15. Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, Cloud Atlas

Best Lead Actor:
1. Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
2. Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
3. John Hawkes, The Sessions
4. Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
5. Denzel Washington, Flight
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6. Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
7. Anthony Hopkins, Hitchcock
8. Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour
9. Ben Affleck, Argo
10. Richard Gere, Arbitrage

Best Lead Actress:
1. Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
2. Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
3. Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
4. Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
5. Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
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6. Keira Knightley, Anna Karenina
7. Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
8. Naomi Watts, The Impossible
9. Maggie Smith, Quartet
10. Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel    

Best Supporting Actor:
1. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
2. Alan Arkin, Argo
3. Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook
4. Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
5. Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
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6. Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
7. Bryan Cranston, Argo
8. John Goodman, Flight
9. Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
10. William H. Macy, The Sessions
11. Ezra Miller, The Perks of Being a Wallflower 
12. Eddie Redmayne, Les Miserables
13. David Strathairn, Lincoln
14. Ewan McGregor, The Impossible
15. Aaron Tveit, Les Miserables
16. John Goodman, Argo 
17. Russell Crowe, Les Miserables
18. Tom Wilkinson, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
19. Garrett Hedlund, On the Road
20. James Gandolfini, Zero Dark Thirty/Not Fade Away/Killing Them Softly

Best Supporting Actress:
1. Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
2. Helen Hunt, The Sessions
3. Sally Field, Lincoln
4. Amy Adams, The Master
5. Scarlett Johansson, Hitchcock
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6. Samantha Barks, Les Miserables
7. Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
8. Kerry Washington, Django Unchained
9. Pauline Collins, Quartet
10. Kelly Reilly, Flight
11. Judi Dench, Skyfall
12. Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
13. Alicia Vikander, Anna Karenina
14. Isabelle Huppert, Amour
15. Rosemarie DeWitt, Promised Land
16. Ann Dowd, Compliance
17. Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
18. Olivia Williams, Hyde Park on Hudson
19. Frances McDormand, Promised Land
20. Olivia Colman, Hyde Park on Hudson