Oscar predictions for 2013

Time Out looks at the contenders for the 2013 Academy Awards

The Oscars race is well and truly on. The frontrunners for the 2013 Academy Awards are ‘Argo’ and ‘Lincoln’, with ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ and ‘Les Misérables’ bringing up the rear. The nominations have been announced and the ceremony is on February 24 2013. Here, Time Out’s tipsters weigh up the chances of this awards season’s fancied runners and riders.

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Best picture

Who’s been nominated?
‘Argo’ is now the clear favourite to win Best Picture on Oscar night. It has everything the Academy loves. It’s a story about filmmaking (like last year’s winner, ‘The Artist’). It’s a true-life tale. It’s political, but not heavily so. It lightens the load with humour. It features endearing performances from actors close to Hollywood’s heart, like Alan Arkin and John Goodman. And it continues to do well at the US box office, proving that more serious-headed films can make money too.

There are eight other nominees for Best Picture. Since 2012, the Academy nominates between five and ten films in this category, depending on how many votes each receives. This makes room in 2013 for less populist films like ‘Amour’, a French-language story (from an Austrian writer-director) of two octogenarians dealing with illness and death, and the US indie ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ – as well as Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Django Unchained’, which was probably too out-there and violent to get many nominations across the board.

The other five nominees are more traditionally suited to the Oscars arena: Steven Spielberg’s 1860s historical drama, ‘Lincoln’; Ang Lee’s magical literary adaptation, ‘Life of Pi’; David O Russell’s romcom with a difference, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’; Kathryn Bigelow’s hunt-for-Bin-Laden saga, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’; and Tom Hooper’s big and bold musical, ‘Les Misérables’.

Who’s going to win?
We’ve come full circle this Oscars season, and now ‘Argo’ has the edge. The film has already won Best Film at the Baftas, the Golden Globes and several other American awards ceremonies in recent weeks, making it the clear favourite for Oscar glory. It’s possible, too, that the lack of a nomination for Affleck in the Best Director category has won him some late sympathy among voters.

But we still can’t bring ourselves to rule out Steven Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’. It’s the story of America’s favourite president and Spielberg last won an Oscar in 1999 (he nabbed the Best Director award for ‘Saving Private Ryan’). Are there any other contenders? We should remember that the Academy has recently favoured films like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and 'The Artist' – feelgood, popular movies with something of the exotic about them. So if we have to pick a third, dark-horse contender for the top prize, we’d go for ‘Life of Pi’.

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The 2013 Oscar nominees for best picture

Rated as: 4/5

Les Misérables

A dream cast of Hollywood’s finest performing live
Rated as: 5/5

Zero Dark Thirty

Lean, mean storytelling: no backstories, no-frills
Rated as: 4/5

Lincoln

Kushner’s script is a masterpiece of miniature portraiture
Rated as: 4/5

Silver Linings Playbook

The film zips along on its off-beat energy and fast-paced script
Rated as: 5/5

Beasts of the Southern Wild

A fairytale in which we regularly slip out of the real world

Rated as: 5/5

Amour

A staggering, intensely moving look at old age
Rated as: 4/5

Argo

A nail-biting thriller based (fairly loosely) on real events
Rated as: 4/5

Django Unchained

A meaty spaghetti western, heavy on the spicy sauce and ketchup
Rated as: 4/5

Life of Pi

A film with astonishing visual confidence and narrative force

See the full list of 2013 Oscar nominees

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(11 ratings)

Steven Spielberg looks like the one who will come out on top, here. But he has been nominated so many times, and won three, that the Academy might lean towards a less-recognized director. Ang Lee is perhaps Spielberg's biggest competition this year. 'Life of Pi' has extraordinary visuals, exotic music, and an enchanting story. All these combined might be enough to push Lee into the winner's circle. But still, it's a long shot. I would say that, like Daniel Day-Lewis, Steven Spielberg is nearly locked in for a third Oscar.

Marcus Perriello Thu Jan 24
Rated as: 4/5
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This category is a little trickier, this year. It seems, thus far, to be a horse race between the two Golden Globe winners, Jennifer Lawerance, and Jessica Chastain. Jennifer Lawerance may be a bit ahead of Chastain in this case, but there's also the chance that, like Daniel Day-Lewis' portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, the Academy may want to honor a performance that depicts a character who was so essential to the conclusion of the 'Greatest Manhunt In History.' But at the same time, Oscar loves to give recognition to actors who play mentally unstable roles. Lawerance? Or Chastain? These two could even end up in a deadlock, allowing for a spoiler to take it. My conscience goes with Jessica Chastain, but I'm not holding my breath. This is one category I'm anxious to see unfold.

Marcus Perriello Thu Jan 24
Rated as: 5/5
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This category is a little trickier, this year. It seems, thus far, to be a horse race between the two Golden Globe winners, Jennifer Lawerance, and Jessica Chastain. Jennifer Lawerance may be a bit ahead of Chastain in this case, but there's also the chance that, like Daniel Day-Lewis' portrayal of Abraham Lincoln, the Academy may want to honor a performance that depicts a character who was so essential to the conclusion of the 'Greatest Manhunt In History.' But at the same time, Oscar loves to give recognition to actors who play mentally unstable roles. Lawerance? Or Chastain? These two could even end up in a deadlock, allowing for a spoiler to take it. My conscience goes with Jessica Chastain, but I'm not holding my breath. This is one category I'm anxious to see unfold.

Marcus Perriello Thu Jan 24
Rated as: 5/5
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Can there be any doubt, here? Daniel Day-Lewis' portrayal of our nation's 16th president is, by far, his greatest performance to date. Yes, he has won two Best Actor Oscars already and most Academy voters don't like to give actors such special treatment. But it is crystal-clear, nonetheless. Daniel Day-Lewis is almost a lock to win his third Oscar.

Marcus Perriello Thu Jan 24
Rated as: 5/5
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A lot of people would like to think that 'Argo' will win Best Picture, since it is revered as this year's Critical Darling, along with 'Silver LInings Playbook.' These two films fall under the category of the 'Lost In Translation'/'Sideways'-type of momentum that ultimately led to another film taking the top prize. In the end, having seen all these films, I cast my vote, so to speak, for Best Picture to go to 'Lincoln'; a truly inspirational yarn about how our 16th president fought, tooth and nail with congressional leaders, to get the 13th amendment passed in the House of Representatives.

Marcus Perriello Thu Jan 24
Rated as: 4/5
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Wow, frinzee is an amazing competition.. Let's vote our best picture! Les Miserables got the highest score in voting.. Come on let's do a battle in voting. Predict, Battle and Win at frinzee.

Justin Fri Jan 18
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This list is flawed. Les Miserables was a horrendous movie full of cliches and a very bad casting choice. Movies to be considered are Life of Pie and TDKR.

Matt Sat Jan 5
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You're an idiot if you think mirror mirror will be nominated.

Alexis Sun Dec 30 2012
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Thinking of the other categories for best original screenplay i'd definitely nominate safety not guarenteed

Tom Sun Dec 9 2012
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what about Tom hardy as bane for best supporting actor ???

Boo Sun Dec 9 2012
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