Everybody Comes To Rick's: 2013

The Academy Awards are this weekend. Get excited.

2012 was a difficult year for the film industry. The cost of producing and marketing a movie has been rapidly increasing within recent years and the amount of movie-goers has been rapidly decreasing. With the rising popularity of television and on-line streaming, the film audience is shrinking. To combat their financial problems film studios are making fewer movies each year.

There is also a serious lack of originality in Hollywood right now. Studios are much less willing to invest in cutting-edge, never-been-seen-before films because the failure rate is too risky. Instead they are resorting to story cliches and film making formulas that are proven to draw in audiences. For example, take a look at the top 10 highest-grossing films of 2012. All but two are either part of an existing series or based on a book or comic book:

Based on a book/Part of a series

Original

1. Marvel's The Avengers

2. The Dark Knight Rises

3. The Hunger Games

4. Skyfall

5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

6. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2

7. The Amazing Spider-Man

8. Brave

9. Ted

10. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

All in all, 2012 was a rough year for Hollywood. Because of this, the field of Oscar-worthy flicks was not as abundant as usual. That being said, the Academy has nominated some excellent films for this year's awards. Almost all of them deserve to be celebrated and there are a few categories that are going to be seriously tough calls. So, with no further delay, here are my 2013 Oscar Predictions:

BEST PICTURE

"Argo"

Directed by Ben Affleck

Argo was something of a surprise to me this year, but having seen it twice now I can say that it is the best picture of 2012. Usually the films that are Oscar bait are talked about months before they even are released. By late October the awards season line-up starts to be formed. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I certainly did not see Argo anywhere near the top of that list. However, it is certainly the front-runner now. Ben Affleck's film is the true story of a CIA mission to extract American hostages out of Iran in 1980. It's an exceptionally well-made drama with an all-star cast. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Argo had nabbed three Supporting Actor nominations for Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, and Alan Arkin. Well, done Mr. Affleck. Your talent behind the camera has successfully made us all forget about your J-Lo phase.

BEST LEAD ACTOR

Daniel Day-Lewis

"Lincoln"

There is no contest here. Daniel Day-Lewis is the clear winner in this category. His incredible portrayal of Abraham Lincoln is going to win him his record-setting third Oscar. Lewis has previously won for There Will Be Blood in 2008 and My Left Foot in 1990. Lewis spent two years preparing for this role and delved so deeply into Lincoln that he never once broke character on set, even sending text messages as Lincoln. He is one of the most critically-acclaimed, sought-after actors working today, but he chooses his roles so carefully that he makes only about one film every three years. Lewis' performance in Lincoln is stunning. Whenever I go to a movie I take notes as I watch, even if I'm not writing a review, and when the lights came up in the theater when Lincoln ended I saw that I had written the word "humanity" four times. He brought such humanity to America's most beloved president. Lewis' Lincoln is the father every kid should have, the leader every country deserves, and the man everyone wants to know.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS

Jennifer Lawrence

"Silver Linings Playbook"

At the age of 22 Jennifer Lawrence has already scored two Oscar nominations. She was previously nominated in 2011 for Winter's Bone. In Silver Linings Playbook Lawrence plays Tiffany, a young woman, struggling with mental illness and personal loss. Her performance is definitely the best female performance of the year. She is comedic and likeable, but the true moments of beauty in her performance are the scenes of intense sadness or tragedy. I have a unique view of Silver Linings Playbook because I have bipolar disorder and naturally I am extremely critical of movies that try to portray mental illness. There are very few that have done it right. Lawrence's performance in this film is pretty heroic. She goes to some very dark places with Tiffany, but always manages to stay true to reality. I would consider myself something of an expert on how people with mental illness live and behave and let me tell you: Jennifer Lawrence did it all right.
(Sidenote: I'm currently working on a piece about Silver Linings Playbook and how it affected me personally and why I think it's the best movie about mental illness that has ever been made, so stay tuned for that.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Tommy Lee Jones
"Lincoln"
OR
Robert De Niro
"Silver Linings Playbook"

I CAN'T DECIDE!! I have been thinking about this one for weeks! Both performances are stellar and Oscar-worthy. Personally, I think De Niro's performance is better, but Jones has been winning the other awards. Actually, that's not entirely true. He's been battling Christoph Waltz from Django Unchained, which is ANOTHER fantastic performance. I hate when predictors don't give definitive answers but I just don't know... Please forgive me. At least the Academy has to choose between three amazing performances instead of three bad ones.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway

"Les Miserables"

Anne Hathaway has had this one locked up since Les Mis was released on Christmas. She plays Fantine, the factory worker forced into prostitution, whose only ray of light is her daughter Cosette. Fantine's unconditional love for Cosette leads her into the darkest corners of humanity a person can be in. Anne Hathaway gave absolutely everything she had to this performance, including losing 35 pounds and getting her head shaven on screen. Her rendition of "I Dreamed A Dream" is heart-breaking. There aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe that scene.

BEST DIRECTOR

Steven Spielberg

"Lincoln"

This is an interesting category this year. Usually, the movie that wins Best Director then goes on to win Best Picture. However, Ben Affleck, who directed Argo, is not nominated for Best Director (the biggest snub of this season). Spielberg has won this award twice before for Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List. Lincoln is an absolute masterpiece and it has "Steven Spielberg" written all over it. It's his return to what he's good at and best known for: compelling stories about amazing, heroic figures set against extreme backdrops. War Horse in 2011 had the scope and imagery, but was lacking any sort of character development. And Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 was lacking...everything. It's nice to see Spielberg back on top.