Forget about spring or winter, awards season is my favorite season. Over the past few weeks I’ve enjoyed the Golden Globes, the SAGs, and the Grammys. And on Sunday, February 24th I will be tuning into the Holy Grail of award shows: the Oscars. I love everything about the Oscars, from the red carpet to the presenters’ banter to the acceptance speeches. While I count down the days until Hollywood’s biggest night, I’m making predictions, choosing my favorites, and remembering what to look out for:
Daniel Day-Lewis: Have you seen Lincoln? Daniel Day-Lewis literally is Lincoln. I’m not joking. While other actors may have shied away from the challenge of portraying one of the nation’s most important and beloved presidents, Day-Lewis proved all over again that he is one of the greatest actors working today. He’s a shoe-in for the Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Actress in a Leading Role: I’m especially looking forward to seeing who will win in this category. It’s one of the few categories that doesn’t have a clear winner going into awards night. Two weeks before the big night, the nominees are still neck and neck as crowd favorites.
You probably have heard that the oldest, Emmanuelle Riva (85)–whose 86th birthday is actually Oscar night itself!–and youngest, Quvenzhané Wallis (9), ever nominees for Best Actress are both in this category this year. Jennifer Lawrence showed off her acting chops as the disturbed Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook. Naomi Watts made me actually believe that she was trying to survive the 2004 tsunami in The Impossible. Jessica Chastain lead the retelling of the manhunt for Osama Bin Laden as Maya, a young CIA agent, in Zero Dark Thirty. All of these nominees deserve the Best Actress award and represent strong, successful women (and girls. I’m looking at you Quvenzhané).
Anne Hathaway: She’s been winning Best Supporting Actress awards all season and Oscar night will be no different. Despite the fact that everyone watching at home, all the audience members, and even she knows that she is pretty much guaranteed this award, Hathaway is going to pretend to be surprised. In her acceptance speech, Hathaway will gush about how honored she is to win an Oscar for a role that her mother played. In summary, she will be annoying. Sorry Anne.
Argo: I’m not exaggerating when I say that Argo was one of the best movies that I have ever seen. Even though I knew the ending of story before the movie even started–it’s based a true story after all–I was still sitting on the edge of my seat for most of the movie. That’s why I’m hoping that Argo will win the Best Picture award.
Even though the Academy left director Ben Affleck out of the Best Director nomination (really though, what was up with that?), I’m hoping that they’ll still acknowledge Affleck for the incredible movie that he created–and starred in! How did they manage to find actors who looked almost identical to the real hostages?
Plus, you’ve got to love it when he says how much he loves his wife, Jennifer Garner, during his acceptance speeches.
Seth MacFarlane: This year’s choice for Oscar host is a little bit of a gamble. I mean, he is the guy behind Family Guy, American Dad, and Ted. Hopefully MacFarlane will leave the stuffed teddy bear at home but still bring lots of jokes to entertain us all night long.
For the perfect Oscar drink and food ideas and your very own Oscar ballot visit http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/partykit/index.html.