THE OSCAR ISSUE / HUFFINGTON / 02.10-17.13
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best picture
HOGAN’S PICK: ARGO
I’ll admit it: I’ve been gunning for Lincoln ever since the movie opened, and I
thought its league-leading 12 nominations meant certain victory. But Argo has
absolutely torn up the precursor awards,
winning Best Picture equivalents at the
Golden Globes, the PGAs and the SAGs,
to name just a few. I don’t know if people
are pissed that Affleck got snubbed for
Best Director or if they just really, really
like the movie (its Rotten Tomatoes score
stands at 97%), but I have a
feeling they’ll be partying in
the embassy on Oscar night.
ROSEN’S PICK: ARGO
It’s always dangerous to
put too much stock in the
Oscar precursors, but the
momentum that Argo has
at the moment feels like a
legitimate movement. But
should we even be surprised? Argo was always
the mainstream movie
that everyone could agree
on — it’s not “boring,” like
Lincoln; it’s not controversial, like Zero Dark Thirty;
it’s not a comedy, like Silver Linings Playbook. The
only bump in its road to
Best Picture was Affleck’s
unforgivable Best Director
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sectionRUSH
THE GOLD
snub. That’s the anomaly here. To oneup your hack Argo reference: Lincoln is
stuck at the gate.
best director
HOGAN’S PICK:
STEVEN SPIELBERG, LINCOLN
I always thought Affleck was going to win
this category — until he got snubbed,
along with Kathryn Bigelow and Tom
Hooper. You might almost say it was an
honor not to be nominated for Best Director this year. Still, I think Spielberg
deserves credit for (a) hiring Tony Kushner, (b) casting Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally
Field, Tommy Lee Jones
I DON’T KNOW
and the rest of the amazing
IF PEOPLE
cast and (c) making a movARE PISSED
ie that earned 12 freaking
THAT AFFLECK
nominations.
‘‘
GOT SNUBBED
FOR BEST
DIRECTOR
OR IF THEY
JUST REALLY,
REALLY LIKE
THE MOVIE …
BUT I HAVE
A FEELING
THEY’LL BE
PARTYING IN
THE EMBASSY
ON OSCAR
NIGHT.
‘‘
te
ROSEN’S PICK: MICHAEL
HANEKE, AMOUR
Record scratch! This pick
is straight-up insane, and I
have nothing to base it on
except this: Amour had a
surprisingly strong showing with the Academy for
a foreign film, earning an
almost unheard-of five
nominations, including
Best Picture, Best Actress
and Best Original Screenplay. The support for