The 84th Academy Awards ceremony takes place this Sunday evening (26 February) at Hollywoods’s Kodak Theatre, with Martin Scorsese’s Hugo leading the way with 11 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Despite its nomination hall, the hot favourites for this year’s main awards include Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist, Brad Pitt’s baseball drama Moneyball and Steven Spielberg’s weepy War Horse. In the Best Actor category, Jean Dujardin and George Clooney will go head-to-head, whilst the Best Actress Oscar looks set for Meryl Streep’s mantelpiece. Here are our award predictions:
Best PictureWhich film will win? The Artist
Which film deserves to win? Hazanavicius’ silent extravaganza has one won an enormous amount of plaudits (and column inches) in both the UK and US – the Best Picture award is practically in the bag.
Best Director
Who will win? Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Who deserves to win? Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Terence Malick and Alexander Payne are all fantastic directors in their own right, but this year’s Oscars look set to be dominated by Hazanavicius and his silent masterpiece.
Best Actress
Who deserves to win? Whether you want to call it complete encapsulation or finely-honed mimicry, Meryl Streep was Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady – no contest.
Best Actor
Who will win? George Clooney (Matt King) – The Descendants
Who deserves to win? Jean Dujardin goes in with all the momentum, but can Hollywood really turn their back on Gorgeous George – we’ll have to wait and see.
Best Supporting Actress
Who will win? Octavia Spencer (Minny Jackson) – The Help
Who deserves to win? Jessica Chastain seems to have been in nearly every other film last year, with the majority of projects superb – is there a better actress in the world right now?
Best Supporting Actor
Who will win? Christopher Plummer (Hal) – Beginners
Who deserves to win? Kenneth Branagh and Nick Nolte both gave fine performances in My Week with Marilyn and Warrior respectively, but the time is right for the 82-year-old Plummer.
Best Foreign Language Film
Which film will win? A Separation
Which film deserves to win? Winner of nearly every other Best Foreign Language award, don’t expect any films (apart from perhaps In Darkness) to come close to beating this superb Iranian morality tale.
Best Animation
Which film will win? Puss in Boots
Which film deserves to win? Undeniably a weak year for animation, Gore Verbinski’s cinematically-informed Rango was perhaps the cream of the crop. Special mention should go to cinematographer Roger Deakins, who advised on shot selection and framing throughout.
Best Documentary Feature
Which film will win? Hell and Back Again
Which film deserves to win? Pina was one of 2011’s most beautiful films, and alongside Hugo, illustrated that 3D may yet have a future – simply sublime.
London’s Rich Mix is bringing some Hollywood glamour to the East End. Put on your black tie or designer dress and join us to watch the Academy Awards live on our 20ft screen. The next best place to be if you can’t make it to the Kodak Theatre.
You will be welcomed with a glass of bubbly on the mezzanine where you can chat with the other fabulous guests and tell us your predictions. Around 10.30pm, you will be able to make your way to the bar where you will be served a glass of wine or a bottle of beer, popcorn and nibbles.
From 11pm onwards, watch the movie stars on the red carpet and the Awards Ceremony. Prizes will be awarded to those guests who predicted the most wins.
For more info and to book tickets, visit richmix.org.uk/whats-on/event/awards-night.
Who do you think will walk away with the top awards at this year’s Academy Awards. Feel free to comment below.
Daniel Green