Oscars '13: Predictions, part two - Crafts
Welcome to day two of The Cricket's predictions for the 85th annual Academy Awards — today featuring the craft categories: Cinematography, production design, costume design and the two music categories - original score and original song.
On Tuesday, the Cricket predicted the technical categories. The Cricket will discuss the specialty features (animated, documentary and foreign-language) and the short-film categories (animated, documentary and live-action) on Thursday. The major categories will get their due Friday, on this blog and in the print edition of The Salt Lake Tribune.
The Cricket will be live-tweeting the Oscar ceremony Sunday (the ceremony starts at 6:30 p.m. Mountain time, with ABC's red-carpet pre-show starting at 5 p.m.) at @moviecricket.
——————-
Cinematography
The nominees are: Seamus McGarvey, "Anna Karenina"; Robert Richardson, "Django Unchained"; Claudio Miranda, "Life of Pi"; Janusz Kaminski, "Lincoln"; Roger Deakins, "Skyfall."
Who will win: Claudio Miranda's gorgeous visuals gave "Life of Pi" its life. Bet on it to win, though Janusz Kaminski's glowing images for "Lincoln" may pull an upset.
Who should win: Roger Deakins (here with his 10th nomination, and with no wins so far) gave James Bond a sleek, seductive look in "Skyfall."
——————-
Production Design
The nominees are: Sarah Greenwood (Production Design); Katie Spencer (Set Decoration), "Anna Karenina"; Dan Hennah (Production Design); Ra Vincent and Simon Bright (Set Decoration), "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"; Eve Stewart (Production Design); Anna Lynch-Robinson (Set Decoration), "Les Misérables"; David Gropman (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration), "Life of Pi"; Rick Carter (Production Design); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration), "Lincoln."
Who will win: In this category (formerly called "art direction"), it's safe to go with the biggest, fanciest period piece — which in this case isn't the stately "Lincoln" but the glittery "Anna Karenina."
Who should win: The sets in "Anna Karenina" weren't just designed to sit there, but to move in elaborate choreography within the massive theater in which director Joe Wright placed Tolstoy's story.
——————-
Costume Design
The nominees are: Jacqueline Durran, "Anna Karenina"; Paco Delgado, "Les Misérables"; Joanna Johnston, "Lincoln"; Eiko Ishioka, "Mirror Mirror"; Colleen Atwood, "Snow White and the Huntsman."
Who will win: "Anna Karenina," the most opulent of the bunch.
Who should win: The two wicked queens — Julia Roberts in "Mirror Mirror" and Charlize Theron in "Snow White and the Huntsman" — both wore the most beautifully evil gowns. One vote for "Mirror Mirror," where the costumes were slightly kookier.
——————-
Music - Original Score
The nominees are: Dario Marianelli, "Anna Karenina"; Alexandre Desplat, "Argo"; Mychael Danna, "Life of Pi"; John Williams, "Lincoln"; Thomas Newman, "Skyfall."
Who will win: Mychael Danna's score for "Life of Pi" weaves a lot of cross-cultural influences — Indian, tropical, Celtic and more — to graceful, haunting effect.
Who should win: Danna for "Life of Pi" (though, just for fun, maybe a vote for Thomas Newman, Randy's cousin, who's never won in spite of now 11 nominations).
——————-
Music - Original Song
The nominees are: "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice" (Music and Lyric by J. Ralph); "Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted" (Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane; "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi" (Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri); "Skyfall" from "Skyfall" (Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth); "Suddenly" from "Les Misérables" (Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil).
Who will win: There's something about Adele and awards shows that makes "Skyfall" inevitable.
Who should win: How many of these can you hum? Probably just one: Your winner, "Skyfall," which managed the neat trick of sounding both fresh and like an old-school Bond song. (If "Skyfall" wins, it will be the first Bond theme song ever to snag an Oscar.)