Deanna Caruso
Equinox Staff
Chris Pizzello / AP Photo
Steven Spielberg, nominated for directing and best picture for “Lincoln,” arrives at the Eighty-Fifth Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
After a year of remarkable movies, from widespread actors and incredible directors, we eagerly count down the days until the Eighty-Fifth Academy Awards will air on Sunday, Feb. 24. With box office smashes, it seems as if it would be a close race. However, according to Huffington Post, the movie “Argo” has a 68.9 percent chance of winning Best Picture. One vote in favor of “Argo” is Keene State College junior Melissa Gattilia.
“I hope ‘Argo’ wins because this movie is so realistic, and I felt like I was actually in the movie because of how well it was produced,” Gattilia said. “Argo” exceeded expectations with the win of a Golden Globe on Jan. 13 for Best Motion Picture Movie and also a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award on Jan. 27 for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. If “Argo” does win, this will be the first Oscar for Ben Affleck as a director. All nominees for actor in a leading role display the ideal image of “hunk,” but these nominees all also delivered outstanding performances. According to freshman Hanna DeSouza, Bradley Cooper from “Silver Linings Playbook” deserves to win Best Actor. “Bradley Cooper showed a more emotional side in his recent movie, rather than his usual comedy films,” DeSouza said.
Junior Jaime Margolis agrees with DeSouza because, “Bradley Cooper is beautiful and any category he is in will always get my vote,” Margolis commented. Yet Eonline.com begs to differ and anticipates seeing Daniel Day-Lewis from “Lincoln” winning Best Actor.
The five nominees for Best Actress all exemplify strong women in their leading roles. For Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Emmanuelle Riva, Naomi Watts and Quvenzhanè Wallis, winning this award will be the first Oscar for each of the nominees. Jessica Chastain recalls her experience when she first heard the news of being nominated to celebuzz.com, “It was a bittersweet birthday for me because I was on an airplane and I woke up,” Chastain told reporters at the Golden Globes. “Then Kathryn Bigelow came over to me and said, ‘Congratulations. You got nominated for an Oscar.’ And I was so excited I wanted to scream and, like, yelp, but then I was afraid I was going to get duct-taped in my seat by an airline employee.’”
With the hit movie “Beasts of the Southern Wild” under her belt and the title of the now new youngest nominee for Best Actress in a Leading Role, nine-year-old Quvenzhanè Wallis will be competing with contenders who are triple her age.
When asked the question on whether Wallis has a slim or high chance of winning because of her age, junior Stephanie Beach said, “To be nominated at such a young age is an unbelievable achievement. Even if Quvenzhanè does not win, she should be more than proud of herself for being elected.” However, Wallis isn’t concerned about winning or losing—when interviewed by Glam Magazine, the only thing Wallis is worried about on Oscar night is making sure she doesn’t wear a long dress, “because I might step on it and trip on it, and I don’t want to humiliate myself,” Wallis said.
While Quvenzhanè Wallis is nervous about stepping on her dress, the Best Director nominees may be nervous competing against three-time Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg. Having former motion pictures, “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan” as past Best Director Oscar winners, junior Nick Stemm said he strongly believes that Spielberg will win his fourth Oscar. “Spielberg’s movies are very captivating and I know that watching any movie directed by him, it will be amazing,” Stemm said.
Hosting the award ceremony is Seth MacFarlane, known for his witty humor with his popular television shows “Family Guy,” “The Cleveland Show,” and “American Dad;” MacFarlane has already caused controversy with making a Hitler joke about the movie “Amour,” a contender for Best Picture. Instead of apologizing for his comment, he defended it with another joke. MacFarlane will have many jokes up his sleeve during the night of the event either making viewers cringe or laugh.
But overall, the Oscars will be a night full of glamour, victories, celebrations, and a week’s worth of discussion. Tune in to ABC on the Feb. 24 to see which nominees go home with the gold.
Deanna Caruso can be contacted at
dcaruso@keene-equinox.com
