The Results Are In!

The 9th Annual Oscar Contest has once again come to a close, and once again there are winners and there are losers.  But the divide between the two seemed bigger than ever this year.  My own predictions would not have made me a winner. (I got 18/24 correct.)  But let's not drag this out anymore.  Who was The Artist of this year's contest?  And by that, I do not mean the tap dancing idiot: I mean the winner!

The winner, with 19/24 categories correct was: TRACY!!!

As her prize, Tracy will make Tom-Spot history as the first repeat Tomketeer of the Month this march.  Congratulations, Tracy!

Close, but no cigar, both with 18/24 were our second and third place finishers, separated only by the tiebreaker question.

2nd Place

Liz R.

3rd Place

Seth

And here's the best of the rest:

17/24

Lee (Last year's winner!)

16/24

Kate

15/24

Adam

Brian B.

Gerard

Glynis

Keri

14/24

Julie

NawNaw

Stephanie

13/24

Dominic

Joshua

Paul J.

11/24

Jess

Justin

Sandy

10/24

Ben Mof.

Dana

Ladybird

9/24

Claire

Liz K.

Paul SJ

8/24

Andy

Brian C.

Michael

7/24

Melissa

Kris

6/24

Genevieve

Sandra

5/24

Ben Mon.

Beth

4/24

Jarred

3/24

Lisa

Oscar Winners!

Best Picture

The Artist

The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo 
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse 

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris 
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life 

Best Actor
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actress
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor 
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer, The Help 

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay

Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon, The Descendants

John Logan, Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
Peter Straughan and Bridget O’Connor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Animated Film
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango 

Best Foreign Language Film
Bullhead (Belgium)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)

A Separation (Iran)

Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)

Best Cinematography
The Artist

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Art Direction
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo 
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

Costume Design
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Documentary Feature
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Documentary Short
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God Is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad

Saving Face

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Film Editing
The Artist, Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants, Kevin Tent

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

Hugo, Thelma Schoonmaker 
Moneyball, Christopher Tellefsen

Makeup
Albert Nobbs, Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston, and Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk, and Yolanda Toussieng 

The Iron Lady, Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)
The Adventures of Tintin, John Williams

The Artist, Ludovic Bource

Hugo, Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alberto Iglesias
War Horse, John Williams

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from Rio, Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, and Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Short Film (Live Action)
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

Sound Editing
Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Sound Mixing
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Monyeball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Kidz Bops: Oscar Style

Kind of amazing! My favorites are for The Help and Hugo.

Final Oscar Predictions

Here are my final Oscar picks.  If you're choosing your last minute choices for the Oscar Contest (you have about 24 hours left to enter), then take them with a grain of salt.  I'm kind of eh about this year's choices overall, but I think that last year too, which is depressing.  At any rate, here they are.  I hope I'm wrong about a few things so at least there will be some drama to be had.  (And you can see what four-time contest winner, Julie is predicting here.)

Picture: The Artist
Director: The Artist, Michael Hazanavicius
Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Actress: Viola Davis, The Help
Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris
Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants
Animated Feature: Rango
Documentary Feature: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Art Direction: Hugo
Cinematography: The Tree of Life
Costume Design: The Artist
Film Editing: The Artist
Makeup: The Iron Lady
Score: The Artist
Song: The Muppets
Sound Editing: Hugo
Sound Mixing: Hugo
Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Animated Short: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Live Action Short: The Shore
Documentary Short: Saving Face

If you were picking (Part 2)

The other day, we posted a list of which films you would pick if you were voting for the Oscars this year, based upon the entries to the Oscar Contest. But what if you had a broader pool to pull from?  Oh, but you did.  We asked also, if you haven't entered yet (and why haven't you?), what is your favorite movie from 2011?  Here are your choices:

Shoop, shoop

Clearly I'm not doing anything productive tonight, like I should be, but how am I not supposed to be watching a new Kelly Clarkson Tamyra Gray duet of a Whitney Houston song.  It seems like a crime not to.  Also, why is Tamyra not famous?  I don't get it.

Simple Song

Natalie Portman (or Zach Braff, I guess) kind of ruined The Shins, but actually, I kind of like this one.  Enjoy.

Song of the Week

(Thanks to Liz.)

Who's Next?

If you were picking...

The Oscar ballots were due back yesterday, so now all of the votes are being tabulated. We're four days from the actual results. (Which means you still have four days to enter our contest.) But what if you were the Academy voters? As I do every year, I've tabulated your votes in the Oscar Contest. Here's who would win, if you decided. (Our apologies go out to Michelle Williams, Gary Oldman, Janet McTeer, and Jonah Hill who received no votes so far. At least two of you will get 'em next time.)

Best Picture:
The Artist - 66%
Midnight in Paris - 10%
The Descendants - 6%
The Help - 6%
Moneyball - 6%
The Tree of Life - 6%

Best Director:
The Artist - 45%
Hugo - 33%
Midnight in Paris - 10%
The Descendants - 6%
The Tree of Life - 6%  

Best Actress:
Viola Davis - 45%
Meryl Streep - 39%
Glenn Close - 10%
Rooney Mara - 6%

Best Actor:
Jean Dujardin - 39%
George Clooney - 33%
Brad Pitt - 22%
Demian Bichir - 6%

Best Supporting Actress:
Octavia Spencer - 45% 
Melissa McCarthy - 22%
Bernice Bejo - 17%
Jessica Chastain - 17%

Best Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer - 55%
Max Von Sydow - 22%
Kenneth Branagh - 17%
Nick Nolte - 6% 

Celebrity Oscar Ballots

The New York Times is collecting Oscar ballots too--from celebrities of varying degree.  So if you've been wondering  what famous (and semi-famous) people are guessing for this year's awards, you are in luck.  I'm going to keep a running list here, so check back occasionally.  And don't forget to enter our contest as well!

• Jeffrey Eugenides (author of Middlesex) - The Tree of Life
• Randy Jackson (American Idol judge) - The Help
• Pat Kiernan (NY1 morning news anchor) - The Artist
• Anthony Bourdain (Celebrity chef) - The Tree of Life 
• Terry Moran (Nightline anchor) - The Artist 
• Nick Jonas (Jonas Bro.) - The Artist 
• Tabatha Coffey (star of Tabatha's Salon Takeover) - The Artist
• BJ Novak (writer/star of The Office) - The Artist
• James Lipton (host of Inside the Actor's Studio) - Can't Decide
• Al Roker (co-host of Today) - Hugo
• Judy Blume (author of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.) - The Artist
• Martha Stewart (host of Martha) - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
• Elizabeth Vargas (co-anchor of 20/20) - The Artist
• Perez Hilton (dbag blogger) - The Artist
• Trudie Styler (wife of Sting) - Hugo 
• Sarah Vowell (author of Unfamiliar Fishes) - Moneyball

A Little Oscar Etiquette

Presidents on Film: 1-10

In honor of President's Day, I would like to present: "President's on Film." Here are stills from movies and TV shows where our presidents have been portrayed. (Opportunity alert: the John Tyler story is yearning to be told. Let's get on this, people!)

Barry Bostwick as George Washington

Paul Giamatti as John Adams

Nick Nolte as Thomas Jefferson

Burgess Meredith as James Madison

Morgan Wallace as James Monroe

Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams

Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson

Nigel Hawthorne as Martin Van Buren

Paul Schneider as William Henry Harrison

And...nobody as John Tyler. (Boo!)

Midnight & Descendants Win at WGA Awards

A reminder that The Artist was not eligible here, and several of these aren't nominated. But I think these two are a safe guess with only a week to go.

Original Screenplay
50/50
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
Win Win
Young Adult

Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Moneyball

Happy B-Day, Molly Ringwald.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I present pictures of me with characters...

The Bechdel Test and the Oscars

This is sort of an awesome video. The Bechdel Test is a little flawed, as she mentions, because it doesn't point out whether a movie actually is good to women, but her arguments, especially at the end, are awesome. Sadly, the two movies that do qualify aren't exactly the least sexist in the world, but they each do have at least one fully drawn, complicated female role, so I guess that's something.

Are You Jimmy Ray?

It's weird, right, that I woke up this morning and thought of this song?

Oscar Class Photos: Best Actress

Look who is on the red carpet at the BAFTAs

Oscar Class Photos: Best Actor