For Your Consideration: 2011 Oscar Contenders

It's awards season once again and with it comes the prospective best films of the year to earn their weight in gold, namely Oscar® gold. I have assembled my short list of predictions below (more descriptive breakdowns of each category to come) outlining which films I believe to be at the front of the pack and inevitably the most "Oscar® worthy".

A few notes: I do realize that new rules in the Academy will leave a varied number of Best Picture Nominees (anywhere between 5-10) this year, but I went ahead and presented the maximum possible. Which I also held to other categories that also have a variable margin as to its number of nominees, such as Visual Effects and Animated Feature. FFC predictions are listed either alphabetically by film title or by singular nominee's last name. I highlighted my present picks for the winners in gold, which I'm certain will change as the weeks progress and the competition get's deeper into the thick of it all. Also, I included a "plus one" contender to each category as a small precursor to the many hopefuls in consideration this year. The acting awards alone left me muddled for hours trying to narrow it down!..

Best Picture: 

The Artist

The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Help
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
War Horse
+Bridesmaids
+Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
+The Tree of Life

Best Director: 
Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Steven Spielberg, War Horse
+Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best Actor: 

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
+Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Best Actress: 
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
+Adepero Oduye, Pariah

Best Supporting Actor: 
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Nick Nolte, Warrior
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
+Armie Hammer, J. Edgar

Best Supporting Actress: 
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
+Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Descendants -- Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton & Jim Rash

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Screenplay by Eric Roth
Hugo -- Screenplay by John Logan
Moneyball -- Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillion & Stan Chervin
War Horse -- Screenplay by Lee Hall & Richard Curtis
+Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughn

Best Original Screenplay:
The Artist -- Written by Michel Hazanavicius
Beginners -- Written by Mike Mills
Margin Call -- Written by J.C. Chandor

Midnight In Paris -- Written by Woody Allen

Win Win -- Written by Thomas McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
+50/50 -- Written by Will Reiser

Best Animated Feature Film: 
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret Unicorn -- Directed by Steven Spielberg
Cars 2 -- Directed by John Lasseter & Brad Lewis
Kung Fu Panda 2 -- Directed by Jennifer Yu

Rango -- Directed by Gore Verbinski

Wrinkles -- Directed by Ignacio Ferreras
+Puss In Boots -- Directed by Chris Miller

Best Animated Short Film
Dimanche/Sunday -- Directed by Patrick Doyon (National Film Board of Canada)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore -- Directed by William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg (Moonbot Studios LA, LLC)

La Luna -- Directed by Enrico Casarosa (Pixar Animation Studios)
Magic Piano -- Directed by Martin Clapp (BreakThru Films)
Paths of Hate -- Directed by Damian Nenow (Platige Image)
+Luminaris -- Directed by Juan Pablo Zaramella (JPZtudio)

Best Art Direction:


The Artist -- Production Design by Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration by Austin Buchinsky & Robert Gould

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Production Design by K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration by George Detitta, Jr.
Hugo -- Production Design by Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration by Francesca Lo Schiavo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Production Design by Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration by Zsuzsa Mihalek
War Horse -- Production Design by Rick Carter; Set Decoration by Lee Sandales
+Anonymous -- Production Design by Sebastian Krawinkel; Set Decoration by Simon-Julien Boucherie

Best Cinematography:
Janusz Kaminski, War Horse
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
Bob Richardson, Hugo
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist 
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
+Jeff Cronenweth, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Costume Design: 

Mark Bridges, The Artist

Wendy Chuck, The Descendants
Jacqueline Durran, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Michael O'Connor, Jane Eyre
Sandy Powell, Hugo
+Sammy Sheldon, X-Men: First Class

Best Documentary Feature Film:

Bill Cunningham New York -- Directed by Richard Press

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front -- Directed by Marshall Curry & Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory -- Directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky
Pina -- Directed by Wim Wenders
Project Nim -- Directed by James Marsh
+Buck -- Directed by Cindy Meehl

Best Documentary Short Film: 

The Barber of Birmingham -- Directed by Gail Dolgin & Robin Fryday
God Is the Bigger Elvis -- Directed by Rebecca Cammisa
Incident in New Baghdad -- Directed by James Spione

Pipe Dreams -- Directed by Ben Green
Saving Face -- Directed by Peter James Iengo

+In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt's Unfinished Revolution -- Directed by Jon Alpert & Matthew O'Neill 



Best Editing:


The Artist 

-- Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius

Hugo --  Thelma Schoonmaker
Midnight In Paris -- Alisa Lepselter
Moneyball -- Christopher Tellefsen
War Horse -- 
Michael Kahn
+Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Claire Simpson

Best Foreign Language Film:
 
Footnote (Israel) -- Directed by Joseph Cedar
In Darkness (Poland) -- Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) -- Directed by Philippe Falardeau

A Separation (Iran) -- Directed by Asghar Farhadi

Superclásico (Denmark) -- Directed by Ole Christian Madsen
+Pina (Germany) -- Directed by Wim Wenders

Best Live Action Short Film
Je Pourrais Être Votre Grand-Mère (I Could Be Your Grandmother) -- Directed by Bernard Tanguy
Raju -- Directed by Max Zähle
The Roar of the Sea -- Directed by Ana Rocha Fernandes & Torsten Truscheit
Sailcloth -- Directed by Elfar Adalsteins
Tuba Atlantic -- Directed by Hallvar Witzø
+Time Freak -- Directed by Andrew Bowler

Best Makeup:
 
Albert Nobbs -- Matthew W. Mungle, Lynn Johnston & Martial Corneville

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life -- Patrick Girault, Gill Robillard & Floris Schuller
The Iron Lady --J. Roy Helland & Eva Miller
+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 -- Mark Coulier, Jennifer Hegarty & Lisa Tomblin

Best Original Score:

Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Alexandre Desplat, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse
+Dario Marianelli, Jane Eyre 

Best Original Song:

"Lay Your Head Down" from Albert Nobbs -- Music & Lyrics by Bryan Bryne & Glenn Close (performed by Sinead O'Connor)
"Star Spangled Man" from Captain America: The First Avenger -- Music & Lyrics by Alan Menken & David Zippel (performed by The Star Spangled Singers)
"The Living Proof" from The Help -- Music & Lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Damon Thomas & Harvey Mason, Jr. (performed by Mary J. Blige)
"The Keeper" from Machine Gun Preacher -- Music & Lyrics by Chris Cornell 
"Pictures in My Head" from The Muppets -- Music & Lyrics by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis & Chen Neeman (performed by Kermit & the Muppets)
+"Where the River Goes" from Footloose -- Music & Lyrics by Zac Brown, Wyatt Durrette, Drew Pearson & Anne Preven (performed by Zac Brown)

Best Sound Editing:
The Adventures of Tintin -- Dave Whitehead & Chris Ward 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- Chuck Michael & John Morris
Super 8 -- Ben Burtt & Matthew Wood 
Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Ethan Van Der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
War Horse -- Richard Hymns
+Drive -- Lon Bender & Victor Ray Ennis

Best Sound Mixing:
 
Hugo -- John Midgley, Tom Fleischman & Simon Rhodes 
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides -- Lee Orloff, Paul Massey, Chris Boyes & Alan Meyerson
Super 8 -- Mark Ulano, Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson & Dan Wallin

Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Peter J. Devlin, Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers & Jeffrey J. Haboush

War Horse -- Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson & Tom Johnson
+Hanna -- Roland Winke, Christopher Scarabosio, Craig Berkey & Andrew Dudman

Best Visual Effects: 
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 -- Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler & David Vickery
Hugo -- Rob Legato, Craig Barron, Brandon Bartlett, John Bowers, Matthew Gratzner, Ben Grossmann & Alex Henning

Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- Joe Letteri, Justin Cornish, Daniel Barrett, Jeff Capogreco & Gord Dunick

Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler & John Frazier
The Tree of Life -- Douglas Trumbull
+Real Steel -- Matthew Gratzner, Erik Nash & Olaf Wendt

What films were your favorites? Who deserves Oscar® glory this year? Which movies and/or nominees do you think deserve to be, or not be, on this list? Please do enlighten me.. B-)