84th Academy Awards: My Oscar Ballot

Well, now we have the official nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards. 

Is it the 84th already?  It seems only yesterday that Snow White was dancing with Rob Lowe.

We find that Hugo has 11 nominations, the most of any film, followed closely by The Artist's 10.  The Artist was going to get nominated.  That's no surprise.  It does mean that it now becomes the first silent film to earn a Best Picture nomination since 1929's The Patriot (sadly a lost film). 

Now, I give you what would have been my ballot if I were to choose.  Granted, I have not seen every nominee and I suspect other Academy members haven't either.  This is not a predictions list, but a 'personal choice' list.

BEST SOUND EDITING

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

BEST SOUND MIXING

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

BEST MAKE-UP

Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part II
The Iron Lady

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement
God is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

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

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM

Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantasic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

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 VISUAL EFFECTS

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part II
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of Planet of the Apes
Transfomers: Dark of the Moon

BEST ART DIRECTION

The Artist
Harry Potter & The Deadly Hallows: Part II
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Artist (Michael Hazanavicius)
Bridesmaids (Anne Mumolo and Kristen Wiig)
Margin Call (J.C. Chandor)
Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Descendants (Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash)
Hugo (John Logan)
The Ides of March (George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon)
Moneyball (Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Bridget O'Connor and Peter Staughan)

BEST EDITING

The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Artist (Guillaume Schiffman)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Jeff Cronenweth)
Hugo (Robert Richardson)
The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
War Horse  (Janusz Kaminski)

BEST 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)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Man or Muppet (music & lyrics by Bret McKenzie)  The Muppets
Real in Rio (music by Sergio Mendes & Carlinhos Brown, lyrics by Siedha Garrett) Rio*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn)
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
Nick Nolte (Warrior)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and 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 ACTOR
Demian 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 DIRECTOR

Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Martin Scorsese (Hugo)
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)

BEST PICTURE

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

These are, again, not predictions about who will win, only on whom I'd like to win.  Let's see how things turn out February 26.