Down to it.
I'm most eager for Best Cinematography this year. I want The Tree of Life to take the award. I want to finally see Mexican Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki win an Oscar. There seems to only be a handful of cinematographers that truly understand light and imagery. His photography in The Tree of Life is that of a scrapbook of ones life. A seemingly random collection of images, from different points in time: birth, childhood, through adolescence, to adult hood (and beyond).
The objective of keeping a scrapbook is hard to describe while one is in the act of building it, but after some time, while looking through the pages, it's for us to remember. We see a picture from a certain period in time: 5th grade, four best friends playing in a pool. What emotion does that evoke? At one glance you see a happy moment of buddies hanging out. Yet another viewing you may suddenly feel saddened that you no longer keep in touch with your childhood friends. The same picture evokes two (and probably several more) set of emotions. This is why Lubezki should win.
Maybe the other nominees are worthy of collecting the award? War Horse, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo and The Artist, but Lubezki's work is the only one out of the group, in the purest sense, that connects the images captured to the story being told.
Lubezki has lost four other times. At the Oscars in 2006 I was sure he would win for his work on The New World, yet he lost to Memoirs of a Geisha. In 2007 I was convinced he'd win for his phenomenal work on Children of Men, but he lost to Pan's Labyrinth. Now in 2012, I'm more than confident he'll win for The Tree of Life. But you never know, he could lose again. I will and won't be shocked at the same time.
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If there's a second Category that I'm looking forward to, it's Best Actor. I'm excited to watch Jean Dujardin take the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Artist.
Say what you will about George Clooney taking the gold tonight -- Hey, I even like him as an actor -- but Mr. Clooney will continuously be hailed as a powerful force in Hollywood for years to come and will be nominated for several more Oscars. Of course that's not a reason to not give him the award, for it should go to the best of the year and nothing else. However, Dujardin gave a memorable and charming performance in The Artist, one that I can't stop thinking of. I will be delighted if -- when -- he wins. I still would have given an Oscar nomination to Ryan Gosling for Drive. But that's just me.
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For the sake of my picks, I want The Artist to take Picture and Director, but I would go nuts and jump up and down with joy if The Tree of Life / Terrence Malick somehow managed to take the Oscars instead.
