85th Annual Academy Awards Recap

Last night's Oscars proved once again that the Oscars are exactly what they are: the Oscars. Nothing more, nothing less and likely never will be anything else. Seth MacFarlane as host was neither a success nor failure. He was there to fill space. He was energetic about being on stage and held a great charisma throughout but didn't commit to being a real host. He was a meta-host.

His 17-minute opening montage brought on a Star Trekked William Shatner from the future telling him he would be panned as the worst Oscar host in history in tomorrow's headlines. The self-referential moment to the skepticism around his hosting gig was a cop-out from him taking on his hosting duties 100 percent. Splashed in between, however, were fun dance routines by the inspired pairings of Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum and then Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe. And that "We Saw Your Boobs" number was playful enough.

Throughout the rest of the show, however, introducing presenters and cracking small jokes, MacFarlane fell flat. He tossed out jokes as if he was still testing them, and nothing stuck. And a crack about Rex Reed and Adele was borderline uncalled for, and this was followed by a series of repetitive jokes about how long the telecast was running. We get it. The Oscars are long and boring; stop pointing it out to us.

Meanwhile, the show actually ended right on time. Exactly three hours...plus 30 minutes. And it ended right after Ben Affleck gave a frantic but heartfelt acceptance speech on behalf of the widely expected best picture win for "Argo." This was preceded by Jack Nicholson appearing on stage to present the award, which has a fun side note all its own. The last time Nicholson presented the final award of the night was in 2005 for "Crash" when Ang Lee won best director for "Brokeback Mountain." That was the last time we've seen a best picture/director split as it happened again this year with Lee's director win for "Life of Pi" over Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln."

First lady Michelle Obama was the surprise presenter who appeared above Nicholson's head on a screen in a live stream from the White House. She gave a moving speech about importance of the arts before ripping open the envelope and revealing "Argo" as the winner.

All of this was a fantastic finish to the 85th Annual Academy Awards telecast. But no. Our host teamed up with a screeching Kristen Chenoweth to close out the show with a horrific musical number commending all the night's losers, a wholly unnecessary exercise in bad taste and ignorance after an otherwise very classy end to the evening.

With best picture, "Argo" also took awards for best editing and Chris Terrio's surprise win for best adapted screenplay over close competitors David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Tony Kushner for "Lincoln." With a total of three awards, the film tied with "Les Miserables," which had wins including Anne Hathaway's predicted best supporting actress win along with best makeup/hairstyling and sound mixing.

"Life of Pi," however, walked away with the most awards of the night at four total. Along with Ang Lee's best director win, the film won best cinematography, visual effects and score. "Skyfall," "Django Unchained" and "Lincoln" all tied with two wins each.

"Silver Linings Playbook" got only one award, which went to Jennifer Lawrence for best actress. The humbled Oscar-winner took the stage in a flurry of an acceptance speech just after tripping on her way up the steps. Undeniably precious.

In a tribute to the 50th anniversary of James Bond, a montage was followed by a performance from the 76-year-old Shirley Bassey who belted out "Goldfinger." Adele later appeared to sing her Oscar-winning "Skyfall" for best original song, but unfortunately a sound issue muffled her performance. Her bubbly acceptance speech made up for it later, though.

Best sound editing marked the second award for "Skyfall," which it shared with "Zero Dark Thirty," that film's sole win of the night. The tie in the category marked only the sixth time a tie has ever happened in Oscar history.

Daniel Day-Lewis accepted his best actor win for "Lincoln" with a great speech we would know to come from the three-time Oscar-winning actor. The second win for "Lincoln" was for production design over expected front-runner "Anna Karenina." The latter won for best costume design. Disney's "Brave" took the award for best animated film over "Wreck-It Ralph" while "Amour" won best foreign language film and "Searching for Sugar Man" won best documentary.

Best supporting actor went to Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained" while Quentin Tarantino took the award for best original screenplay over Mark Boal's "Zero Dark Thirty" who took home the WGA last weekend.

The telecast's theme was the movie musical as the night paid tribute to the past decade's musicals, of which there were apparently only two. Jennifer Hudson performed her show-stopping number from 2006's "Dreamgirls" unleashing her voice which felt even more seasoned than when she originally sang the tune. Catherine Zeta-Jones, on the other hand, lip-synced her way through a rendition of "All that Jazz" from 2002's best picture winner "Chicago."

The live singing redux of "One Day More" from "Les Miserables" was a musical highlight of the night bringing the cast all together again. The academy producers were clearly salivating over the idea of a nominated musical to revolve the night's theme around. The reliance on the returning cast of "Chicago" sure was heavy-handed, and one couldn't help but wonder why Renee Zellweger was acting like that?

Perhaps the most bizarre moment of the night was somebody's apparent decision to make the cut-off music of acceptance speeches to be the "Jaws" theme. Talk about campy and tasteless.

What's really left of last night's telecast is a feeling of deflated hopelessness for the Oscars to never be truly exciting again. Maybe we really do just need Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to host everything from now on. Lord knows that joke was required to be made last night, too -- and so early on, yeesh.

But hey, at least it truly was a great year in film, an unexpected awards race for most of the way and a night that closed on FLOTUS nailing best dressed without even being there and a tearful, choked up Ben Affleck getting the acknowledgement he deserves. I'm going with pretending that last musical number didn't happen. I think it's really for the best.

85th Annual Academy Award Winner Predictions

Sunday's telecast of the 85th Annual Academy Awards is guaranteed going to give us some surprises.

Could Ang Lee top Steven Spielberg for best director considering he took a novel widely considered to be unadaptable and turned it into an Oscar-nominated triumph?

Could best supporting actor go to Robert De Niro for a veteran actor who hasn't seen a good role in years?

The screenplay categories are also very much up in the air. In adapted, either David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook" or Chris Terrio for "Argo" could grab the win away from assumed front-runner Tony Kushner for "Lincoln." And in original, don't be surprised if the love for "Amour" sneaks into a win out from under Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained."

And speaking of "Amour," there's always the possibility of votes for Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence canceling each other out allowing Emmanuelle Riva in for the win.

In spite of all the crazy dark horse possibilities, I've nailed down my final predictions below.

Best Picture: All signs point to "Argo."

Director: With Ben Affleck down for the count, looks like Steven Spielberg is the favorite to take it for "Lincoln."

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis for "Lincoln"

Actress: Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook"

Supporting Actor: Tough call between Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained" (BAFTA win) and Tommy Lee Jones for "Lincoln" (SAG win), but I'm going with Waltz.

Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables"

Animated Feature: Kind of open, but recent Annie wins say "Wreck-It Ralph."

Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino for "Django Unchained"

Adapted Screenplay: Tony Kushner for "Lincoln"

Sound Editing: "Skyfall" because respected action movies always take it.

Sound Mixing: "Skyfall" for the same reason.

Film Editing: "Argo" because it'll validate the best picture win.

Documentary Feature: "Searching for Sugar Man"

Foreign Language Film: "Amour"

Cinematography: Claudio Miranda for "Life of Pi"

Makeup & Hairstyling: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

Costume Design: "Anna Karenina"

Visual Effects: "Life of Pi"

Original Song: "Skyfall" by Adele

Original Score: Mychael Danna for "Life of Pi"

Production Design: "Anna Karenina"

Documentary Short: "Inocente"

Live Action Short: "Curfew"

Animated Short: "The Paperman"

With only two wins, "Argo" will take the top prize of best picture along with best editing -- funny because it'll tie "Anna Karenina" for two wins. It will be topped by "Lincoln," which I predict will win three awards: best director, supporting actor and adapted screenplay. This also means "Skyfall" and "Life of Pi" will each land at three wins for technical awards.

Tune in to watch the telecast of the 85th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award Winners

The Golden Globes turned out to be more of a prognosticator for awards season as this weekend reaped more awards for Ben Affleck's "Argo." The Best Picture nominee which, after Oscar nomination morning in the wake of Affleck's Best Director snub looked down for the count, is now the easy front-runner to win. And this comes after the film's win from the Producers Guild of America and Sunday night's Best Ensemble win at the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

While a Best Ensemble win at the SAGs doesn't always mean a boost for Best Picture potential (see last year's win for "The Help"), it certainly does mean something when the picture is busy picking up other accolades, as well. And also when it was widely expected that other more actor-oriented films like "Lincoln" or "Silver Linings Playbook" would've nabbed the top SAG prize. "Argo" is giant right now and could likely become the first film in a very long time to win Best Picture without its director not only winning but not even earning a nomination.

Now it's pretty much guaranteed Ben Affleck will also be winning the Directors Guild of America, too. Where does that leave the Oscar director race? David O. Russell? Steven Spielberg? Ang Lee? Hard to say.

Three acting categories are locks after Sunday's ceremony. Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables" will take Best Supporting Actress, Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook" will win Best Actress (in a tight race against running-mate Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty") and Daniel Day-Lewis for "Lincoln" will win Best Actor.

Tommy Lee Jones winning Best Supporting Actor for "Lincoln" gives him a boost while Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained" (not nominated for a SAG) won the Golden Globe. It's pretty much a toss-up between the two as I could see the academy going for either.

I'm thrilled about the awards success of "Argo." It's a great movie, Ben Affleck deserves the praise as a young and talented actor-turned-director (especially in light of that impossible-to-ignore Oscar snub) and it makes for a wild comeback story for Oscar history.

Check here for a full list of winners from the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The Best Films of 2012

It was an astonishingly good year in film. While I wasn't fully on board with heavy critical hits like Kathryn Bigelow's searing retelling of the hunt for bin Laden, "Zero Dark Thirty," or Paul Thomas Anderson's highly-anticipated "The Master," the films still marked directors bringing new visions to their craft. Not to mention Quentin Tarantino who absolutely delivered with his "Django Unchained" which was not only a critical smash but an absolute hit with audiences bringing in his biggest box office numbers as a director.

Peter Jackson also gave us a welcomed (yet not for all) return to Middle-earth and Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis teamed up to bring the legend of Abraham Lincoln to amazing life. David O. Russell easily topped his previous awards-contender "The Fighter" with "Silver Linings Playbook" and gave Robert De Niro's career a kick in the butt. The summer brought us Wes Anderson's best film to date, "Moonrise Kingdom," and beyond that it was a summer alight with bold new talent including Stephen Chbosky's "Perks of Being a Wallflower," Rian Johnson's "Looper" and Benh Zeitlin's "Beasts of the Southern Wild." And what a year for Bond, eh?

Jennifer Lawrence (Oh, J-Law!) had a huge year with "The Hunger Games," which is the best new franchise of the year, and then later "Silver Linings Playbook" which is propelling her to a Best Actress Oscar win.

And before we get to the main list, here's a few honorable mentions.

The movie you didn't see but should've:

"Bachelorette" is the meaner, darker, more twisted stepsister of "Bridesmaids," very much its own devilishly independent creation from writer/director Leslye Hedlund. The three nasty girls at its center (Isla Fisher, Izzy Caplan, Kirsten Dunst) are not nice to their best friend (Rebel Wilson), pretty much unlikable and yet shocking in their relatability forcing us to hold a mirror up to our own imperfections. And if you squint hard enough, it's even a proudly feminist work spitting in the eyes of archetypal women portrayals.

The biggest disappointment of the year:

Ridley Scott's "Prometheus," the highly anticipated quasi-prequel to "Alien," turned out to be a muddled, convoluted mess with no real scares and empty storytelling. While technically awe-inspiring with stunning performances from Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, you couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling of missed opportunity. Ambition was too lofty in trying (and failing) to expand his original sci-fi classic into something more grandiose.

10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Highlighted with a standout performance from Ezra Miller opposite an impressive Logan Lerman and Emma Watson in her first American role, this high school coming-of-age film directed by Stephen Chblosky and adapted from his own novel is brimming with passion and intimacy. It's a movie that understands the unique bond of friendship but also addresses the bittersweet truth that feeling like you truly belong is sometimes only fleeting.

9. Argo

Ben Affleck's third directorial feature is easily his best, most riling piece of entertainment, the perfect blend of incredible true story and Hollywood movie magic. It's a high-class popcorn pleaser that celebrates the transcending power of movies and reminds us why we go to the movies. Chris Terro's script creates breathless excitement in a thriller not through perilous car chases but instead through exquisite timing and careful plotting.

8. Looper

From Rian Johnson ("Brick"), this sci-fi mind-bender is a deft blend of Christopher Nolan's "Inception" and Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men" marking itself as the new version of "The Matrix" and "Blade Runner" for this generation. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt shine in the lead roles following a script that doesn't use time travel as a gimmick but more so an artful means of storytelling.

7. Flight

In one of the best performances of the year, Denzel Washington plays Whip Whitaker, an alcoholic pilot who lands a malfunctioning flight full of passengers with little casualty. What he faces in the aftermath, however, serves as his wake-up call. A robust supporting cast really makes the film a phenomenal ensemble piece including Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman as Whip's drug guru channeling his inner Big Lebowski and Melissa Leo in a single scene steals the film's climax. Director Robert Zemeckis' first live-action movie in 12 years proves he's still got it.

6. Beasts of the Southern Wild

Benh Zeitlin's directorial debut is a rush of magical realism that takes post-Katrina imagery and crafts a mythic and uncompromising world to get lost in. At its center is Hushpuppy, played by nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis who was only six at the time of filming. She gives a powerhouse performance ranking herself among the heroic female protagonists of the year, like Katniss Everdeen of "The Hunger Games" or Princess Merida of "Brave." This is a small story that also reaches beyond itself, questioning the makings of the universe and what it means to take control of life against the most profound of adversities.

5. Amour

A quietly devastating film that moves at its own pace and commands attention with its two phenomenal actors, Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant, this marks Michael Haneke's masterpiece with more humanism and profundity than we typically know from him ("Caché," "The White Ribbon"). It's a film about old age and everlasting love that is uncomfortable, unflinching but also crucial viewing. Riva's performance requires a physical deterioration while upholding a full register of emotion, and she stuns with painful beauty. It's the rare film that means something different to each viewer depending on the stage they are in their own life, and within such holds the movie's immense power.

4. Silver Linings Playbook

Even better than David O. Russell's "The Fighter," his oftentimes hilarious comedy centering on the excellent pairing of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence is a surefire crowd-pleaser that brings to life the idiosyncrasies of one dysfunctional family, co-starring Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. De Niro, especially, looks more engaged than ever offering up his best performance in a long time. The film's lesson is finding your own silver lining in life, but the real silver lining may be this: no matter who you are, everybody's a little bit crazy.

3. Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino rewrites history again, and just as he took revenge on the Nazis with his "Inglourious Basterds," this time he's even better and takes on the entire institution of slavery. Nobody delivers Tarantino's dialogue better than Christoph Waltz, so it's a treat to see his role expanded into leading this time around. Jamie Foxx as the accompanying Django also gets his moment for sweet vengeance while Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio play cruel manifests of humanity. Knowing how to savor a scene, the film is long but shouldn't be a minute shorter and escalates to a bloody good showdown reminiscent of "Kill Bill Vol. 1."

2. Life of Pi

Ang Lee's soul-searching odyssey adrift into sea is the best use of 3D in any film since the inception of the technology's use, even superior to "Avatar." The extraordinary story of a boy trapped on a boat with a Bengal tiger (adapted from the novel by Yann Martel) is a rumination on religion and faith but ultimately grows into a poignant film about seeing what life deals out to you and learning that sometimes you have to be ready to let go.

1. Skyfall

The re-invention of James Bond is the very best film of the year. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, there was no better time for Sam Mendes to take the helm of the franchise. Daniel Craig returns in the role as 007 more assured than before -- he's haggard but still handsome and with an added sly sense of humor. Judi Dench as the film's emotional center delivers a wallop while Javier Bardem gives us the best Bond villain yet. The brilliantly choreographed thrill ride with luscious locations and death-defying action sequences is an invigoration of the modern and a commemoration of the past. Adele's theme perfectly accents this 23rd entry in the series which was a smash at the box office and reaped the most Oscar nominations of any Bond yet.

70th Annual Golden Globe Award Winners

Let's start this off by stating the obvious: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, as expected, proved to be the best awards show hosts in recent memory. They absolutely killed it. Their opening monologue was full of quick one-liners and jabs that still stung but were always in good humor coming from them. This included zings at Kathryn Bigelow when Poehler said she hasn't been following the controversy of "Zero Dark Thirty," but "when it comes to torture, I trust the woman who spent three years married to James Cameron." James Franco was also targeted when Fey said to Anne Hatahway, "You gave a stunning performance in 'Les Miserables.' I have not seen someone so alone and abandoned like that since you were on stage with James Franco at the Oscars." Poehler then began describing the HFPA as HPV, and Fey labeled Quentin Tarantino as "the star of all my sexual nightmares."

As a hosting duo, they were consistently funny, self-deprecating with great timing, just enough bite and really made the biggest Hollywood party of the year feel like exactly that. Case in point, Seth MacFarlane has the toughest of acts to follow with his hosting gig at the Oscars.

As it was at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards on Thursday, Ben Affleck walked away with Best Director while his "Argo" took home Best Drama, which only continues to baffle the mind as to how the academy skipped over him for a director nod.

"Les Miserables" topped the night's wins with Anne Hathaway winning Best Supporting Actress, Hugh Jackman for Best Actor Comedy or Musical and the film taking the top prize of Best Comedy or Musical over "Silver Linings Playbook." Jennifer Lawrence represented the comedy with her Best Actress Comedy or Musical win while Bradley Cooper got beat out by Jackman. Such would be expected, however, as the HFPA is notorious for loving musicals. The love for "Les Miserables" here is no indicator of a push toward Oscar.

"Django Unchained" tied "Argo" for two wins as Quentin Tarantino had the surprise win for Best Screenplay over Tony Kushner for "Lincoln." This marks his lock for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars while Kushner can still take home Best Adapted. The other "Django" win went to Christoph Waltz for Best Supporting Actor, which gives him a small Oscar boost as he was not nominated for a SAG award.

"Zero Dark Thirty" cashed in on just one win in the category of Best Actress Drama for Jessica Chastain's portrayal of female CIA agent Maya. Likewise, Daniel Day-Lewis represented the singular win for "Lincoln" for Best Actor Drama with his embodiment of Abraham Lincoln.

The night clipped along at a relatively fine pace with plenty of GIF-able moments throughout, which is always the sign of an entertaining awards show. This included Taylor Swift giving what looked like the stink eye to a bubbly and radiant Adele as she accepted her award for Best Original Song for "Skyfall," a win that will thrust her to Oscar gold.

Glenn Close played in on the fun as the hosts reappeared later in the evening announcing how drunk everyone was getting and then cut to the actress doing some sort of weird drunken jig in her seat. The best of the presenters were SNL veterans Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig who, while announcing the nominees for Best Comedy or Musical, hilariously improvised made-up plots for each movie pretending like they'd never heard of them.

Jodie Foster received her Cecil B. DeMille honor and gave a speech both very moving and heartfelt but also mystifying. Apparently it was widely expected, since this was considered a "lifetime achievement award," that she would use this as a coming-out speech. And while she broached the topic and jokingly sidestepped it, she also simultaneously hit it head-on and addressed matters of privacy in the public eye for celebrities. It was a mysterious speech that delicately told young viewers everywhere to be who they are without ever really saying it at all. And then there was teary-eyed Mel Gibson just staring at her intently. It was a very weird moment in the night that also unfortunately got accidentally(?) muted by the network during a crucial line. She then concluded with a beautiful message to her mom who suffers from dimentia and noted a potential turn in her own career. It almost sounded like she was retiring from acting, but later in the press room she corrected that implication.

The pseudo coming-out speech prompted Poehler to close the show with this: "We're going home with Jodie Foster!"

Jessica Chastain gave a tearful acceptance speech while a flu-ridden Jennifer Lawrence was pleasantly humbled as usual, and Anne Hathaway took time in hers to pay tribute to her fellow nominee, Sally Field, in a classy nod to a veteran actress.

What does all of this "Argo" and Ben Affleck winning mean for the Oscar race? Well, things are getting interesting. If Affleck were nominated for an Oscar, we'd be looking at an easy front-runner. Instead, we're left questioning the possibility of a Best Picture winner not having its director nominated. It seems unlikely and puts a lot of weight on the announcement of the Producers Guild winner, the Directors Guild winner and the winners of the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Long shots set aside, the more sensible choice appears to still be between "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook" for Oscar. And yet, the "Argo" momentum is hard to ignore. Is it really possible to have been stonewalled by the academy?

On the television side, I have to mention the triumphant win of 26-year-old Lena Dunham for not only Best Comedy Actress but also Best Comedy for her HBO comedy "Girls." So well-deserved, and it really marked the evening as one for progressive and funny women in television.

85th Annual Academy Award Nominations

This morning's announcement of the 85th Annual Academy Awards sure had a lot of surprises to keep us on our toes. As they did last year, the academy went with nine Best Picture nominations: "Argo," "Lincoln," "Les Miserables," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Django Unchained," "Life of Pi," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Silver Linings Playbook" and Best Foreign Language nominee "Amour" for the ninth slot, which beat out other contenders like "The Master," "Moonrise Kingdom" and "Skyfall."

"Lincoln," as it has been with the rest of awards nominations, led the pack with 12 nominations closely followed by "Life of Pi" with 11 and then "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Les Miserables" each with eight.

The biggest shake-up came in the Best Director category where the academy really wanted to show off their love for "Amour" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild" as both Michael Haneke and Benh Zeitlin made their way into the category. Joining them was Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln," David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Ang Lee for "Life of Pi." This left room for major snubs including Ben Affleck for "Argo" and Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty" who were both widely predicted to get in. Also left out were Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables" and Quentin Tarantino for "Django Unchained."

The "Beasts" and "Amour" love continued into the record-setting Best Actress category as both the youngest, Quvenzhane Wallis at 9, and oldest, Emmanuelle Riva at 85, nominated actresses made it in. Joining them were Naomi Watts for "The Impossible," Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty." Marion Cotillard for "Rust and Bone," widely expected to get nominated, was left hanging.

Joaquin Phoenix for "The Master" ended up getting his nomination for Best Actor alongside the front-runner of Daniel Day-Lewis for "Lincoln," Denzel Washington for "Flight," Hugh Jackman for "Les Miserables," and Bradley Cooper for "Silver Linings Playbook." This left out John Hawkes for "The Sessions," predicted to make it in the category over Phoenix.

"Skyfall" wasn't able to crack any of the major categories, as the greatest hope was for Javier Bardem to sneak into Best Supporting Actor. Instead, the nominees were Robert De Niro for "Silver Linings Playbook," Tommy Lee Jones for "Lincoln," Alan Arkin for "Argo" and Christoph Waltz got in for "Django Unchained" over Leonardo DiCaprio or Samuel L. Jackson.

The Best Supporting Actress category included Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables," Helen Hunt for "The Sessions," Sally Field for "Lincoln," Amy Adams for "The Master" and filling the fifth up-for-grabs slot was Jacki Weaver for "Silver Linings Playbook." Weaver's inclusion in the category means that "Silver Linings" is the only movie to have an actor nod in each category.

John Gatins for "Flight" received a surprise nomination in the Best Original Screenplay category along with Michael Haneke for "Amour," Wes Anderson for "Moonrise Kingdom," Quentin Tarantino for "Django Unchained" and Mark Boal for "Zero Dark Thirty." Left out was Paul Thomas Anderson for "The Master" and Rian Johnson for "Looper."

Best Adapted Screenplay included Chris Terrio for "Argo," Tony Kushner for "Lincoln," Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild," David Magee for "Life of Pi" and David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook." No surprises in there.

"Skyfall" wasn't completely left out as it nabbed five technical nominations including Roger Deakins for cinematography, Thomas Newman for score, Adele's theme for song and then sound mixing and editing.

It's also curious that with all the love for "Beasts," the score from Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin didn't get a nomination.

What does all this mean for the race to Best Picture? Well, "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Argo," the front-runners before today, can now be both counted out as each of those directors weren't nominated. Simple logic tells us the new front-runners are "Lincoln" and "Life of Pi" as they received the most nominations. "Pi" is still a far cry, however, as "Lincoln" has always had the awards momentum from the beginning. It was easier to ignore before, but now with other top contenders having lost their steam, Steven Spielberg's historical drama is now the one to beat.

The real competition for "Lincoln" comes from David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook," which received a huge boost with its collection of nominations nabbing nods for all four actors, director, editing and writing along with Best Picture.

The 85th Annual Academy Awards air live at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. on ABC hosted by Seth MacFarlane. Check here for a full list of nominations.

85th Annual Academy Award Nomination Predictions

The Oscar nominations being pushed so much earlier has really created a lot of turmoil. Has it made the nominees any less predictable? Perhaps. Only because Academy voters seemed to be scrambling to get their ballots in. Yet here we are, and I'm ready to cast my predictions in all major categories for this Thursday's announcement for the 85th Annual Academy Award nominations.

Best Picture
1. Lincoln
2. Les Miserables
3. Argo
4. Silver Linings Playbook
5. Zero Dark Thirty
6. Life of Pi
7. The Master
8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
9. Django Unchained

I predict there will be nine nominees, but here's the rest if it gets expanded to ten:

10. Moonrise Kingdom

Best Director
1. Ben Affleck, "Argo"
2. Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty"
3. Tom Hooper, "Les Miserables"
4. Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"
5. Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"

Best Actor
1. Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"
2. Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
3. Denzel Washington, "Flight"
4. Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"
5. John Hawkes, "The Sessions"

Best Actress
1. Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
2. Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
3. Marion Cotillard, "Rust and Bone"
4. Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"
5. Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"

Best Supporting Actress
1. Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
2. Sally Field, "Lincoln"
3. Amy Adams, "The Master"
4. Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
5. Maggie Smith, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"

Best Supporting Actor
1. Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
2. Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"
3. Javier Bardem, "Skyfall"
4. Alan Arkin, "Argo"
5. Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best Original Screenplay
1. Amour
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. Django Unchained
4. Zero Dark Thirty
5. The Master

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Lincoln
2. Argo
3. Silver Linings Playbook
4. The Life of Pi
5. Beasts of the Southern Wild

70th Annual Golden Globe Award Nominations

Every year the Hollywood Foreign Press Association decides to surprise us for no reason with their nominations, and this morning's announcement for the 70th installment of the Golden Globe Awards was no exception. This time it's all about that movie that everyone except the HFPA had forgotten: "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," which snuck into the nominees for Best Comedy or Musical. With that came nominations for "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" -- which also had a great showing with SAG yesterday -- "Moonrise Kingdom" and then front-runners "Les Miserables" and "Silver Linings Playbook" who will duke it out for the top prize.

What I find most alarming is that even the Critics' Choice had a better representation of this year's comedies. "Magic Mike," "This Is 40," "Pitch Perfect," "Ted" and "21 Jump Street" all got left off completely. Especially surprising is the absence of acting nominations for Leslie Mann or Paul Rudd for "This Is 40," or Matthew McConaughey who otherwise has been part of the conversation for "Magic Mike." Instead, we get both Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor nominated for "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," the independent selection over more conventional and, frankly, more well-received comedies. What's the thinking there?

"Lincoln" led the pack again with a total seven nominations trailed by "Argo" and "Django Unchained" each with five. Those three nabbed Best Drama nominations alongside "Life of Pi" and "Zero Dark Thirty" leaving "The Master" in the dust. Acting categories made up for it, however, as Amy Adams, Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman were all nominated for the film, while all but Hoffman were skipped for SAG nominations yesterday.

"Beasts of the Southern Wild" was nowhere to be found, but that's not surprising considering the HFPA prefers to include bigger stars, and "Beasts" is full of unknowns.

With "Les Miserables" and "Silver Linings Playbook" both filling up Comedy and Musical slots, that left for some interesting inclusions in the Drama acting categories. With Bradley Cooper for "Silver Linings Playbook" shifted aside, Richard Gere got his due for "Arbitrage" which almost went the whole season without recognition.

Same goes for the displacement of Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings," which left room for the re-emergence of Rachel Weisz for "The Deep Blue Sea" after her NYFCC win. Naomi Watts for "The Impossible" and Helen Mirren for "Hitchcock" are gaining more traction for their spots in the Best Actress field for the Oscars, as well, pushing out both Emmuanelle Riva for "Amour" and Quvenzhane Wallis for "Beasts."

And apparently no awards season is complete without Meryl Streep, so way to go HFPA for remembering "Hope Springs," and nominating the veteran actress in the category of Best Actress for Comedy or Musical. Judi Dench got a nod, as well, not for "Skyfall" but instead "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" along with Maggie Smith for not "Best Exotic" but "Quartet."

The Best Supporting categories, which don't get the benefit of a Drama and Comedy or Musical divide, were both crowded. And guess who decided to show up again for Best Supporting Actress? Nicole Kidman for her raucous performance in "The Paperboy," which after SAG yesterday and now this, might, dare I say, have some traction toward an Oscar nomination? Lord help us, hopefully not.

Best Supporting Actor held some "Django" love with both Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz scoring nods. Sorely missing, however, was Robert De Niro for "Silver Linings Playbook."

What can we take away from this year's HFPA selections? Only that the Critics' Choice are more and more becoming the better Oscar precursor.

Check out the full list of nominations, and tune in to watch what everyone really wants to watch during the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting. It all happens on Sunday, January 13 at 8 p.m. on NBC.

18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Award Nominations

After a slew of critics groups naming their best of the year earlier last week (AFI, Boston, New York, Los Angeles), it announced the late arrival of Kathryn Bigelow's every-other-award-contendor-killer, her true life military drama "Zero Dark Thirty." It is in full steam ahead as the late front-runner for Best Picture after "Argo" seemed impossible to top earlier in the fall.

Now with the arrival of this morning's 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, it's a nice reminder that a reputable comedy category is on its way with the Globes. With "Bernie," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Ted," "This Is 40" and "21 Jump Street" all nominated for Best Picture from the BFCA, it's a robust category and will make the Golden Globe nominations more interesting; however, they have the pesky inclusion of musical which "Les Miserables" can easily dominate.

Also a breath of fresh air is the association's inclusion of a separate action movie category where the likes of "The Dark Knight Rises," "Looper" and, most importantly, "Skyfall" can get some recognition.  The three all received nods for Best Action Movie next to superhero big-show "The Avengers." This also allowed Daniel Craig a nomination for Best Actor in an Action Movie next to co-star Judi Dench for a double-nomination in both Best Actress in an Action Movie and in the major category of Best Supporting Actress, which is a welcomed surprise along with Javier Bardem in the major Best Supporting Actor category. This is likely the most awards love "Skyfall" will receive this year.

Back to the main grind, "Lincoln" led the pack with a whopping 13 nominations, which beat out previous record-holder of "Black Swan" with 12 nominations. Yet the BFCA passed the love all around with several nominations for each major contendor. Joining "Lincoln" with a Best Picture nomination were "Argo," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "The Master," "Moonrise Kingdom," "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Zero Dark Thirty." There are eight locked with "Django" and "Moonrise" slots up for grabs with the potential of "The Sessions" or "Amour" sneaking in.

Narrowing down the ten, Best Director nominations went to six: Ben Affleck for "Argo," Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty," Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables," Ang Lee for "Life of Pi," David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln."

Joining front-runner Daniel Day-Lewis for "Lincoln" in the Best Actor category were Bradley Cooper for "Silver Linings Playbook," Denzel Washington for "Flight," John Hawkes for "The Sessions," Hugh Jackman for "Les Miserables" and Joaquin Phoenix for "The Master." Since this is six total, it'll likely be between Hawkes and Phoenix for the fifth spot at the Oscars.

The Best Actress category included Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty," Marion Cotillard for "Rust and Bone," Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook," Emmanuelle Riva for "Amour," Quvenzhane Wallis for "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and Naomi Watts for "The Impossible." Take out Watts, and you're looking at the Best Actress nominees at the Oscars.

Even "The Hunger Games" nabbed some love in the form of Lawrence getting another acting nomination for Best Actress in an Action Movie. Lawrence got double-nominated for "Silver Linings" in both Best Actress and Actress in a Comedy for three acting nods total.

Best Supporting Actor is a little more interesting, especially with Javier Bardem for "Skyfall" sneaking in alongside Matthew McConaughey for "Magic Mike," Tommy Lee Jones for "Lincoln," Alan Arkin for "Argo," Robert De Niro for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Philip Seymour Hoffman for "The Master." While it's still pretty fluid who might get in (Leonardo DiCaprio for "Django" is decidedly missing), Tommy Lee Jones is the front-runner here.

Judi Dench surprised with her aforementioned Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in "Skyfall," and joining her in the category was Helen Hunt for "The Sessions," Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables," Amy Adams for "The Master," Sally Field for "Lincoln" and Ann Dowd for "Compliance." Again, take out Dench, and you're likely looking at this field for the Oscars.

The biggest question is whether the acting categories are locked down and prepped to snub "Skyfall" or if the mentions here will translate into Oscar love later on.

Check out the full list of nominations, and tune in to find out the winners of the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. on the CW.

ARGO Review

Ben Affleck's "Argo" is a blend of incredible true story and Hollywood movie magic. This is illustrated perfectly in the movie's opening explanation of the backstory behind the 1979 Iran Revolution. It's a combination of real world footage and classic storyboard drawings, which sets up two things. It not only mirrors the film's true story of creating a fake movie to rescue six American hostages from Iran, but also emphasizes the style in which Affleck tells this true story. There is close attention to facts with just the right amount of flourish and embellishment. It's smart Hollywood, and it's smart filmmaking. After only two directorial features before this (2007's "Gone Baby Gone" and 2010's "The Town"), Affleck's third feature feels like the work of a real veteran, and it's the one that'll give him his due come Oscar night.

A group of about fifty Americans were taken hostage at the Embassy in Iran, but six of them got away and were secretly housed by the Canadian ambassador (Victor Garber). It's been too long keeping them there, and the CIA needs a plan to get them out. Tony Mendez is a professional CIA "extractor" who's the best at getting people out of these situations. Out of the possibilities the CIA hatches up, it ends up being Mendez's seemingly outlandish plan that becomes the most plausible. At the height of sci-fi movie popularity after the huge success of "Star Wars," the idea of filmmakers doing location scouting in an exotic, foreign land is apparently believable.

Ah, the power of Hollywood. Also the absurdity, and poking fun at the industry is where a lot of the film's humor comes from, which is an unexpected addition considering the life-or-death scenarios of Iran it addresses at the same time. The script from Chris Terrio is a triumph in this complex tonal balance as well as its tight, focused precision in executing the rescue of the American hostages. Most thrillers create tension from car chases and fire fights, but here breathless excitement is manufactured through exquisite timing and careful plotting. It's a race to the airport between Mendez with his fake film crew and the Iranian revolutionaries uncovering the identities of the missing hostages -- and it's white-knuckle, nail-biting suspense.

The setup of the rescue mission had to be fabricated down to the details of a real script, producers and even press coverage. Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), a hardened and snarky film producer, and John Chambers (John Goodman), an accomplished makeup artist, jump on-board and make sure the project -- which, needless to say, never gets made -- is the real deal. This leads to a script reading at the Beverly Hilton with the "real" film crew in a scene that beautifully intercuts with the "fake" film crew preparing their nerves for the inevitable escape. It's an affecting moment and brings to light the real world implications, how this moment in history foreshadowed the political landscape we live in today.

Affleck's high-class popcorn pleaser shares a love for the transcending power of movies while reminding us why we go to the movies. There's a scene where Iran airport security is shown storyboards for the fake "Argo," and they're enchanted. Performances across the board are great: Cranston easily breaks free of any "Breaking Bad" restraints while Goodman and Arkin prove a comic pairing. Affleck as Mendez is nicely understated, and we learn that he's a father, as well. "Argo" paints Mendez as an American hero, just like, yes, something straight out of a movie.