Oscar Week 2013 predictions: The technical categories

Designer Jacqueline Durran now has three Oscar nominations, all with films directed by Joe Wright ("Atonement," "Pride & Prejudice" and now "Anna Karenina.")  Three may be the charm for her, but she faces stiff competition from "Les Miserables."  The other nominees "Lincoln," "Mirror Mirror" and "Snow White and the Huntsman" don't seem like likely winners, unless you consider that "Mirror Mirror" had Eiko Ishioka, who died in January 2012.  Could Oscar voters vote with their hearts?  Look for "Anna Karenina" to win in this category, its best shot at winning any Oscars come Sunday.Taking the nominations at face value, it would seem that the visually ground-breaking "Life of Pi" should be a no-brainer for Best Cinematography.  But "Skyfall" has Roger Deakins, a favorite when it comes to Oscar voters, having received nine previous Oscar nominations without a single win (recent films include "True Grit" and "No Country for Old Men.")  Will this be the year they decide to reward Deakins life-long body of work?  Other nominees are also no strangers when it comes to the Oscars, whom besides Deakins, collectively boast a total of 14 total nominations and five Oscar wins among them.  Janusz Kaminski for "Lincoln," Seamus McGarvey for "Anna Karenina" and Robert Richardson for "Django Unchained" all don't stand a chance in my opinion - nor does Deakins - when it comes to Claudio Miranda's work in "Life of Pi."In the category formerly known as "Best Art Direction," there are two schools of thought.  The first would consider the sheer, epic scope of "Les Miserables" as the front-runner and most deserving winner in this category.  The other way of thinking though, is that a film like "Anna Karenina" is the sort of picture that usually wins these technical awards.  Both are period pieces, with lavish design elements that almost become characters themselves.  It's a toss-up, but I feel like overall, there was much more love out there for "Les Miserables," and since it is being out-shined in most of the major categories, this may be where Academy voters choose to recognize it.  Other nominees "Lincoln," "Life of Pi," and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" seem unlikely winners.View the list »
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The 85th annual Academy Awards are coming this Sunday, Feb 24, 2013 and this week leading up to them is known as "Oscar Week," the official build-up towards movie's most prestigious awards show. So who is going to win at this year's Oscars?

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Every day this week, check back to get my picks in all 24 categories. In this third installment of my "Oscar Week Predictions," I'll be looking at the 10 "technical" categories, or as most viewers know them, the boring ones that take up all the air time in-between the awards we all really care about.

Click the "List" button below to get started! Be sure to check back all of this week for my predictions in the other categories, leading up to Best Actor, Actress and Best Picture on Friday!

Follow film critic Tom Santilli on Twitter, @tomsantilli.

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  • In the category formerly known as "Best Art Direction," there are two schools of thought.  The first would consider the sheer, epic scope of "Les Miserables" as the front-runner and most deserving winner in this category.  The other way of thinking though, is that a film like "Anna Karenina" is the sort of picture that usually wins these technical awards.  Both are period pieces, with lavish design elements that almost become characters themselves.  It's a toss-up, but I feel like overall, there was much more love out there for "Les Miserables," and since it is being out-shined in most of the major categories, this may be where Academy voters choose to recognize it.  Other nominees "Lincoln," "Life of Pi," and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" seem unlikely winners.
  • Taking the nominations at face value, it would seem that the visually ground-breaking "Life of Pi" should be a no-brainer for Best Cinematography.  But "Skyfall" has Roger Deakins, a favorite when it comes to Oscar voters, having received nine previous Oscar nominations without a single win (recent films include "True Grit" and "No Country for Old Men.")  Will this be the year they decide to reward Deakins life-long body of work?  Other nominees are also no strangers when it comes to the Oscars, whom besides Deakins, collectively boast a total of 14 total nominations and five Oscar wins among them.  Janusz Kaminski for "Lincoln," Seamus McGarvey for "Anna Karenina" and Robert Richardson for "Django Unchained" all don't stand a chance in my opinion - nor does Deakins - when it comes to Claudio Miranda's work in "Life of Pi."
  • Designer Jacqueline Durran now has three Oscar nominations, all with films directed by Joe Wright ("Atonement," "Pride & Prejudice" and now "Anna Karenina.")  Three may be the charm for her, but she faces stiff competition from "Les Miserables."  The other nominees "Lincoln," "Mirror Mirror" and "Snow White and the Huntsman" don't seem like likely winners, unless you consider that "Mirror Mirror" had Eiko Ishioka, who died in January 2012.  Could Oscar voters vote with their hearts?  Look for "Anna Karenina" to win in this category, its best shot at winning any Oscars come Sunday.
  • "Argo" definitely seems to be the movie with the most steam headed into Sunday, but it's absolute best shot of winning on Oscar will be in this "minor" category, Best Editing.  The suspenseful sequence that takes up the films final 30 minutes is brilliant in the tension it creates, without (think about it), anything actually even happening.  "Zero Dark Thirty" could be the dark horse in this category, followed by other nominees "Lincoln," "Life of Pi," and "Silver Linings Playbook."
  • Only three nominees:  "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," "Les Miserables," and "Hitchcock," and of them, no clear front-runner.  If nothing else though, "The Hobbit" had the most impressive and showy display of both makeup and hair and would also be the third film of the series to win (only "The Two Towers" failed to win in this category).  I'd say it has the best shot.
  • Despite - perhaps - not winning Best Picture, "Life of Pi" could go home as the most awarded film of the night, if it sweeps many of these technical categories as I think it should.  Another win for the film should be for Best Score, with the only thing going against first-time nominated composer Mychael Danna, is the seasoned competition he faces.  John Williams at this point, could fart into a microphone and get a nomination (he "scores" again with "Lincoln," giving him his 47th Oscar nomination, second all-time only to Walt Disney).  Thomas Newman's score for "Skyfall" is his 11th nomination without ever having won and the hot-hand in this category over the past five years is Alexandre Desplat, nominated for "Argo," his fifth nomination over that time span.  Even "Anna Karenina" has a previous nominee in Dario Marianelli, who won for "Atonement" and was nominated for "Pride & Prejudice."  Will John Williams win the familiar vote?  My bet is still with Danna for "Life of Pi."
  • It was kind of cool to see "Ted" get a nomination, with the song "Everybody Needs a Best Friend," but this loss will mostly (hopefully) just fuel Seth McFarlane, the Oscar's host and director of "Ted," to feign some disappointment.  Everybody is expecting the title song from "Skyfall" to take home this award, with the mega-star Adele performing.  Other nominees include "Suddenly," a new song written for the classic musical "Les Miserables," "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi," and oddly, an original song from the documentary "Chasing Ice," called "Before My Time."
  • Who remembers the difference between sound editing and sound mixing, even though it is explained to viewers each and every Oscar telecast?  How can "Les Miserables" be the front-runner for Sound Mixing but not even score a nomination for Sound Editing, and vice versa for "Zero Dark Thirty?"  These categories have always "sounded" fishy to me anyways, where the winners seem to not go for the best sound mixing and/or editing, but instead, towards the Best Picture winner, to boost their overall Oscar numbers.  So without much expertise, my choice for both categories goes to "Life of Pi."  I just think that, even if it doesn't win for Best Director or Picture, that it was the biggest technical achievement in film-making this year, so why not pad its numbers?
  • Every year, there seems to be a nominee where I say, "Well, if that doesn't win, I'm boycotting the Oscars forever!!"  This year, that nominee is "Life of Pi" for Best Visual Effects.  The other nominees - "The Hobbit," "The Avengers," "Prometheus" and "Snow White and the Huntsman" - were all solid, but in an era of incredible realism and a sense that anything is possible, "Life of Pi" managed to raise the bar on what we could experience from watching moving images on a screen.  It's the most impressive 3D film to date and never once feels phony.  Come on Academy, if you can't give "Life of Pi" this award, I'm not watching ever again...ever!
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, Detroit Movie Examiner

Tom Santilli is a respected journalist and member of the Detroit Film Critics Society. He writes several columns, most notably as the Detroit Movie Examiner and as the National Survivor Examiner. Tom graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in Broadcast & Cinematic Arts, and is...

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