Page 16 THE VILLADOM TIMES I & II • February 22, 2012 Movie reviewer makes Academy Award predictions of women preparing for a wedding, the story of a baseball general manager who dared to buck traditional methods of building a team, or a glimpse at the early days of cinema. On Feb. 26, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present its 84th Academy Awards in its annual, eagerly anticipated telecast. Following are this critic’s predictions for the winners the 6,000 Academy members will select in the major categories. For Supporting Actress, the nominees are Berenice Bejo as the up-and-coming starlet in “The Artist,” Jessica Chastain as a socially ostracized white Southerner in “The Help,” Melissa McCarthy as the earthy sister of the bridegroom in “Bridesmaids,” Janet McTeer as a woman with a secret in “Albert Nobbs,” and Octavia Spencer as a maid in Jackson, Mississippi on the cusp of the Civil Rights movement. Chastain appeared in six movies in 2011, but shone most brilliantly in “The Help.” She will take home the Oscar. Every year, there is one category that seems a shoo-in. This year, Christopher Plummer will win Best Supporting Actor for his amazing work in “Beginners” as an elderly man revealing to his son that he is gay. Runners up will be Kenneth Branagh (“My Week with Marilyn”), Jonah Hill (“Moneyball”), Nick Nolte (“Warrior”), and Max Von Sydow (“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”). In the Best Actress category, the real competition will be between Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady” and Viola Davis in “The Help.” The misconception about Streep is that she has already won a slew of Oscars. That is not true. She has been nominated 17 times, but has won only twice: once for Supporting Actress (“Kramer vs. Kramer”) and once for Best Actress (“Sophie’s Choice”). However, it looks like Ms. Davis’ year. She turned in a heartrending performance as Aibileen, a black maid in early 1960s Mississippi, who is overcoming a personal tragedy as she suffers daily indignities. Also-rans in this category include Glenn Close (“Albert Nobbs”), Rooney Mara (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), and Michelle Williams (“My Week with Marilyn”). Best Actor nominees are Damian Bichir for “A Better Life,” George Clooney for “The Descendants,” Jean Dujardin for “The Artist,” Gary Oldman for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” and Brad Pitt for “Moneyball.” Bichir’s film had limited release and Oldman’s underperformed at the box office. Dujardin is wonderful as the silent film star whose career appears dead when sound comes to Hollywood, but despite critical acclaim and numerous awards, “The Artist” has not been a blockbuster. That leaves friends Pitt and Clooney, both of whom are popular among their peers. In “The Descendants,” Clooney presents a multi-faceted portrayal of a Hawaiian landowner discovering things about his wife and daughters after tragedy strikes. It’s a natural performance that will win him his second Oscar. (He won Best Supporting Actor for “Syriana” in 2005.) The Best Director nominees include veteran filmmak- Viola Davis is nominated for Best Actress. by Dennis Seuling In 2011, three films became the top 10 moneymakers of all time. Action flicks, animated features, sequels, and 3-D movies dominated at multiplexes nationwide. However, it was the smaller films that generated the most buzz, whether it was a look at black maids in the 1960s who dared to talk about racial inequality, the comic tale of a group ‘The Artist’ is one of nine contenders for Best Picture. ers Woody Allen (“Midnight in Paris”), Terrence Malick (“The Tree of Life”), Martin Scorsese (“Hugo”), and Alexander Payne (“The Descendants”) and newcomer Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”). It’s amazing that Malick is among these directors since “The Tree of Life” was a selfindulgent work more about technique and style than narrative. Scorsese celebrates the birth of cinema in “Hugo” and Allen captures the magic of the City of Lights in “Midnight in Paris” just as he did with his hometown in “Manhattan.” For sheer audacity, however -- making a silent, black-andwhite film in a digital world -- along with an absorbing, captivatingly told story, Hazanavicius will take home the prize. This year, the Academy has devised yet another formula for deciding Best Picture nominees that is as foolish as last year’s. There should be only five nominees, but this year, there are nine: “The Artist,” “The Descendants,” “Hugo,” “The Help,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” “Moneyball,” “War Horse,” and “The Tree of Life.” The first five are the real contenders and, of that group, “The Artist” rises to the top because of its uniqueness, its brisk, clear visual narrative, and the joy it delivers. The beautiful score does its part in providing atmosphere, and the movie nimbly switches from outright slapstick to pathos to drama. Though it owes a nod to such movies as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “A Star Is Born,” “The Artist” stands alone. It is a perfect blend of script, direction, performance, and style -- the winning combination for Best Picture.