(Welcome to the Oscar Guide, your chaperone through the Academy”s 24 categories awarding excellence in film. A new installment will hit every weekday in the run-up to the Oscars on February 24, with the Best Picture finale on Friday, February 22.)

The race for Best Actress this year started out typical: it was thin. That’s not a knock on the performances but really a knock on the kinds of roles open to women in this day and age. That dearth frequently yields a lackluster showing for the category, not that there aren’t other great performances worth looking at. The problem is, those great performances aren’t usually the sort that tickle the Academy’s fancy.

By the end of the season, it got tighter. The supposed frontrunner first got some serious competition from a leading lady few saw coming, while things started percolating for a foreign film hopeful at just the right time. Meanwhile, performances nominated elsewhere from the likes of Helen Mirren (“Hitchcock”) and Marion Cotillard (“Rust and Bone”) were left by the wayside.

The nominees are…

Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”)
Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”)
Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”)
Quvenzhané Wallis (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”)
Naomi Watts (“The Impossible”)

I wasn’t as shocked as most with Cotillard’s snub, and indeed, found it puzzling she kept reaping benefits while co-star Matthias Schoenaerts kept getting passed over. I had, however, hoped “Anna Karenina” star Keira Knightley might stir something up, because it was a great performance. Alas, it never happened.

While one young starlet was having the road to Oscar paved for her by the media after the Toronto Film Festival, the campaign behind Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty” was beginning to see an opening. And boy did they take it, as talk of the work started circulating before those first big press screenings in late November, and soon it was obvious why. And there was a narrative built in, about a strong-willed female protagonist in this era. She landed the lion’s share of the critics’ prizes, culminating in a Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. Then things started to level off, however, and now, oddly enough, it would be a bit of a surprise if she managed to win the Oscar.

Part of the reason that tapering-off occurred is that the media rediscovered Jennifer Lawrence as her film “Silver Linings Playbook” continued to expand in theatrical release. She showed up on “Saturday Night Live” (where, depending on whose opinion you get, she may have done more harm than good) and made lovely speeches at the SAG Awards (where she beat out Chastain) and Golden Globes (where she won in a comedy category devoid of Chastain). Indeed, Lawrence and Chastain have each won head-to-head twice in the serious precursors, but Lawrence — whose film is nominated for four acting awards — was chosen by her fellow thespians and otherwise has the most heat of the two at the moment. However…

…while the first time Chastain and Lawrence faced off with “Amour” star Emmanuelle Riva, Chastain walked away with a victory (at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards), the only time the trio has squared off in an industry awards race, it was Riva who came out on top (at the BAFTA Awards). Since the Oscar nominations announcement I have seen a clear line to victory for Riva, and admit there may be some bias involved (because really, how does any other performance in this category compare?), but not so much that it’s blinding. And it played out with the Brits. “Amour” is a film many Academy members were late to, but they had time to get there and given the measure of the breeze, as well as Sony Classics’ maximization of Riva’s availability, it could spell a great moment for the actress on her 86th birthday.

Quvenzhané Wallis has lit up the circuit since way back in the snow-blown days of Sundance 2012. “Beasts of the Southern Wild” hit like an A-bomb at the fest, was picked up by Fox Searchlight and survived all year long to land a number of key nominations. One of those was a surprising showing for Benh Zeitlin in the Best Director category. So there is passion for the film, and one wonders, frankly, with that slug-fest going on above, whether the vote could squeeze out a win for this 9-year-old. It would make her the youngest performer to ever win an Oscar, beating out Marlee Matlin’s 21 years by a longshot. It’s a pipe dream, but fun to consider.

So all of this means Naomi Watts, the lone representative at the Oscars for the film “The Impossible,” can probably just sit back and relax on the night of the 24th. However, take note: she has a LOT of support in Hollywood. She gave an incredible performance, one of physicality and emotional distress in a film that has lovers and haters. She had some heavy firepower in the nominations stage with big actors stumping for her and even got a shout-out on the People’s Choice Awards from Robert Downey Jr. But this will all just make for a fun scrapbook entry in the future, because the competition is too thick in this category for her to bring it on home. Right?

Will Win: Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”)
Could Win: Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”)
Should Win: Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”)
Should Have Been Here: Keira Knightley (“Anna Karenina”)

What are your thoughts on this nail-biter of a category? Are you going with the BFCA winner, the SAG winner or the BAFTA winner? Or are you anticipating a stunner? Have your say in the comments section below!

I am already having withdrawal symptoms from this year”s Oscar race. I don”t need to repeat the litany of reasons this has become a unique year in Oscar history. I”ve loved (almost) every minute of it. SO many categories are exceptionally tight races. The crafts categories are no exception and there are many below-the-line artists to cheer for this year.

I think the Oscar Guides have been superb this year, and I don”t mean to duplicate them, so I”ll try to cut to the chase as I give a final preview of the 10 crafts categories set to be awarded at Sunday’s 85th annual Academy Awards.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

An absolutely gorgeous Best Picture nominee with BFCA and BAFTA victories, it will be hard to deny “Life of Pi” and Claudio Miranda a victory, especially given the recent triumphs of 3D Best Picture nominees “Hugo” and “Avatar” in this category. This is an even more impressive feat behind the camera.

But Roger Deakins”s extraordinary lensing of “Skyfall” wowed virtually everybody, including his fellow cinematographers, who gave him his third ASC win. This masterful DP is on his 10th nomination without a win. If they were the only people voting, I”m guessing he”d triumph. But they aren”t.

Janusz Kaminski could well win a third Oscar one of these years but “Lincoln” would have had to have been a bigger player in the Best Picture race for it to be the one. Seamus McGarvey (“Anna Karenina”) and Robert Richardson (“Django Uncahined”) will also have to be content to enjoy the show.

Prediction: “Life of Pi” (alt. “Skyfall)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

CDG-, BFCA- and BAFTA-winning Jacqueline Durran looks poised for a win for her gorgeous period threads for “Anna Karenina.” But beauty and period wasn”t everything – the memorable use of colors and styles showed us quite a bit about the characters. The film may not be the most respected on the whole (not that it was critically maligned), but this category hasn”t minded going its own way in recent years. See: “The Young Victoria,” “The Duchess,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and “Marie Antoinette.”

If there is an upset, it will almost certainly be from “Les Misérables” outfitter Paco Delgado. This also is prestige, period work across many social classes. The film could upset in Best Production Design, to which this category used to be tied at the hip. But Durran seems such a likelier winner, and the two categories have actually gone in different directions in five of the past six years.

Joanna Johnston can celebrate finally being an Oscar nominee for “Lincoln” but as painstakingly detailed and effective as her work is, I can”t see it trumping the other gorgeous and showy films. AMPAS favorite Colleen Atwood is usually either firmly in the race for the win or a happy to be a nominee. She”s in the latter camp this year. It is lovely to see the late Eiko Ishioka get a final nomination for “Mirror Mirror,” but she”s not winning for a March-released children”s movie with no other nominations, posthumous guild award in the fantasy category or not.

Prediction: “Anna Karenina” (alt. “Les Misérables”)

BEST FILM EDITING

With BAFTA and ACE wins behind him, I think William Goldenberg will be very difficult to stop for his suspenseful cutting of “Argo.” Best Picture winners have a major advantage in this category by virtue of that status alone. Goldenberg”s editing fits the mold of a winner on top of that. This is probably just behind Best Visual Effects and Best Original Song in terms of locked up crafts categories.

Goldenberg’s principal competitor is likely himself for “Zero Dark Thirty,” which he co-edited with Dylan Tichenor. The early favorite/BFCA winner faded with the film but it has some of the showiest editing in it’s final act. “Showy” was enough for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” last year. But last year didn”t feature a film like “Argo” in contention.

“Lincoln” (Michael Kahn), “Life of Pi” (Tim Squyres) and “Silver Linings Playbook” (Jay Cassidy & Crispin Struthers) would need to be the beneficiaries of some sort of unexpectedly big night for their films. Not impossible, but not likely.

Prediction: “Argo” (alt. “Zero Dark Thirty”)

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

I”m sticking with my intuition from the Oscar Guide that “Les Mis” will ride its Best Picture nomination, and now BAFTA win, to a victory here. But it”s not a sure thing. Despite being period and featuring aging, it actually has the least “look-at-me” work of the three nominees. We”ll see what favors hairstyling does. And that”s normally bad news in this category.

I could easily see either the ode to old Hollywood that turned a famous star into a Hollywood icon (“Hitchcock”) or the fantasy movie with lots of monsters (“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”) winning. Both those tricks are Academy favorites.

Prediction: “Les Misérables” (alt. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”)

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

This is not an easy category, but I”m continuing to go with Mychael Danna largely for reasons I stated in my Oscar Guide. Like the cinematography and visual effects, music was key in building the mood for this film. And he”s won the Golden Globe, albeit just the Golden Globe. And being a newcomer in this insular category shows a lot in and of itself. A newbie usually wins when nominated.

But no one can be ruled out. Alexandre Desplat could triumph if “Argo” pulls a sweep of sorts. John Williams”s BFCA-winning “Lincoln” score may be subtle but I”ve remained convinced for years he”s got to win once more, no? And Dario Marianelli”s lush compositions for “Anna Karenina” surely demand the admiration of more ears than just mine.

However, it”s ultimately Thomas Newman, who I originally assumed was a filler nominee, who I”m guessing may have the best chance of pulling off an upset. The film”s music is obviously highlighted by Adele”s song. But Sam Mendes”s insistence on Newman”s work being featured is a nice bonus. Plus, surely some voters must know he”s on his 11th nomination without a victory? He”s already won a BAFTA.

Prediction: “Life of Pi” (alt. “Skyfall”)

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

I said basically everything that needed to be said in the Oscar Guide. Though maybe I didn”t say it succinctly enough: This is Adele”s. Big star, big hit, great song, easiest place to cite a clearly admired movie? She won”t lose.

Prediction: “Skyfall” from “Skyfall” (alt. n/a)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

BFCA and ADG winner “Anna Karenina” seems like a great bet: lush, period, foreign, noticeable. It also feels like the right time to award Sarah Greenwood. But is it losing steam? I fear so. While I remain confident that it will hold on in Best Costume Design, I feel less assured here.

Eve Stewart”s recent win at BAFTA for “Les Misérables””s very impressive sets could be a sign that momentum is shifting, or at the very least, an indication of how a wide body views this field. Stewart”s very noticeable period work is also the sort that usually does quite well in this category.

“Life of Pi””s fantastical creations are also a possibility (think of the categories that “Avatar” won), especially in light of its guild win in the fantasy category. But it just doesn”t seem right in the face of the two other nominees. But I”ve never understood the big deal about David Gropman”s work here.

“Lincoln””s painstaking detail is likely too subtle in the absence of a Best Picture victory. And “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is a just along for the ride.

Production: “Anna Karenina” (alt. “Les Misérables”)

BEST SOUND EDITING

It takes a special sort of cinephile to get truly excited about the race for Best Sound Editing. But I sure am. Of the 10 crafts categories, this is the most open in my view. This week alone, I”ve had three different films in my head as the projected victor.

Both “Argo” and especially “Life of Pi” are plausible winners. The former could benefit from a sweep overall while the latter could pull a “Hugo” mini-sweep in the crafts categories (it even has “Hugo””s sound editors!), especially with the effects created by the water and the animals. Kris made a very convincing case for it on Tuesday.

I do have a hunch – and I can”t explain it as any more than that – that Paul N.J. Ottosson could earn his third golden guy this year for “Zero Dark Thirty.” I admit this could be bias, but I found the sound effects stuck out in this film, in a good way. I had a similar hunch about “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” winning Best Film Editing last year and that panned out. And while AMPAS likely does not feel obliged to give the film a win, this is its best chance, in my opinion.

Instead, though, I”m going to go with my original intuition: “Skyfall.” A prestigious action flick sticks out in a category otherwise occupied by Best Picture contenders, but none of which have clearly established themselves as a favorite. It won a big prize at the MPSE Awards on Sunday, and the film is clearly respected. It fits the mold of a winner. I also continue to have a perverse intuition that the movie will win Best Original Song and Best Sound Editing, but lose its other three nominations, where Roger Deakins, Thomas Newman and Greg P. Russell have 37 nominations between them without a win. A more poetic reason to win, as the golden anniversary of Bond is celebrated, is that this franchise”s first win was in this category”s predecessor as “Goldfinger” won Best Sound Effects in 1964.

Finally, Wylie Stateman knows a thing or two about continual nominations without a win. He has more nominations than any other nominee this year (six), but he”s one of only two without a victory. (All eight nominees have been nominated before.) I think he”s least likely to win, alas.

Prediction: “Skyfall” (alt. “Zero Dark Thirty”)

BEST SOUND MIXING

I desperately want to predict Greg P. Russell to win this category for “Skyfall.” Not only do I think the mixing that he and Scott Millan created was the best of the nominees but this is the sort of prestigious action film that can triumph in this category (think “Inception” or “The Bourne Ultimatum”). The film is clearly respected in the industry beyond its crafts elements, which differs this title from many of the films for which Russell has been nominated before.

Alas, Russell knows what it”s like to lose to musicals (“Chicago,” “Ray,” “Dreamgirls”). “Les Misérables,” with a crew anchored by Andy Nelson, has already won the CAS and BAFTA awards. Plus, unlike most musicals, it features not only music – sung live at that – but also the noises of a failed revolution. Nelson is also nominated this year for “Lincoln,” the one film in this category to have no chance whatsoever of winning. But his one previous win (“Saving Private Ryan”) also came in a year when he was double-nominated (“The Thin Red Line”). Like William Goldenberg (the year”s other double-nominated crafts contender), Nelson looks likely to reach the winner”s circle.

Remember this, however: “Walk the Line” missed the win after winning both the CAS and BAFTA seven years ago, as did “King Kong,” a prestigious blockbuster from an Oscar-winning director at that!

“Argo” would need to benefit from the film sweeping. I don”t think that will happen. Does anyone really think this was the year”s best sound mix? But it”s possible. The wins of “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Last Emperor” (to go way back) spring to mind.  And “Life of Pi””s extraordinary water noises could lead it to a victory, especially if, as noted above, it accumulates a tally of wins similar to “Hugo.”

Prediction: “Les Misérables” (alt. “Skyfall”)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

See best Original Song, except moreso. Everything that needs to be said I said in the Oscar Guide for this category. In fact, I likely overstated the chances of the four nominees not titled “Life of Pi.”

Prediction: “Life of Pi” (alt. n/a)

Well that”s it. I don’t feel exceptionally confident in my predictions of the major categories this year and feel only slightly better about the crafts…I love it!

So, in summation: two categories (Best Original Song and Best Visual Effects) are locked with the key thrown away. Two more (Best Film Editing and Best Costume Design) may seem locked but I feel the key is around somewhere. Four (Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing and Best Production Design) have easily discernible favorites that I won”t bet against but I still have doubts. And then two more (Best Makeup and Hairstyling and especially Best Sound Editing) are COMPLETELY open.

What do you think? What are your predictions in the crafts fields? Your hopes? Your fears? Let us know below!

(Welcome to the Oscar Guide, your chaperone through the Academy”s 24 categories awarding excellence in film. A new installment will hit every weekday in the run-up to the Oscars on February 24, with the Best Picture finale on Friday, February 22.)

Down the stretch in phase one, and certainly once the nominees had been set in stone, an obvious Best Actor frontrunner emerged as maybe the safest bet on Oscar night. But the Best Actor race was competitive all season long in the nominations stage. A tight seven- or eight-horse race led to surprises here and there in the various precursor announcements, and even a slight one in the ultimate nominations announcement.

SAG nominee and expected contender John Hawkes (“The Sessions”) was left on the sidelines, but he joined hopefuls like Jean-Louis Trintignant (“Amour”), Anthony Hopkins (“Hitchcock”), as well as Golden Globe-nominee Richard Gere (“Arbitrage”) and BAFTA nominee Ben Affleck (“Argo”) on the outside. But the ultimate line-up featured the ill and the impaired, the criminal and the Presidential, as two Oscar virgins joined a trio nominated a collective 14 times over the years.

The nominees are…

Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook”)
Daniel Day-Lewis (“Lincoln”)
Hugh Jackman (“Les Misérables”)
Joaquin Phoenix (“The Master”)
Denzel Washington (“Flight”)

It’s strange that Trintignant was left out of this discussion for the most part despite his “Amour” co-star Emmanuelle Riva getting traction in, frankly, an equally competitive Best Actress category. My personal favorite lead actors had no shot this year, but it would have been nice to see the second half of that two-hander slide on in.

While “Silver Linings Playbook” didn’t land as smoothly for me as it did a great many other viewers and voters this year, I have always made it clear that Bradley Cooper caught my eye with his performance. Some might snark, “Yeah, but where was the bar?” And that’s fair, but he had a spark in that film we hadn’t seen before and it was impressive. Given how well-liked the film is over all, he probably ought to be seen as somehwat in the hunt for the Oscar. But the fact is there is the pack and then there is the frontrunner in this race.

So let’s get that frontrunner out of the way, shall we? (Just kidding. Alphabetical order did that.) Daniel Day-Lewis was the odds-on favorite for the prize before anyone laid eyes on a moving image of Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln.” It just made too much sense. The only thing that was holding the notion back was a record third lead actor Oscar to one guy, particularly five years after his last. Well, those notions went up in a puff as every potential competitor just slammed into Day-Lewis’s forcefield and fell in a heap at his feet as he took stage after stage to accept the inevitable this season. Clear a path, people.

One of the last hopefuls with a shot at toppling the king, er, President in the category was Hugh Jackman. But “Les Misérables” was, well, unevenly received, let’s say. And critics got their knocks in on Jackman as much as any other element of the film. Nevertheless, he weathered that storm, charmed his way through the circuit (though I’m not saying his performance didn’t do the work for this group — it absolutely did) and landed his first Oscar nomination for, in a sense, going back to his theatrical roots. He pulled off the Golden Globe win over Cooper, which I suppose automatically gives him a nose, but truth be told I think they’re both on even footing behind the big dog.

People had pretty much called it for “The Master” when the Screen Actors Guild failed to recognize supporting actress Amy Adams and lead actor Joaquin Phoenix. I always had a hunch this one would not play for the Academy, and it unfortunately panned out that way for the most part. But the actors branch stood up in the end for all three of its major hopefuls, including Phoenix, whose raw, charged portrayal has drawn praise and criticism in equal measure. That bit about calling the Oscar season “bullshit” might have stalled him for a spell, but he got here eventually.

Denzel Washington quietly broke an Oscar record this year when he received a Best Actor tip of the hat for his work in Robert Zemeckis’s “Flight.” He slid past Morgan Freeman as the African American with the most Academy Award nominations to date. And his sixth one came for a powerhouse movie star portrayal in a studio film. It wasn’t just a studio film, it was a mid-budget adult drama with a movie star and star director deferring their salary. The result was the kind of film we haven’t seen in a while and the industry and audiences took to it. Washington was always, it seemed, going to bear that torch on the circuit, but he was also joined by the project’s writer and, well, liver, John Gatins.

Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis (“Lincoln”)
Could Win: Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook”)
Should Win: Joaquin Phoenix (“The Master”)
Should Have Been Here: Denis Lavant (“Holy Motors”)

Is there any chance in hell of there being an upset in this category? Speak on that and your favorite Best Actor hopefuls from the year in the comments section below.

In case you were worried that this year’s Oscar ceremony won’t feature enough musical numbers — you know, besides the nominated songs, Barbra Streisand’s In Memoriam moment and the odd-sounding tribute to “Chicago,” “Dreamgirls” and “Les Mis” — you can breathe a sigh of relief. Apparently the show won’t conclude with the Best Picture presentation, but with a “special” song from Kristin Chenoweth and Seth MacFarlane that producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron claim will be “a can’t-miss moment.” (Of course, the producers who misguidedly chose to end the 2010 show with a children’s choir singing “Over the Rainbow” probably thought that too.) On the one hand, the Academy has definitely let go of the “young, hip Oscars” meme that failed so dismally a few years ago, and for that we’re grateful. But is this overkill? [The Vote] 

Melissa Silverstein raises a glass to the female filmmakers overlooked by Oscar this year, including Ava DuVernay and Sarah Polley — but where’s Andrea Arnold? [Women and Hollywood]

Melena Ryzik talks to Carol Leifer, who was worked on the writing team for seven previous Oscar ceremonies. [The Carpetbagger]

An argument you aren’t hearing much of on the internet this week: why “Argo” should win Best Picture. [The Guardian]

Kyle Buchanan, meanwhile, lines up the reasons why Ben Affleck’s film could still lose. [Vulture]

Jean Dujardin claims he’ll give a choice verbal signal, when presenting Best Actress, if Emmanuelle Riva has won. [The Film Experience]

More geeky acceptance speech analysis (hat-tip to Nathaniel Rogers for the link), as Rebecca Rolfe gets technical about recurring speech motifs. [Thank the Academy]

Amy Dawes chats to “Les Mis” lyricist Herbert Kretzmer about his Oscar-nominated new composition for the musical. [LA Times]

“Searching for Sugar Man” director (and probable Oscar winner) Malik Bendjelloul talks to Scott Feinberg about his long journey from Swedish television. [The Race]

For the first time ever, all five Best Supporting Actress nominees play mothers of onscreen children. This, and 15 other nifty trivia nuggets about this year’s race, courtesy of Joe Reid. [Film.com] 

There’s nothing like an imminent Oscar to remind previously indifferent observers just how vociferously they actually dislike a film. With Ben Affleck’s “Argo” four days away from an all-but-certain Best Picture win, it’s been the subject of far more takedown pieces and message-board ire than it appeared to merit upon its autumn release — back when you might have been forgiven simply for thinking it a tidily enjoyable little studio thriller.

Thanks to the Oscar race, we’ve since learned that “Argo” is at once so much more and less than that: it’s a blind signifier of western anti-Iranian sentiment, a jumped-up betrayal of a true story with an irresponsibly embroidered final act, a smug example of Hollywood self-mythologising and a slap in the face of Canada to boot. Much column ink (or the intangible online equivalent) has been spent on telling us what a grave mistake the Academy is heedlessly making or all these reasons, not to mention the formal limitations and alleged martyr complex of Affleck himself — whom we are repeatedly told is winning out of collective industry pity, as if the lack of a Best Director nod for a successful, handsome, moneyed Hollywood prince is a sob story that has moved voters en masse, despite their complete disregard for his film. 

The internet is expending at least as much last-minute energy on fruitlessly knocking the wind out of “Argo”‘s sails as it did a year ago on discrediting “The Artist,” a sweet-natured, anomalously postmodern silent-cinema pastiche seen by those outside the Oscar-watching business as a lovely curio, as something both cynical and generic — the kind of film, we were told with a sigh, that could hardly fail to win Best Picture, though a year on, its triumph looks ever more like a fanciful mirage. In the final week of Oscar voting, there’s nothing either more popular or less fashionable than a frontrunner — and the tangiest think-pieces don’t tend to be written on the subject of how right the Academy is getting things. (And yes, we’re as guilty as the next man.)

And yet, for the second year in a row, I find myself sitting out the protests, perfectly content with whatever well-meaning crimes the Academy is apparently about to commit. “Argo” is not, as “The Artist” uncoolly was last year, my favorite of the Best Picture nominees — it’d rank about fourth on my preferential ballot, had I one to cast — and yet my objections to its imminent win are as few as they are to the film itself. A witty, rousing mainstream entertainment that both knows and credits its audience, from a consistently expanding filmmaker whose last film I’d already likened to high-end Eastwood in its no-nonsense genre classicism — I’d be backpedalling considerably if I didn’t deem it good enough for Best Picture.

Is “good enough” good enough? Perhaps more willingly than I might have done a few years ago, I’m inclined to say yes, if only because this year’s flavorful, often contentious slate of nominees in the category offers no clear benchmark of what a Best Picture might be in this day and age, when modes of financing and production are as disparate as the audiences lining up at either their multiplex, arthouse or VOD queue.

Six of the nine nominees have now cleared the $100 million hurdle in the US, a significant figure that suggests a greater level of sympathy between the Academy and the regular moviegoer than has been evident in recent years. But the market is still large enough these days that there needn’t be a significant overlap between the pools of support for, say, “Django Unchained” and “Les Miserables.” Meanwhile, these audience hits can still look niche beside titans like “The Avengers,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Hunger Games” — under-felt franchise products which, neither coincidentally nor undeservedly, boast a single Oscar nomination between them. 

It’s been a common gripe in recent years — one that resulted in the now four-year-old expansion of the Best Picture category, a move that nonetheless seemed to benefit more fringe fare this year, including “Amour” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild” — that the Academy was voting too much for themselves, and not enough for their audience. Industry success, however, is now measured on a sufficiently sliding scale that voters can’t presume to know which audience they’re even obliged to vote for. That a film they like — for its sharpness of craft, for its pluckiness of spirit, for its celebration of their very own industry — also happens to be liked by a discernibly large proportion of the public for at least two of the same reasons is not a negligible confluence, whatever the preferences of less accepting tastemakers.

So “Argo” it is. My own vote would go to either “Zero Dark Thirty” or “Amour,” though I’d be hard pressed to explain why either film is more right for the Academy than “Argo”: many of us have grown up building, or at least idealizing, the Oscars in our own image, but they belong no more to us than they do to the average “Twilight” fanatic. The winners list is a continually morphing reflection of how the industry has seen itself through times thick and thin, which makes even their purported “mistakes” — from “Driving Miss Daisy” to “The Greatest Show on Earth” — interesting and non-refundable, though we obviously prefer them to alight on good films along the way.

Critics routinely talk of how this Oscar choice or that will look in years to come, but quite aside from the fact that hindsight is, by definition, bloody hard to forecast — “Dances With Wolves” seemed like a very big deal in 1990, and not just in awards terms — there’s much to be said for voting in a present-day mindset, and letting the time capsule form itself.

“Argo” may be a 1970s period piece, and revisionist history at that, but there’s no doubt an accent to its revisionism that will say something more politically, artistically or socially revealing about its advocates in 20 years’ time than it does now — perhaps for some of the reasons being used against it in the shrill pre-Oscar screeds currently peppering the blogosphere, though many of those complaints might date as much as the film, if not more so. It probably won’t seem like the best choice voters had available to them. It doesn’t right now. With any luck, though, it’ll still seem good enough.      

Check out my updated predictions HERE and, as always, see how Kris Tapley, Greg Ellwood and I collectively think the season will turn out at THE CONTENDERS. Meanwhile, look out for tomorrow’s piece featuring our collected final predictions.

(Welcome to the Oscar Guide, your chaperone through the Academy”s 24 categories awarding excellence in film. A new installment will hit every weekday in the run-up to the Oscars on February 24, with the Best Picture finale on Friday, February 22.) 

Best Costume Design is one Oscar category for which I have particular affection — partly because I find the discipline itself so interesting, but largely because it’s arguably the most forgiving and open-minded of all the Academy’s below-the-line races. Whereas most other branches allow their voting to be at least partially dictated by their feelings for the films in question, the Academy’s costume designers routinely focus on the craft itself, regardless of the surrounding vehicle. You can rely on this category to single out remarkable costume work in films otherwise forgotten by Oscar, from outright bombs (“W.E.,” “Across the Universe”) to arthouse outsiders (“Bright Star,” “I Am Love”), and for that we should all be grateful.

When it comes to the award itself, however, things tend to get markedly more predictable, as the winner often seems to be determined by the sheer number corsets, ruffles and hoop skirts filling every frame. Last year’s win for the sleek, monochrome 1920s Hollywood fashions in “The Artist” was a relatively atypical one, presumably assisted by the film’s Best Picture momentum, but this year promises a return to colorful, aristocracy-based period spectacle, unless one of the category’s two outliers — both, coincidentally enough, based on the same storybook classic — proves a spoiler.   

The nominees are…

“Anna Karenina” (Jacqueline Durran)
“Lincoln” (Joanna Johnston)
“Mirror Mirror” (Eiko Ishioka)
“Les Misérables” (Paco Delgado)
“Snow White and the Huntsman” (Colleen Atwood)

As usual, period and fantasy fare rule the category, and when I say “period,” I mean “pre-20th century”: it’s no coincidence that the two films from the Guild’s period field that failed to make the cut, despite highly specific, evocative threads, were “Argo” and “Moonrise Kingdom.” Even less likely to be noticed by voters amid all this spectacle were reigning champ Mark Bridges’ impeccably tailored vision of post-war America in “The Master” and Caroline Eselin’s aptly garish collage of late-60s kitsch in “The Paperboy.” Contemporary design, meanwhile, is once again a no-go in this category: the Guild singled out “Skyfall,” but how much fun would it be to see “21 Jump Street” in the mix? 

As with the production design category, this is a race I called for “Anna Karenina” way back in August, and with Jacqueline Durran having now claimed the BAFTA and Costume Designers’ Guild awards, there’s no reason to switch (clothes)horses now. This is Durran’s third nomination for a Joe Wright film, and many think she holds an Oscar IOU from her second, when her elegant “Atonement” wardrobe, including that green dress, lost out to the royalty porn of “Elizabeth 2: Armed and Fabulous.” There, Durran fell foul of the generally reliable “frilliest always wins” rule, which this time works in her favor: her gorgeous creations for this lavish Tolstoy adaptation are arguably the most ostentatious of the nominees, cleverly blending 19th-century Russian aristocracy garb with 1950s couture accents that identify its protagonist as both a social and stylistic iconoclast. One of her “Karenina” gowns has already been displayed in London’s V&A Musuem — they’re that gawk-worthy.   

British-born designer Joanna Johnston has been working in the industry for 25 years now, racking up credits such as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?,” “Forrest Gump,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “War Horse,” but she hasn’t been nominated by the Academy until now. Unsurprisingly, it’s another of her Steven Spielberg collaborations, “Lincoln,” that did the trick — though I wonder if she would have got the nod if the presidential biopic hadn’t been such a juggernaut in the first phase of voting. It’s fine, deceptively detailed work — look at the attention paid to characterizing individual men’s cuffs, for example — but voters don’t make a habit of recognizing male-dominated period pieces in this category, and the wintery assembly of sombre robes and stovepipe hats here will probably strike many as too drab for the win, however authentic. Interestingly, no Spielberg film has ever won in this category — this is the sixth to be nominated — and I don’t expect that to change on Sunday.

On to the first, and fairer, of our two Snow Whites in the field. Regular readers will know that I’ve been stumping for “Mirror Mirror” in this category since March last year, and not just out of sentimental regard for the late designer Eiko Ishioka, who passed away months before Tarsem Singh’s color-splashed fairytale adaptation hit screens. Ishioka was a unique talent, whose one previous Oscar nomination and win for “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” remains a high point in the category’s history, but she saved her wildest ideas for her four collaborations with Tarsem — all of which deserved recognition for their costumes, though this is the first one to do so. Drawing on multiple periods and cultural influences, from rococo to samurai, with some individual flights of fancy in between (the animal-themed ball is a particular highlight), this is arguably the most creative work in the field, and deservedly won the Guild’s fantasy film award last night. But how many voters outside the branch saw this early, not especially acclaimed, release?  

The least familiar name in the lineup — to Hollywood, at least — is Spain’s Paco Delgado, who worked exclusively in his native industry, collaborating with the likes of Almodovar and Iñárritu, before landing his first international assignment. And not just any assignment: “Les Misérables.” An unexpected choice to clothe this epic musical set in 19th-century France, he brings a lightly stylized approach to the table, studding the film’s gray streetwear with stray, often boldly clashing, jabs of color that recall his flamboyant Spanish work: think the purple of Valjean’s mayoral cloak against the scarlet of prostitute Fantine’s, er, business attire. Interestingly, it’s often the men’s costumes, from Marius’s extravagant cravats to Javert’s high-end Cap’n Crunch uniform, that pop more than the women’s. It’s not quite the lavish sartorial spectacular other designers might have made of the material, and it may look a little dusty for many voters’ tastes, but the film can’t be underestimated in any of its below-the-line races. (Fun fact: Delgado just won a Goya Award for his own Snow White duds, in Spanish Oscar submission “Blancanieves.”)   

Another fun fact, courtesy of Nathaniel Rogers: branch favorite Colleen Atwood may have three Oscars, but she only wins when she’s up against another three-time winner, Sandy Powell, and vice versa. Atwood isn’t competing against Powell this time, but that’s not the only reason she’s a long shot for “Snow White and the Huntsman,” despite her striking work in it. As different from the category’s other Snow White interpretation as chalk is from cheese, Atwood racked up her tenth nomination for her blend of sculptural couture and rough-and-ready battle garb in this dark, Gothic-tinged take on the fairytale. As Wicked Queen figure Ravenna, who seemingly never favors silk when steel and porcupine quills will do, Charlize Theron was seemingly Atwood’s chief muse on this project, and her succession of industrial-glam gowns are fascinating to behold in an experimental Project Runway sense — but I can’t see the film inspiring much enthusiasm from voters, and the Guild evidently preferred the prettier fairytale wardrobe.  

Will win: “Anna Karenina”
Could win: “Mirror Mirror”
Should win: “Mirror Mirror”
Should have been here: “The Paperboy”

Does “Anna Karenina” have this one in the bag? Or could she be foiled by Snow White? And if so, which one? Tell us in the comments!

Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” led the way with nine nominations for the 39th annual Saturn Awards, recognizing the best in genre filmmaking. It picked up nods in the Best Fantasy Film and Best Director categories, among others. Not far behind were Ang Lee’s Oscar nominee “Life of Pi” with eight and Sam Mendes’s James Bon actioner “Skyfall” with seven.

Marvel’s “The Avengers” also had a strong showing, while Oscar nominees Hugh Jackman, Jessica Chastain, Quevenzhané Wallis, Naomi Watts, Christoph Waltz and Anne Hathaway were cited in the performance categories. Jennifer Lawrence was also nominated, for her work in “The Hunger Games.”

Among studios, Warner Bros. received the most mentions with 23, owed plenty to its genre  entries “Cloud Atlas,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Hobbit.” The studio also landed a single nomination for presumed Best Picture winner “Argo,” in the Best Horror/Thriller Category.

The awards will be presented in June. Check out the full list of film nominees below. Everything else, as ever, at The Circuit.

Best Science Fiction Film
“The Avengers”
“Chronicle”
“Cloud Atlas”
“The Hunger Games”
“Looper”
“Prometheus”

Best Fantasy Film
“The Amazing Spider-Man”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Life of Pi”
“Ruby Sparks”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
“Ted”

Best Horror/Thriller Film
“Argo”
“The Cabin in the Woods”
“The Impossible”
“Seven Psychopaths”
“The Woman in Black”
“Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Action/Adventure Film
“The Bourne Legacy”
“The Dark Knight Rises”
“Django Unchained”
“Les Misérables”
“Skyfall”
“Taken 2”

Best Independent Film Release
“Hitchcock”
“Killer Joe”
“The Paperboy”
“Robot and Frank”
“Safety Not Guaranteed”
“Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”

Best International Film
“Anna Karenina”
“Chicken with Plums”
“The Fairy”
“Headhunters”
“My Way”
“Pusher”

Best Animated Film
“Brave”
“Frankenweenie”
“ParaNorman”
“Wreck-It Ralph”

Best Actor
Christian Bale, “The Dark Knight Rises”
Daniel Craig, “Skyfall”
Martin Freeman, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Hugh Jackman, “Les Misérables”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “Looper”
Mathew McConaughey, “Killer Joe”

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Ann Dowd, “Compliance”
Zoe Kazan, “Ruby Sparks”
Jennifer Lawrence, “The Hunger Games”
Helen Mirren, “Hitchcock”
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, “Skyfall”
Michael Fassbender, “Prometheus”
Clark Gregg, “The Avengers”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “The Dark Knight Rises”
Ian McKellen, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained”

Best Supporting Actress
Judi Dench, “Skyfall”
Gina Gershon, “Killer Joe”
Anne Hathaway, “The Dark Knight Rises”
Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”
Nicole Kidman, “The Paperboy”
Charlize Theron, “Snow White and the Huntsman”

Best Performance by a Younger Actor
CJ Adams, “The Odd Life of Timothy Green”
Tom Holland, “The Impossible”
Daniel Huttlestone, “Les Misérables”
Chloe Grace Moretz, “Dark Shadows”
Suraj Sharma, “Life of Pi”
Quvenzhané Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

Best Direction
William Friedkin, “Killer Joe”
Peter Jackson, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Rian Johnson, “Looper”
Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight Rises”
Joss Whedon, “The Avengers”

Best Writing
“The Avengers”
“The Cabin in the Woods”
“Django Unchained”
“Killer Joe”
“Life of Pi”
“Seven Psychopaths”

Best Production Design
“Anna Karenina”
“Cloud Atlas”
“Dark Shadows”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Les Misérables”
“Life of Pi”

Best Editing
“The Avengers”
“The Bourne Legacy”
“Cloud Atlas”
“Life of Pi”
“Looper”
“Skyfall”

Best Music
“Anna Karenina”
“The Dark Knight Rises”
“Frankenweenie”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Life of Pi”
“Skyfall”

Best Costume
“Anna Karenina”
“Cloud Atlas”
“Django Unchained”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Les Misérables”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”

Best Makeup
“Cloud Atlas”
“Hitchcock”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“The Impossible”
“Skyfall”
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2”

Best Special Effects
“The Avengers”
“Battleship”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“John Carter”
“Life of Pi”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”

(Welcome to the Oscar Guide, your chaperone through the Academy”s 24 categories awarding excellence in film. A new installment will hit every weekday in the run-up to the Oscars on February 24, with the Best Picture finale on Friday, February 22.)

Best Art Direction was one of two Oscar categories to get rechristened last year: from here on out, it’ll go by the rather more imposing-sounding Best Production Design. It was a long-overdue change, really, given that the award includes production designers and set decorators among its nominees… but not, funnily enough, art directors. Go figure.

The name may be new, but this year’s slate of Best Production Design nominees otherwise finds the award on familiar ground, offering voters a choice between period spectacle and fantasy spectacle — though none of it in films too far outside the Academy’s comfort zone. (Three of the nominees are also up for Best Picture.) Compounding the sense of familiarity: all but two of the 11 names cited have been to the dance before, while one of the nominated films adjoins a franchise previously rewarded in this category. In recent years, the Academy has often opted for films that combine fantasy and period elements, with expensive, effects-heavy productions winning out for the last few years running. Still, this year’s field offers more traditionalist voters a couple of attractive handmade options. 

The nominees are…

“Anna Karenina” (Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer)
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” (Dan Hennah; Ra Vincent, Simon Bright)
“Life of Pi” (David Gropman; Anna Pinnock)
“Lincoln” (Rick Carter; Jim Erickson)
“Les Misérables” (Eve Stewart; Anna Lynch-Robinson)

The design branch didn’t spring any real surprises in the nominations, with all five nominees also being tapped by the Art Directors’ Guild (three in the period category, two in fantasy). It would have been nice to see BAFTA nominee and eventual ADG winner “Skyfall” make the list, if only because smart contemporary work routinely, and unfairly, gets short shrift in this category. Still, the omission that bothers me most is another period piece. We all knew “The Master” hadn’t really taken hold with the Academy, but its absence from all below-the-line fields is regrettable: to my mind, industry veteran Jack Fisk deserves the trophy for the film’s department store sequence alone.

When I first saw Joe Wright’s sumptuously tricked-out redesign of “Anna Karenina” back in early August, I doubted the film would be a major Oscar player, but thought the costume and production design awards were immediately spoken for. Over six months later, the film is, if by no means a dead cert, a major contender in this category, having already taken the Art Directors Guild Award (in the period category) and, for whatever it’s worth, the BFCA Award. (The Oscar has gone to an ADG winner in 10 out of 16 years, so that’s an encouraging omen, but no guarantee.) This is Greenwood and Spencer’s fourth nod, and their third for a Wright film, but their elaborate theatrical conception for this audaciously stylized adaptation — blurring notions of interior and exterior, as sets cleverly fold out of and into each other like moving dioramas — is their finest work to date. It’s also the most plushly “pretty” of the five nominees, which can make a difference in this category. 

While Tolkienites salivated, most awards pundits were guarded about the Oscar prospects of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” — yes, Peter Jackson was returning to a story world that won 17 Oscars from 30 nominations in the early 2000s, but would voters feel they’d been there and done that? With just three below-the-line nods for this new franchise-starter, it seems they did. Still, the production designers (who nominated all three “Lord of the Rings” films, with the third taking the gold) remained loyal to Dan Hennah — a set decorator on the previous films, taking over from Grant Major as chief designer. Though not always flattered by the film’s divisive 48fps technology, it’s work that’s often wondrous, but also familiar — from the cosiness of the Shire to the cliff-clinging Elven kingdom, we’ve seen many of these fantastical environments before, which leads me to regard this nomination as little more than a tip of the hat.  

The film that beat “The Hobbit” in the fantasy category at the Art Directors Guild Awards is, at first glance, rather less ornate. Indeed, it’s easy to imagine a layman watching “Life of Pi,” which is set chiefly on a single lifeboat surrounded by water, and wondering where the production design even is. Look past the illusion, of course, and Ang Lee’s film is art-directed to an extraordinary degree: from its many luminous seascapes to that eerie meerkat island, most of the film’s “natural” environments are as digitally designed as Richard Parker himself. The efforts of David Gropman (a former nominee for “The Cider House Rules”) also extend to more old-school work in the colorfully built Pondicherry locale of the film’s opening stretches. The Academy has been open to digitally-assisted work in this category, and with “Pi” set to take a number of technical awards, this could well be one of them. Interesting trivia note: set decorator Anna Pinnock, previously nominated for “Gosford Park” and “The Golden Compass,” also worked on contemporary ADG winner “Skyfall.”

Someone who recently benefited from voters’ digital-friendly approach to this category is four-time nominee Rick Carter, who won his only Oscar to date for “Avatar.” He couldn’t be working in a more different mode, however, on Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” where his cramped, almost tangibly dank period interiors contribute greatly to the film’s non-Hollywood sobriety and historical fastidiousness — all creaking wood and dusty crannies, with little of the burnished romance he brought to last year’s nominated work on Spielberg’s “War Horse,” Carter puts the “chamber” into this unapologetic chamber drama. It’s the kind of impressive but unshowy feat of design that could win if “Lincoln” was poised for a sweep, but viewers rarely respond to work this drab in isolation. With the leading nominee’s fortunes fading, it’s unlikely to be singled out in this particular category.

BAFTA threw a bit of a curveball by honoring a film that hadn’t previously won any awards in this category, “Les Misérables” — for which British production designer Eve Stewart, last nominated for Tom Hooper’s previous film “The King’s Speech,” picked up her third Oscar nod. It’s easy to see why many might vote for the epic musical set in 19th-century France, with its FX-enhanced galleons, mountaintop churches and Parisian street barricades, but I personally have significant reservations about the work — and not only because Hooper’s claustrophobic shooting style doesn’t show it off to its best advantage. Perhaps in tribute to the stage show, there’s a level of artifice to the film’s depiction of urban decay, but I found the digital applications on many of the sets distancing. Stewart could well win on general heft, but there are more artful choices here.     

Will win: “Anna Karenina”
Could win: “Life of Pi”
Should win: “Anna Karenina”
Should have been here: “The Master”

Will “Anna Karenina” waltz past a formidable trio of Best Picture contenders? Could voters in this category fancy a return to Middle Earth? Tell us in the comments!

This Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony with be the 85th in history — an auspicious number, and a “wine anniversary” if you go according to the traditional gift list. (Appropriate, too: I think we could all use a drink now.) But you won’t find any mention of that in the show’s official marketing this year, which has erased the phrase “85th Academy Awards” in favor of the simpler, more casual-sounding “The Oscars.” Steve Pond reports that producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron chose to rebrand the show in this fashion to give it a younger appearance: “We’re not calling it ‘the 85th annual Academy Awards,’ which keeps it mired somewhat in a musty way,” says Meron. Personally, I think the number lends proceedings a sense of authority rather than mustiness, but I can’t see it making much difference either way. An AMPAS spokesperson, meanwhile, says the change isn’t necessarily permanent. [The Wrap]  

Sticking with our friend Steve Pond, he reviews the closing campaign messages the various Best Picture players are choosing to send, as a very expensive season comes to an end. [The Wrap]

Joe Reid lists the 12 best acceptance speeches in Oscar history. I am in so much agreement with so much of this. [Film.com]

Tom Shone, meanwhile, celebrates the Oscar acceptance speech as a disturbing “journey into the innermost recesses of the psyche.” [The Guardian] 

Here’s a perspective on the Oscars you don’t hear every day — that of AMPAS’s lawyers, who’ve dealt with everything from ceremony script approval to foreign film disqualification. [SuperLawyers] 

This is fun: a graphic breakdown of how scenes from five Best Picture nominees were filleted and rearranged in their trailers. [New York Times] 

Margaret Heidenry examines the outlook for spec screenwriters in a Hollywood currently fat with franchises and adaptations. [Vanity Fair]

How “Zero Dark Thirty,” which once looked like such a formidable Oscar threat, took an unfortunate turn to also-ran status. [LA Times] 

Michael Koresky takes a lovely look back at Emmanuelle Riva’s career-making performance in “Hiroshima, Mon Amour” 53 years ago. [Criterion]

Jon Weisman looks at what’s next for the Academy once the dust settles on this year’s awards, with a new president and a new ceremony date among the most pressing items on the agenda. [Variety]

“Emad Burnat, Palestinian director of Oscar nominated ‘5 Broken Cameras,’ was held tonight by immigration at LAX as he landed to attend the Oscars,” documentary filmmaker and Academy branch governor Michael Moore Tweeted to his 1.4 million followers this evening. “Emad, his wife and 8-year-old son were placed in a holding area and told they didn’t have the proper invitation on them to attend the Oscars.”

According to Moore, Burnat texted him for help after being detained. “Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn’t understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee,” Moore continued. “I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone number and to say my name a couple of times.”

Moore also stated that Burnat’s producing the Oscar invitation “wasn’t good enough” and that the nominee was being threatened with deportation.

“He was certain they were going to deport him,” Moore said. “But not if I had anything to do about it…After one and a half hours, they decided to release him and his family and told him he could stay in LA for the week and go to the Oscars. Welcome to America.”

Burnat’s film, which he co-directed with Israeli Guy Davidi, is the first Palestinian documentary ever nominated for an Oscar. It is the result of Burnat’s coverage of peaceful Palestinian protests in a small village in the West Bank that frequently turn into physical altercations with Israeli soldiers.

Moore said Burnat later told him, “It’s nothing I’m not used to…When you live under occupation, with no rights, this is a daily occurrence.”

So consider it a bumpy start indeed for what should have been a fun week in Southern California basking in the glow of awards recognition.

“5 Broken Cameras” earned the Cinema Eye Honor in January for non-fiction filmmaking.

The 85th Academy Awards will be held this Sunday.

UPDATE: Emad Burnat has released the following statement:

“Last night, on my way from Turkey to Los Angeles, CA, my family and I were held at US immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States. Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award® for the documentary 5 BROKEN CAMERAS and they told me that if I couldn’t prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day.

“After 40 minutes of questions and answers, Gibreel asked me why we were still waiting in that small room. I simply told him the truth: ‘Maybe we’ll have to go back.’ I could see his heart sink.

“Although this was an unpleasant experience, this is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, every single day, throughout [t]he West Bank. There are more than 500 Israeli checkpoints, roadblocks, and other barriers to movement across our land, and not a single one of us has been spared the experience that my family and I experienced yesterday. Ours was a very minor example of what my people face every day.”

It was a big year for the costumers. They finally broke away from the art department folks in the designers branch to have their very own branch in the Academy. And this evening, the Costume Designers Guild put a bow on the industry awards circuit by being the final such group to present superlatives for 2012 in advance of this weekend’s Independent Spirit Awards and the 85th annual Oscars.

The 15th annual ceremony saw “Skyfall” crowned in the contemporary category, “Anna Karenina” in the period field and “Mirror Mirror” (outfitted by the late Eiko Ishioka) in the fantasy department.

The Oscar race for Best Costume Design, meanwhile, features “Anna Karenina,” “Les Misérables,” “Lincoln,” “Mirror Mirror” and “Snow White and the Huntsman.” The favorite to win, if you go by the awards pundits, is “Anna Karenina.”

We’ll see what Guy Lodge has to say about all of that in tomorrow’s Oscar Guide on the category.

Check out the full list of Costume Designers Guild Award winners below. And as always, keep track of everything that’s happened along the way via The Circuit.

Excellence in Contemporary Film
“Skyfall” (Jany Temime)

Excellence in Period Film
“Anna Karenina” (Jacqueline Durran)

Excellence in Fantasy Film
“Mirror Mirror” (Eiko Ishioka

Outstanding Contemporary Television Series
“Smash” (Molly Maginnis)

Outstanding Period/Fantasy Television Series
“Downton Abbey” (Carolina McCall)

Outstanding Made for Television Movie/Mini-Series
“American Horror Story: Asylum” (Lou Eyrich)

Excellence in Commercial Costume Design
“Captain Morgan Black” (Judianna Makovsky)

Career Achievement Award
Eduardo Castro
Judianna Makovsky

LACOSTE Spotlight Award
Anne Hathaway

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” is still in the conversation at the end of the season because the actors stuck up for it in three key races. But the masterful 70mm effort will live on beyond this year, of course, as everything Anderson has put out into the world has.

My journey with the film has been an interesting one. I knew when I emerged from the Ziegfeld Theatre premiere here in New York that it wasn’t going to be a Best Picture nominee. I also knew that didn’t matter one bit because there was something lurking in that big, bold mixture that was speaking to me. A handful of revisits solidified it for me as one of the 10 best films of 2012.

While we wait to see if any of its actors has a shot at shocking the world on Oscar night, the film will be making it’s way to the home market a week from today and we have an opportunity for you to win a copy of the Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD for yourself. We have two copies, in fact. It’s been a while since we’ve run a contest so let’s remedy that!

Special features include: “Back Beyond,” which features outtakes and additional scenes edited to music by Johnny Greenwood; “Unguided Message,” an 8 minute short / behind the scenes; teasers and trailers. The Combo Pack also includes an additional special feature, “Let Their Be Light” (1946), John Huston’s landmark documentary about WWII veterans.

All of the contest details are below, but to reiterate two things, the contest is only open to residents in the US and no P.O. Boxes can be accepted. And remember, you earn more entries by sharing via Twitter, Facebook, etc., so sharing is not only caring, but it’s winning, too!

Good news for younger Broadway geeks who never got to see “Les Misérables” before it disappeared from New York stages in 2007, and have had their appetites whetted by Tom Hooper’s film: the blockbuster musical is returning to the Great White Way next year. The 25th anniversary touring production that’s been touring the US for a while now will settlle into a Broadway theater in spring 2014, a development presumably facilitated by the film’s popularity. (Dates, venues and casting have yet to specified.)

On London’s West End, where “Les Mis” is now in the 28th year of its run, the show has never stopped being a hot ticket — albeit for tourists more than anyone else — but apparently even its routinely robust box office has intensified since the film’s release. Even Londoners are going to see it, I’m told, which probably hasn’t happened in significant numbers since the 1980s.

As Variety’s Gordon Cox reports, it wouldn’t be the first stage musical to piggyback on the performance of its screen adaptation: the seemingly deathless “Chicago” was given extra longevity by the success of 2002’s Oscar-winning film adaptation. Even a flop film like “Phantom of the Opera” gave a renewed boost to its stage source.

These days, of course, the stage musical scene is all but impossible to disentangle from the movies. The stage-to-screen path of “Les Mis” looks relatively old-fashioned in an age where more and more musicals are flipping the dynamic and basing themselves on films: “Ghost,” “Legally Blonde,” “Shrek,” and so on. Then there are those, like “Hairspray” and “The Producers,” that follow the screen-to-stage-and-back-to-screen trajectory. “Les Misérables” is among the few surviving global theater brands that doesn’t need a movie connection to sell it, but it has one now — and considering how many viewers have come to the film with no prior acquaintance with the material, that’s a powerful bonus.

It’ll be interesting to see if future stagings of “Les Mis” bear any imprint of Hooper’s film treatment, in terms of design, structure or performance. (One hopes they won’t feel the need to add dreary new song “Suddenly” to the original score.) She probably has more tempting offers on her plate, but it’d be sweet to see Samantha Barks, the TV reality star who honed her chops as Eponine in the 25th anniversary production in London, return the character to the stage.

As I mentioned in my review, I remain a fan of the show, in all its earnest, eternally unfashionable glory — as a teenaged visitor to London, it was the first West End show I ever saw, and I was swept up in its combination of stagy intimacy and stylized sweep. It seems the most cinematic of musicals, but I wonder if the stage might actually be the best place for its sung-through grandiosity. I have no desire ever to see the film again, but I’d happily hear the people sing once more on Broadway. How about you?

As we push on through the final week of the 2012-2013 film awards season, here’s a look back at our chats with the lucky artists who heard their names called on January 10.

We ended up talking to an even 50 Oscar nominees throughout the season, with every single feature category represented. Some came before the nominations were announced, some came after, when this or that person was bathing in the afterglow of the recognition.

The interviews were conducted by yours truly, Guy Lodge, Gerard Kennedy, Greg Ellwood, Drew McWeeny, Dan Fienberg, and even our music mavens, Melinda Newman and Katie Hasty. So dig back in and read the various contenders’ thoughts on their work and the season via the links below.

BEST PICTURE
Ben Affleck, “Argo”
Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”

BEST DIRECTOR
Michael Haneke, “Amour”
Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”

BEST ACTOR
Hugh Jackman, “Les Misérables”
Denzel Washington, “Flight”

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, “Argo”
Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “The Master”
Sally Field, “Lincoln”
Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”
Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Chris Terrio, “Argo”
Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michael Haneke, “Amour”
John Gatins, “Flight”
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola “Moonrise Kingdom”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Seamus McGarvey, “Anna Karenina”
Claudio Miranda, “Life of Pi”
Janusz Kaminski, “Lincoln”
Roger Deakins, “Skyfall”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Jacqueline Durran, “Anna Karenina”
Colleen Atwood, “Snow White and the Huntsman”

BEST FILM EDITING
William Goldenberg, “Argo”
Jay Cassidy & Crispin Struthers, “Silver Linings Playbook”
William Goldenberg, “Zero Dark Thirty”

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Howard Berger, “Hitchcock”

BEST MUSIC – ORIGINAL SONG
Mychael Danna, “Life of Pi”
Paul Epworth, “Skyfall”
Seth MacFarlane, “Ted”

BEST MUSIC – ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, “Argo”
Mychael Danna, “Life of Pi”
Thomas Newman, “Skyfall”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, “Anna Karenina”
Rick Carter, “Lincoln”

BEST SOUND EDITING
Wylie Stateman, “Django Unchained”
Paul N.J. Ottosson, “Zero Dark Thirty”

BEST SOUND MIXING
Greg P. Russell, “Skyfall”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Jeff White, “The Avengers”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Mark Andrews, “Brave”
Tim Burton, “Frankenweenie”
Rich Moore, “Wreck-It Ralph”
Sam Fell and Chris Butler, “ParaNorman”
Peter Lord, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Michael Haneke, “Amour”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
David France, “How to Survive a Plague”

(Welcome to the Oscar Guide, your chaperone through the Academy”s 24 categories awarding excellence in film. A new installment will hit every weekday in the run-up to the Oscars on February 24, with the Best Picture finale on Friday, February 22.)

Along with Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound Editing might be one of the toughest races to call on Oscar night. The ultimate line-up was a 3/5 match-up with Best Sound Mixing, which isn’t uncommon. And the presence of so many Best Picture players is becoming less and less unique as well. But this year in particular, it would seem the race could go a number of ways.

What’s worse, the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Awards did very little to clear things up, splitting its wins between the top two contenders. And nevertheless, the sound editors’ choices won’t necessarily equal the Academy’s. The Best Picture frontrunner is right there in this category, tempting votes from those who will want to see it show up strong on Oscar night.

The nominees are…

“Argo” (Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn)
“Django Unchained” (Wylie Stateman)
“Life of Pi” (Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton)
“Skyfall” (Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers)
“Zero Dark Thirty” (Paul N.J. Ottosson)

These were mostly some top notch choices from the branch this year. I might have, as ever, liked to see some venturing out into genre territory that can yield unexpected results, though. The two films nominated for Best Sound Mixing that didn’t show up here were “Les Misérables” and “Lincoln.”

As noted in the sound mixing Oscar Guide, “Argo” could easily surprise with a win here or there. It is, after all, the frontrunning Best Picture contender, and whether it is overly recognized for its sound design is beside the point. The Academy at large tends to just pick its favorite film of the bunch. That same thing played out last year when “Hugo” won over more overtly sound-heavy experiences like “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (featuring the work of “Argo” nominees Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn) and “War Horse.” But “Argo” doesn’t strike anyone as the sort of film that sweeps on through the categories…or does it?

I would personally love to see “Django Unchained” pull off an upset here as Wylie Stateman’s crackling work on the revisionist western was an experience unto itself. He’s also been nominated six times now without walking away a winner, so that would be nice to see. But it’s hard to really gauge how much the Academy really loves the film, or at least, whether their love could translate to a category like this. Nevertheless, those who do love it have precious few places to chalk it up for some love, and this would be one of them.

Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton won this category last year for “Hugo,” a bit of a surprise honestly given the aforementioned presence of bigger sound plays. They’re on “Life of Pi” this time around, which picked up two MPSE wins (the most of any feature) and could be seen as the default second place among the Best Picture films nominated in the category. The sound was absolutely key to the film, as whole stretches are dependent on the aural atmosphere. I would give it the slightest of edges right now, and it could frankly win in both sound categories if “Les Misérables” doesn’t end up having the sound mixing vote locked down.

“Life of Pi” seemed ready to sweep the Golden Reel Awards Sunday night but at the last minute, the most coveted prize of the lot (for sound effects and foley) ended up going to the “Skyfall” team, sending this race into a real tailspin. This is, after all, a $1 billion-grossing endeavor that has been considered a bold re-imagining of a series on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. A tribute is lined-up for the show. Surely the film will win SOMETHING, right? But where will voters make their voices heard on it? Will the expected original song victory be considered enough? Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers won this category in 2007 for “The Bourne Ultimatum,” which took both sound categories and has been seen as a similar case study.

Finally, there’s “Zero Dark Thirty,” which, after picking up a Cinema Audio Society nomination, was ultimately skipped over in Best Sound Mixing and was just shortlisted here for Paul N.J. Ottosson (who served as both re-recording mixer and sound editor on the film). Three years ago he walked away with a pair of trophies in those disciplines for Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” but this time around, the film hasn’t been as widely accepted. Indeed, a dose of controversy has kept any flames of momentum doused along the way. After walking away from the MPSE Awards empty-handed like “Django Unchained,” it would appear this one is just happy to be nominated.

Will Win: “Life of Pi”
Could Win: “Argo”
Should Win: “Django Unchained”
Should Have Been Here: “The Raid: Redemption”

What’s your bright idea about how the sound editing category will unfold? Please enlighten us in the comments section below because it’s as up in the air as it gets.

As “Lincoln” star Daniel Day-Lewis has dominated the precursor film awards circuit thus far, he has quickly become one of the no-brainer bets on Oscar night this Sunday. His presumed victory would bring him a third Best Actor Oscar after he won previously for 1989’s “My Left Foot” and 2007’s “There Will Be Blood.”

There are precious few actors to have won as many prizes from the Academy in their time. There have been five, in fact. And it will be their illustrious company the actor will be joining upon gracing the stage at the Academy Awards. In fact, this looks to be the second year in a row the club takes on a new member.

But Day-Lewis isn’t alone in that quest. “Silver Linings Playbook” star Robert De Niro hasn’t been in the Oscar hunt since 1991’s “Cape Fear,” but he’s back in a big way this year. He’s been everywhere in phase two, campaigned within an inch of his life. And it may yet pay off. He won Best Supporting Actor in 1974 for “The Godfather Part II” and Best Actor in 1980 for “Raging Bull.” So, odd as it sounds, David O. Russell would follow in the shoes of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese as directors to lead De Niro to an Oscar if it were to happen.

Meanwhile, Day-Lewis’s “Lincoln” co-star Sally Field is perhaps futilely in the hunt for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar that seems destined for Anne Hathaway’s grasp. The actress who turned “You love me! You really love me!” into the Academy Awards’ biggest meme (indeed, before there was such a word for it) has won an Oscar on each attempt; she won Best Actress twice, for 1980’s “Norma Rae” and 1985’s “Places in the Heart.” While Day-Lewis looks to break the record for most lead actor Oscars this year, though, Field and her fellow actresses with two lead actress trophies are still two away from tying that record; the leading ladies have much stiffer record book competition, as you’ll soon see.

And finally there’s Denzel Washington, who quietly broke a record himself this year for most Oscar nominations for an African American. His “Flight” performance is in perhaps as futile a battle as Field’s work in “Lincoln” as he faces off against her sure-thing co-star, Day Lewis. He became the first African American to win a second Oscar in 2001 as his “Training Day” performance took the gold. He previously won Best Supporting Actor in 1989 for “Glory.”

So who’s company are they all hoping to join? Click through the brief gallery below to read up on Oscar’s Threefer Club.

The year being back-loaded with awards hopefuls as usual, most of the films up for major awards at the Oscars this year haven’t been available on home video yet. Indeed, it was interesting that no film could really make a DVD/Blu-ray release part of its campaign, as we’ve seen in the past. The only Best Picture nominee that has been widely available is “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” until today.

If you haven’t had a chance to see the film everyone’s talking about the last few weeks, the film that seems poised to win the Best Picture Oscar on Sunday, “Argo” hits shelves today on DVD and Blu-ray. The disc has four featurettes on the making of the film and the history behind the story it depicts. Ben Affleck provides a standard commentary as well.

But that’s not the only awards player hitting the home market today. Also releasing are “Anna Karenina” and “Hitchcock.” They join films like “Flight,” “Frankenweenie,” “Looper,” “Arbitrage,” “ParaNorman,” “The Sessions,” “Skyfall,” “Brave” and “The Dark Knight Rises” that are already out. Others, like “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Les Misérables,” hit in March.

Meanwhile, stay tuned later today as we’ll have an opportunity to win a copy of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master,” which hits DVD/Blu-ray next week. It’s that time of year, when all the awards season’s goodies are finally making their way home!

For veteran Canadian composer Mychael Danna, his journey with “Life of Pi” began 10 years ago when he read Yann Martel”s novel. “I remember thinking, ‘I hope nobody makes a film of this book and wrecks it,”” he says.

Four years ago, he was forced to revisit those thoughts when Ang Lee approached him about potentially adapting the book. Thus began a journey that gripped Danna and has now led him – after two-and-a-half decades in the film business – to his first Oscar nominations, for both Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

Danna says he considers his directors co-composers as he seeks to help fully realize their vision through music. “Our conversations are not musical or technical in that way – they”re emotional and narrative and cinematic,” he explains, noting that he needs to understand precisely what the music is meant to convey.

In this case, as usual, he sought a very close collaboration with the helmer of the film. Indeed, the chance to work again with Ang Lee (they had collaborated previously on “The Ice Storm” and “Ride with the Devil”) was largely the reason he got involved. “I thought, ‘He is the only director I can think of who has a shot of actually making this work,’” Dana says.

As usual, Lee didn”t tell Danna exactly what to write – but he did convey every emotion he wanted expressed. “Ang is one of the most sensitive and intelligent directors out there,” Danna says. “He”s very aware moment-to-moment where we are in the story in every regard and how we need to adjust to what he”s up to. It”s Ang’s score as much as mine. He knows every note as much as I do.”

About a year and a half ago, however, this remained all conceptual talk. Then Danna started seeing footage and was amazed. He worked on writing the music for over a year and journeyed to India last December to write the song “Pi”s Lullaby” with Bombay Jayashri.

The last four months of work were intense, as the normally Toronto-based Danna moved to Los Angeles, about 100 meters from where Lee was working. He is glad that he did, as it resulted in collaboration with the film editor, sound designers and visual effects artists as well. Danna particularly recalls seeing the latest visual effects shots as they came in so he could write and/or adjust music accordingly.

The film was obviously very dependent on factors other than dialogue to make it work. Danna recognized this, and the challenges it created. “There”s so many sequences where words are not the mode of communication, so music has a bigger responsibility to help guide the audience emotionally and narratively,” he says.

But it did not change his fundamental approach to scoring, just as the film”s large budget didn”t change his approach. (Most of his work has been on features with much smaller budgets, and he built his career by collaborating with many luminaries in Canada”s avant-garde film industry such as Atom Egoygan.) “I”m a director”s composer as much as possible,” he says. “On a larger film there”s a lot more people involved and politics. It”s more challenging because of that. But if it”s a $2 million film or a $102 million film, it”s kind of the same process. There”s no reason you can”t make an absolutely wonderful score for very low budget compared to high budget.”

When asked about finally finding his way into the Oscar race, Danna immediately steps back, noting that his pride in what he and his fellow filmmakers accomplished on “Life of Pi” goes back to long before awards. “We”ve been walking around with smiles on our faces since we finished this film,” he says, recalling the feeling of “we did it” when he and the rest of the cast and crew first viewed the finished product. “To see the world internationally embrace the film has been incredibly gratifying.”

Even so, the recognition from his colleagues is especially sweet. “The Oscars are a huge thing,” he says. “They”re your peers who do what you do every day; they understand the challenges and difficulties, so they know what you”ve done.”

We”ll see how his peers across the filmmaking business treat his film, and the music in particular, on the 24th. I”m willing to bet they’ll be very kind indeed.