Visitors to The Wife Hates Sports know that this is a sports site with a tendency to dabble in the entertainment world from time to time.  Take our 2013 Oscar predictions, for example.  By now, some of you know that this is an annual thing for THE WIFE and I.

Nothing symbolizes Hollywood more than the Oscars, which is why – like the last three years – yours truly will go head-to-head against THE WIFE in hopes to achieve gender domination for one evening.  Here’s hoping this man reels in a fourth straight Oscar victory.

It’s time to post some 2013 Oscar Predictions – at least, for the major awards.  Feel free to chime in with your picks, thoughts and movie opinions.

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2013 Oscar Predictions: How will ‘Argo’ fare? KP and THE WIFE agree that the answer to that question is “quite well”.

2013 Oscar Predictions for the 85th Annual Academy Awards

Music (Original Song)

The Nominees Are:

  • Chasing Ice (“Before My Time” – Music and Lyric by J. Ralph)
  • Ted (“Everybody Needs A Best Friend” – Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane)
  • Life of Pi (“Pi’s Lullaby” – Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri)
  • Skyfall (“Skyfall” – Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
  • Les Miserables (“Suddenly” – Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

KP’s Prediction: Skyfall (“Skyfall” – Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

The Wife’s Prediction: Skyfall (“Skyfall” – Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

KP’s Take: Adele reels in Grammy awards like Michael Jordan once nabbed scoring titles, and with her cool, sleek and sexy “Skyfall”, this one looks like it’s a near lock.

Music (Original Score)

The Nominees Are:

  • Anna Karenina (Dario Marianelli)
  • Argo (Alexandre Desplat)
  • Life of Pi (Mychael Danna)
  • Lincoln (John Williams)
  • Skyfall (Thomas Newman)

KP’s Prediction: Life of Pi (Mychael Danna)

The Wife’s Prediction: Life of Pi (Mychael Danna)

KP’s Take: Once again, John Williams gets nominated, but like last year, I do not have him winning the Oscar.  This appears as if it will be a tight race, but the “Life of Pi” score gives off the vibe that it helps tell the story more than any of the other nominated films.  That, plus it also has a feel like the score for Slumdog Millionaire, which brought home an Oscar back in 2008.

Directing

The Nominees Are:

  • Amour (Michael Haneke)
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)
  • Life of Pi (Ang Lee)
  • Lincoln (Steven Spielberg)
  • Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell)

KP’s Prediction: Lincoln (Steven Spielberg)

The Wife’s Prediction: Lincoln (Steven Spielberg)

KP’s Take: Quite honestly, I would prefer to give a write-in vote for either Ben Affleck (Argo) or Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty), but since neither was nominated, I’m leaning on the seasoned veteran, and one of the best directors of all time.

Costume Design

The Nominees Are:

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

KP’s Prediction: Anna Karenina (Jacqueline Durran)

The Wife’s Prediction: Les Miserables (Paco Delgado)

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KP hopes to earn his fourth consecutive Oscar predicting victory versus THE WIFE

KP’s Take: This feels like another close race, with multiple films being period pieces set to tell a story during a different time.  Being a film set in late-19th-century Russia, I’m pushing my vote towards Anna Karenina, but I wouldn’t be surprised if either Les Miserables or Lincoln won the award.

Cinematography

The Nominees Are:

  • Anna Karenina (Seamus McGarvey)
  • Django Unchained (Robert Richardson)
  • Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)
  • Lincoln (Janusz Kaminski)
  • Skyfall (Roger Deakins)

KP’s Prediction: Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)

The Wife’s Prediction: Skyfall (Roger Deakins)

KP’s Take: A boy and a tiger in a boat, floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  The result is an experience that is set up to gain a slight edge in this category, when executed properly.

Animated Feature Film

The Nominees Are:

  • Brave (Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman)
  • Frankenweenie (Tim Burton)
  • ParaNorman (Sam Fell and Chris Butler)
  • The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Peter Lord)
  • Wreck-It-Ralph (Rich Moore)

KP’s Prediction: Brave (Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman)

The Wife’s Prediction: Brave (Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman)

KP’s Take: When there’s a Pixar film in the mix, that’s your pick.  In this case, it’s Brave.

Actress in a Supporting Role

The Nominees Are:

  • Amy Adams (The Master)
  • Sally Field (Lincoln)
  • Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
  • Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
  • Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

KP’s Prediction: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

The Wife’s Prediction: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

KP’s Take: If there’s a sure thing in this year’s Oscars, it’s Hathaway’s nomination for Les Miserables.

Actor in a Supporting Role

The Nominees Are:

  • Alan Arkin (Argo)
  • Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
  • Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
  • Christolph Waltz (Django Unchained)

KP’s Prediction: Christolph Waltz (Django Unchained)

The Wife’s Prediction: Alan Arkin (Argo)

KP’s Take: I failed to pick Waltz the last time he was nominated in a Quentin Tarantino film (Inglourious Basterds), and I will not make that mistake again.

Actress in a Leading Role

The Nominees Are:

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

KP’s Prediction: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

The Wife’s Prediction: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

KP’s Take: Chastain’s strong performance in the controversial “Zero Dark Thirty” is one that could earn a close victory over Jennifer Lawrence.

Actor in a Leading Role

The Nominees Are:

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

KP’s Prediction: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

The Wife’s Prediction: Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

KP’s Take: A brilliant performance as one of our country’s most influential Presidents is one that is deserving of an Oscar victory.

Best Picture

The Nominees Are:

  • Amour (Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka and Michael Katz, Producers)
  • Argo (Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers)
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild (Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers)
  • Django Unchained (Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers)
  • Les Miserables (Tim Bevan, Eric Feilner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers)
  • Life of Pi (Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers)
  • Lincoln (Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers)
  • Silver Linings Playbook (Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers)
  • Zero Dark Thirty (Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Elison, Producers)

KP’s Prediction: Argo (Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers)

The Wife’s Prediction: Argo (Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers)

KP’s Take: Last year, The Artist was a no-brainer selection, but this year it is much different.  In the end, it’s the clever story and high-quality acting and directing in Argo that should push “Affleck’s baby” to the top.  Zero Dark Thirty could also be a dark horse in this race, too, but THE WIFE and I are both picking Argo to win “Best Picture” this year.