The 85th Annual Academy Awards aired Sunday Night, February 24th, 2013.  Below were my predictions for the winners in the major categories.  The actual winners were filled in after the Oscars were announced.

PRE-SPIN:

Here’s hoping  first time host Seth MacFarlane treats the gig as if it will be his one and only shot and goes for the jugular.  Great mock-musical numbers seem inevitable, but his usual brand of gross and absurd insult pop-mockery comedy will more than likely be criminally toned down unless he adopts a devil-may-care attitude and taunts the producers.  I have a  hunch the guy will take things surprisingly seriously (with polished laughs and one or two insults that fall flat) and there will likely be far too many Ted gags.

With MacFarlane as host and an unusually tight race in some of the major categories, this could be one of the more interesting years to watch.  Argo seems the odds-on favorite despite some historical precedence working against it.  I still think Silver Linings Playbook could upset and score Best Picture and Director, but I’m not betting on it, and my heart belongs to Lincoln.  Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor are especially tough calls this year. 

POST-SPIN:

• Seth MacFarlane was okay…but Daniel Day Lewis got the biggest laughs of the night
• The overall telecast was painfully long (even more so than usual) and kept alive only by the live Tweeting I followed (thanks @PattonOswalt, the fake @Michael_Haneke, et al!)
• There were a few genuine surprises (Christoph Waltz, Quentin Tarantino and Ang Lee) though none that I could say I was actually pleased by
• Ann Hathaway gave the most disingenuous speech
• Jennifer Lawrence gave the shortest, cutest speech
• Weird guys with long blond hair rocked the tech categories
• Affleck got all teary-eyed as a winning producer making it sound like getting snubbed for a directing nod or staring in Gigli were akin to having overcome genuine hardship #HollywoodProblems
• I scored 16/24 (okay, but not great) in my family Oscar pool

And now check out The Spin on my Predictions and the Winners:

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PREDICTIONS:

Best Picture:

Predicted: Argo

Possible Upsets: Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln

Winner:  Argo

Best Director:

Predicted: Steven Spielberg for Lincoln

Possible Upset: David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook

Winner:  Ang Lee for Life of Pi

Best Actor:

Predicted: Daniel Day Lewis for Lincoln

Possible Upset: None

Winner: Daniel Day Lewis for Lincoln

Best Actress:

Predicted: Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

Possible Upsets:  Anyone but the little girl

Winner: Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Supporting Actor:

Predicted: Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln

Possible Upsets: Anyone

Winner: Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

Best Supporting Actress:

Predicted: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

Possible Upset: Sally Field for Lincoln

Winner: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

Best Foreign Language Film:

Predicted: Amour

Possible Upset: None

Winner: Amour

Best Animated Feature:

Predicted: Wreck-It Ralph

Possible Upset: Brave

Winner:  Brave

Best Documentary Feature:

Predicted:  Searching for Sugar Man

Possible Upset:  How to Survive a Plague

Winner:  Searching for Sugar Man

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Predicted: Tony Kushner for Lincoln

Possible Upset: Chris Terrio for Argo

Winner:  Chris Terrio for Argo

Best Original Screenplay:

Predicted: Michael Haneke for Amour

Possible Upset: Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty

Winner:  Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained

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…and now on to the important stuff…

…the Rules for the 85th Annual Academy Awards Drinking Game:

Take a shot when:

• A winner thanks “Oscar” and not “The Academy.”
• Someone thanks their “agent, spouse, parents, or kids.”
• They cut off a person’s acceptance speech unceremoniously with the “exit” music.
• Somebody needlessly and awkwardly mentions something political as a presenter or winner. 
• A winner says something to the effect of, “I can’t believe I won with all these other talented/wonderful people I was up against.”
• There is a completely unnecessary music/dance number.
• Seth MacFarlane does a mock-music number that is actually funny.
• Ted the foul-mouthed teddy bear makes an appearance.
• MacFarlane makes a crude insult that falls completely flat.
• They honor the people who died last year.
• Somebody gets a standing ovation.
• Somebody makes a joke about the show’s length.

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Check out the winners in my annual alternatives to the Oscars, The Davies.

Enjoy! Wagering on the Oscars is encouraged. And please drink irresponsibly…I mean responsibly!

Predictions, commentary and drinking rules by David H. Schleicher