My dream Oscar ballot, 2012

The 84th Academy Awards are this Sunday and though you've already seen my top 20 films of 2011, I also want to share what I would've nominated in other categories. While my ten Best Picture nominees are my top ten films; my other 'nominees' have shifted a lot in the past couple of months since I've been able to revisit certain films, catch some that I missed earlier and really get to see certain players make their case on the press circuit. It's a fun time of year, but I'm looking forward to some resolution on Sunday. Anyway, here is my 'dream Oscar ballot.'

Best Picture
"The Adventures of Tintin"
"Another Earth"
"Certified Copy"
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
"Moneyball"
"Take Shelter"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"
"We Need to Talk About Kevin"

Best Director
Tomas Alfredson, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Abbas Kiarostami, "Certified Copy"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
Lynne Ramsay, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Steven Spielberg, "War Horse"

Best Actor

Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"

Hunter McCracken, "The Tree of Life"

Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

Michael Shannon, "Take Shelter"

Robert Wieckiewicz, "In Darkness"

Best Actress

Bérénice Bejo, "The Artist"

Juliette Binoche, "Certified Copy"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Tilda Swinton, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"

Best Supporting Actor
Albert Brooks, "Drive"
Robert Forster, "The Descendants"
Brad Pitt, "The Tree of Life"
Corey Stoll, "Midnight in Paris"
Max von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Best Supporting Actress
Sandra Bullock, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
Jessica Chastain, "The Tree of Life"
Judy Greer, "The Descendants"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"

Best Original Screenplay
"Another Earth" (Mike Cahill, Brit Marling)

"The Artist" (Michel Hazanavicius)

"Certified Copy" (Abbas Kiarostami)

"Martha Marcy May Marlene" (Sean Durkin)

"The Tree of Life" (Terrence Malick)

Best Adapted Screenplay

"The Descendants" (Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne, Jim Rash)

"Moneyball" (Stan Chervin, Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian)

"Submarine" (Richard Ayoade)

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" (Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan)
"We Need to Talk About Kevin" (Lynne Ramsay, Rory Kinnear)

Best Editing
"Drive"

"Martha Marcy May Marlene"

"Moneyball"

"The Tree of Life"

"We Need to Talk About Kevin"

Best Cinematography

"Drive"

"Moneyball"

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Art Direction
"Hugo"
"Melancholia"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Costume Design

"Drive"

"Hanna"

"Jane Eyre"
"Melancholia"
"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

Best Makeup
"Anonymous"
"Contagion"
"Jane Eyre"

Best Visual Effects
"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Thor"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"The Tree of Life"

Best Sound Mixing
"Hanna"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"
"We Need to Talk About Kevin"

Best Sound Editing

"Drive"

"Hanna"

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

"War Horse"

Best Animated Film

"The Adventures of Tintin"
"Rango"
"Winnie the Pooh"

Best Original Score

The Chemical Brothers, "Hanna"

Mychael Danna, "Moneyball"

Alberto Iglesias, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

Cliff Martinez, "Contagion"
John Williams, "War Horse"

Best Original Song
"Life's A Happy Song" from "The Muppets"
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"
"Pictures in My Head" from "The Muppets"

"So Long" from "Winnie the Pooh"

"Taking You With Me" from "My Idiot Brother"


I didn't list nominees for Best Documentary or either Short category because each list would be pretty thin (even thinner than Animated Film). I saw enough foreign films to populate a list, but I wouldn't be happy nominating all of them, so I'm going to leave it off as well.

Also, I want to note that the most painstaking cut I had to make was Gary Oldman from Best Actor. I'm still not sure I have the right final five.

There you have it. Here's the tally:

11 - "The Tree of Life"
7 - "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
7 - "War Horse"
6 - "Moneyball"
6 - "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
5 - "Drive"
4 - "Certified Copy"
4 - "The Descendants"
4 - "Hanna"
4 - "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
3 - "The Artist"
3 - "The Muppets"
3 - "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
2 - "The Adventures of Tintin"
2 - "Another Earth"
2 - "Contagion"
2 - "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
2 - "The Help"
2 - "Jane Eyre"
2 - "Melancholia"
2 - "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"
2 - "Take Shelter"
2 - "Winnie the Pooh"
1 - "Anonymous"
1 - "Hugo"
1 - "In Darkness"
1 - "Midnight in Paris"
1 - "My Idiot Brother"
1 - "Rango"
1 - "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
1 - "Submarine"
1 - "Thor"