My Oscar predictions, 2012 (Update: 19/24)

Jean Dujardin stars in "The Artist"

And so goes another Oscar ceremony. I thought this year's awards were a classy, subtle show. There weren't gimmicks or desperate grabs for a younger audience. Billy Crystal was casual and charming. As far as surprises go, there were only two for me... "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" winning Best Film Editing and Meryl Streep taking home her third Oscar. Well, I'm sad for perceived frontrunner Viola Davis, but she'll have her Oscar soon. Streep went 12 nominations in a row without winning, so I'll let her have it. Maybe now there won't be a seemingly annual threat of Streep taking a statuette from another deserving actress. (Although, if she deserves it, she deserves it.)

My predictions were pretty good this year. I got 19 out of 24 correct and four of the winners in my missed categories were my alternate picks (Film Editing being the only complete flub).

Best Picture

"The Artist" WINNER (alt. "Hugo")

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist" WINNER (alt. Martin Scorsese, "Hugo")

Best Actor
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist" WINNER (alt. George Clooney, "The Descendants")

Best Actress
Viola Davis, "The Help" (alt. Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady" WINNER)

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.'

AJFF: "This is Sodom" (***)

Assi Cohen stars in "This Is Sodom"

"This is Sodom" managed to shatter all sorts of box office records, going on to become Israel's highest grossing film in nearly 30 years. The film was produced out of Israeli TV hit "Eretz Nehederet," a sketch show similar to "Saturday Night Live," so it is no wonder the film's outrageous humor covers all the bases; raunch, slapstick and satire.