Best of 2012: Dream Oscar Ballot

With 2012 roughly half a month behind us, I've decided that I ought to finally go ahead and put out what would, in essence be my picks for nominees (and winners), assuming I had a god-like control of awards season. In my Top 10 post, I said basically all that I wanted to say about 2012 in film, but it can't hurt to recap. For me, 2012 stands as an incredibly diverse year, even as it produced fewer films that were brilliant from start to finish. There are a great deal of films that I like from last year, but the number that I love is lower than 2011 or 2007. And even among the films I loved, there were few that weren't without their noticeable bumps. Life of Pi has its framing device, Les Mis has some irritating camera work and editing, and Holy Motors doesn't enthrall as much on a second viewing, when the exhilarating shock of it has worn off. Yet even so, there were so many films that had worthwhile aspects and, in some cases, reached heights that few films ever do. It may have only been in the score, the photography, or a key performance, but those individual pieces matter, whether they're the only strong part of a film or not. 2012 stands as a year in cinema that brought us few consistent masterworks. Yet broken down into pieces, it could still be viewed as a strong year, because the components of so many films were absolutely first rate. With that, here's my take on which pieces (and whole works) dominated a wildly diverse year at the movies.

*Categories have between five and seven nominees, with the exception of Visual Effects. Winners, in addition to being pictured, are typed in boldface. 

THE BEST OF 2012

Best Picture

Amour

Holy Motors

Les Miserables

Moonrise Kingdom

The Master

Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson - The Master
Wes Anderson - Moonrise Kingdom

Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty

Leos Carax - Holy Motors

Michael Haneke - Amour
Ang Lee - Life of Pi

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables

Denis Lavant - Holy Motors
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

Matthias Schoenaerts - Bullhead

Jean-Louis Trintignant - Amour

Best Actress

Linda Cardellini - Return
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty

Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone

Eva Green - Perfect Sense

Emmanuelle Riva - Amour

Michelle Williams - Take This Waltz

Best Supporting Actor

Russell Crowe - Les Miserables

Paul Giamatti - Cosmopolis
Jude Law - Anna Karenina
Matthew McConaughey - Killer Joe

Scoot McNairy - Killing Them Softly

Best Supporting Actress

Ann Dowd - Compliance

Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables

Isabelle Huppert - Amour

Brit Marling - Sound of My Voice

Juno Temple - Killer Joe

Best Ensemble Cast

Anna Karenina

Killer Joe

Les Miserables

Moonrise Kingdom

Seven Psychopaths

Best Original Screenplay

Amour

Moonrise Kingdom

Tabu

The Master

Zero Dark Thirty

Best Adapted Screenplay

A Royal Affair

Killer Joe

Lincoln

Oslo, August 31st

Silver Linings Playbook

Best Editing

Argo

Cloud Atlas

Moonrise Kingdom

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty

Best Cinematography

Anna Karenina

Moonrise Kingdom

Samsara

Skyfall

Tabu

The Master

Best Production Design

Anna Karenina

A Royal Affair

Les Miserables

Moonrise Kingdom

Prometheus

Best Costume Design

Anna Karenina

Les Miserables

Mirror, Mirror

Moonrise Kingdom

Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Foreign Language Film

Amour [Austria]

A Royal Affair [Denmark]

Bullhead [Belgium]

Holy Motors [France]

Oslo, August 31st [Norway]

Tabu [Portugal]

Best Documentary Film

How to Survive a Plague

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

The Queen of Versailles

Best Original Score

Anna Karenina

Cosmopolis
Moonrise Kingdom

Perfect Sense

The Master

Best Original Song

"Who Were We?" - Holy Motors

"Suddenly" - Les Miserables

"Big Machine" - Safety Not Guaranteed

"Skyfall" - Skyfall

"Baddest Man Alive" - The Man with the Iron Fists

Best Visual Effects

Cloud Atlas

Life of Pi

Prometheus

Best Make Up

Cloud Atlas

Holy Motors

Les Miserables

Prometheus

The Impossible

Best Sound Mixing

Argo

Les Miserables

Life of Pi

Prometheus

Zero Dark Thirty

Best Sound Editing

Argo

Life of Pi

Prometheus

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty

Performer of the Year

Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables & The Dark Knight Rises
Matthew McConaughey - Bernie, Killer Joe, & Magic Mike

Alicia Vikander - Anna Karenina & A Royal Affair

Breakthrough of the Year

Jared Gillman - Moonrise Kingdom
Kara Hayward - Moonrise Kingdom

Eddie Redmayne - Les Miserables

Alicia Vikander - Anna Karenina & A Royal Affair

Craig Zobel - Compliance

Best Poster

Best Trailer