Émilien Néron and Sophie Nélisse star in Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar. Courtesy of Music Box Films.
With so many awards groups releasing their lists of nominees in all the major categories, Indie Outlook couldn’t help putting together its own. If Indie Outlook picked the nominees, they would look something like this. The one new category is Best Performer Under 18, which the Academy should add as soon as possible. “Beasts of the Southern Wild” star Quvenzhané Wallis is living proof of that, and yet this year was so rich in contenders, she didn’t make Indie Outlook’s top five.
BEST PICTURE
The Impossible
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
The Wise Kids
BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Tyler Ross, Nate & Margaret
BEST ACTRESS
Ann Dowd, Compliance
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Léa Seydoux, Farewell, My Queen
Kate Lyn Sheil, Green
Margarete Tiesel, Paradise: Love
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Caine, The Dark Knight Rises
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Ewan McGregor, The Impossible
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister’s Sister
Sally Field, Lincoln
Grace Folsom, Things I Don’t Understand
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Allison Torem, The Wise Kids
BEST PERFORMER UNDER 18
Thomas Doret, The Kid with a Bike
Elle Fanning, Ginger & Rosa
Tom Holland, The Impossible
Sophie Nélisse, Monsieur Lazhar
Émilien Néron, Monsieur Lazhar
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Nathan Adloff and Justin D.M. Palmer, Nate & Margaret
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom
Stephen Cone, The Wise Kids
Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks
Sarah Polley, Take This Waltz
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Judd Apatow, This is 40
Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Terence Davies, The Deep Blue Sea
Philippe Falardeau, Monsieur Lazhar
Tony Kushner, Lincoln
BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
Prashant Bhargava, Patang
Stephen Cone, The Wise Kids
Philippe Falardeau, Monsieur Lazhar
Joe Swanberg, Marriage Material
BEST EDITING
William Goldberg and Dylan Tichenor, Zero Dark Thirty
Stéphane Lafleur, Monsieur Lazhar
Nelly Quettier, Holy Motors
Elena Ruiz, The Impossible
Andrew Weisblum, Moonrise Kingdom
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins, Skyfall
Shanker Raman, Patang
Mihai Malaimare Jr., The Master
Ben Richardson, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Robert D. Yeoman, Moonrise Kingdom
BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, Moonrise Kingdom
Mikhail Fiksel, The Wise Kids
Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas
Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Nick Urata, Ruby Sparks
BEST SONG
“The Kids” from My Sucky Teen Romance
“Nate and Margaret” from Nate & Margaret
“Skyfall” from Skyfall
“This Gift” from The Odd Life of Timothy Green
“Who Were We?” from Holy Motors
BEST MAKEUP
Cloud Atlas
The Hobbit
Holy Motors
The Impossible
Lincoln
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Cloud Atlas
Farewell, My Queen
Holy Motors
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Anna Karenina
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Cloud Atlas
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
BEST SOUND MIXING
The Avengers
Compliance
The Dark Knight Rises
The Impossible
Skyfall
BEST SOUND EDITING
Chronicle
The Impossible
Life of Pi
The Master
Zero Dark Thirty
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Cloud Atlas
Flight
The Hobbit
The Impossible
Life of Pi
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Amour
Holy Motors
The Kid with a Bike
Monsieur Lazhar
A Simple Life
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
As Goes Janesville
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
The Queen of Versailles
Erica Unger and Seth Unger star in Jack C. Newell’s Close Quarters. Courtesy of Nefarious Productions.
Spreading the wealth in the above categories has been so much fun, Indie Outlook couldn’t help adding a few honorable mentions—twenty to be exact. Get your Netflix queues ready, and enjoy…
Twenty Special Mentions
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
ParaNorman
BEST TV MOVIE
Game Change
BEST FOUND FOOTAGE MOVIE
Chronicle
BEST OSCAR-BAITING MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
BEST SINISTER MONOLOGUE
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
BEST TIMELY MONOLOGUE
Joel Murray, God Bless America
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A “FREAKS AND GEEKS” ALUMNUS
Linda Cardellini, Return
BEST MOTION-CAPTURE PERFORMANCE
Andy Serkis, The Hobbit (who else?)
BEST NEAR-WORDLESS PERFORMANCE
Christopher Walken, Dark Horse
BEST TRIBUTE TO A GREAT ACTOR
Josh Brolin, Men in Black 3
BEST TRIBUTE TO CLASSICAL MUSIC
Liberal Arts
BEST PROLIFIC TODDLER
Jude Swanberg, Empire Builder/Be Good/Marriage Material/The Zone
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Martin Landau, Frankenweenie
BEST INDIE SET FOR RELEASE IN JANUARY
Tiger Tail in Blue
BEST INDIE ENSEMBLE
Close Quarters
BEST AUSSIE IMPORT
The Snowtown Murders
BEST ANTI-ROMANCE
Young Goethe in Love
BEST CAMEO
James D’Arcy, Hitchcock
BEST CROWD-PLEASING PUNCH
Hulk, The Avengers
BEST CATCHPHRASE
“Argo f–k yourself!”
…and one more honorable mention…
BEST SIXTH NOMINEE FOR BEST ACTOR
Liam Neeson, The Grey
Indie Outlook 