THR awards analyst Scott Feinberg makes his final predictions, facing off against chief film critic Todd McCarthy on matters of taste.
ACTRESS
Feinberg: The hardest category to predict: Jessica Chastain won the Globe for drama, andJennifer Lawrence earned the Globe for comedy and the SAG Award. Emmanuelle Riva is, at 85, the category’s oldest-ever nominee and won the BAFTA Award, which has predicted this category’s two recent big upsets. Naomi Watts has a lot of friends in the Academy, and Quvenzhane Wallis is a charming newcomer. I’m tempted to pick Riva, but Lawrence’s visibility on the campaign trail gives her the edge. WINNER: JENNIFER LAWRENCE, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
McCarthy: This is as tough as it gets because good cases could be made for all of the nominees. Wallis is a one-of-a-kind discovery, Chastain is aces, and who can deny Riva’s excellence, even if Amour really belongs to Jean-Louis Trintignant? But a win by Lawrence would honor not only her own prodigious self but also the tradition of resilient, tough and funny broads who never won this award, including Carole Lombard, Barbara Stanwyck and Rosalind Russell.
DESERVES TO WIN: JENNIFER LAWRENCE, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
