Are you sick of those ordinary Oscar office pools? Tired of only guessing the top 6 or 8 categories for the Academy Awards? Let your inner-movie geek shine with Bowl the Perfect Oscar Score (aka Oscar Bowling). Try to nail 300 points on the 2012 Academy Awards.
This is a confidence list.
There are 24 categories.
How to play
Pick your winners in all 24 categories. Then, give each winner a confidence score. Your most confident pick gets 24 points, second most confident gets 23 points, third most confident gets 22 points, and eventually your least confident pick gets 1 point.
This is perfect for Oscar parties, because the lead keeps changing. The winner is the one with the most points at the end. A perfect score is 300. If there is a tie (there never is a tie), then the winner is the one with the most points in these three categories combined (Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress).
Now you can say things like … “Once, in 2013, I got a 297 Oscar score.” Or, “I know a guy who once hit 300 back in 2016.” Yeah, you’ll be saying these things. Trust me.
If you don't fully understand the rules, CLICK HERE, for an example of my score sheet from last year.
Jeff Bayer's Oscar Picks (Possible Score 300)
24 - Original Song - Man or Muppet 23 - Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer - Beginners 22 - Original Score - The Artist 21 - Animated Feature Film - Rango 20 - Achievement in Sound Editing - Hugo 19 - Achievement in Sound Mixing - Hugo 18 - Foreign Language Film - A Separation 17 - Achievement in Makeup - The Iron Lady 16 - Best Picture - The Artist 15 - Adapted Screenplay - The Descendants 14 - Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer 13 - Achievement in Film Editing - The Artist 12 - Best Director - Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist 11 - Best Lead Actress - Viola Davis - The Help 10 - Achievement in Costume Design - The Artist 09 - Achievement in Art Direction - Hugo 08 - Achievement in Visual Effects - Rise of the Planet of the Apes 07 - Original Screenplay - Midnight in Paris 06 - Achievement in Cinematography - The Artist 05 - Best Actor - George Clooney - The Descendants 04 - Documentary Feature - Undefeated 03 - Animated Short Film - The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore 02 - Documentary Short - Saving Face 01 - Live Action Short Film - Raju
Here are the nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards.
Best Picture War Horse The Artist Moneyball The Descendants The Tree of Life Midnight in Paris The Help Hugo Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Best Actor Demian Bichir (A Better Life) George Clooney (The Descendants) Jean Dujardin (The Artist) Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
Best Actress Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) Viola Davis (The Help) Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
Best Supporting Actor Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn) Jonah Hill (Moneyball) Nick Nolte (Warrior) Christopher Plummer (Beginners) Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)
Best Supporting Actress Berenice Bejo (The Artist) Jessica Chastain (The Help) Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Best Director Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) Alexander Payne (The Descendants) Martin Scorsese (Hugo) Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
Writing – Adapted Screenplay The Descendants (Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon and Jim Rash) Hugo (Screenplay by John Logan) The Ides of March (Screenplay by George Clooney and Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon) Moneyball (Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan)
Writing – Original Screenplay The Artist (Written by Michel Hazanavicius) Bridesmaids (Written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig) Margin Call (Written by J.C. Chandor) Midnight in Paris (Written by Woody Allen) A Separation (Written by Asghar Farhadi)
Animated Feature Film A Cat in Paris Chico & Rita Kung Fu Panda 2 Puss in Boots Rango
Documentary – Feature Hell and Back Again If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Pina Undefeated
Foreign Language Film Bullhead (Belgium) Footnote (Israel) In Darkness (Poland) Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) A Separation (Iran)
Cinematography The Artist The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Hugo The Tree of Life War Horse
Film Editing The Artist The Descendants The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Hugo Moneyball
Music – Original Score The Adventures of Tintin (John Williams) The Artist (Ludovic Bource) Hugo (Howard Shore) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Alberto Iglesias) War Horse (John Williams)
Music – Original Song “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets “Real in Rio” from Rio
Sound Mixing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Hugo Moneyball Transformers: Dark of the Moon War Horse
Sound Editing Drive The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Hugo Transformers: Dark of the Moon War Horse
Art Direction The Artist Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Hugo Midnight in Paris War Horse
Visual Effects Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Hugo Real Steel Rise of the Planet of the Apes Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Costumes Anonymous The Artist Hugo Jane Eyre W.E.
Makeup Albert Nobbs Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 The Iron Lady
Documentary – Short Subject The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement God Is the Bigger Elvis Incident in New Baghdad Saving Face The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
Short Film – Animated Dimanche/Sunday (Patrick Doyon) The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg) La Luna (Enrico Casarosa) A Morning Stroll (Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe) Wild Life (Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby)
Short Film – Live Action Pentecost (Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane) Raju (Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren) The Shore (Terry George and Oorlagh George) Time Freak (Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey) Tuba Atlantic (Hallvar Witzo)