For Your Consideration: If The Indiewire Poll Picked The Oscars

Anna Paquin in "Margaret." Fox Searchlight.

Imagine an Oscars where nearly half the best picture nominees were foreign-language films? Where a long-delayed film that grossed less than $50,000 and was hardly made available for critics wins best actress and best supporting actress? Where Gary Oldman is actually nominated?

That's what it would look like if the Indiewire year-end poll picked the Oscars, clearly a far cry from any sort of reality. For the past few weeks, Indiewire has wholly devoted its awards coverage to the endless parade of Oscar precursors that have more or less paved the way for Michel Hazanavicius's "The Artist" to dominate come Oscar night. But in honor of the announcement of today's year-end poll of critics and bloggers here at Indiewire, we figured we'd mix things up a bit.

In this non-reality, Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" would win best picture and director (as well as best cinematography, which is a real possibility at the Oscars as well); actresses Anna Paquin and Jeannie Berlin would win actress and supporting actress trophies for Kenneth Lonergan's little-seen "Margaret;" Michael Fassbender ("Shame") and Michael Shannon ("Take Shelter") would tie for best actor; and in an event also very likely to occur come Oscar night, Christopher Plummer would finally win a trophy.

Note that the following list is a fantasy in more ways than one. It entirely ignores most Academy rules, for example. The foreign-language film and documentary feature categories in particular are largely comprised of films that couldn't receive an Oscar nomination based on whether they were submitted or shortlisted.

There's also 10 films listed in the best picture category. While it was surely possible to go through the 162 ballots in this poll and decipher how many nominees qualified based on Oscar's complex system of ranked ballots that allows anywhere from 5 to 10, but full disclosure: That made our brains hurt.

With that in mind, here's what it would look like if the Indiewire poll picked the Oscars:

Best Picture:
Certified Copy
Drive
Hugo
Margaret
Meek's Cutoff
Melancholia
Mysteries of Lisbon
A Separation
The Tree of Life
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Best Director:
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Raul Ruiz, Mysteries of Lisbon
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Lars von Trier, Melancholia
Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive

Best Actor:
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Michael Fassbender, Shame (tie)
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Michael Shannon, Take Shelter (tie)

Best Actress:
Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy
Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
Yun Jung-hee, Poetry
Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Anna Paquin, Margaret

Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"

Best Supporting Actor:
Albert Brooks, Drive
John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Patton Oswalt, Young Adult
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress:
Jeannie Berlin, Margaret
Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan, Shame
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay:
Abbas Kiarostami, Certified Copy
Kenneth Lonergan, Margaret
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation
Andrew Haigh, Weekend
Diablo Cody, Young Adult

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne and Jim Rash, The Descendants
Christopher Hampton, A Dangerous Method
Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
Carlos Saboga, Mysteries of Lisbon
Rory Kinnear and Lynne Ramsay, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best Cinematography:
Drive
Hugo
Melancholia
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Tree of Life

Best Documentary Feature:
The Arbor
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausecscu
The Interrupters
Nostalgia For The Light
Project Nim

Best Foreign Language Film:
Certified Copy
Film Socialisme
Mysteries of Lisbon
A Separation
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Best Animated Feature:
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Rango
Winnie The Pooh

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3 Comments

| Reply
sergio almazan | February 23, 2012 12:20 AMReply

I agree, but I really think Midnight in Paris should be included on this indie wire list. After Malick's cinematic achievement, Allen's fantansy is the best, most enjoyable and life affirming film of the year.
Henry VII | January 1, 2012 7:21 PMReply

Love everything about this, too although I would add Charlize Theron to best actresses. A best picture bet for Young Adult is probably a stretch but I would expect a site like Indiewire (esp. with the rave reviews you guys gave) to nominate it ;)
Filmissocialism | December 23, 2011 5:41 PMReply

My god I love everything about this list of nominees. If only the Oscars looked exactly like this.

For Your Consideration: If The Indiewire Poll Picked The Oscars

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