I have a confession.

I'm going through a lot of big changes in my life right now. Having just moved to LA, working all day on scripts, networking, trying to pinch every penny and make ends meet... it's been a joy, but it's incredibly taxing. The most unfortunate result of this is... my creativity at the end of each day is utterly sapped.

Every year, save one, I've done a Spilled Latte Ceremony a la Billy Crystal. It's always been enormously fun to compose, and I always love the feedback I get on it. However, it usually takes me several days just to put something together I deem worthy of posting. When it comes to creative outlets like this, I am a perfectionist, for better and worse.

And this year, with all of excuses and pleas ready within arm's reach, I simply can't bring you a Spilled Latte Ceremony worthy of entry. All of my energy goes into my scripts, and when I'm not writing, I'm attempting to unwind and maintain my sanity, not focusing on other creative writing projects. And the Lattes would take more focus than I can provide right now.

It didn't help that I was attempting to do something more ambitious than usual: an opening number. Finding the right song to parody, getting the right lyrics and rhythms... it's just not going to happen. Especially with my professional life kicking into overdrive and the NCAA Tournament coming up. There's just no way. And I apologize. I'm disappointed, as I hate quitting. But there's just no way to get it done in a timely manner.

Next year, hopefully I'll be able to pull off my ambitious musical number-- I'll likely start it earlier.

I will post the one song verse that I finished.

"Watching old people die while we sniffle and cry
That’s Amour, eh?
When life’s a cruel joke, and your wife has a stroke
That’s Amour, eh?
When birds get in your house after offing your spouse
That’s Amour, eh?
The filmgoers grieved, TheProfessional’s peeved
At Amour, eh!"

Ahem. Anyhow. My apologies to the few of you who look forward to it every year as much as I do. I'll work something out next year, as I'll also look to work something out to increase interest in the Lattes in general.

On to the results.

For Best Original Score:
In 5th place, Thomas Newman for Skyfall.
Tied for 3rd place, Hans Zimmer for The Dark Knight Rises, and Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, & Johnny Klimek for Cloud Atlas.
In 2nd place, Jonny Greenwood for The Master.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Original Score... Benh Zeitlin & Dan Romer for Beasts of the Southern Wild!

For Best Cinematography:
Tied for 4th place, Dariusz Wolski for Prometheus and Robert Yeoman for Moonrise Kingdom.
In 3rd place, Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi.
In 2nd place, Mihai Malaimare for The Master.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Cinematography... Roger Deakins for Skyfall!

This is Roger's second Spilled Latte win, putting him in a prestigious class with Christopher Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Wally Pfister as two-time Latte winners.

For Best Original Screenplay:
In 5th place, Martin McDonagh for Seven Psychopaths.
In 4th place, Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained.
In 3rd place, Rian Johnson for Looper.
In 2nd place, Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Original Screenplay... Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola for Moonrise Kingdom!

For Best Adapted Screenplay:
In a three-way 4th place tie, Stephen Chbosky for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, David Magee for Life of Pi, and Tom Tykwer & The Wachowskis for Cloud Atlas.
In 3rd place, Joe Carnahan & Ian Mackenzie Jeffers for The Grey.
In 2nd place, Chris Terrio for Argo.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Adapted Screenplay... Tony Kushner for Lincoln!

For Best Supporting Actress:
In 5th place, Lorraine Toussaint for Middle of Nowhere.
In 4th place, Helen Hunt for The Sessions.
In 3rd place, Sally Field for Lincoln.
In 2nd place, Doona Bae for Cloud Atlas.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Supporting Actress... Amy Adams for The Master!

So after two nominations resulting in fifth place finishes, Amy Adams gets a Latte. Third time's a charm!

For Best Supporting Actor:
In 5th place, Sam Rockwell for Seven Psychopaths.
In 4th place, Leonardo DiCaprio for Django Unchained.
Tied for 2nd place, Dwight Henry for Beasts of the Southern Wild and Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Supporting Actor... Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln!

For Best Actress:
Tied for 5th place, Marion Cotillard for Rust & Bone and Ann Dowd for Compliance.
In 4th place, Emayatzy Corinealdi for Middle of Nowhere.
In 3rd place, Emmanuelle Riva for Amour.
In 2nd place, Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Actress, winning by a one-point margin... Quvenzhane Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild!

This marks the youngest winner of a Latte ever, and the second time the Best Actress Latte goes to someone making their feature film debut. It previously went to Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit.

For Best Actor:
In 5th place, Denis Lavant for Holy Motors.
Tied for 3rd place, Liam Neeson for The Grey and Denzel Washington for Flight.
In 2nd place, Joaquin Phoenix for The Master.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Actor... Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln!

This puts DDL into the prestigious Two Latte category as well. Congrats, Danny Boy.

For Best Director:
Tied for 5th place, Leos Carax for Holy Motors and Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild.
In 4th place, Michael Haneke for Amour.
In 3rd place, Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty.
In 2nd place, Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Director... Ben Affleck for Argo!

This marks the third year in a row the Latte winner for Best Director was not nominated for an Oscar in the same category.

Now, the moment we've all been waiting for...

For Best Picture:
In 5th place, Moonrise Kingdom.
In 4th place, Holy Motors.
In 3rd place, Amour.
In 2nd place, Zero Dark Thirty.
And the winner of the Spilled Latte for Best Picture... The Master!

So Lincoln leads the way with three Lattes, while Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Master each get two. Congratulations to all the winners, and looking forward to next year!

***

Here are the nominees (a.k.a. the Top 5 votegetters) for the Sixth Annual Spilled Latte Awards. Note: some categories may have more than 5 nominees due to a tie in the amount of votes the nominees received. The results are in-- no need to vote on these-- and will be announced the day after the Oscars, in order to steal their shine.

For the second year in a row, a film mostly snubbed by the Academy leads the Spilled Latte Award nominees: The Master, with seven nominations, tying with Drive and No Country For Old Men for the second highest number of noms for a single film in Spilled Lattes history.

Once again, for the second year in a row, no Best Picture Academy Award nominee reached five Spilled Latte nominations. Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty did all reach four nominations a piece. Lincoln and The Master both received three acting nominations a piece, matching the Academy ballot. Amour, Cloud Atlas, and Moonrise Kingdom settled for three a piece.

Some Spilled Latte nomination trivia:

- this year marks the most acting nominations for African-American actors in Spilled Latte history with five.

- before this year, there were only two nominations for actors in foreign language films in the Lattes' five-year history. This year, there are three foreign language role nominees, including two in the same category.

- there have also never been any foreign language films nominated for Best Picture. In this year, 40% of the category is made up of foreigners!

- Roger Deakins has only failed to receive a nomination once. After last year's snub, this year Deakins is back on the board.

- Ben Affleck's nomination for Best Director marks the first time a film received a director nod without a Best Picture nomination OR any actor accolades.

Among this year's second-time nominees: Daniel Day-Lewis, Jessica Chastain, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tommy Lee Jones, Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Rian Johnson, Hans Zimmer, Claudio Miranda. Quentin Tarantino receives his third nomination.

Amy Adams also receives her third nomination, making her the most nominated actor in Spilled Latte history. She came in fifth place with each of her previous nominations, for her work in The Fighter and Doubt.

Tom Tykwer and Benh Zeitlin enter the elite club of those nominated twice, joining Quentin Tarantino, Casey Affleck, Jeff Nichols, Steven Zaillan, Christopher Nolan, Danny Boyle, the Coens, Spike Jonze, Neill Blomkamp, Paul Thomas Anderson, Andrew Dominik, and, of course, Roger Deakins.

BEST PICTURE:
Amour
Holy Motors
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST DIRECTOR:
Ben Affleck, Argo
Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Leos Carax, Holy Motors
Michael Haneke, Amour
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST ACTOR:
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
Liam Neeson, The Grey
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

BEST ACTRESS:
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Ann Dowd, Compliance
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Amy Adams, The Master
Doona Bae, Cloud Atlas
Sally Field, Lincoln
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Joe Carnahan & Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, The Grey
Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Tony Kushner, Lincoln
David Magee, Life of Pi
Chris Terrio, Argo
Tom Tykwer & The Wachowskis, Cloud Atlas

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom
Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
Rian Johnson, Looper
Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Roger Deakins, Skyfall
Mihai Malaimare, The Master
Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
Dariusz Wolski, Prometheus
Robert Yeoman, Moonrise Kingdom

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Jonny Greenwood, The Master
Thomas Newman, Skyfall
Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, & Johnny Klimek, Cloud Atlas
Benh Zeitlin & Dan Romer, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Hans Zimmer, The Dark Knight Rises