Final Oscar Predictions

With the Oscar nominations being announced in three days (three days!), its time I posted my final predictions. I've struggled with a lot of these, mainly because the awards season has really heated up and forced me to change some of my wishful thinking and accept reality. It's also helped that I have seen more of the films in contention, allowing me to make my judgments.

However, a lot of what I had previously predicted has remained unchanged, mostly due to their dominance over the past month (or the general lack of better choices). Without further ado, here they are; I hope I do better than last year.

BEST PICTURE

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Precious

Avatar

Up

Up in the Air

Invictus

Nine

Inglourious Basterds

A Serious Man

A lot of these films (Up in the Air, An Education, Precious, Nine, A Serious Man, Invictus) have already faced some backlash, and now it seems that The Hurt Locker is beginning to see its own backlash begin. None of this should hurt any of their chances at a nomination, but the expansion to 10 has not prevented this from being narrowed down to a few-horse race. The only iffy one, to me, is Nine, which has suffered a lot since its release, but recognition from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild doesn't hurt its cause.

BEST ACTOR

Morgan Freeman, Invictus

George Clooney, Up in the Air

Colin Firth, A Single Man

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Nothing really new here.

BEST ACTRESS

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Carey Mulligan, An Education

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Helen Mirren, The Last Station

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

I actually had the opportunity to see Julie & Julia last night. Believe it or not, I enjoyed it, and thought that Streep really did turn in a fantastic performance as Julia Child. But more on that later. I find it interesting that this race has evolved into Bullock vs. Streep, especially with the amount of major awards Bullock has been winning lately.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

Christopher Plummer, The Last Station

Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Matt Damon, Invictus

I'm bringing Matt Damon back into the fold; two Globe nominations and a SAG nomination are too much to ignore anymore (speaking of ignored: Alfred Molina was dropped, if you notice). However, I notice that Damon's not really in this to win it anymore, it seems. Though I can't blame him: he's up against Christoph Waltz!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mo'Nique, Precious

Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air

Julianne Moore, A Single Man

Penelope Cruz, Nine

This category is suddenly up in the air (ba-dum-DUM) after I boldly proclaimed it set in stone. Moore and Cruz are the iffy ones; Moore is still an Oscar favorite, so I don't think they'll pass over her, and even though Nine has been eviscerated by critics, Cruz has still picked up key nominations for her turn in it. If the Academy does decide to pass over them, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, Samantha Morton and Marion Cotillard (up yours, category fraud!) are waiting in the wings.

BEST DIRECTOR

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Lee Daniels, Precious

Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

James Cameron, Avatar

Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Clint Eastwood is still the spoiler here. Watch your back, Daniels. PS- Please let Bigelow win this.

Check back here on February 2, when I'll give my reactions to every category (even Make-Up!)