This Sunday, the world will draw silent for several hours as the brightest minds in Hollywood-- nay, in the world-- gather to bestow the highest honor upon the best films made in the Year of Our Lord, 2011. Alright, so maybe you guys don't think the Oscars are that big a deal, but there are plenty of us who secretly do, and we've cleared our schedules and come up with perfectly themed cocktail recipes and all the other crucial stuff you do before watching the telecast. And with just two days to go, there's so much left to do! So let us help you cross one thing off your list, with our full roster of Oscar predictions. We've been publishing them throughout the week-- find 'em all HERE if you so desire-- but you can also see the full list below. Check out my reasoning, make your picks, and join us back here on Sunday night for the Oscar liveblog extravaganza!
BEST PICTURE
The Artist
War Horse
The Descendants
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
And the winner is: The Artist. As strange as it seems that a silent French film can win Best Picture-- I never, ever would have believed it six months-- The Artist has this in the bag. No other film has come close to winning as many precursor awards, and with the mighty Weinstein Company behind them, the publicity campaign hasn't flagged for a minute. Mark this one down in ink!
BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
And the winner is: Michel Hazanavicius A lot of people will tell you Martin Scorsese is winning this, and they might be right. But I look just to last year for precedent, where a big crowdpleaser was the hands-down frontrunner for Best Picture, and its director-- despite being a relative newcomer and a Hollywood outsider-- won a Best Director statue to match it. Nothing up against The Artist resembles the competition The King's Speech had last year from The Social Network, so it seems wrong to assume Hazanavicius won't ride this wave to his own statue too.
BEST ACTOR
Demian Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
And the winner is: Jean Dujardin. This really is still a race between Dujardin and his closest competition in Pitt and Clooney, but the buddy-buddy Hollywood actors risk splitting votes between them, and none have been on the charm offensive like Dujardin has the last few weeks of voting. The Artist is the sweetheart of this Oscar season, and Dujardin is its smiling face.
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
And the winner is: Viola Davis. More Oscar years than not lately, Best Actress has come down to Meryl Streep vs. someone else with a more compelling story-- and the more compelling story has always won. That won't change this year, with Viola Davis picking up a much-deserved reward for years of great work.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
And the winner is: Christopher Plummer. Plummer has raced ahead of all his competition throughout the awards season, and though some argue Max von Sydow poses a real threat, it's not enough to make up for the mounds of goodwill Plummer has.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
And the winner is: Octavia Spencer. This race could have become a real competition if anyone managed to come up with a decent campaign-- and Melissa McCarthy has come the closest-- but Spencer continues to be the dominant force here, and ought to take home the prize for her efforts. Like her co-star Davis, she'll be taking home a well-deserved reward for a strong supporting career.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Margin Call
Midnight in Paris
A Separation
And the winner is: Midnight in Paris. In another year the much-loved Midnight in Paris might have been a real Best Picture contender, but Woody Allen will have to settle for-- and not show up to accept, of course-- a Best Original Screenplay statue, his third.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Descendants
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
And the winner is: The Descendants. Once upon a time Alexander Payne's film looked like a strong Best PIcture option, until The Artist came along and drowned out all the competition. But the Adapted Screenplay prize ought to be a great reward for the film-- and since one of the fin's writers is Jim Rash, who plays Dean Pelton on Community, fans of that show can rejoice at the unlikely sight of The Dean holding an Oscar.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
And the winner is: Rango. Granted, this category is ripe for an upset-- Chico & Rita might be terrific, and could get a bunch of affectionate votes absent an obvious frontrunner. But Rango was a big and well-loved hit, and is inventive enough to be both the popular and the artsy pick.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Separation
Footnote
In Darkness
Bullhead
Monsieur Lahzar
And the winner is: A Separation. Sometimes you get an obvious frontrunner in this category nominated for other prizes, like Pan's Labyrinth or Amelie, and they get beaten for this award as a shocker. But A Separation seems like too much of a steamroller to be beaten by anything, having won virtually every other award this season. Expect it to happen again here.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Pina
Hell and Back Again
If A Tree Falls: The Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3
Undefeated
And the winner is: Paradise Lost 3. There's an elephant in the room here in the form of Undefeated, which is distributed by the mighty Weinstein Company. But as the conclusion to a highly regarded series, and covering an event that unfolded even as the documentarians finished their work, Paradise Lost 3 ought to have the edge.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse
And the winner is: Hugo. When the Academy gave this prize to Avatar two years ago, they proved a willingness to reward the cutting edge-- which I think they'll do again for Hugo's gorgeous 3D work. If The Tree of Life takes it instead, though, I'll kick myself for not just sticking with my favorite.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
John Williams, The Adventures of Tintin
Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Howard Shore, Hugo
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John Williams, War Horse
And the winner is: The Artist. I would love to call this category for Hugo, and Howard Shore's work on that film would be my pick for an upset, but The Artist has steamrolled this category throughout the season, and as strong as it looks going into Sunday's awards, it seems wishful thinking to expect it to falter here.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets
"Real in Rio" from Rio
And the winner is: "Man or Muppet." This category is an unmitigated disaster this year, but no matter how many other songs from The Muppets ought to be here, "Man or Muppet" should be easily capable of taking this one. Even if they don't get to perform it onstage...
BEST EDITING
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
And the winner is: The Artist. More often than not this category correlates directly with the Best Picture winner, and without really showy work in this category-- like the year The Bourne Ultimatum won this-- The Artist ought to be able to take this easily.
BEST ART DIRECTION
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse
And the winner is: Hugo. If The Artist were in color or not taking place in just a few sets, it might be more of a contender here. But with 11 nominations Hugo clearly has a lot of love out there, and this should be one category where it pulls ahead.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.
And the winner is: Hugo. This is an especially tricky category, and it's not impossible for an impressive period piece with no other nominations like Jane Eyre to swoop in here. But Hugo's Sandy Powell has won this award three times and seems well poised to do it again. This is one of the tightest races in the technical categories, though, so many other things are possible.
BEST MAKEUP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Iron Lady
And the winner is: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. A lot of diehard Potter fans hoped the final film in the franchise would manage to get some proper Oscar attention-- that is, a Best Picture nomination. That didn't pan out, but it should be possible for the series to rally one last time in this category, for the feat of erasing Ralph Fiennes's handsomeness if nothing else.
BEST 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
And the winner is: Rise of the Planet of the Apes Andy Serkis may not have managed a Best Supporting Actor nod for his portrayal of the rebel ape Caesar, but the CGI wizards who made his performance possible should be able to get a much-deserved win here. We've never seen anything like Caesar before, and it's likely the Academy hasn't either.
BEST SOUND MIXING
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Moneyball
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse
And the winner is: Hugo. In a category where The Artist isn't eligible, the most-nominated ought to be able to clean up. Think of how well-balanced all the tricky elements of sound are in this film-- the ticking clocks, the bustling train station, the gorgeous score-- and it's not hard to see Hugo is deserving.
BEST SOUND EDITING
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse
And the winner is: War Horse. Is it crazy to predict this award won't also go to Hugo? Maybe. But I think the battlefield effects of War Horse, plus the fact that they shot so much of it outside, ought to give War Horse the advantage.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life
And the winner is: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Strange as it seems, Pixar has been on a real losing streak in this category ever since they started cleaning up in the Animated Feature category, but even though they're not nominated there this year, "La Luna" looks unlikely to have the appeal of the widely rumored favorite "Morris Lessmore."
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic
And the winner is: The Shore. I'm going with starpower for this, since this is the short that stars Ciaran Hinds and is directed by Hotel Rwanda's Terry George. But this category is often primed for surprise, and I'm hearing good enough things about "Time Freak" that it might pull out a win too. "The Shore" seems like the safest pick though.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
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
And the winner is: The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom. Word has it that "Saving Face" is the most devastating of the bunch, but Sundance entry "Cherry Blossom" seems more topical and has its fans as well.
