This might be what happens. Maybe.

I spent a while trying to come up with an appropriate title for my annual Oscar predictions post. Okay, so it was probably less than a minute, but still, time was spent. The last two Oscar post have had ‘persona titles’ – arrogant in 2008 and pretentious in 2009 – so I decided to continue that trend with a meek title this year.

With that out of the way, lets get to the actual predicting. As I’ve already mentioned, I saw a personal record number of films this year, many of them among the nominees. Does that give me an advantage this year? I’d like to think so, especially given my somewhat poor performance in the last two years. In reality, however, my odds are probably about the same as they always are, slightly better than even.

I’ll list each category and its nominees. The film which I think will receive the Oscar will be highlighted in RED. In the instances where I think the most deserving film will lose, I will highlight the film I feel should win in BLUE. Alright, lets get started.

Best Picture

'Avatar'

'The Blind Side'

'District 9'

'An Education'

'The Hurt Locker'

'Inglourious Basterds'

'Precious'

'A Serious Man'

'Up'

'Up in the Air'

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow

'The Hurt Locker'

James Cameron

'Avatar'

Lee Daniels

'Precious'

Jason Reitman

'Up in the Air'

Quentin Tarantino

'Inglourious Basterds'

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges

'Crazy Heart'

George Clooney

'Up in the Air'

Colin Firth

'A Single Man'

Morgan Freeman

'Invictus'

Jeremy Renner

'The Hurt Locker'

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock

'The Blind Side'

Helen Mirren

'The Last Station'

Carey Mulligan

'An Education'

Gabourey Sidibe

'Precious'

Meryl Streep

'Julie & Julia'

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon

'Invictus'

Woody Harrelson

'The Messenger'

Christopher Plummer

'The Last Station'

Stanley Tucci

'The Lovely Bones'

Christoph Waltz

'Inglourious Basterds'

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz

'Nine'

Vera Farmiga

'Up in the Air'

Maggie Gyllenhaal

'Crazy Heart'

Anna Kendrick

'Up in the Air'

Mo'nique

'Precious'

Best Animated Feature Film

'Coraline'

'Fantastic Mr. Fox'

'The Princess and the Frog'

'The Secret of Kells'

'Up'

Best Original Screenplay

Mark Boal

'The Hurt Locker'

Quentin Tarantino

'Inglourious Basterds'

Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman

'The Messenger'

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

'A Serious Man'

Peter Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

'Up'

Best Adapted Screenplay

Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

'District 9'

Nick Hornby

'An Education'

Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

'In the Loop'

Geoffrey Fletcher

'Precious'

Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

'Up in the Air'

Best Foreign Language Film

'Ajami'

Israel

'El Secreto de Sus Ojos'

Argentina

'The Milk of Sorrow'

Peru

'Un Prophète'

France

'The White Ribbon'

Germany

Best Original Score

'Avatar'

James Horner

'Fantastic Mr. Fox'

Alexandre Desplat

'The Hurt Locker'

Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders

'Sherlock Holmes'

Hans Zimmer

'Up'

Michael Giacchino

Best Original Song

'Almost There' from 'The Princess and the Frog'

Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

'Down in New Orleans' from 'The Princess and the Frog'

Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

'Loin de Paname' from 'Paris 36'

Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas

'Take It All' from 'Nine'

Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston

'The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)' from 'Crazy Heart'

Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Documentary Feature

'Burma VJ'

'The Cove'

'Food, Inc.'

'The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers'

'Which Way Home'

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

'China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province'

Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill

'The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner'

Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher

'The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant'

Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

'Music by Prudence'

Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

'Rabbit a la Berlin'

Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Best Short Film (Live Action)

'The Door'

Juanita Wilson and James Flynn

'Instead of Abracadabra'

Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström

'Kavi'

Gregg Helvey

'Miracle Fish'

Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey

'The New Tenants'

Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Best Short Film (Animated)

'French Roast'

Fabrice O. Joubert

'Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty'

Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell

'The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)'

Javier Recio Gracia

'Logorama'

Nicolas Schmerkin

'A Matter of Loaf and Death'

Nick Park

Best Art Direction

'Avatar'

Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair

'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'

Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith

'Nine'

Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

'Sherlock Holmes'

Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

'The Young Victoria'

Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Best Cinematography

'Avatar'

Mauro Fiore

'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'

Bruno Delbonnel

'The Hurt Locker'

Barry Ackroyd

'Inglourious Basterds'

Robert Richardson

'The White Ribbon'

Christian Berger

Best Costume Design

'Bright Star'

Janet Patterson

'Coco Before Chanel'

Catherine Leterrier

'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'

Monique Prudhomme

'Nine'

Colleen Atwood

'The Young Victoria'

Sandy Powell

Best Makeup

'Il Divo'

Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano

'Star Trek'

Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

'The Young Victoria'

Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Best Film Editing

'Avatar'

Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron

'District 9'

Julian Clarke

'The Hurt Locker'

Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

'Inglourious Basterds'

Sally Menke

'Precious'

Joe Klotz

Best Visual Effects

'Avatar'

Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

'District 9'

Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken

'Star Trek'

Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Best Sound Editing

'Avatar'

Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle

'The Hurt Locker'

Paul N.J. Ottosson

'Inglourious Basterds'

Wylie Stateman

'Star Trek'

Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin

'Up'

Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Best Sound Mixing

'Avatar'

Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson

'The Hurt Locker'

Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

'Inglourious Basterds'

Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano

'Star Trek'

Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin

'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'

Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

So, that’s about it. We’ll see what my final score is in a few weeks. Remember, the Oscars will be broadcast on ABC on March 7. See you then.

Sleep well,

DTE
____________________
Songs of the moment:
Dishwalla – Counting Blue Cars; Meiko – Boys With Girlfriends; Erin McCarley – Love, Save the Empty
Music while I wrote:
Brave Saint Saturn – So Far From Home