Feature : My Academy Award Predictions

Oscar-time! In just over a week the 83rd Academy Awards will be handed out. Even though I shouldn't put too much stock in an awards ceremony that at one time nominated The Towering Inferno as one of the 5 best films of 1974 (shockingly it was beaten by The Godfather Part II) and declared Rocky to be a better film than Taxi Driver, I like to predict winners each year. I especially enjoy guessing who will win things like Best Animated Short when I haven't seen one entrant.

I wonder how many I'll get right in 2011 (I shall bold my prediction)....




Best Picture

127 Hours / Black Swan / The Fighter / Inception / The Kids Are All Right / The King's Speech / The Social Network / Toy Story 3 / True Grit / Winter's Bone

It's too obvious, this is a no brainer (cut to February 27th when I retract that statement).

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) / The Coens (True Grit) / David Fincher (The Social Network) / Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) / David O. Russell (The Fighter)

Would really like to see Fincher get this. I was one of 4 people who adored Benjamin Button.

Best Actor

Javier Bardem (Biutiful) / Jeff Bridges (True Grit) / Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) / Colin Firth (The King's Speech) / James Franco (127 Hours)

Yawn, so obvious. Firth probably deserves it, especially seeing as he and Julianne Moore were the only redeeming features of the disgusting overrated A Single Man last year...but I want to see Franco get the gong. Also, where's Wahlberg's nom for The Fighter? He was brilliant.

Best Actress

Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) / Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole) / Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone) / Natalie Portman (Black Swan) / Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

I was really rooting for Nat until I saw the trailer for No Strings Attached. Now I'd rather see Michelle Williams get the award.

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale (The Fighter) / John Hawkes (Winter's Bone) / Jeremy Renner (The Town) / Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right) / Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

If Bale doesn't win I think he should scream, "WHAT DON'T YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND!?" during Geoffrey Rush's speech (surely this is a two-horse race?).

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams (The Fighter) / Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech) / Melissa Leo (The Fighter) / Hailee Steinfield (True Grit) / Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

I haven't seen Animal Kingdom, I don't know who Jacki Weaver is and I have no idea what it's even about. So I'm taking her out of the equation for that reason. I think HBC will win but I think Leo deserves it.

Best Original Screenplay

Mike Leigh (Another Year) / Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson (The Fighter) / Christopher Nolan (Inception) / The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg) / The King's Speech (David Seidler)


Well done The King's Speech. Just a question...does Mike Leigh deserve an Oscar nomination for his writing when his films are largely improvised? Or am I just being ignorant?

Best Adapted Screenplay

Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours) / Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) / Loooooooooong list (Toy Story 3) / The Coens (True Grit) / Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini (Winter's Bone)

Even though Sorkin probably has enough West Wing awards I do think The Social Network was an astonishing screenplay.

Best Animated Feature

How to Train Your Dragon / The Illusionist / Toy Story 3


This one is beyond obvious (although if The King's Speech was nominated in this category it'd probably pip Toy Story 3 to the post) but I'm giving a shout-out to How to Train Your Dragon which I'd have loved as a kid. And adult.

Best Foreign Language Film

Biutiful / Dogtooth / In A Better World / Incendies / Outside The Law

Time for the guess work to begin! I'm opting for Biutiful because I've heard of it.

Best Documentary Feature

Exit Through The Gift Shop / Gasland / Inside Job / Restrepo / Waste Land

I'm leaning towards Exit Through The Gift Shop. Because it's the only one I've seen. Are any of the others any good? Worth a watch? Yes? No?

Best Documentary Short

Killing in the Name / Poster Girl / Strangers No More / Sun Come Up / The Warriors of Qiugang

Well, let me see. Killing in the Name sounds all brutal and gritty, but Strangers No More is romantic and girly sounding. The Warriors of Qiugang has a cool name. Winner.

Best Live Action Short

The Confession / The Crush / God of Love / Na Wewe / Wish 143

Oh come on, has anyone seen any of these? I bet the Academy hasn't bothered. But my vote is going to Wish 143 as it was a significant improvement on Wish 141 and 142. Snigger.

Best Animated Short

Day & Night / The Gruffalo / Let's Pollute / The Lost Thing / Madagascar, a Journey Diary

Let's Pollute sounds fun and really un-PC. Oh I don't bloody know, let's go for The Gruffalo. I like the book. Well, I don't like it, but I have heard of it.

Best Original Score

A.R Rahman (127 Hours) / John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon) / Hans Zimmer (Inception) / Alexandre Desplat (The King's Speech) / Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network)

I really dug The Social Network's score but The King's Speech is nominated...so.

Best Original Song

"Coming Home" (Country Strong) / "I See The Light" (Tangled) / "If I Rise" (127 Hours) / "We Belong Together" (Toy Story 3)

I hate this category and after listening to all 4 songs (it's easier than watching all nominated films, that's for sure) the only song I didn't hate was the 127 Hours one. Man, Country Strong was an appalling film wasn't it?

Best Sound Editing

Inception / Toy Story 3 / Tron : Legacy / True Grit / Unstoppable

What is Unstoppable? Why haven't I heard of it? I'm getting bored now. My bet's going on Tron : Legacy as I like the idea of anything with Tron in the title winning an Oscar. Scorsese has an Oscar. Tron will have an Oscar. Scorsese and Tron will be the same. Also, I don't want Inception to win anything because I didn't like it.

Best Sound Mixing

Inception / The King's Speech / Salt / The Social Network / True Grit

I have never heard of this category before now so it shows how much attention I've paid. How do they even judge who to nominate, let alone who wins? I'm half-death so I don't really care. The King's Speech is nominated, you know the rest.

Best Art Direction

Alice in Wonderland / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 / Inception / The King's Speech / True Grit

Ugh, Inception. Oh, The King's Speech.

Best Cinematography

Black Swan / Inception / The King's Speech / The Social Network / True Grit

Have you noticed I can't be bothered to enter the names of the people nominated anymore? Just the film title will do. Finally, a category I can make an 'educated' decision on. Because of my film 'education'.

Best Make-Up

Barney's Version / The Way Back / The Wolfman

Hel-lo! The Wolfman! It had to make a wolf out of a man! Probably. I vote Barney's Version because it's the closest Paul Giamatti will get to an Oscar he richly deserves.

Best Costume Design

Alice In Wonderland / I Am Love / The King's Speech / The Tempest / True Grit

What the hell is I Am Love?

Best Film Editing

127 Hours / Black Swan / The Fighter / The King's Speech / The Social Network

I think these are all worthy winners and I'd lean towards 127 Hours if it was my decision (which it blatantly should be). But let's face it....it's a board-sweep for The King's Speech. Big deal, the king of England beat stammering...James Franco nearly died in a canyon!

Best Visual Effects

Alice in Wonderland / Harry Potter Part 900 / Hereafter / Inception / Iron Man 2

HA HA, Tron is so terrible it couldn't even get nominated for its visual effects (are we supposed to believe its Sound Editing is better than its Visual Effects?)! Oh...Harry Potter, whatever. I'm sorry I even started this post. I'm ignorant of 90% of what's nominated and I won't stay up and watch it anyway. I only did once in 2005, when A Series of Unfortunate Events won Best Make-Up (I remember it because it turned out to be one of my only correct predictions that year). When I stayed up all night in 2005 it was at a friend's house and his senile old Siamese cat went to sleep in my lap all night. The cat was called Batman.

How many will you get right?