The Oscars are on Sunday, Feb 24th

and awhile back I ranted about what I thought was overlooked in the nominating process.  But now that we're almost to the awards ceremony itself, it's time to predict the winners and offer my opinion on which of the nominees should have won.  I do not make predictions in every category.

Best Picture - The Nominees are:

Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

My predicted winner is Argo.  Zero Dark Thirty might have had a shot before all of the bad PR it got.  The winner should actually be a tie between Life of Pi and Lincoln.

Best Director - The Nominees are:

Michael Haneke - Amour
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

My predicted winner is David O. Russell.  He should win.

Best Actor - The Nominees are:

Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight

My predicted winner is Daniel Day-Lewis.  Hugh Jackman should win, but he won't.

Best Actress - The Nominees are:

Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Emanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts - The Impossible

My predicted winner is Jessica Chastain, although it is possible Jennifer Lawrence might sneak through because of the negative reaction Zero Dark Thirty is getting.  Chastain should win.

Best Supporting Actor - The Nominees are:

Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

My predicted winner is Christoph Waltz.  He should win.

Best Supporting Acgtress - The Nominees are:

Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook

My predicted winner is Anne Hathaway.  I think it should have ended up in a tie between her and Helen Hunt, who was brilliant in The Sessions.

Best Writing: Original Screenplay - The Nominees are:

Amour - Michael Haneke
Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino
Flight - John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal

This is a tougher prediction, given that the WGA award went to Boal.  Tarrantino will probably win, although a win for Boal wouldn't be a big surprise.  The winner should be Anderson and Coppola, as Moonrise Kingdom was a simply awesome script.

Best Writing: Adapted Screenplay - The Nominees are:

Argo - Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Lucy Alibar and Behn Zeitlin
Life of Pi - David Magee
Lincoln - Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

My prediction is that Terrio will win this category.  As to who really deserves it, four of the five are neck and neck.  Only Beasts of the Southern Wild doesn't belong in the hunt for this award.

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