Hello Movie Lovers…It’s that time of the year again! The 82nd Annual Academy Awards will air on ABC this Sunday, March 7th, so I decided to write up a little blurb of some of my predictions for the night. Feel free to share your own thoughts and predictions in the comments section below! Also, be sure to check out the predictions made by our very own buzz writers here.
BEST PICTURE:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Despite opening up the nominations to 10 pictures this year, there are really only 5 films with any shot at going home with the Oscar (Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, and Up in the Air) and 5 films that should be honored just to get the nod (The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, A Serious Man, and Up). While the 5 main contender are all certainly great films, the competition comes down to Avatar (which would be the highest-grossing film to win Best Picture) vs. The Hurt Locker (which would actually be the LOWEST-grossing film to win Best Picture).
MY PREDICTION: The Hurt Locker

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BEST DIRECTOR:
James Cameron – Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
This category will be yet another showdown between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Ironically, the two directors in contention, James Cameron and Kathyrn Bigelow, were actually once married. Kathyrn Bigelow is only the fourth female director to be nominated for an Oscar and could actually be the first to win. Cameron, on the other hand, previously took home the Oscar for Best Director back in 1997 for Titanic. As much I think Bigelow deserves to win this Oscar, I believe that if The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture…it is more likely that Cameron / Avatar will take this one.
MY PREDICTION: James Cameron - Avatar
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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
All great actors / performances in this category. Sadly I still haven’t gotten around to seeing Crazy Heart, and Jeff Bridges happens to be the clear favorite to finally take home his first Oscar.
MY PREDICTION: Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart

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BEST ACTRESS:
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia
Yes, Meryl Streep already has two Oscars. And yes, she has more Oscar nominations than any other actor in film history (16). However, she hasn’t actually WON an Oscar since 1983 (for Sophie’s Choice). And despite her brilliant performance as Julia Childs in Julie & Julia, it seems likely that she will leave empty handed yet again. Sandra Bullock, a beloved actress who’s earned her first career nod after more than two decades as an actress, actually topped Streep at the Screen Actor Guild Awards and seems to be the front-runner for the Oscar.
MY PREDICTION: Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
I’m willing to put a lot of money on this one.
MY PREDICTION: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Penélope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Another ‘no-brainer’ here. Mo’Nique has been dominating this category since the film’s debut at Sundance over a year ago and is almost guaranteed to take home the Oscar.
MY PREDICTION: Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

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BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman – The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – A Serious Man
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter – Up
This one is probably the toughest race to call. While Mark Boal’s script for The Hurt Locker probably has the most momentum due to the film’s overall support, Tarantino (who won this award back in 1995 for Pulp Fiction) demonstrates his knack for dialogue yet again in his brilliant script for Inglourious Basterds.
MY PREDICTION: Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

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BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell – District 9
Nick Hornby – An Education
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche – In the Loop
Geoffrey Fletcher – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner – Up in the Air
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner’s adaptation of the novel Up in the Air seems to be the clear front-runner in this category.
MY PREDICTION: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner – Up in the Air

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BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
Out of the six feature films made by Pixar between 2001 and 2008, all have been nominated and four (Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL-E) have won. This one is yet another ‘no-brainer.’
MY PREDICTION: Up











