Oscar nominee predictions

It's been a strange year for the Oscars. I think you can blame the expansion of the Best Picture nominees to ten, but there's something else afoot that I can't place.

Perhaps it's purely because of the ten. As soon as the news was announced there was speculation that more mainstream films like Star Trek and The Hangover would be nominated. It's possible. It's also possible, and quite likely, that Oscar-bait films which wouldn't normally deserve a nomination will slide in. Either way, this is a new thing (well, we had it for the first few years of the Oscars but there wasn't as much of a following on the Internet back then) and we don't know yet exactly how things will go down.

I've been doing the Oscar prediction thing since 1994. It was my first year after I finished high school and, instead of working or going to university, I sat at home and watched movies. I also had the opportunity to make endless Oscar lists. The time just flew by. I watched videos for two years before I decided to get a job. And here I am now.

Anyway, to the Oscar predictions. I did have detailed explanations for a few categories but decided to do without them. You'll live.

BEST PICTURE
Avatar
District 9
An Education
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Julie & Julia
Precious
Up
Up in the Air

BEST DIRECTOR
James Cameron, Avatar
Neill Blomkamp, District 9
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth,A Single Man
Viggo Mortensen, The Road
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

BEST ACTRESS
Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, It's Complicated
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious
Julianne Moore, A Single Man
Samantha Morton, The Messenger

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Samson & Delilah (Australia)
The White Ribbon (Austria)
The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (Bulgaria)
A Prophet (France)
Winter in Wartime (Netherlands)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
The Fantastic Mr Fox
Mary & Max
Up

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
An Education
District 9
Julie & Julia
Precious
Up in the Air

BEST FILM EDITING
Avatar
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Nine
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

BEST ART DIRECTION
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Inglourious Basterds
Julie & Julia
A Serious Man

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Bright Star
Coco avant Chanel
Julie & Julia
Public Enemies
The Young Victoria

BEST SOUND MIXING
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Public Enemies
Star Trek

BEST SOUND EDITING
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
2012
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"I See You", Avatar
"The Weary Kind", Crazy Heart
"You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger", An Education
"Cinema Italiano", Nine
"Down in New Orleans", The Princess and the Frog

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Avatar
The Informant!
Sherlock Holmes
Star Trek
Up

BEST MAKE-UP
District 9
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Star Trek

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek