And the Winner Is…

The 82nd annual Academy Awards starts March 7th at 8 pm EST on ABC. Hosted by Alec Baldwin (YAY!) and Steve Martin (*yawn*), this year’s awards show sought to revamp viewership aka advertising dollars, by unnecessarily nominating 10 films. You may be wondering: Which films are worth the win? What films should I look forward to on DVD? Who should I root for when playing my Oscar Drinking Games? Well sit back, relax, and view my predictions for this year’s ceremony and come Sunday be sure to have your favorite alcoholic drink on hand to sip for whoever wins or loses or whenever you’d like (predicted winners in purple):

Best Picture:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
*The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
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- Inglorious 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- Inglorious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz- Nine
Vera Farmiga- Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick- Up in the Air
Mo’Nique- Precious
Maggie Gyllenhaal- Crazy Heart

Best Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Best Adapted Screenplay
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

Best Animated Feature
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Up
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells

Best Foreign Language Film
Ajami
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
The Milk of Sorrow
The White Ribbon
Un Prophète

Predictions for technical awards :
Achievement in Art Direction – Avatar
Achievement in Cinematography – Inglorious Basterds
Achievement in Costume Design – Coco Before Chanel
Achievement in Film Editing – The Hurt Locker
Achievement in Makeup – Star Trek
Best Original Score – ? probably Michael Giacchino for Up
Best Original Song – ? probably “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart
Achievement in Visual Effects – Avatar
Achievement in Sound Editing – The Hurt Locker
Achievement in Sound Mixing – The Hurt Locker

Honorary Awards will go to the beautiful Lauren Bacall (actress), the great Roger Corman (producer/director), and Gordon Willis (cinematographer).

Happy Oscars and may the best (my picks) win!