The Day of Judgement: Oscar Nomination Predictions

Having just picked up my press credentials from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, on the eve of the Oscar nominations, its time to think about how it’ll all go down tomorrow morning.  With less than  12 hours to go,  none of  the Oscar pundits really have a clue on what will see a nomination for the 82nd Academy Awards.  Ever since AMPAS announced that the Best Picture Category will go from 5 to 10 last summer, the wait has been insufferable, but finally we’ll hear  what the  AMPAS voters consider to be the 10 Best Picture nominees.    

Being that I was in sunny Southern California, I consulted with WAMG’s Oscar handicapper, Panda Hugger. So without further adieu, here’s our predictions:

BEST PICTURE

• THIS IS IT  (Because its Michael Jackson)
• AVATAR
• THE HURT LOCKER
• INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
• PRECIOUS: BASED  ON  THE NOVEL “PUSH” BY SAPPHIRE
• UP IN THE  AIR
• DISTRICT 9
• AN EDUCATION
• STAR TREK
• THE HANGOVER

 Watch out for: INVICTUS, THE BLIND SIDE, A SINGLE MAN, A SERIOUS MAN

DIRECTOR

• Kathryn Bigelow – THE HURT LOCKER
• James Cameron – AVATAR
• Lee Daniels – PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL “PUSH” BY SAPPHIRE
• Jason Reitman – UP IN THE AIR
• Quentin Tarantino – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Watch out for: Neill Blomkamp -DISTRICT 9, Lone Scherfig – AN EDUCATION, Clint Eastwood – INVICTUS

ACTOR

• Jeff Bridges – CRAZY HEART
• George Clooney – UP IN THE AIR
• Colin Firth – A SINGLE MAN
• Morgan Freeman – INVICTUS
• Jeremy Renner – THE HURT LOCKER

Watch out for: Viggo Mortensen – THE ROAD, Daniel Day-Lewis – NINE, Ben Foster -THE MESSENGER, Michael Stuhlbarg – A SERIOUS MAN

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Woody Harrelson – THE MESSENGER
• Christopher Plummer – THE LAST STATION
• Stanley Tucci – THE LOVELY BONES
• Christoph Waltz – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
• Christian McKay – ME AND ORSON WELLES

Watch our for: Alfred Molina – AN EDUCATION, Peter Sarsgaard – AN EDUCATION, Matt Damon – INVICTUS, Anthony Mackie – THE HURT LOCKER

ACTRESS

• Sandra Bullock – THE BLIND SIDE (This is her year – everyone else, thanks for coming, ya’ll look beautiful).
• Helen Mirren – THE LAST STATION
• Carey Mulligan – AN EDUCATION
• Gabourey Sidibe – PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH’ BY SAPPHIRE
• Meryl Streep – JULIA & JULIE

Watch out for: Zoe Saldana – AVATAR, Emily Blunt – THE YOUNG VICTORIA

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Vera Farmiga – UP IN THE AIR
• Anna Kendrick – UP IN THE AIR
• MoNique – PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL “PUSH” BY SAPPHIRE
• Marion Cotillard – NINE
• Samantha Morton – THE MESSENGER

Watch out for: Maggie Gyllenhaal – CRAZY HEART, Julianne Moore – A SINGLE MAN, Diane Kruger – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Melanie Laurent – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

ANIMATED

• CORALINE
• FANTASTIC MR. FOX
• THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
• UP (Please take note: THIS is the category that this movie belongs in – NOT BEST PICTURE).

Watch out for: 9, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, PONYO

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
• UP
• (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
• A SERIOUS MAN
• THE HURT LOCKER

Watch out for: AVATAR, THE HANGOVER

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• UP IN THE AIR
• PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL “PUSH” BY SAPPHIRE
• AN EDUCATION
• SHERLOCK HOLMES
• NINE

Watch out for: CRAZY HEART, JULIE & JULIA, STAR TREK

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

• THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (ARGENTINA)
• THE WHITE RIBBON (GERMANY)
• AJAMI (ISRAEL)
• A PROPHET (FRANCE)
• WINTER IN WARTIME (NETHERLANDS)

Watch out for: SAMSON & DELILAH (AUSTRALIA), THE MILK OF SORROW (PERU), KELIN (KAZAKHSTAN)

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced  tomorrow morning,  Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:38 a.m. PST in the Academy’ s Samuel Goldwyn Theater and yours truly will be there to give you a full report. The nominations will be announced by AMPAS President Tom Sherak and 2008 Oscar Nominated Actress  Anne Hathaway and you can watch it LIVE on the Academy’s Website or on their official Facebook page.  The E! Channel will broadcast them live as usual.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center ®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m./8 p.m. ET.

Source: Oscars.org