Predictions: The 83rd Academy Award Winners

Day 263

The 83^rd Academy Awards ceremony takes place on Sunday the 27^th and I am looking forward to it! As in previous years I’ll be participating in a friendly “Oscar pool” with my family, where we predict the winners. Here are my final predictions for the winners in seven categories:

BEST PICTURE

127 Hours

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King’s Speech

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter’s Bone

The Social Network won practically every film critic award for Best Picture these past few months; then The King’s Speech suddenly started winning the prestigious guild awards (Producers, Directors), which are often predictors of Oscar winners. I am tempted to be swayed by this, but I am going to remain true to The Social Network. Why? Because it is topical: everyone knows about Facebook, which has become one of the defining characteristics of the early 21st century. Oh, and just a little side note - it’s an awesome movie and deserves to win!
 

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan

David O. Russell - The Fighter

Tom Hooper - The King’s Speech

David Fincher - The Social Network

Joel & Ethan Coen - True Grit

Best Picture and Best Director almost always go hand in hand, and this year will be no exception. Fincher was nominated before for directing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, so it’s his time to win.

BEST ACTOR

Javier Bardem - Biutiful

Jeff Bridges - True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network

Colin Firth - The King’s Speech

James Franco - 127 Hours

The King’s Speech has earned tremendous recognition and praise, but the majority of the accolades have been directed towards the star of the movie, Colin Firth. Firth was nominated last year and has been the front runner this year. The man is unstoppable! This is a total lock for him.

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence - Winter’s Bone

Natalie Portman - Black Swan

Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

There has been some debate over whether it will be Annette Bening or Natalie Portman named the Best Actress this year, as Bening has been nominated 3 times before; but I think Natalie has got this in the bag!

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale - The Fighter

John Hawkes - Winter’s Bone

Jeremy Renner - The Town

Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush - The King’s Speech

 

Bale is the one to beat in this category. He’s already won several awards for his role and is almost as much of a lock for Best Supporting Actor as Colin Firth is a lock for Best Actor.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams - The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter - The King’s Speech

Melissa Leo - The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit

Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

I would really love it if Hailee Steinfeld won because I thought she was incredible in True Grit, and she’s only 14 years old! But her age may count against her; besides that, Melissa Leo, like her costar Christian Bale, has won several awards for this movie and seems destined to win the Oscar.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

How to Train Your Dragon

The Illusionist

Toy Story 3

This is the only category that I feel is absolute: Toy Story 3 is going to win, hands down! I’d stake my life on it! And it should win, because this was one of the best Disney movies ever! And it’s definitely up there as one of the best sequels ever made!


So, there you have it. I should warn you that while I am a huge Oscar fan I am not always accurate with my predictions. There are always upsets/surprises, so there’s bound to be a few this year. We shall see...