The 2011 Academy Awards Predictions

Well the Oscars are today so I thought I’d make my predictions and give some reasons/ justification for my picks if I thought it necessary.

Best Picture
Will win: The Social Network seeing as how it’s well-written, features strong performances, is topical, and apparently defines my generation. King’s Speech might also win because it’s the kind of film the Academy seems to go for.
Should win: Inception because it has everything Social Network has plus action, heady concepts, and I feel is more intelligent.

Best Director
Will win: David Fincher
Should win: Christopher Nolan, but he’s not even nominated so sure, David Fincher should win. Why not?

Best Actor
Will win: Colin Firth
Should win: Colin Firth delivered a strong and memorable performance and deserves this Oscar, but James Franco is also worthy for his epic one-man show in 127 Hours. Especially memorable is the scene where he “interviews” himself.

Best Actress
Will win: Natalie Portman
Should win: Natalie Portman did a fantastic job and I think gave the best performance of the year of anybody in any movie.

Best Supporting Actor
Will win: Christian Bale
Should win: Christian Bale, simply because he’s one of the finest actors out there who’s been overlooked by the Academy for far too long.

Best Supporting Actress
Will win: Melissa Leo
Should win: Hailee Steinfeld who not only held her own against the likes of Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, but I believe even surpassed them to make for the most interesting character in the film.

Best Original Screenplay
Will win: The King’s Speech
Should win: Inception. You’ll notice that I really like this film as you read on.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Will win: The Social Network
Should win: The Social Network. As I said earlier, the dialogue is sharp and it tells a great dramatic story.

Best Foreign Language Film
Will win: Biutiful since it seems to have a lot of buzz.
Should win: Incendies, because as a Canadian, I’m legally required to say so.

Best Animated Film
Will win: Toy Story 3
Should win: Toy Story 3, duh.

Best Documentary
Will win: Waste Land
Should win: Waste Land. Sadly I have not seen any of the films in this category, but I’ve heard of this one so I’m just going to assume that it will win.

Art Direction
Will win: Alice in Wonderland. Shiny colours!
Should win: Inception

Cinematography
Will win: Inception
Should win: Inception

Costume
Will win: Alice in Wonderland
Should win: True Grit. I just like the western look.

Film Editing
Will win: The Social Network
Should win: 127 Hours. One of the most memorable parts of this movie for me was how it was laid out and put together.

Makeup
Will win: The Way Back. This was just a wild stab in the dark.
Should win: Barney’s Version. As a Canadian, I’m legally required to say this.

Score
Will win: The Social Network. It won the Golden Globe and the score definitely stands out.
Should win: Inception. It had a strange score, but it really stands out in my mind and pulls the whole film together.

Song
Will win: Randy Newman
Should win: Randy Newman, because he’s a cool guy.

Sound Editing
Will win: Inception
Should win: Inception

Sound Mixing
Will win: True Grit
Should win: True Grit. Despite being told virtually every single year, I do not know the difference between this and sound editing.

Visual Effects
Will win: Inception
Should win: Inception

Short Documentary
Will win: Poster Girl. This and all the short categories were just random guesses based solely on the titles of the films.
Should win: no clue

Short Animated
Will win: Day & Night
Should win: Let’s Pollute

Short Live-Action
Will win: The Crush
Should win: Wish 143

Bonus points to whoever can correctly predict the Best Short Documentary winner. For your convenience, the nominees are: Poster Girl, Killing in the Name, Strangers No More, Sun Come Up, and The Warriors of Qiugang.