Oscar Predictions

Tomorrow is my favorite movie related day of the year - Oscar Nomination Day! Yes, I love it even more than the actual Oscars. By then, you pretty much know who is going to win (barring any upsets - I LOVE upsets), but nominations are usually at least a little surprising. So, I'm going to try my hand at predicting the nominees. I am notoriously VERY bad at this but I'll give it a try anyway. Keep in mind, this year they changed the Best Picture rules. I don't completely understand them but there could be anywhere between five and ten nominees. I'm going to go with seven...

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: The riveting, thrilling roller coaster that was Drive.

Best Actor
George Clooney - The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Michael Fassbender - Shame
Brad Pitt - Moneyball
SURPRISE SNUB? - I really have a feeling Fassbender is going to get snubbed. Don't know why but he could be replaced by Ryan Gosling for Ides of March or Drive.
FYC - Michael Shannon, who gives the years absolute best performance in Take Shelter.

Best Actress
Viola Davis - The Help
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin
Charlize Theron - Young Adult
Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn
POSSIBILITY - I was tempted to go with the majority and predict Glenn Close over Charlize but I'm going with my gut.
FYC - Rooney Mara's performance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was nominee-worthy.

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks - Drive
Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Ides of March
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
POSSIBILITY - It's very possible Hoffman won't get in but I have a feeling about him and the Oscars have nominated him for lesser work.

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo - The Artist
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Shailene Woodley - The Descendants
FYC - Wishful thinking but I'd love to see some Judy Greer love up in here!

Best Director
Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist (I hope he loses just because I hate spelling his damn name)
Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Martin Scorsese - Hugo
SPOILER ALERT - The Oscars LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Spielberg...
FYC - If this category could somehow edge the French guy out for David Fincher and Payne for Bennett Miller of Moneyball, this would be filled with some of my favorite directors of all time.