Oscar Predictions

Oscar nominations are announced on Thursday so here is my yearly attempt at trying to guess what they will nominate in the main six categories.

Best Picture
-Best Picture can range anywhere between 5 and 10 nominees, so it's kind of difficult to guess the exact number. I'm going with 9.
THE SHOO INS
Argo
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
THE PROBABLES
Amour
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Moonrise Kingdom
Skyfall
FYC - The Perks of Being a Wallflower, maybe the best coming of age story ever filmed.

Best Director
Ben Affleck - Argo
Katherine Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty
Michael Haneke - Amour
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
FYC - Behn Zeitlin, who brought to life one of the most vivid, beautiful stories of the year.

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
John Hawkes - The Sessions
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Denzel Washington - Flight
FYC - Richard Gere, who charms and schemes his way through Arbitrage.

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Naomi Watts - The Impossible
FYC - Brit Marling, who is devilish and entrancing in Sound of My Voice.

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
FYC - Nate Parker, who KILLS it in Arbitrage.
NOTE - I know the DiCaprio thing is far fetched at this point, but I have to hold out hope.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy
FYC - Samantha Barks, who gives the superior performance in Les Mis, and is arguably the only good thing about the whole mess.

Tomorrow - Top Ten Directors and Ensembles and coming soon reviews of The Impossible and Zero Dark Thirty!