Fearless Oscar Predictions

I know the Oscars aren’t until March 7, 2010, but I thought I go out on a limb with my fearless predictions for the top categories. Yes, I know the nominations aren’t even out yet. But, here we go…

  • Best Picture: Up in the Air
  • Best Director: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
  • Best Actor: George Clooney, Up in the Air
  • Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie and Julie
  • Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
  • Best Supporting Actress: Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
  • Best Animated Feature: Up
  • Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
  • Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

So, clearly, I’ve got a lot of horses bet on Up in the Air and Inglourious Basterds. I think that as often has happened in recent years the Best Picture and Best Director will split, so that could easily go the other way. But I think that Up in the Air feels more like “topical sign of the times” that the Academy often likes to recognize. I’m hedging my bets for these two films in the respective Screenplay categories as well.

When folks vote for Best Picture they often like to vote for a man in acting category, so the Best Picture support for Up in the Air and Inglourious Basterds will translate to extra votes for Clooney and Waltz. There may be two “newcomer” candidates for Best Actress with Casey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe, so I think they’ll split that vote. If Sandra Bullock gets nominated it’ll be like Anne Hathaway’s last year – the nomination is the reward. Which probably leaves Meryl Streep as the last woman standing. There will certainly be some sentiment to reward Street for the first time in almost 30 years, though I happened to not love her performance in Julie and Julia personally. And I’m going for Farmiga for Supporting Actress because she’s playing against George Clooney (think: 2008 winner Tilda Swinton).

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