Oscar Predictions

It's that time of year again! Award season! And what's the most important award show of all, at least in my opinion? The Academy Awards! The nominations will be announced very soon, but I always like to put my two cents in as well, and see how well my Nostradamus skills are. Here goes.

BEST PICTURE
Doubt
Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire

(Doubt is a definite. Milk has all the ingredients for a contender. Frost/Nixon just looks like an something Oscar would like. Revolutionary Road is a little iffy. It could be replaced by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. And Slumdog Millionaire is my personal pick, plus it's the dark horse that the Academy always throws in — think Lost in Translation, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno.)

BEST DIRECTOR
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight

(The Academy usually picks directors that match the Best Pic nominees, and ones who have a pretty big reputation, and I think they'll probably do that this year, but based on the huge success of Knight, I feel like they might throw Nolan in, and Sam Mendes is a well-known director. Who knows?)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
???
???
???

(This is really sad, because this is my favorite category. I'd love to be nominated for this Oscar one day, and some of my favorite movies have won this award — Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Juno, anyone? But this year, there was such an original screenplay draught. Most of the big movies were adapted. I'd love to see Synecdoche, NY get a nod. It's Charlie Kaufman's — Bow down!— new movie, which I haven't seen yet but hope to soon. It was hailed among the indie crowd, but kind of got overlooked for the bigger awards. We'll just have to see what happens.)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Brad Pitt, Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Sean Penn, Milk

(This was a pretty big year for the fellas. I'm crossing my fingers for Leo.)

BEST ACTRESS
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River

(There are never enough good roles for actresses, and this year is no different. The first four are almost definite, but the last is up for grabs. But I don't think it matters, because Meryl's gonna take it all.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
James Franco, Milk
(Does it really matter? It's Heath, hands down.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kate Winslet, The Reader
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Viola Davis, Doubt
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona

(I feel like it's the year of the battling Kates, and thank goodness she'll probably be nominated in two separate categories. After five nominations and zero wins, I think it's finally her year!)

So, those are my basic predictions for the major categories. Be sure to watch the Oscars, live on ABC, February 22, 2009. I'll be on the couch from noon, when the only person there is the guy vacuuming the red carpet. And see some of the aforementioned films; it's worth it to be a film geek.