Final Oscar Predictions

So here it its, the final stop. After a long season of twists and turns, rising and falling, tomorrow morning the 2010 Academy Award Nominations will be announced. I will post tomorrow afternoon, my thoughts, and give initial predictions about winners. Here is a look at my final predictions:

Best Picture

Avatar
An Education
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire
Star Trek
Up
Up in the Air

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow “The Hurt Locker”
James Cameron “Avatar”
Lee Daniels “Precious”
Jason Reitman “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner “The Hurt Locker”

Best Actress

Emily Blunt “The Young Victoria”
Sandra Bullock “The Blind Side”
Carey Mulligan “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe “Precious”
Meryl Streep “Julie & Julia”

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz “Nine”
Vera Farmiga “Up in the Air”
Anna Kendrick “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique “Precious”
Julianne Moore “A Single Man”

Best Original Screenplay

James Cameron “Avatar”
Mark Boal “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino “Inglorious Basterds”
Joel and Ethan Coen “A Serious Man”
Bob Peterson and Pete Doctor “Up”

Best Adapted Screenplay

Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell “District 9”
Nick Hornby “An Education” Nora Ephron “Julie & Julia”
Gregory Fletcher “Precious”
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner “Up in the Air”

Best Animated Feature

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Up

Best Art Direction

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Inglorious Basterds
Nine
Sherlock Holmes

Best Cinematography

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The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Nine
The White Ribbon

Best Costume Design

Coco Before Chanel
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Best Film Editing

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District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Up in the Air

Best Makeup

District 9
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Star Trek

Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”
Michael Giacchino “Up”
Marvin Hamlisch “The Informant!”
James Horner “Avatar”
Hans Zimmer “Sherlock Holmes”

Best Original Song

“The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart
“Cinema Italiano” from Nine
“Take It All” from Nine
“Down In New Orleans” from The Princess and the Frog
“Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog

Best Sound Mixing

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The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
Up

Best Sound Editing

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District 9
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up

Best Visual Effects

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District 9
Star Trek