Doug Goodman

Okay, so while I like movies, I haven't seen near enough to say I have a good grasp of all the Oscar movies.  Fortunately, this year there are more blockbusters due to the shift to ten movies in Oscar categories.  This means that without trying, I've seen more movies on the ballot, which is what Oscar wanted. 

As soon as the Oscar nominees were announced, I made my predictions.  I like doing this and then seeing if any of them hit.  All I had to go on was the Golden Globes, the box office, and my gut feeling based on what I've heard in reviews and such.  With just a few days away from the Oscars, I wanted to put down my predictions. 

Best Picture:  Avatar

Actor:  Jeff Bridges

Actress:  Bullock

S. Actress:  Mo'Nique (Precious)

S. Actor:  Waltz (Inglorious Basterds)

Best Director:  Bigelow

Adopted Screenplay:  Up in the Air

Original Screenplay:  The Hurt Locker

Animated Feature:  Up

Art Direction:  Avatar

Cinematography:  Avatar

Sound Mixing:  Basterds/Locker

Sound Editing:  Basterds/Locker

Score:  Avatar

Original Song:  Crazy Heart

Costume:  Parnassus

Editing:  Avatar

Makeup:  Young Victoria

Visual Effects:  Avatar

What this means: 

6 Oscars to Avatar, including Best Picture

District 9 is shut out, despite all the summer brouhaha

Crazy Heart gets Best Song and Actor

Hurt Locker could end up with three Oscars, including Katherine Bigelow

My thoughts:

1.  I am not a huge fan of the animated film Up.  Don't get me wrong.  I liked it.  I'm just not sure I liked it enough to give it the Oscar. 

2.  Even though I tried to do this before awards season, it seems like the ones I picked even back then are considered shoe-ins for the gold this Sunday.  While I haven't seen Precious or Crazy Heart, I loved Christoph Waltz in Basterds.  He owned every moment he was in the movie.  Tarantino makes another movie star.

3.  I waffled between Basterds and Hurt Locker for Sound awards.  Some awards are just really hard to predict.