Oscar predictions...a form of entertainment for the winter weary

Off-topic (until my sci-fi series is published and movies are made based on them...)

I've read a lot of critics predictions and they mostly seem in line with my own. This year seems easier to pick than past years. I making my picks, I do take into consideration not only the quality of the performance but the politics of the Academy. Here are my predictions.

Best Picture

'Black Swan'

'The Fighter'

'Inception'

'The Kids Are All Right'

'The King’s Speech' --winner, hands down

'127 Hours'

'The Social Network'

'Toy Story 3'

'True Grit'

'Winter's Bone' --deserves some kind of honorable mention; gritty, realistic portrayal on low budget; totally engaging!

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky 'Black Swan'

David O. Russell 'The Fighter'

Tom Hooper 'The King's Speech'

David Fincher 'The Social Network' --they can't give 2 best picture so they give the statue to David

Joel and Ethan Coen 'True Grit'

Best Actress

Annette Bening 'The Kids Are All Right'

Nicole Kidman 'Rabbit Hole'

Jennifer Lawrence 'Winter's Bone'

Natalie Portman 'Black Swan' --this should wipe the Star Wars off of her!

Michelle Williams 'Blue Valentine'

Best Actor

Javier Bardem 'Biutiful'

Jeff Bridges 'True Grit'

Jesse Eisenberg 'The Social Network' --yes, he made the movie, but FB still has enemies

Colin Firth 'The King's Speech' --yup, da winner!

James Franco '127 Hours'

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams 'The Fighter'

Helena Bonham Carter 'The King's Speech'

Melissa Leo 'The Fighter'

Hailee Steinfeld 'True Grit' --perhaps this will be an upset?

Jacki Weaver 'Animal Kingdom'

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale 'The Fighter' --winner #1A

John Hawkes 'Winter's Bone'

Jeremy Renner 'The Town'

Mark Ruffalo 'The Kids Are All Right'

Geoffrey Rush 'The King's Speech' --winner #1B (my choice)

Best Animated Feature Film

'How to Train Your Dragon'

'Illusionist'

'Toy Story 3' -lots of buzz, winner

Best Foreign Language Film -I haven't got a clue!

'Biutiful' Mexico

'Dogtooth' Greece

'In a Better World' Denmark

'Incendies' Canada  (Is that really a foreign language place?)

'Outside the law' Algeria

SCREENWRITERS NEVER GET ENOUGH CREDIT - IT'S EASY TO LOOK AT A PAGE AND THINK THEY GET PAID SO MUCH FOR THIS??? BUT TIMING IS EVERYTHING IN WRITING A SCRIPT, SO MUCH TO SAY IN SO FEW WORDS PER PAGE.

Best Original Screenplay

Mike Leigh 'Another Year'

Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson 'The Fighter'

Christopher Nolan 'Inception' --I'll it was just as hard to write as to follow the plot in the theater! winner

Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg 'The Kids Are All Right'

David Seidler 'The King's Speech' --could upset Inception

Best Adapted Screenplay

Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy '127 Hours'

Aaron Sorkin 'The Social Network' --here's your winner: complex flashback plotting keeps it real & engaging.

John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich 'Toy Story 3'

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen 'True Grit'

Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini 'Winter's Bone'

Best Original Score - I'm a sucker for a good [orchestral] score in a movie and I buy a lot of film CDs just for the music

'How to Train Your Dragon' John Powell

'Inception' Hans Zimmer

'The King's Speech' Alexandre Desplat --he also did the Twilight scores, which I like; winner!

'127 Hours' A.R. Rahman

'The Social Network' Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross --good score for the movie but not one I'd listen to without the movie

Best Film Editing

'Black Swan' Andrew Weisblum

'The Fighter' Pamela Martin

'The King's Speech' Tariq Anwar

'127 Hours' Jon Harris

'The Social Network' Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter -winner by default (Inception wasn't nominated)

Best Visual Effects

'Alice in Wonderland' Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas & Sean Phillips

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1' Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz & Nicolas Aithadi

'Hereafter' Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski & Joe Farrell

'Inception' Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley & Peter Bebb ---winner, hands down!

'Iron Man 2' Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright & Daniel Sudick

 Best Cinematography

'Black Swan' Matthew Libatique

'Inception' Wally Pfister --too much CGI, so no)

'The King's Speech' Danny Cohen

'The Social Network' Jeff Cronenweth --(too much indoors, so no)

'True Grit' Roger Deakins --vast vistas is a sure thing; winner!

Best Sound Mixing

'Inception' Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo & Ed Novick

'The King's Speech' Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen & John Midgley --the whole film's about sound, how could this not win?

'Salt' Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan & William Sarokin

'The Social Network' Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick & Mark Weingarten --might upset

'True Grit' Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff & Peter F. Kurland

Best Sound Editing --doesn't sound mixing and editing ususally come from the same film?

'Inception' Richard King

'Toy Story 3' Tom Myers & Michael Silvers

'Tron: Legacy' Gwendolyn Yates Whittle & Addison Teague

'True Grit' Skip Lievsay & Craig Berkey

'Unstoppable' Mark P. Stoeckinger -winner, gut instinct (because 'King's Speech' wasn't nominated)

Best Costume Design 

'Alice in Wonderland' Colleen Atwood

'I Am Love' Antonella Cannarozzi

'The King's Speech' Jenny Beavan --winner again

'The Tempest' Sandy Powell 

'True Grit' Mary Zophres

Best Art Direction

'Alice in Wonderland' Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I' Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

'Inception' Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat

'The King's Speech' Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr --winner

'True Grit' Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Best Makeup

'Barney's Version' Adrien Morot

'The Way Back' Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk & Yolanda Toussieng

'The Wolfman' Rick Baker & Dave Elsey --winner, duh!  totally believable transmogrification

All others I don't know about, don't care about, or the Academy will deal with them off-camera.