Oscar Predictions: 12/12

The LA critics are due to announce their winners any minute now, with their New York counterparts to follow tomorrow. Here’s hoping that these critics’ circles will actually serve their purpose and try to pick out the true best of the year, rather than attempt to serve as Oscar predictors.

After all, that’s MY job. It’s been a while since my last updated predictions, and there’s been a few tweaks in the race. “Winter’s Bone” is coming on strong with some enthusiastic support from the Indie Spirits and individual critics’ lists. The way I see it, about 9 of the 10 Best Picture slots are looking wrapped up, with “The Town,” “Black Swan,” “Another Year,” plus maybe “Rabbit Hole” and “Blue Valentine” competing for the last slot. Will the Academy prove they’re headed in a new direction and go for the trippy psychosexual drama, or follow up on last year’s highly populist lineup by going for Affleck’s ensemble crime flick? Or perhaps the Brit contingent will win out? The Best Director category is also kind of a hot mess; Fincher, Hooper, Boyle and maybe the Coens feel like safe bets, but then who’s the fifth? Nolan? Granik? Aronofksy? Russell? Cholodenko? Weir? We’ll probably have no idea until the Director’s Guild announces their nominations.

Best Picture:

• The King’s Speech
• The Social Network
• True Grit
• The Fighter
• Inception
• 127 Hours
• Toy Story 3
• The Kids Are All Right
• Winter’s Bone
• The Town

Best Director:

• David Fincher, “The Social Network”
• Tom Hooper, “The King’s Speech”
• Danny Boyle, “127 Hours”
• Ethan and Joel Coen, “True Grit”
• Christopher Nolan, Inception”

Best Actor:

• Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”
• James Franco, “127 Hours”
• Jeff Bridges, “True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”
• Ryan Gosling, “Blue Valentine”

Best Actress:

• Annette Bening, “The Kids Are All Right”
• Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
• Jennifer Lawrence, “Winter’s Bone”
• Nicole Kidman, “Rabbit Hole”
• Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine”

Best Supporting Actor:

• Christian Bale, “The Fighter”
• Mark Ruffalo, “The Kids Are All Right”
• Geoffrey Rush, “The King’s Speech”
• Andrew Garfield, “The Social Network”
• Sam Rockwell, “Conviction”

Best Supporting Actress:

• Miranda Richardson, “Made in Dagenham”
• Helena Bonham Carter, “The King’s Speech”
• Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”
• Dianne Wiest, “Rabbit Hole”
• Hailee Steinfeld, “True Grit”

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network”
• Michael Arndt, “Toy Story 3”
• Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, “127 Hours”
• Ethan, Joel Coen, “True Grit”
• Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, “Winter’s Bone”

Best Original Screenplay:

• David Seidler, “The King’s Speech”
• Christopher Nolan, “Inception”
• Mike Leigh, “Another Year”
• Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg, “The Kids Are All Right”
• Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin, “Black Swan”

Best Score:

• Rachel Portman, “Never Let Me Go”
• Alexandre Desplat, “The King’s Speech”
• Hans Zimmer, “Inception”
• A.R. Rahman, “127 Hours”
• Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, “The Social Network”

Best Cinematography:

• Roger Deakins, “True Grit”
• Enrique Chediak, Anthony Dod Mantle, “127 Hours”
• Wally Pfister, “Inception”
• Robert Richardson, “Shutter Island”
• Russell Boyd, “The Way Back”