Best Picture

WHAT WILL WIN: With 12 nominations, it is looking like Lincoln will land the gold.  Usually, the Best Picture category can be determined by the Best Director category, which is being led by Steven Spielberg.  This is an odd prediction, as Lincoln has lost to Argo in almost every other awards guild, but Ben Affleck was shirked for his Directing nomination, placing the Academy favorite biopic in the lead.

WHAT SHOULD WIN: Les Miserables was the most innovative and groundbreaking picture of the year, and easily deserves recognition for, at the very least, the breathtaking cinematography, the advancement of singing live on set, giving the actors a chance to bring previously absent emotion to the screen, and the unforgettable imagery.  Hats off to you, Mr. Hooper.

Best Actor

WHO WILL WIN: Daniel Day-Lewis is guaranteed to land this award.  He not only portrayed a famous historical figure, but he brought his own charisma to the role.  Day-Lewis has always been an Academy favorite, and will surely secure himself an Oscar to go with all of his other acting awards this year.

WHO SHOULD WIN: Day-Lewis surely deserves this award, but, for your consideration, remember that Hugh Jackman had to not only act (which he did superbly), but had to sing.  He brought life and emotion to the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and had just as much, if not more, difficulty to conquer in his performance as Lewis.

Best Actress

WHO WILL WIN: Jessica Chastain is a favorite for Best Actress, seeing her ballsy performance as the star of Zero Dark Thirty, but she has lost a few acting awards to others throughout the award months.  In my opinion, because the Academy ignored Kathryn Bigelow for directing, they will honor Thirty with Chastain’s award.

WHO SHOULD WIN: Jennifer Lawrence created the most memorable female lead of the year with her performance in Silver Linings Playbook.  She was funny, odd and brutally genuine in her treatment of the mentally ill lover.  She is my personal favorite for the award, as well as pretty much everybody else’s.

Best Supporting Actor

WHO WILL WIN: Tommy Lee Jones, the king of deadpan, managed to combine that quality with the most charisma of the year. He brought life, personality, and much needed significance to Thaddeus Stevens, and he almost stole the show from Honest Abe himself.

WHO SHOULD WIN: While Jones gave the performance of his career, the deserver is somebody who was not even considered by the Academy. Leonardo DiCaprio layered his performance in Django Unchained by coming off at first as a poser and an idiot. He then continued to lightly reveal his character’s cruelty until a climactic explosion of evil. DiCaprio genuinely smashed his hand on a glass and began bleeding before proceeding to incorporate it into his performance. Dedication, innovation, awesome.

Best Supporting Actress

WHO WILL WIN: Anne Hathaway garnered Oscar hype from the trailers of her film. The trailers. She had only 20 minutes of screen time in her three hour film, yet she stole the show from people like Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe.  She made audiences cry with only slight movements.  She created images we will never forget.  She has won every supporting actress award until now, and will surely win this one too.

WHO SHOULD WIN: Hathaway. Enough said.

Best Director

WHO WILL WIN:  Steven Spielberg pretty much has this one in the bag, seeing as his two major competitors, Bigelow and Affleck, have not even been nominated.  The other nominees are just there as fillers, leaving Spielberg as the only one with true directorial weight.

WHO SHOULD WIN: Tom Hooper took so many risks when he began work on Les Miserables, and they paid off.  He brought life and energy to a dying genre, and gave us a movie with scenes that leave you sad they are over, but excited for the next one.  Fantastic directing.

Best Adapted Screenplay

WHO WILL WIN: Argo will most likely win, seeing as it has been ignored in every other category.  The screenplay has been praised across the board, and, as it will not garner any other awards, the Academy will surely respect it here.

WHO SHOULD WIN: Argo surely brought Hollywood back to its roots, but a movie that concluded fantastic new and innovative writing was the conclusion to the Batman trilogy The Dark Knight Rises.  Filled with memorable lines, and beautiful characters, Nolan deserves recognition for bringing respect to the superhero genre.

Best Original Screenplay

WHO WILL WIN: Django Unchained managed to win the Golden Globe, and, seeing as this category is quite cluttered with beautiful scripts, it will be hard to call.  However, Tarantino is long overdue for his second writing Oscar, and the Academy still owes him for countless shirks.  Unchained was new, bold, and Tarantino, meaning it stands out most in this category.

WHO SHOULD WIN: Django Unchained would be the best, surely, but in terms of pure originality, the not nominated Looper by Rian Johnson renewed time travel in a way never seen before, while still honoring movies in the genres past.  Either one would be entirely deserving of the coveted award.