2011 Academy Award Predictions

Below are my rankings for the Top 40 Films of 2010 along with my predictions for the Academy Awards. I've ranked all the nominees I've seen by my preference in the category, then alphabetically for those I have not. I listed my prediction for the win, a possible spoiler and which film should have been recognized in each category (so if I list three 'should have been here' contenders it means I would replace the bottom three candidates in my ranking of the nominees with those to form my ideal ballot).


Best Picture:

1. 127 Hours
2. Toy Story 3
3. The Social Network
4. The King's Speech
5. Inception
6. True Grit
7. Black Swan
8. Winter's Bone
9. The Fighter
10. The Kids are All Right

Will Win: The King's Speech
Could Win: The Social Network
Should Have Been Here: The Town, Shutter Island, Carlos, Let Me In

An amazing year in the category, for once I genuinely liked every nominee.

Best Director

1. David Fincher, The Social Network
2. Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
3. Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit
4. Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
5. David O. Russell, The Fighter

Will Win: David Fincher
Could Win: Tom Hooper
Should Have Been Here: Danny Boyle, 127 Hours; Christopher Nolan, Inception; Martin Scorsese, Shutter Island

Best Actor

1. James Franco, 127 Hours
2. Colin Firth, The King's Speech
3. Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
4. Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Will Win: Colin Firth
Could Win: null
Should Have Been Here: Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island; Andrew Garfield, Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974; Edgar Ramirez, Carlos

Best Actress

1. Natalie Portman, Black Swan
2. Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
3. Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
4. Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
5. Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

The only poor selection here would be Bening who wasn't even the best female lead in her movie (Julianne Moore gave a far more interesting performance)

Will Win: Natalie Portman
Could Win: Annette Bening
Should Have Been Here: Rachel Weisz, Agora; Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs; Emma Stone, Easy A; Chloe Moretz, Let Me In; Patricia Clarkson, Cairo Time

Best Supporting Actor

1. Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
2. Jeremy Renner, The Town
3. Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
4. Christian Bale, The Fighter
5. John Hawkes, Winter's Bone

Another superb set of nominees, all are deserving

Will Win: Christian Bale
Could Win: Geoffrey Rush
Should Have Been Here: Andrew Garfield, The Social Network; Joe Anderson, The Crazies

Best Supporting Actress

1. Amy Adams, The Fighter
2. Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
3. Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
4. Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
5. Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Sadly, it looks like Melissa Leo is going to win for a scenery chewing over the top performance.

Will Win: Melissa Leo
Could Win: Hailee Steinfeld, Helena Bonham Carter
Should Have Been Here: Mila Kunis, Black Swan; Olivia Williams, The Ghost Writer; Soledad Villamil, The Secret in Their Eyes; Mia Wasikowski, The Kids Are All Right

Best Animated Film

1. Toy Story 3
2. How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist

Will Win: Toy Story 3
Could Win: null
Could Have Been Here: Tangled, Despicable Me

Best Foreign Language Film

1. Dogtooth (Greece)
Biutiful (Mexico)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Outside the Law (Algeria)

Will Win: Biutiful
Could Win: In a Better World
Should Have Been Here: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden)

Best Documentary Feature

1. Restrepo
2. Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Waste Land

Will Win: Inside Job
Could Win: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Should Have Been Here: Waking Sleeping Beauty

Best Original Screenplay

1. The King's Speech
2. The Kids Are All Right
3. The Fighter
4. Inception
Another Year

Will Win: The Kids Are All Right
Could Win: The King's Speech
Should Have Been Here: Black Swan, Monsters, Carlos

Best Adapted Screenplay

1, Toy Story 3
2. 127 Hours
3. The Social Network
4. True Grit
5. Winter's Bone

Will Win: The Social Network
Could Win: null
Should Have Been Here: The Town

Best Art Direction

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2. True Grit
3. Inception
4. The King's Speech
5. Alice in Wonderland

Will Win: Inception
Could Win: The King's Speech
Should Have Been Here: Black Swan, Shutter Island, The Wolfman

Best Cinematography

1. True Grit
2. Black Swan
3. Inception
4. The Social Network
5. The King's Speech

Will Win: True Grit
Could Win: The King's Speech
Should Have Been Here: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, 127 Hours, Shutter Island, The Way Back

Best Film Editing

1. 127 Hours
2. The Social Network
3. Black Swan
4. The King's Speech
5. The Fighter

Will Win: The Social Network
Could Win: The King's Speech
Should Have Been Here: Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Shutter Island

Best Visual Effects

1. Inception
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
3. Iron Man 2
4. Alice in Wonderland
5. Hereafter

Will Win: Inception
Could Win: Alice in Wonderland
Could Have Been Here: Scott Pilgrim vs the World, The Social Network

Best Original Score

1. 127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
2. The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
3. Inception, Hans Zimmer
4. How to Train Your Dragon, John Powell
5. The King's Speech, Alexandre Desplat

Will Win: The Social Network
Could Win: Inception
Should Have Been Here: Never Let Me Go, Rachel Portman; TRON: Legacy, Daft Punk; Toy Story 3, Randy Newman; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Alexandre Desplat

Best Original Song

1. "I See the Light" (Tangled)
2. "We Belong Together" (Toy Story 3)
3. "If I Rise" (127 Hours)
4. "Coming Home" (Country Strong)

Will Win: "I See the Light"
Could Win: "If I Rise," "We Belong Together"
Should Have Been Here: "Eclipse: All Yours" (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse)

Best Sound Editing

1. TRON: Legacy
2. Inception
3. Unstoppable
4. True Grit
5. Toy Story 3

Will Win: Inception
Could Win: True Grit
Should Have Been Here: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 127 Hours, How to Train Your Dragon

Best Sound Mixing

1. Inception
2. Salt
3. True Grit
4. The Social Network
5. The King's Speech

Will Win: Inception
Could Win: Salt
Should Have Been Here: TRON: Legacy, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 127 Hours, Shutter Island, The Crazies

Best Costume Design

1. True Grit
2. The King's Speech
3. Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The Tempest

Will Win: The King's Speech
Could Win: Alice in Wonderland
Should Have Been Here: Black Swan, Robin Hood, The Way Back, The Wolfman

Best Makeup

1. The Wolfman
2. Barney's Version
3. The Way Back

Will Win: The Wolfman
Could Win: Barney's Version
Should Have Been Here: Black Swan

Best Animated Short

1. Day and Night
The Gruffalo
Let's Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, a Journey Diary

Will Win: Madagascar, a Journey Diary
Could Win: any
Should Have Been Here: DC Showcase: Green Arrow

Best Live Action Short

The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143

Will Win: The Confession
Could Win: any
Should Have Been Here: Paper Bag

Best Documentary Short

Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Will Win: The Warriors of Qiugang
Could Win: Strangers No More
Should Have Been Here: (Abstain)


Top 40 Movies of 2011
40. Agora
39. Edge of Darkness
38. The Disappearance of Alice Creed
37. Salt
36. Cairo Time
35. The Company Men
34. The Kids Are All Right
33. Tangled
32. Animal Kingdom
31. How to Train Your Dragon
30. Iron Man 2
29. A Prophet (Un prophète)
28. Blue Valentine
27. Kick-Ass
26. Unstoppable
25. The Fighter
24. Never Let Me Go
23. The Crazies
22. Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974
21. Winter's Bone
20. The Way Back
19. Exit Through the Gift Shop
18. The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos)
17. Rabbit Hole
16. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
15. Black Swan
14. Monsters
13. Restrepo
12. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
11. The Ghost Writer
10. Let Me In
9. True Grit
8. Inception
7. Shutter Island
6. Carlos
5. The King's Speech
4. The Social Network
3. The Town
2. Toy Story 3
1. 127 Hours