2011 Oscar nominees

The complete list of nominees for the Oscars:

Best Picture:

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

Predictions: 9/10. The only one I didn't call was 127 Hours, but I'm not at all surprised that it showed up here. Certainly no surprising omissions or inclusions...unlike the next category.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

• Javier Bardem - Biutiful
• Jeff Bridges - True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
• Colin Firth - The King's Speech
• James Franco - 127 Hours

Predictions: 4/5. Looks like Sean Penn and Julia Roberts' support came through after all. Even though Bardem never really gained much traction over the course of awards season, obviously enough members of AMPAS watched their Biutiful screener DVDs at the right time, which explains why he made it over other outside contenders like Gosling and Duvall.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:

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

Predictions: 5/5. I'm both surprised and glad that Williams actually made it in here, as this could have easily gone to Julianne Moore. I had a few minor last minute doubts about Kidman getting in, but she prevailed, along with the other three expected nominees.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:

• Christian Bale - The Fighter
• John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
• Jeremy Renner - The Town
• Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
• Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right

Predictions: 4/5. I wasn't entirely sure that AMPAS would go for Ruffalo's laid back turn over Garfield's more sympathetic "betrayed best friend." I'm still surprised that he got in and Julianne Moore didn't; apparently AMPAS really wants to make her wait before she finally scores her next nomination.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:

• Amy Adams - The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
• Melissa Leo - The Fighter
• Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
• Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

Predictions: 5/5! Even with the SAG snub, Weaver managed to pull through, and I'm ecstatic about that. And as expected, Steinfeld got put in supporting even though she clearly belongs in lead. If she were to actually win the award, it would be one of the biggest cases of category fraud since Timothy Hutton won Supporting Actor for Ordinary People.

Best Director:

• Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
• Joel and Ethan Coen - True Grit
• David Fincher - The Social Network
• Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
• David O. Russell - The Fighter

Predictions: 4/5. Oh lord, I can hear the hardcore Christopher Nolan fanboys crying foul from here. This is actually a surprise, though, because the general concensus was the Nolan was in, and that the fifth slot would be a fight between the Coens and Russell.

Best Original Screenplay:

• Another Year - Mike Leigh
• The Fighter - Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Keith Dorrington
• Inception - Christopher Nolan
• The Kids Are All Right - Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
• The King's Speech - David Seidler

Predictions: 4/5. If any of my predictions had to go, it had to be Black Swan. I'm still surprised that it showed up as much as it did over the course of awards season, since the film's detractors would likely argue that the script is where the flaws stem from. On the other hand, Another Year has become Happy-Go-Lucky all over again for Mike Leigh, with his praised actress being snubbed while his screenplay lands a surprise nomination.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• 127 Hours - Simon Beaufoy, Danny Boyle
• The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin
• Toy Story 3 - Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
• True Grit - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
• Winter's Bone - Debra Granik, Anne Roselini

Predictions: 5/5. Nothing really surprising here, although I thought that The Town might sneak in.

Best Animated Film:

• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist
• Toy Story 3

Predictions 2/3.

Best Foreign Language Film:

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

Predictions: 4/5.

Best Cinematography:

• Black Swan
• Inception
• The King's Speech
• The Social Network
• True Grit

Predictions: 4/5.

Best Editing:

• 127 Hours
• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• The King's Speech
• The Social Network

Predictions: 4/5.

Best Art Direction:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1
• Inception
• The King's Speech
• True Grit

Predictions: 4/5.

Best Costume Design:

• Alice in Wonderland
• I am Love
• The King's Speech
• The Tempest
• True Grit

Predictions: 3/5. I really really didn't expect I am Love or The Tempest to show up here at all. Having watched the former for the third time, I actually think that it's a great choice. As for the movie itself, the whole thing fit together better and it's actually more subtle than I gave it credit for. That said, there are still a handful of problems that hold it back from greatness, namely the ending. But more on that in another post (and then I promise to shut up about this damn movie once and for all).

Best Makeup:

• Barney's Version
• The Way Back
• The Wolfman

Predictions: 1/3.

Best Original Score:

• 127 Hours - AR Rahman
• How to Train Your Dragon - John Powell
• Inception - Hans Zimmer
• The King's Speech - Alexandre Desplat
• The Social Network - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Predictions: 5/5.

Best Original Song:

• 127 Hours - "If I Rise"
• Country Strong - "Coming Home"
• Tangled - "I See the Light"
• Toy Story 3 - "We Belong Together"

Predictions: 2/5 or 2/4 I guess. I didn't realize that the category had only been given one extra slot this year. Strange.

Best Sound Mixing:

• Inception
• The King's Speech
• Salt
• The Social Network
• True Grit

Predictions: 2/5.

Best Sound Editing:

• Inception
• Toy Story 3
• TRON: Legacy
• True Grit
• Unstoppable

Predictions: 3/5.

Best Visual Effects:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1
• Hereafter
• Inception
• Iron Man 2

Predictions: 4/5. How on earth does Hereafter score here while TRON: Legacy gets passed over? Did they feel obligated to give the Eastwood movie something?

Best Documentary:

• Exit Through the Gift Shop
• GasLand
• Inside Job
• Restrepo
• Waste Land

Predictions: 3/5.

Best Documentary - Short Subject:

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

Best Short Film - Animated:

• Day & Night
• The Gruffalo
• Let's Pollute
• The Lost Thing
• Madagascar, A Journey Diary

Best Short Film - Live Action:

• The Confession
• The Crush
• God of Love
• Na Wewe
• Wish 143