Actor in a Leading Role

• Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
• Hugh Jackman in "Les Misérables"
• Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
• Denzel Washington in "Flight"

WILL WIN:  Daniel Day-Lewis – This is easily predictable.

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Alan Arkin in "Argo"
• Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
• Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"
• Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"

WILL WIN: Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained" – This, for me, is a VERY tough category; I can see it going to anybody except Tommy Lee Jones.  I think DeNiro and Arkin's roles were too small (certainly compared to Waltz), so I think he has a slight edge over those two.  And as between Waltz and Hoffman — well, it's a flip of the coin.

Actress in a Leading Role

• Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
• Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
• Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
• Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"

WILL WIN: Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Amy Adams in "The Master"
• Sally Field in "Lincoln"
• Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"
• Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
• Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"

WILL WIN and SHOULD WIN: Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables" – there's some late pull for Sally Field, but I don't buy into it.  Hathaway's performance was the most talked-about of the year, and rightly so.

Animated Feature Film

• "Brave" Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
• "Frankenweenie" Tim Burton
• "ParaNorman" Sam Fell and Chris Butler
• "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" Peter Lord
• "Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore

WILL WIN: "Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore – "Frankenweenie" probably is more exciting visually, but Ralph had a better story and theme.

Cinematography

• "Anna Karenina" Seamus McGarvey
• "Django Unchained" Robert Richardson
• "Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda
• "Lincoln" Janusz Kaminski
• "Skyfall" Roger Deakins

WILL WIN: "Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda – "Lincoln" was a great movie to look at, and each scene evoked a mood, so it has a strong chance of winning this award.  But for my money, "Life of Pi" was breathtaking in every scene, and I think the Academy will be smart enough to recognize it.

Costume Design

• "Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran
• "Les Misérables" Paco Delgado
• "Lincoln" Joanna Johnston
• "Mirror Mirror" Eiko Ishioka
• "Snow White and the Huntsman" Colleen Atwood

WILL WIN: "Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran – Les Mis blew it with that odd at that Russell Crowe wore.  Lincoln's costumes were, I'm sure, painstakingly accurate, but I think you have to give it to Anna.

Directing

• "Amour" Michael Haneke
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Benh Zeitlin
• "Life of Pi" Ang Lee
• "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
• "Silver Linings Playbook" David O. Russell

WILL WIN: "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg

SHOULD WIN: "Life of Pi" Ang Lee or "Argo" Ben Affleck (who wasn't even nominated)

Documentary Feature

• "5 Broken Cameras" 
  Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
• "The Gatekeepers" 
  Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky and Estelle Fialon
• "How to Survive a Plague" 
  David France and Howard Gertler
• "The Invisible War" 
  Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering
• "Searching for Sugar Man" 
  Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn

WILL WIN: "Searching for Sugar Man" Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn

Documentary Short Subject

• "Inocente" 
  Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
• "Kings Point" 
  Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
• "Mondays at Racine" 
  Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
• "Open Heart" 
  Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
• "Redemption" 
  Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill

WILL WIN: "Open Heart" Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern – I didn't see these films, but I read the synopses, and while they all shine a light on a cause or tragedy or both, I went with the one taking place in Africa.  Because, Africa.

Film Editing

• "Argo" William Goldenberg
• "Life of Pi" Tim Squyres
• "Lincoln" Michael Kahn
• "Silver Linings Playbook" Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

Will win:  "Argo" William Goldenberg

Foreign Language Film

• "Amour" Austria
• "Kon-Tiki" Norway
• "No" Chile
• "A Royal Affair" Denmark
• "War Witch" Canada

WILL WIN: "Amour" Austria

Makeup and Hairstyling

• "Hitchcock"
  Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
  Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
• "Les Misérables" 
  Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

WILL WIN: "Les Misérables" Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnel

Music (Original Score)

• "Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli
• "Argo" Alexandre Desplat
• "Life of Pi" Mychael Danna
• "Lincoln" John Williams
• "Skyfall" Thomas Newman

WILL WIN: "Life of Pi" Mychael Danna - I always find John Williams' score overbearing and manipulative.  He'll probably win, but I just can't accept it, so I'm going with "Life of Pi",

Music (Original Song)

• "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
  Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
• "Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
  Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
• "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
  Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
• "Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
  Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
• "Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"
  Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

WILL WIN: "Skyfall" from "Skyfall" Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth – Sorry Les Mis.  The added song just wasn't good.

Best Picture

• "Amour" Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka and Michael Katz, Producers
• "Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
• "Django Unchained" Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
• "Les Misérables" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
• "Life of Pi" Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
• "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
• "Silver Linings Playbook" Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers

WILL WIN: "Argo" – It's odd for me this year — I've seen seven of the nine nominees (I didn't see Amour or Beasts of the Southern Wild).  Of the seven I saw, I would put Argo, Life of Pi, Zero Dark Thirty, and Silver Linings Playbook on a higher tier than Les Mis, Lincoln, or Django Unchained.  Between those four, I would have a hard time picking my favorite — they each have their own way of "staying with you".  I'm giving my vote to "Argo" because it is doing well this award season, but I wouldn't be surprised or disappointed if the others in my "top 4" won.

Production Design

• "Anna Karenina"
  Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
  Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
• "Les Misérables" 
  Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
• "Life of Pi" 
  Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
• "Lincoln" 
  Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson 

WILL WIN: "Les Misérables" Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson – A slight edge over Anna, but only slight.

Short Film (Animated)

• "Adam and Dog" Minkyu Lee
• "Fresh Guacamole" PES
• "Head over Heels" Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
• "Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"" David Silverman
• "Paperman" John Kahrs

WILL WIN: "Paperman" John Kahrs – I saw all of these (in one screening), and the two best were probably "Adam and Dog" and "Paperman".  "Paperman" was better in my view — the animation technique was unusual and quite beautiful, but not distracting.

Short Film (Live Action)

• "Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
• "Buzkashi Boys" Sam French and Ariel Nasr
• "Curfew" Shawn Christensen
• "Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)" Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
• "Henry" Yan England

WILL WIN: "Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura

SHOULD WIN: "Curfew" Shawn Christensen

"Curfew" is an odd movie dealing with suicide and alienation, but full of humor and heart.  That's a tough bill to fill, but it was done nicely.  Good as it was, I think the Academy will give the award to "Asad", a very good film made about Somalia pirates and children, and played skillfully by non-actor Somalian refugees themselves.

Sound Editing

• "Argo" Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
• "Django Unchained" Wylie Stateman
• "Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
• "Skyfall" Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Paul N.J. Ottosson

Will win: "Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton

Sound Mixing

• "Argo"
  John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
• "Les Misérables" 
  Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
• "Life of Pi"
  Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
• "Lincoln" 
  Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
• "Skyfall" 
  Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

WILL WIN: "Les Misérables"  Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes

Visual Effects

• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" 
  Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
• "Life of Pi" 
  Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
• "Marvel's The Avengers" 
  Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
• "Prometheus" 
  Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
• "Snow White and the Huntsman"
  Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Will win and should win: "Life of Pi" Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• "Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
• "Life of Pi" Screenplay by David Magee
• "Lincoln" Screenplay by Tony Kushner
• "Silver Linings Playbook" Screenplay by David O. Russell

WILL WIN: "Lincoln" Screenplay by Tony Kushner – but don't be too surprised if "Argo" pulls an upset.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• "Amour" Written by Michael Haneke
• "Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino
• "Flight" Written by John Gatins
• "Moonrise Kingdom" Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Written by Mark Boal

WILL WIN: "Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino – This is a tough one as I have only seen two of the nominees, but I think it will be Quentin's snappy dialogue which wins the day.