Oscars predix

These are my predictions for who will win the Oscars later tonight, in the major categories:

Film: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (blech!!)
Director: Danny Boyle, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (blech!!)
Lead actor: Sean Penn, MILK (blech!!)
Lead actress: Kate Winslet, THE READER (blech!!, though her career deserves one)
Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT (worthy)
Supporting actress: Viola Davis, DOUBT (worthy)
Adapted script: John Patrick Shanley, DOUBT (worthy)
Original script: Dustin Lance Black, MILK (blech!!)
Animated film: WALL-E (worthy)
Foreign film: Israel, WALTZ WITH BASHIR (blech!!)
Song: “Down to Earth,” WALL-E (worthy)

These are my opinions of who should win the Oscars later tonight, given these nominees in the major categories:

Film: FROST/NIXON (ehhhh)
Director: Danny Boyle, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (double blech!!)
Lead actor: Frank Langella, FROST/NIXON (though Mickey Rourke also would be more than worthy and is a more realistic upset pick)
Lead actress: Anne Hathaway, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (no chance)
Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT
Supporting actress: Marisa Tomei, THE WRESTLER (the most wide-open category, so it could happen, but her earlier Oscar for MY COUSIN VINNY hurts)
Adapted script: John Patrick Shanley, DOUBT
Original script: Mike Leigh, HAPPY GO-LUCKY (as if…)
Animated film: WALL-E
Foreign film: Austria, REVANCHE (though France’s THE CLASS also would be more than worthy and is a more realistic upset pick)
Song: “Down to Earth,” WALL-E

These are my fantasies of who would be winning the Oscars later tonight, restricting myself to English-language work in the major categories:

Film: RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Director: Guy Maddin, MY WINNIPEG
Lead actor: Frank Langella, FROST/NIXON
Lead actress: Sally Hawkins, HAPPY GO-LUCKY
Supporting actor: Robert Downey Jr., TROPIC THUNDER (though even unsentimental moi would find the pressure for a posthumous Ledger win hard to resist)
Supporting actress: Ann Savage, MY WINNIPEG
Adapted script: Jonathan and Christopher Nolan, THE DARK KNIGHT
Original script: Joel and Ethan Coen, BURN AFTER READING
Animated film: CHICAGO 10
Foreign film: Romania, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS (or Austria’s REVANCHE given what got submitted this year under these rules; Romania submitted 4 MONTHS last year and naturally didn’t even get a nomination)
Song: “The Wrestler,” THE WRESTLER (though I’d pick “Gran Torino” on the guarantee that Clint would sing it)

These are my unbridled fantasies of who would be winning the Oscars later tonight:

Film: 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS
Director: Carlos Reygadas, SILENT LIGHT
Lead actor: Francois Begaudeau, THE CLASS
Lead actress: Anamaria Marinca, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS
Supporting actor: Robert Downey Jr., TROPIC THUNDER (I’d still find the pressure for a posthumous Ledger win hard to resist)
Supporting actress: Ann Savage, MY WINNIPEG
Adapted script: Jonathan and Christopher Nolan, THE DARK KNIGHT
Original script: Joel and Ethan Coen, BURN AFTER READING
Animated film: CHICAGO 10
Foreign film: Category does not exist
Song: “Pappu Can’t Dance,” JAANE TU YA JAANE YA (and here is the scene of that A.R. Rahman song)