Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (click here for full field and rankings)
- Moneyball (Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin)
- The Descendants (Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash)
- The Help (Tate Taylor)
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Steve Zaillian)
- Hugo (John Logan)
Writing (Original Screenplay) (click here for full field and rankings)
- Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
- The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)
- 50/50 (Will Reiser)
- Win Win (Thomas McCarthy)
- Bridesmaids (Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo)
Animated Feature Film (click here for full field and rankings)
- Rango (dir. Gore Verbinski)
- The Adventures of Tintin (dir. Steven Spielberg)
- Wrinkles (dir. Ignacio Ferreras)
- Puss in Boots (dir. Chris Miller)
- Arthur Christmas (dir. Sarah Smith)
NOTES: As I said above, Wrinkles is an excellent film and it is neck-and-neck with Rango now for my favorite animated film of 2011, but it is sad, sad, sad as it takes a head-on look at old age. Question is, how will the Animation branch at the Academy react to it? This wasn’t necessarily a strong year for animated films, but if they overlook Wrinkles for shoddy studio fare they have made a big mistake.
Documentary (feature) (click here for full field and rankings)
- Project Nim (dir. James Marsh)
- Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (dir. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky)
- Pina (dir. Wim Wenders)
- Buck (dir. Cindy Meehl)
- Bill Cunningham New York (dir. Richard Press)
NOTES: Your guess is as good as mine. Come to think of it, what constitutes “best” documentary? The one that makes you the saddest? The most beautiful? The most effective? The one that offers the most change?
Foreign Language Film (click here for full field and rankings)
- A Separation (dir. Asghar Farhadi)
- In Darkness (dir. Agnieszka Holland)
- Pina (dir. Wim Wenders)
- Bullhead (dir. Michael R. Roskam)
- Monsieur Lazhar (dir. Philippe Falardeau)
NOTES: Of the foreign language films I’ve seen that are among the contenders, Bullhead is the best followed by A Separation. Just saying.
Cinematography (click here for full field and rankings)
- The Tree of Life (Emmanuel Lubezki)
- The Artist (Guillame Schiffman)
- Hugo (Robert Richardson)
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Jeff Cronenweth)
- War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)
Film Editing (click here for full field and rankings)
- The Artist (Anne-Sophie Bion)
- Hugo (Thelma Schoonmaker)
- War Horse (Michael Kahn)
- Drive (Matthew Newman)
- The Descendants (Kevin Tent)
Music (Original Score) (click here for full field and rankings)
- The Artist (Ludovic Bource)
- War Horse (John Williams)
- Jane Eyre (Dario Marianelli)
- Hugo (Howard Shore)
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Alexandre Desplat)
Music (Original Song) (click here for full field and rankings)
- “Lay Your Head Down” from Albert Nobbs
- “The Living Proof” from The Help
- “Life’s A Happy Song” from The Muppets
- “Hello Hello” from Gnomeo and Juliet
- “Coeur Volant” from Hugo
Sound Mixing (click here for full field and rankings)
Sound Editing (click here for full field and rankings)
Art Direction (click here for full field and rankings)
- Hugo
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
- The Artist
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Visual Effects (click here for full field and rankings)
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- The Tree of Life
- Hugo
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Costumes (click here for full field and rankings)
Makeup (click here for full field and rankings)
Predicted Wins Per Movie
- The Artist – 4 Oscars
- Hugo – 3 Oscars
- The Help – 2 Oscars
- Albert Nobbs – 1 Oscar
- Beginners – 1 Oscar
- The Descendants – 1 Oscar
- Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life – 1 Oscar
- Midnight in Paris – 1 Oscar
- Moneyball – 1 Oscar
- Project Nim – 1 Oscar
- Rango – 1 Oscar
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes – 1 Oscar
- A Separation – 1 Oscar
- Super 8 – 1 Oscar
- The Tree of Life – 1 Oscar
Predicted Nominations Per Movie
- Hugo – 12 Oscar nominations
- The Artist – 10 Oscar nominations
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – 7 Oscar nominations
- The Help – 6 Oscar nominations
- The Descendants – 5 Oscar nominations
- War Horse – 5 Oscar nominations
- Midnight in Paris – 4 Oscar nominations
- Moneyball – 4 Oscar nominations
- Albert Nobbs – 3 Oscar nominations
- Bridesmaids – 2 Oscar nominations
- Drive – 2 Oscar nominations
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – 2 Oscar nominations
- Jane Eyre – 2 Oscar nominations
- My Week with Marilyn – 2 Oscar nominations
- Pina – 2 Oscar nominations
- Super 8 – 2 Oscar nominations
- The Adventures of Tintin – 2 Oscar nominations
- The Iron Lady – 2 Oscar nominations
- The Tree of Life – 2 Oscar nominations
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – 2 Oscar nominations
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon – 2 Oscar nominations
- 50/50 – 1 Oscar nomination
- Arthur Christmas – 1 Oscar nomination
- Beginners – 1 Oscar nomination
- Bill Cunningham New York – 1 Oscar nomination
- Buck – 1 Oscar nomination
- Bullhead – 1 Oscar nomination
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – 1 Oscar nomination
- Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life – 1 Oscar nomination
- Gnomeo and Juliet – 1 Oscar nomination
- Hanna – 1 Oscar nomination
- In Darkness – 1 Oscar nomination
- J. Edgar – 1 Oscar nomination
- Monsieur Lazhar – 1 Oscar nomination
- Warrior – 1 Oscar nomination
- Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – 1 Oscar nomination
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – 1 Oscar nomination
- Project Nim – 1 Oscar nomination
- Puss in Boots – 1 Oscar nomination
- Rango – 1 Oscar nomination
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes – 1 Oscar nomination
- The Muppets – 1 Oscar nomination
- We Need to Talk about Kevin – 1 Oscar nomination
- Win Win – 1 Oscar nomination
- Wrinkles – 1 Oscar nomination