Lee Anne explains why we think these nominees will bring home the gold...
Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Why? Because the Academy members do not want to sit and listen to another acceptance speech from James Cameron for the rest of their lives.
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Why? Because the Academy members do want to sit and listen to another acceptance speech from James Cameron *and* they don't like him and she's his ex-wife, and they think it would be great to have him sit and watch her win.
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges
Why? Because he's been nominated 5 times, Academy members like him, and therefore, he's due.
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock
Why? No reason for her *not* to win! Streep and Mirren have won before and will cancel each other's votes out. The other two (Mulligan and Sidibe) are young and the Academy will think those two have more time in their careers to get awards, plus they'll have honored Precious by voting for Mo'Nique and screenplay. Bullock is popular in Hollywood, the film is a heart-warming rags-to-riches true story and this would be the award in which the Academy honors the movie, and Bullock won the SAG for this.
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer
Why? While Waltz has won the precursor SAG and Golden Globes, he is not a Hollywood actor like Plummer, and I think that the Academy will recognize Plummer's great performance in The Last Station and want to honor his career by giving him the win. We saw this last year when Rourke won the SAG and Golden Globes, and Penn went on to win the Best Actor award.
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique
Why? She won all the precursors, the "Up in the Air' actresses cancel each other out, Cruz won just last year, and Gyllenhaal's performance did not stand out. It's the best way that the Academy can honor the movie Precious and they'd love to see her acceptance speech.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Precious
Why? It's the other category in which the Academy can honor Precious, and if the novel's author also contributed to the screenplay, I think they'll really want to see her make an acceptance speech, given the language in the movie and book.
Best Original Screenplay: Inglourious Basterds or Up
Why? The Academy might want to give Tarentino something, and they won't give it Pic or Director. Up will likely win for Original Score and Best Animated Pic, so while I think it might also get votes for screenplay, I'll give the edge to Basterds.