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Below you will find my final Oscar nomination predictions, which I have been piecing together over the last month. I have made a few changes since writing about each category, and I will note where those changes will made. Keep in mind when looking at my predictions that I am really, really bad at predicting the nominees, and the last couple of years haven't even bothered. But I have dedicated so much time to each category this year that I really believe it will be extra embarrassing when I'm totally wrong, and that's an opportunity I can't pass up. Here goes nothing:

Best Picture:

1. The Artist
2. The Descendants
3. Hugo
4. The Help
5. Midnight in Paris
6. Moneyball
7. War Horse
8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
9. Bridesmaids
10. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Director:

(Midnight in Paris and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo have both built a lot of support over the last month, and while I think Woody is in, I can't shake the feeling that Spielberg will find a spot and Fincher will get overlooked)

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanivicius - The Artist
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Martin Scorsese - Hugo
Steven Spielberg - War Horse

Best Actor:

George Clooney - The Descendants
Leonardo Dicaprio - J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Michael Fassbender - Shame
Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Best Actress:
Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis - The Help
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk about Kevin
Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor:

Kenneth Branagh - My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks - Drive
Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Nick Nolte - Warrior
Christopher Plummer - Beginners

Best Supporting Actress:

Jessica Chastain - The Help
Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Shaileen Woodley - The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay:

(There's no safe prediction for the fifth spot, with Win Win and 50/50 both having equal claim. Call it a hunch that the older-leaning Win Win will get the nomination)

Michel Hazanivicius- The Artist
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig - Bridesmaids
Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
Tom McCarthy - Win Win
Diablo Cody - Young Adult

Best Adapted Screenplay:

(Between Zaillian already getting nominated for Moneyball, the story of writer Bridget O'Connor's death, and the British voting block, I feel like Tinker Tailor will get in over The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne, and Jim Rash - The Descendants
Tate Taylor - The Help
John Logan - Hugo
Aaron Sorkin and Stephen Zaillian - Moneyball
Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Art Direction:

Anonymous
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
War Horse

Best Cinematography:

The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Costumes:

Anonymous
The Artist
The Help
Hugo
Jane Eyre

Best Film Editing:

(There is not as much love for War Horse as many expected, and this is one category where it will suffer because of it. Either Moneyball or Tinker Tailor could get in, but I'm going with Moneyball)

The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball

Best Makeup:

(When a film is sweeping it gets nominations wherever it can. I think The Artist is going to get in here instead of Albert Nobbs)

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady

Best Sound Mixing:

(There's a reason I didn't write a long analysis of Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, and it's because I know diddly about what is going to get in to these two categories. I decided to do the honorable thing and cheat, combining the lists of three predictors I trust, Sasha Stone [Awards Daily] Kris Tapley [In Contention] and Joey Magidson [Awards Circuit]. The only predictions that are of my own invention are M:I 4 for Sound Mixing and Reel Steal for Sound Editing, so you can go ahead and disregard both of those)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Mission: Impossible 4 – Ghost Protocol
Super 8
War Horse

Best Sound Editing:

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8

Best Visual Effects:

(I'm really tempted to put Captain America in here, but I can't figure out which one would get pulled to make room for it)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life

Best Original Score:
Ludovic Bource - The Artist
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore - Hugo
Dario Marianelli - Jane Eyre
John Williams - War Horse

Best Original Song:
Lay Your Head Down - Albert Nobbs
Star Spangled Man - Captain America: The First Avenger
Hello Hello - Gnomeo and Juliet
The Living Proof - The Help
Pictures in My Head- The Muppets

Best Animated Film:

The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio

Best Documentary Feature:

(This is a mix of politically motivated films and smaller, personal stories. Project Nim is the frontrunner, so beyond that I'm going with gut feelings and random guesses. Still, I feel good about this list, although I'm tempted to try to find room for Bill Cunningham New York. Oh well.)

Buck
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Project Nim
We Were Here

Best Foreign Language Film:

(The Academy is trying to make it easy for me by giving me only nine choices from which to pick, but beyond A Separation, this is anyone's guess. I have a good feeling about the dark drama In Darkness and Wim Wenders' documentary about the late Pina Bousch, Pina. I might as well pick the other two out of a hat)

Footnote
In Darkness
Omar Killed Me
Pina
A Separation

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