*Copied from original post on Facebook*
Okay, I’m going to give my predictions and picks because I can. And because I’ve seen almost everything.
WILL WIN: Searching for Sugar Man: Yeah, it is winning everything, and hey, I was totally moved.
MY VOTE: Too hard… they were all excellent, and it feels weird awarding in this category; it feels like you’re placing a value judgment on each topic, and there are some very, very important, wrenching issues tackled here. In that sense, I’d have a tie between The Invisible War and 5 Cameras.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT, LIVE ACTION SHORT
WILL WIN: ?
MY VOTE: Haven’t seen any.
ANIMATED SHORT
WILL WIN: Paperman – saw it, and yeah it’s totally awesome.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
WILL WIN: Amour
MY VOTE: I’ve only seen Amour too, and pray I’ll never have to watch it again. It’s life-altering, though.
ANIMATED FEATURE
WILL WIN: Wreck-it Ralph seems to be the favorite.
MY VOTE: I am not a huge fan of animation, but I saw all of these this year. I loved ParaNorman in every way, both for the script and visually.
SOUND EDITING
WILL WIN: I sorta suspect this is going to get swept up in the Argo thing, but I don’t really know.
MY VOTE: Zero Dark Thirty
SOUND MIXING
WILL WIN: Les Mis. Yeah, whatever… I actually recall being annoyed when I saw it because I thought the music was mixed too low against the vocals, but again… whatever.
MY VOTE: Life of Pi
VISUAL EFFECTS
WILL WIN: Life of Pi. Because oh my God the tiger and everything.
MY VOTE: Life of Pi
MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
I don’t really have an opinion or feeling about this.
SCORE
WILL WIN: Life of Pi. Everyone says so.
MY VOTE: Skyfall. Seriously.
SONG
WILL WIN: Skyfall.
MY VOTE: Skyfall, because Adele.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
WILL WIN: Life of Pi.
MY VOTE: Skyfall, because Roger Deakins and The Assassination of Jesse James, and No Country for Old Men, and Fargo, and holy hell, he deserves it. And that high-rise in Shanghai scene rocked my world.
COSTUME DESIGN
WILL WIN: Anna Karenina, because it’s totally the type that wins this.
MY VOTE: Agreed, Mirror, Mirror’s costumes are epic.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
WILL WIN: Anna Karenina, because it’s totally the type that wins this.
MY VOTE: I honestly remembered loving the non-CGI bits of Life of Pi; there was a very real but magical and colorful world before the voyage, and I’d love it if it were recognized.
FILM EDITING
WILL WIN: Argo.
MY VOTE: Zero Dark Thirty, because that last half hour.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WILL WIN: This is difficult… This is a more likely additional prize for Amour than (I’m sad to admit) Best Actress.
MY VOTE: This is difficult because I don’t absolutely love any of them, but Zero Dark Thirty is my favorite of them.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
WILL WIN: Guh… I think Argo.
MY VOTE: Life of Pi.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
WILL WIN: I honestly do not know, but I really don’t want it to be Tommy Lee Jones, and I’m just as surprised about that as you are.
MY VOTE: Robert DeNiro, really, really a lot. Best thing about the movie for me.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WILL WIN: Sigh… Anne Hathaway. And yes, Richard, I too dread how annoying her speech will be.
MY VOTE: Helen Hunt
ACTOR
WILL WIN: Daniel Day-Lewis, of course.
MY VOTE: Daniel Day-Lewis, sure. Though I really, really wanted a Hugh Jackman season because I love him.
ACTRESS
WILL WIN: I can’t even with this, because I just think it’s going to be embarrassing if Jennifer Lawrence wins and not Emmanuelle Riva. The award frankly will lose its meaning (what meaning is still in it, I know…).
MY VOTE: Naomi Watts. My favorite of the performances by far.
DIRECTOR
WILL WIN: I’m really crossing my fingers for Ang Lee, but I really don’t know what’s going to happen here. It just is so unlikely to me that it would be Spielberg.
MY VOTE: Ang Lee
PICTURE
WILL WIN: Argo. It’s just going to.
MY VOTE: Life of Pi or Beasts of the Southern Wild. The most exhilarating and moving experiences for me of the season… but I’m not crazy overwhelmed by any of them.