Tonight is the 84th annual Academy Awards.  Here are my predictions:

Best Motion Picture of the Year

The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Of the nominated films, Moneyball is the only one I’ve seen.  I think The Artist takes home the award.  It is definitely the type of film the Academy likes to reward.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir for A Better Life
George Clooney for The Descendants
Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt for Moneyball

Again, Brad Pitt’s performance in Moneyball is the only one I’ve seen.  Clooney seems to have some momentum on his side.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis for The Help
Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady 
Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn

This certainly has not been my year for seeing the nominated films.  Of these nominees, the only performance I’ve seen is Rooney Mara’s in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  I think Meryl Streep finally gets the recognition she so richly deserves.  (Yes, that was sarcasm)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill for Moneyball 
Nick Nolte for Warrior
Christopher Plummer for Beginners
Max von Sydow for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Jonah Hill’s performance in Moneyball is, again, the only one I’ve seen.  There doesn’t seem to be much buzz about any other performance, so I’ll give the nod to the funny man turned serious.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejo for The Artist
Jessica Chastain for The Help
Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer for The Help

Melissa McCarthy’s scene-stealing performance in Bridesmaids was the only one I’ve seen, but somehow I don’t see the Academy rewarding a performance that included defecating in a sink.  Octavia Spencer seems to have momentum on her side, so I’m going to choose her.

Best Achievement in Directing

Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Well, I’ve seen none of these films, so I’m going to go with Marty Scorsese for his work on Hugo.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

The Artist: Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo
Margin Call: J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen
A Separation: Asghar Farhadi

Bridesmaids was the only one I’ve seen, but I think the writer/director of The Artist takes home the trophy.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

The Descendants: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Hugo: John Logan
The Ides of March: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
Moneyball: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

Moneyball is the only one I’ve seen, but I’m going to go with The Descendants, mostly because I think it would be great if Dean Pelton from Community won an Oscar.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

A Cat in Paris: Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli
Chico & Rita: Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal
Kung Fu Panda 2: Jennifer Yuh
Puss in Boots: Chris Miller
Rango: Gore Verbinski

No clue here, but I’ll go with Rango.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Bullhead: Michael R. Roskam(Belgium)
Footnote: Joseph Cedar(Israel)
In Darkness: Agnieszka Holland(Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar: Philippe Falardeau(Canada)
A Separation: Asghar Farhadi(Iran)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

The Artist: Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo: Robert Richardson
The Tree of Life: Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse: Janusz Kaminski

Best Achievement in Editing

The Artist: Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants: Kevin Tent
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
Hugo: Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball: Christopher Tellefsen

Best Achievement in Art Direction

The Artist: Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
Hugo: Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
Midnight in Paris: Anne Seibel, Hélène Dubreuil
War Horse: Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Anonymous: Lisy Christl
The Artist: Mark Bridges
Hugo: Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre: Michael O’Connor
W.E.: Arianne Phillips

Best Achievement in Makeup

Albert Nobbs: Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
The Iron Lady: Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

The Adventures of Tintin: John Williams
The Artist: Ludovic Bource
Hugo: Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Alberto Iglesias
War Horse: John Williams

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

The Muppets: Bret McKenzie(“Man or Muppet”)
Rio: Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Siedah Garrett(“Real in Rio”)

The one “controversy” leading up to the awards show is the intention to not have the two nominated songs performed during the telecast.  The opportunity to have the Muppets perform would seem like a no-brainer to anyone looking to put on an entertaining telecast.

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Bo Persson
Hugo: Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
Moneyball: Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco, Ed Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Peter J. Devlin
War Horse: Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Stuart Wilson

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Drive: Lon Bender, Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Ren Klyce
Hugo: Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty
Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl
War Horse: Richard Hymns, Gary Rydstrom

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, John Richardson
Hugo: Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, Alex Henning
Real Steel: Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor, Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler, John Frazier

Best Documentary, Features

Hell and Back Again: Danfung Dennis, Mike Lerner
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front: Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
Pina: Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
Undefeated: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin, Rich Middlemas

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement: Robin Fryday, Gail Dolgin
God Is the Bigger Elvis: Rebecca Cammisa, Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad: James Spione
Saving Face: Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom: Lucy Walker, Kira Carstensen

Best Short Film, Animated

Sunday: Patrick Doyon
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore: William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg
La Luna: Enrico Casarosa
A Morning Stroll: Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe
Wild Life: Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby

Best Short Film, Live Action

Pentecost: Peter McDonald
Raju: Max Zähle, Stefan Gieren
The Shore: Terry George, Oorlagh George
Time Freak: Andrew Bowler, Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic: Hallvar Witzø