2011 83rd Academy Award Winner Predictions

First off, I just want to say that I did do okay on my predictions. I didn't have a follow up post due to myself being busy. I did however not predict Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, or the Coens for True Grit and I got all of those wrong. I also had a lot of faith in Black Swan, 127 Hours, and Rabbit Hole. Moreso than most people. I am only going to do captions for the 6 main categories and then just list the winners and alternates for the remaining ones. Anyways, here are my winner predictions...

Best Picture

Winner: The Social Network
Alternate: The King's Speech

I'm going to go on a whim here and declare The Social Network as the big winner. I haven't seen The King's Speech, but I can't help feel that TSN was more powerful for turning something as Facebook into an extraordinary piece of filmmaking.

Best Director

Winner: David Fincher - The Social Network
Alternate: Tom Hooper - The King's Speech

I could be wrong about TSN winning the big prizes, only because maybe the Academy is waiting for Fincher's remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to floor everyone. They could feel more justified giving him the Oscars for that movie instead of this one? However, right now, him winning for this seems very likely.

Best Actor

Winner: Colin Firth - The King's Speech
Alternate: James Franco - 127 Hours

Colin Firth has this all sewn up, no doubt about that. The runner up however, has to be James Franco for creating a larger than life performance as Aron Ralston. Being in front of the camera that long by yourself cannot be easy and when the film almost rests entirely on your shoulders, you have to be up to the plate. He was.

Best Actress

Winner: Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Alternate: Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right

Like Colin Firth, Natalie Portman has this one in the bag. The physical and emotional extremes she pushed for this role are nothing short of amazing and she will be rewarded for her efforts. Annette Bening is the runner up because she also gave an amazing performance and she is way overdue for an Oscar. Hilary Swank be damned, even though her performances were good as well. Her day will come soon, but probably not tonight.

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Christian Bale - The Fighter
Alternate: Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech

Like other two above, haha, Christian Bale also has this category. He is definitely going to win for his showy, amazing, lived in performance. The alternate would have to be Geoffrey Rush for performing an awesome duet with Colin Firth. The King's Speech could also have a big sweep and take Geoffrey, and even Helena, along for the ride.

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Alternate: Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit

Even with the controversy surrounding her FYC ads, and the backlash that came with them, I still think Melissa Leo has an extremely close shot at winning this. Her performance is one everyone loves and who wouldn't want to reward her after Frozen River, Welcome to the Riley's, 21 Grams and all the countless movies she's done that have gone unrecognized. Hailee Steinfeld is the alternate because she's won the most critics awards next to Leo and for the fact that everyone loves her performance. Definitely a breakthrough everyone will be talking about in the years to come.

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: David Seidler - The King's Speech
Alternate: Christopher Nolan - Inception

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network
Alternate: Michael Arndt, John Lassester, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich - Toy Story 3

Best Cinematography

Winner: Roger Deakins - True Grit
Alternate: Matthew Libatique - Black Swan

Best Costume Design

Winner: Jenny Beavan - The King's Speech
Alternate: Colleen Atwood - Alice in Wonderland

Best Art Direction

Winner: The King's Speech
Alternate: Inception

Best Film Editing

Winner: Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall - The Social Network
Alternate: Pamlea Martin - The Fighter

Best Visual Effects

Winner: Inception
Alternate: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Best Makeup

Winner: The Wolfman
Alternate: The Way Back

Best Foreign Film

Winner: In a Better World [Denmark]
Alternate: Incendies [Canada]

Best Original Song

Winner: "I See the Light" - Tangled
Alternate: "Coming Home" - Country Strong

Best Original Score

Winner: Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech
Alternate: Hans Zimmer - Inception

Best Sound Editing

Winner: Inception
Alternate: True Grit

Best Sound Mixing

Winner: Inception
Alternate: Salt

Best Animated Film

Winner: Toy Story 3
Alternate: How to Train Your Dragon

Best Animated Short

Winner: Day and Night
Alternate: The Gruffalo

Best Live Action Short

Winner: Na Wewe
Alternate: The Crush

Best Documentary

Winner: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Alternate: Inside Job

Best Documentary Short

Winner: Strangers No More
Alternate: Poster Girl