Oscar Watch: My Picks (2012)

It's almost oscar night, and the buzz online seem to mark it as a boring prognosis, with "The Artist" as the likely frontrunner of frontrunners. Still, I want to see "The Artist" win, because it's a beautifully well-made film, and will sit well for years to come, I feel. Here are my picks for the 84th annual academy awards, both who I want to win and who I think will win. If I say "N/A," it means I didn't see enough of the films in the category to have a personal favorite:

BEST PICTURE
My pick: "The Artist"
Prediction: "The Artist"

BEST DIRECTOR
My pick: Michael Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Prediction: same

BEST ACTOR
My pick: Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"
Prediction: George Clooney, "The Descendents"

BEST ACTRESS
My pick: Viola Davis, "The Help"
Prediction: same

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
My pick: N/A
Prediction: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
My pick: Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Prediction: Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

BEST WRITING (ORIGINAL)
My pick: "Midnight in Paris" - Woody Allen
Prediction: "The Artist" - Michel Hazanavicius

BEST WRITING (ADAPTED)
My pick: "The Ides of March" - George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon from Farragut North by Beau Willimon

Prediction: "The Descendents" - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash from The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
My pick: "Rango" – Gore Verbinski
Prediction: "Rango" – Gore Verbinski

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
My pick: N/A
Prediction: "A Separation" (Iran) in Persian – Asghar Farhadi

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
My pick: N/A
Prediction: "Pina" – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
My pick: N/A
Prediction: "Saving Face" – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
My pick: N/A
Prediction: "Time Freak" – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
My pick: "La Luna" – Enrico Casarosa
Prediction: "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
My pick: "The Artist" – Ludovic Bource
Prediction: same

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
My pick: "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets – Bret McKenzie
Prediction: same

BEST SOUND EDITING
My pick: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" – Ren Klyce
Prediction: same

BEST SOUND MIXING
My pick: "Hugo" – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
Prediction: same

BEST ART DIRECTION
My pick: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" – Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan

Prediction: "The Artist" – Laurence Bennett and Robert Gould

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
My pick: "War Horse" – Janusz Kamiński
Prediction: "The Tree of Life" – Emmanuel Lubezki

BEST MAKEUP
My pick: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" – Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, and Lisa Tomblin
Prediction: "Albert Nobbs" – Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, and Matthew W. Mungle

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
My pick: "Hugo" – Sandy Powell
Prediction: "The Artist" – Mark Bridges

BEST FILM EDITING
My pick: "The Artist" – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
Prediction: same

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
My pick: "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, and Daniel Barrett
Prediction: same