October Oscar Predictions

It's almost time for precursors. The critics awards will be announced in just a couple of months. Though already many of strong contenders have been released, or will be in just a few weeks. So here are my October predictions.

BEST PICTURE
-Bright Star (6 nominations)
-An Education (4 nominations)
-The Hurt Locker (8 nominations)
-Invictus (5 nominations)
-The Lovely Bones (9 nominations)
-Nine (9 nominations)
-Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (5 nominations)
-Up (5 nominations)
-Up in the Air(4 nominations)
-Where the Wild Things Are (7 nominations)
(A Serious Man or (500) Days of Summer)

BEST DIRECTOR
-Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
-Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
-Clint Eastwood for Invictus
-Peter Jackson for The Lovely Bones
-Spike Jonze for Where the Wild Things Are
(Rob Marshall for Nine or James Cameron for Avatar)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
-George Clooney for Up in the Air
-Matt Damon for The Informant! (3 nominations)
-Colin Firth for A Single Man (1 nomination)
-Morgan Freeman for Invictus
-Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker
(Hal Holbrook for That Evening Sun or Daniel Day-Lewis for Nine)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
-Abby Cornish for Bright Star
-Carey Mulligan for An Education
-Soarise Ronan for The Lovely Bones
-Gabourey Sidbe for Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
-Hillary Swank for Amelia (3 nominations)
(Marion Cotilard for Nine or Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
-Matt Damon for Invictus
-Christopher McCay for Me and Orson Wells (1 nomination)
-Peter Sarsguard for An Education
-Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones
-Christoph Waltz for Inglorious B******s (3 nominations)
(Alfred Molina for An Education or Anthony Mackie for The Hurt Locker)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
-Penelope Cruz for Nine
-Judi Dench for Nine
-Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
-Mo'Niquie for Precious: Based on the "Push" by Sapphire
-Susan Surandon for The Lovely Bones
(Julianne Moore for A Single Man or Rachel Weisz for The Lovely Bones )

BEST WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
-Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker
-Jane Campion for Bright Star
-Scott Neustaudter & Michael H. Weber for (500) Days of Summer
-Bob Peterson for Up
-Quentin Tarantino for Inglorious B******s
(Joel and Ethan Coen for A Serious Man or Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life)

BEST WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
-Scott Z. Burns for The Informant!
-Nick Hornby for An Education
-Peter Jackson, Philippa Boynes, and Fran Walsh for The Lovely Bones
-Spike Jonze and Dave Eggaers for Where the Wild Things Are
-Anthony Peckham for Invictus
(Jason Rietman and Sheldon Turner for Up in the Air and Damien Paul for Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
-Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs dir. Phil Lord & Chris Miller (1 nomination)
-Coraline dir. Henry Selick (1 nomination)
-Ponyo dir. Hayao Mizayaki (1 nomination)
-The Princess and the Frog dir. Ron Clements (1 nomination)
-Up dir. Peter Docter
(A Christmas Carol dir. Robert Zemeckis or 9 dir. Shane Acker )

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
-Capitalism: A Love Story dir. Michael Moore (1 nomination)
-The Cove dir. Louie Psihoyos (1 nomination)
-Earth dir. Alistair Fothergill & Mark Linfeld (1 nomination)
-Food Inc. dir. Robert Kenner (1 nomination)
-It Might Get Loud dir. Davis Guggenheim (1 nomination)
(TBD)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
-About Elly (Iran) (1 nomination)
-Letters To Father Jacob (Finland) (1 nomination)
-Mother (Korea) (1 nomination)
-A Prophet (France) (1 nomination)
-The White Ribbon (Austria/Germany) (1 nomination)
(Broken Embraces (Spain) or Samson and Delilah (Australia))

BEST FILM EDITING
-Avatar (John Refoua & Stephen Rivkin) (6 nominations)
-The Hurt Locker (Chris Innis & Bob Murawski)
-Inglorious B******s (Sally Menke)
-The Lovely Bones (Jabez Olssen)
-Nine (???)
(Invictus (Joel Cox & Gary Roach) or District 9 (Julian Clark))

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
-Bright Star (DP: Grieg Fraser)
-The Hurt Locker (DP: Barry Ackroyd)
-The Lovely Bones (DP: Andrew Lesnie)
-Nine (DP: Dion Beebe)
-Where the Wild Things Are (DP: Lance Acord)
(Inglorious B******s (DP: Robert Richardson) or Amelia (DP: Stuart Dryburgh)

BEST ART DIRECTION
-Bright Star (?????)
-Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Stuart Craig) (1 nomination)
-The Imaginarium or Doctor Parnassus (Anastasia Masaro) (3 nominations)
-Nine (John Myhre)
-Where the Wild Things Are (K.K. Barret)
(The Lovely Bones (Naomi Shohan) or Inglorious B******s (David Wasco))

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
-Amelia (Kasia Walicka Maimone)
-Bright Star (Janet Patterson)
-Cheri (Consolata Boyle) (1 nomination)
-Nine (Colleen Atwood)
-The Young Victoria (Sandy Powell) (1 nomination)
(Sherlock Holmes (Jenny Beavan) or Inglorious B******S (Anna B. Sheppard))

ORIGINAL MUSIC (SCORE)
-Avatar (James Horner)
-Coco Before Chanel (Alexander Desplat) (1 nomination)
-The Informant! (Marvin Hamlisch)
-The Lovely Bones (Brian Eno)
-Up (Michael Giacchino)
(Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Nicholas Hooper) or Brothers (James Howard Newton()

ORIGINAL MUSIC (SONG)
-The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
-Nine
-Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
-Up in the Air
-Where the Wild Things Are
(Coraline or Fame)

SOUND MIXING
-Avatar
-District 9 (2 nominations)
-The Hurt Locker
-Nine
-Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (1 nomination)
(Terminator Salvation or Up)

SOUND EDITING
-Avatar
-The Hurt Locker
-Star Trek (3 nominations)
-Up
-Where the Wild Things Are
(Amelia or Inglorious B******s)

VISUAL EFFECTS
-Avatar
-District 9
-Star Trek
(The Lovely Bones or Transformers: Revenge or the Fallen)

MAKE UP
-Avatar
-The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
-Star Trek
(Terminator Salvation or District 9)