This year was kinda disappointing, but I'm looking to the future, trying to make my very, very, very, very early Oscar predictions for the new year, starting with Picture.
Best Picture
-The Avengers (will the success of Iron Man, Thor, and Capt. America, and massive this blockbuster a Best Picture contender?)
-Brave (with the failure of Cars 2, it looks Pixar will get back on the horse that threw them with this awesome-looking movie)
-Cloud Atlas (The Wachowskis are famed for The Matrix, and could lightning strike twice for Andy & Larry?)
-The Dark Knight Rises (Chris Nolan had to suffer a painful blow when The Dark Knight didn't get a Best Picture nom. But with the final installment, will the Oscars ease up on their "hatred" of Nolan?)
-The Hobbit: Part 1 (The Lord of the Rings prequel, enough said)
-Life of Pi (It looks Oscar-y enough)
-Lincoln (War Horse may not've been as great as Spielberg would've liked, but it's looking like his next picture will make up for War Horse's "losses")
-Prometheus (Ridley Scott hasn't got his Oscar yet, so will this visual effects masterpiece finally be it?)
-World War Z (After 2004's Finding Neverland, Marc Forster's back with this fabulous-looking film)
Best Director
-Peter Jackson - The Hobbit: Part 1
-Ang Lee - Life of Pi
-Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight Rises
-Ridley Scott - Prometheus
-Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Best Actor
-Christian Bale - The Dark Knight Rises
-Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
-Leonardo DiCaprio - The Great Gatsby
-Keanu Reeves - 47 Ronin
-Brad Pitt - World War Z
Best Actress
-Nicole Kidman - The Danish Girl
-Meryl Streep - August: Osage County
-Charlize Theron - Florence of Arabia
-Catherine Zeta-Jones - Dali
-Ziyi Zhang - The Grandmaster
Best Supporting Actor
-Robert De Niro - Selma
-Chiwetel Ejiofor - Savannah
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt - The Dark Knight Rises
-Lenny Kravitz - Selma
-Ian McKellen - The Hobbit: Part 1
Best Supporting Actress
-Halle Berry - Cloud Atlas
-Sally Field - Lincoln
-Anne Hathaway - The Dark Knight Rises
-Carey Mulligan - The Great Gatsby
-Rachel Weisz - The Danish Girl
Best Original Screenplay
-Bop Decameron, Woody Allen
-Brave, Brenda Chapman & Irene Mecchi
-The Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg, David Mandel & Jeff Schaffer
-Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
-Leningrad, Sergio Leone
Best Adapted Screenplay
-Cloud Atlas, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
-The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer & Jonathan Nolan
-Gambit, Joel & Ethan Coen
-Life of Pi, David Magee
-Lincoln, Tony Kushner, John Logan & Paul Webb
Best Original Score
-Brave, Patrick Doyle
-The Dark Knight Rises, Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
-The Hobbit: Part 1, Howard Shore
-Life of Pi, Mychael Danna
-Lincoln, John Williams
Best Original Song
-"???" - Brave
-"???" - Joyful Noise
-"???" - Selma
Best Sound Editing
-The Avengers
-Brave
-The Dark Knight Rises
-The Hobbit: Part 1
-Prometheus
Best Sound Mixing
-The Bourne Legacy
-The Dark Knight Rises
-The Hobbit: Part 1
-Lincoln
-Prometheus
Best Animated Feature
-Brave, Mark Andrews
-The Lorax, Chris Renaud & Kyle Balda
-Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Eric Darnell & Conrad Vernon
-The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Peter Lord & Jeff Newitt
-Rise of the Guardains, Peter Ramsey & William Joyce
Best Cinematography
-The Dark Knight Rises, Wally Pfister
-The Hobbit: Part 1, Andrew Lesnie
-Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda
-Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski
-World War Z, Robert Richardson
Best Makeup
-The Danish Girl
-The Hobbit: Part 1
-Star Trek 2
Best Art Direction
-Cloud Atlas
-Dali
-The Dark Knight Rises
-The Hobbit: Part 1
-Savannah
Best Costume Design
-Cloud Atlas
-The Danish Girl
-Lincoln
-Macbett: The Caribbean Macbeth
-Selma
Best Film Editing
-Cloud Atlas, Alexander Byrner
-The Dark Knight Rises, Lee Smith
-The Hobbit: Part 1, unknown
-Lincoln, Michael Kahn
-Prometheus, Pietro Scalia
Best Visual Effects
-The Dark Knight Rises
-The Hobbit: Part 1
-John Carter
-Prometheus
-Star Trek 2
