Who Will Win, and Who Should Win

No doubt about it: We're movie buffs and we actually look forward to watching the Oscar awards show. Having seen most or all of the nominees in most of the categories, here are our predictions for this Sunday night, when the winners will be named:

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PICTURE

THE NOMINEES (click the titles to read our original posts on each film):

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King's Speech
• 127 Hours
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter's Bone

WHO WILL WIN: The King's Speech

WHO SHOULD WIN: The Social Network

POSSIBLE UPSET: True Grit

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LEADING ACTOR

THE NOMINEES:

• Javier Bardem, "Biutiful"
• Jeff Bridges, "True Grit"
• Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network"
• Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"
• James Franco, "127 Hours"

WHO WILL WIN: Colin Firth

WHO SHOULD WIN: Colin Firth

CLOSEST COMPETITOR: Jesse Eisenberg

POSSIBLE UPSET: James Franco

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LEADING ACTRESS

THE NOMINEES:

• Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"
• Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"
• Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"
• Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"
• Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"

WHO WILL WIN: Natalie Portman

WHO SHOULD WIN: Natalie Portman

CLOSEST COMPETITOR: Annette Bening

POSSIBLE UPSET: Jennifer Lawrence

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SUPPORTING ACTOR

THE NOMINEES:

• Christian Bale, "The Fighter"
• John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone"
• Jeremy Renner, "The Town"
• Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right"
• Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech"

WHO WILL WIN: Christian Bale

WHO SHOULD WIN: Christian Bale

CLOSEST COMPETITOR: Geoffrey Rush

POSSIBLE UPSET: Jeremy Renner

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SUPPORTING ACTRESS

THE NOMINEES:

• Amy Adams, "The Fighter"
• Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"
• Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"
• Hailey Steinfeld, "True Grit"
• Jackie Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"

WHO WILL WIN: Melissa Leo

WHO SHOULD WIN: Hailey Steinfeld

POSSIBLE UPSET: Jackie Weaver

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DIRECTOR

THE NOMINEES:

• Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "True Grit"
• David Fincher, "The Social Network"
• Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech"
• David O. Russell, "The Fighter"

WHO WILL WIN: David Fincher

WHO SHOULD WIN: David Fincher

CLOSEST COMPETITOR: Darren Aronofsky

POSSIBLE UPSET: Tom Hooper

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And our picks for the other categories:

• Original Screenplay: The Kids Are All Right will win; The Fighter should win
• Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network will win; Winter's Bone should win
• Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 will and should win
• Original Score: The Social Network will win; Inception should win
• Original Song: We Belong Together from Toy Story 3 will and should win
• Art Direction: The King's Speech will win; Alice In Wonderland should win
• Cinematography: True Grit will and should win
• Costume Design: The King's Speech will win; Alice In Wonderland should win
• Sound Mixing: Inception will and should win
• Sound Editing: Inception will and should win
• Visual Effects: Inception will and should win
• Film Editing: 127 Hours will win; Black Swan should win

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And, honestly, what percentage of Americans have seen all of the Foreign Language, Short Film and Documentary nominees? It's gotta be less than one percent of one percent. Maybe film students who live in Southern California--but even that takes some imagination to believe. So we don't feel too bad. Although, Day and Night, the animated short film that was attached to the front of Toy Story 3, was really memorable. We can't imagine one of the other nominees being better.