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Blogs / In the Hive / January 2010 / SLmag's Oscar picks: Who will win. Who should win. ...And — whaaaat?!

SLmag's Oscar picks: Who will win. Who should win. ...And — whaaaat?!

Get your Oscar office pool on (click here to download yours)! Here's our picks—followed by who should win and the 'whaaaat?!' nominees in every major category.

Oh, and FYI: Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects and Original Score will go to Avatar for six quick-and-easy picks. The Avatar Oscar Bundle (TM) should be handed out before the show. Imagine an hour-long Oscar broadcast Sunday.

Now, the picks:

Best Picture:
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
District 9
Up
Inglourious Basterds
The Blind Side
Up in the Air
A Serious Man
An Education
Precious

Our pick: The Hurt Locker
Who will win: Avatar
Whaaaat?!: The Blind Side and An Education ...Thought payola ended in the '50s.

Director
James Cameron Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels Precious
Jason Reitman Up in the Air

Our pick: Bigelow
Who will win: Cameron
Whaaat? Reitman's good and his best days are ahead, especially if he helps dad with Ghostbusters III. Sorry Quentin, but at least you got your groove back.

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

Our pick: Renner
Who will win: Bridges
Whaaat?! Freeman ...your Mandela was no Red; Clooney only seems to hit his interesting button for the Coen Bros.

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon in Invictus
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds

Our pick: Waltz
Who will win: Waltz
Whaaat?! Matt Damon playing Matt Damon talking like Matt Damon trying to sound like South African Matt Damon but with a little more Aussie in him than when Matt Damon does Matt Damon wearing a rugby uniform like Matt Damon.

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Our pick: Streep
Who will win: Bullock
Whaaat?! Maybe Streep should-a been nominated three times (It's Complicated and The Fantastic Mr. Fox—yes, Streep VO trumps real-life Bullock). Mulligan gets the special Taylor Swift nod for being young and just barely good enough ...the rest of the field, headed by Bullock, represents the weakest Best Actress lineup since '03 (Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman, Diane Lane, Julianne Moore and Renee Zellweger) wretch. Oh and looking forward to Mulligan in Wall Street II: Gecko in Paradise — but puh-lease, no more talk of the turgid An Education after Sunday.
 
Supporting Actress
Penélope Cruz in Nine
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Our pick: Gyllenhaal
Who will win: Mo'Nique
Whaaat?! Kendrick ...OK, fine, someone from Twilight can act ...a little.... no need to rub it in.

Adapted Screenplay
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

Our Pick: Precious
Who will win: Precious
Whaaaat?! District 9 (didn't even know that was adapted ...what, from a coloring book based on an episode of The Twilight Zone?)

Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Our Pick: A Serious Man
Who will win: Inglourious Basterds
Whaaat?! Up (it was cute ...but — does Pixar really need more love — at least the other cartoon, Avatar, got shut out of this one...which begs the question—how can you have Best Picture without a, you know, OK screenplay?!)