Oscar Weekend Predictions

The big mystery this weekend is all about who will win at the Oscars! Actually, it's not a mystery at all. Everyone knows who is going to win all the major awards because Hollywood can't get enough of congratulating itself during the prior two months preceding the Academy Awards and by now, it's pretty obvious who most of the winners will be.

As if this topic hasn't been done to death everywhere else on the interwebs, here are my predictions for a few of the key awards at this Sunday's Oscars:

Best Picture: The King's Speech

If I had one vote and only my vote counted, "The Fighter" would win Best Picture. It was a great film and it was my favorite of the nominated lot. "The King's Speech" is also a deserving film and my runner-up for the award. IMO, it's also more deserving than its main rival in the category, "The Social Network". "Winter's Bone" and "127 Hours" both deserve a tip of the hat as well.

Best Actor: Colin Firth

Everybody (well, except for maybe Jeff Bridges) gave a true Oscar-worthy performance. That being said, Colin Firth was by far and away the Best Actor in a Motion Picture in 2010. Jesse Eisenberg also gave an great performance and it's unfortunate for him that he has to be going up against an such a strong performance by Firth. James Franco also deserves an honorable mention as he was a one man show in "127 Hours" and the film is only as good as his performance.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman

This one's not even a contest. While I do think that Natalie Portman gave the best performance of 2010 for an actress, I wouldn't necessarily say it was one for the ages. Aside from her solid acting job, she ultimately deserves the Oscar due to the added difficulty of ballet dancing and, of course, her incredibly fappable bedroom scenes.

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale

Christian Bale's acting performance was probably the best of the year, but because he wasn't the main character in "The Fighter", he'll have to settle for the Best Supporting Actor trophy. In almost any other Oscar ceremony, Geoffrey Rush would be taking home the gold for his role in "The King's Speech", but he's just no match for Bale this year.

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo

I'm not sure I was entirely sold on Melissa Leo winning this award until I saw how different she really is from the character she plays in "The Fighter." Of course she's great in the movie, but then so is Amy Adams. It's just more of a stretch for Leo to become her character than it was for Adams. Hailee Steinfeld's performance was also noteworthy in "True Grit", but since no one in the film had a larger role than she did, Steinfeld simply does not belong in this category.

Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3

The biggest scam going at the Oscars is if an animated film gets nominated for Best Picture, it can still be nominated in this category as well. Sure "Toy Story 3" was a good flick and it pulled at your heartstrings like no other animated movie I've ever seen, but it still should only be represented in one category. Unfortunately, "How To Train Your Dragon" is going to get robbed.

While the Oscars are an enjoyable watch for movie buffs like myself, my main gripe (as mentioned earlier) is that there will be no surprises awaiting us this weekend. There are just too many award ceremonies before the Academy Awards ever takes place that suck most of the fun away from guessing who might win an Oscar.

Maybe it's time for the Oscars to move its date earlier in the year so that they can snuff out all of the other lesser award shows who collectively erode the impact of their show. Just a thought...