I heard there was an award show forthcoming.

If I were given a ballot to vote for the Oscars it would look something like this:

Best Picture:

Ever since the Academy has expanded the nominees to ten, I believe the way people vote for Best Picture is to rank the nominees from #'s 1-10. With that in mind, here are my rankings-

10. King's Speech
9. Inception
8. Kids Are All Right
7. 127 Hours
6. The Fighter
5. True Grit
4. Toy Story 3
3. Black Swan
2. Winter's Bone
1. Social Network

Whenever I am asked what my favorite Woody Allen movie is, I feel kind of guilty that my answer is Annie Hall because it is the consensus choice. But it is by far my favorite. The Social Network feels the same way. The more I see of The Social Network, the more I admire it. The more I see The Social Network, the more I think Andrew Garfield should be accepting a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Best Director-

David Fincher. The only film's direction that is close to The Social Network would be Black Swan, but I couldn't seriously vote Darren Aronofsky for Best Director of anything.

Best Actor-

Jesse Eisenberg. If you would have asked me 2 weeks ago I would have said James Franco. The more I see of the picture, the more I realize the film hinges around Eisenberg to some degree. He's playing a character that at first seems like an unlikeable version of the nerdy, slightly socially inept character he usually plays. But there has to be just a spark of likability to his Zuckerberg to keep the viewer engaged and if not exactly rooting for him at least interested enough in him for the emotional resonance that the film achieves.

Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor-

I will be totally fine with Natalie Portman winning the Best Actress Oscar, but the answer is Jennifer Lawrence. John Hawkes is my pick for Supporting Actor. No film nominated relies as heavily on the performances as Winter's Bone. John Hawkes is particularly impressive finding the right tonal mix for the performance. He is menacing yet shows a subtle compassion with his character. As good as Jennifer Lawrence is in the starring role, Hawkes is what makes the world they live in come alive.

Best Supporting Actress-

Amy Adams. I know everybody thinks Christian Bale deserves his Oscar he will receive for showboating through The Fighter but after losing all of the weight for the role, he became so hungry he decided he needed to chew up all of the scenery around him. I feel similarly about Melissa Leo's performance. She was much stronger in Frozen River (the poor man's Winter's Bone?). Leo's biggest problem in The Fighter she just doesn't have much to work with. Amy Adams, on the other hand portrayed a toughness I have never seen in her work before. Her character played by the wrong actress could have been easily reduced to a caricature. Adams brings heart to the role without being overly cute, strong but not butch.

Adapted Screenplay-
The Social Network

Original Screenplay- TBD

I'm not overly crazy about the four I have seen which leaves Another Year.

Cinematography- True Grit

The category where somebody is going to win by being overdue for their award. That said, I do think it's deserved like much of his past work with The Coen Brothers, Deakins makes beautifully composed shots that make good use of the widescreen format. I would also be fine with a Black Swan win. As usual with Aronofsky films, Libatique is one of the best things the film has going for it. With apologies to Clint Mansel. Side question- How in the hell did King's Speech get nominated in this category? The cinematography is by far the worst thing about this movie.

Animated Film- Toy Story 3

Original Song- who cares.

I can't say I remember the songs from Toy Story 3 or 127 Hours and looking at the credits I'm sure they are the better of the four songs. I guess I will be able to answer this better after getting the privilege of seeing the four nominated songs on the broadcast.

Costume Design- I Am Love

Not just because it is by far the best film in this category. The costumes did a good job of giving off both a contemporary feel and a retro Euro look at the same time. The clothes did a fabulous job of blending in with the art direction as well.

Art Direction-

I guess Alice in Wonderland or Inception. Both films display the same type of over the top art direction. That said they are definitely the most impressive of the nominees.

The Sound categories- Unstoppable and The Social Network.

I am not going to pretend to know the difference between the 2 categories, but since these are the films nominated that I felt had impressive sound (and are not in the same sound category), they would be the two that would receive my vote.

Makeup-

I have only seen The Wolfman. Not a good film by any stretch of the imagination, but the makeup was impressive and from seeing the trailers of the other two nominated films, I am pretty sure I would still vote The Wolfman.

Editing-

The Social Network, but if Danny Boyle could have toned down the flash a little I might have voted 127 Hours.

Score-

I feel like a broken record with The Social Network. I don't think the score is that great but it is definitely the best nominated score. I thought Inception's score was plain bad in true Hans Zimmer fashion. How to Train Your Dragon is just not my type of score. I vaguely remember 127 Hour's score and I couldn't identify the score to The King's Speech if you paid me.

Foreign Film- Probably Dogtooth.

As of now it's the only film I have seen. In fact I have seen it twice. It is even more impressive now that I have seen Castle of Purity (a film which shares a similar plot with Dogtooth) but I am a fan of Susanne Bier. I wouldn't totally rule In A Better World out as potentially being my favorite.

Best Documentary-

I have only seen Exit and Restrepo. Of the two, I would vote Exit. I wouldn't rule out Inside Job as I was a fan of No End In Sight.

Animated Short-

Day and Night.

Live Action Short-

The Crush. It may be a too cute for its own good and the director's son comes off as this weird mixture of awkward and robotic yet endearing. Charming nonetheless.

Documentary Short-
Nope. Haven't seen any of them and most likely never will.

Visual Effects-
Inception. The film was kind of made for this category.