2011 Academy Award Predictions

I have been meaning to do this all week, but better late than never! Here are my predictions for each category of the 2011 Academy Awards. As we know there is always a favorite for each category based on hype and popularity (last year's Avatar) but there is always a chance of a dark horse taking the night (last year's Hurt Locker). I'll be live-blogging the entire awards ceremony tonight  including the red carpet to check back with be at around 6 or 7 pm EST!

Best Picture: 
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are Alright
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone


Best Leading Actor: 
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours


Best Leading Actress: 
Annette Bening, The Kids Are Alright
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine


Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are Alright
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech


Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom


Animated Feature Film:
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3


Art Direction:
Robert Stromberg & Karen O'Hara, Alice In Wonderland
Stuart Craig & Stephanie McMillan, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, part 1
Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias & Doug Mowat, Inception
Eve Stewart & Judy Farr, The King's Speech
Jess Gonchar & Nancy Haigh, True Grit


Cinematography: 
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Wally Pfister, Inception
Danny Cohen, The King's Speech
Jeff Cronenweth, The Social Network
Roger Deakins, True Grit

Costume Design:
Colleen Atwood, Alice In Wonderland
Antonella Cannarozzi, I Am Love
Jenny Beavan, The King's Speech
Sandy Powell, The Tempest
Mary Zophres, True Grit


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


Documentary Feature:
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrapo
Waste Land


Documentary Short Subject:
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Comes Up
The Warriors of Quigang


Film Editing:
Andrew Weisblum, Black Swan
Pamela Martin, The Fighter
Tariq Anwar, The King's Speech
Jon Harris, 127 Hours
Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter, The Social Network


Foreign Language Film: 
Mexico, Biutiful
Greece, Dogtooth
Denmark, In A Better World
Canada, Incendies
Algeria, Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)


Makeup:
Adrien Morot, Barney's Version
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk & Yolanda Toussieng, The Way Back
Rick Baker & Dave Elsey, The Wolfman 


Music (Original Score):
John Powell, How To Train Your Dragon
Hans Zimmer, Inception
Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
A.R. Rahman, 127 Hours
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Social Network


Music (Original Song):
"Coming Home", Country Strong
"I See The Light", Tangled
"If I Rise", 127 Hours
"We Belong Together", Toy Story 3


Short Film (Animated):
Teddy Newton, Night & Day
Jakob Schuh & Max Lang, The Gruffalo
Geefwee Boedoe, Let's Pollute
Shaun Tan & Andrew Ruhemann, The Lost Thing
Bastien Dubois, Madagascar, carnet de voyage


Short Film (Live Action): 
Tanel Toom, The Confession
Michael Creagh, The Crush
Luke Matheny, God of Love
Ivan Goldschmidt, Na Wewe
Ian Barnes & Samantha Waite, Wish 143


Sound Editing:
Richard King, Inception
Tom Myers & Michael Silvers, Toy Story 3
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle & Addison Teague, Tron: Legacy
Skip Lievsay & Craig Berkey, True Grit
Mark P. Stoeckinger, Unstoppable


Sound Mixing:
Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo & Ed Novick, Inception
Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen & John Midgley, The King's Speech
Jeffery J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan & William Sarokin, Salt
Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick & Mark Weingarten, The Social Network
Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkley, Greg Orloff & Peter F. Kurland, True Grit


Visual Effects:
Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas & Sean Phillips, Alice In Wonderland
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz & Nicholas Aithadi, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, part 1
Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephen Trojansky & Joe Farrell, Hereafter
Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley & Peter Bebb, Inception
Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright & Daniel Sudick, Iron Man 2


Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini, Winter's Bone


Writing (Original Screenplay):
Mike Leigh, Another Year
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson & Keith Dorrington, The Fighter
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are Alright
David Seidler, The King's Speech