My Oscar Picks

Didn't have time to do this yesterday as we finished The Duchess just 15 minutes before the awards began. Had I a vote, this is how I would have done it:

Picture -- Milk (the close second would be Rachel Getting Married which wasn't even nominated)
Director -- Gus Van Sant, Milk
Actor -- Sean Penn, Milk (the close second would be Mickey Rourke)
Actress -- Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married (Kate Winslet had this in the bag till I saw Hathaway's remarkable performance yesterday morning)
Supporting Actor -- Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (he made the picture)
Supporting Actress -- Viola Davis, Doubt (the best acting of the year, period.)
Animated Feature -- WALL-E (caveat: did not see Bolt)
Art Direction -- The Dark Knight (maybe the hardest category)
Cinematography -- Slumdog Millionaire
Costume Design -- The Duchess (caveat: did not see Australia)
Film Editing -- The Dark Knight
Makeup -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (caveat: did not see Hellboy II, though we have the DVD ready to play)
Original Score -- No winner, the worst list of nominees ever (caveat: did not see Defiance)
Original Song -- No winner, the best song being The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen
Sound Editing -- The Dark Knight (another tough category)
Sound Mixing -- WALL-E (ditto)
Visual Effects -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (tri-itto. Anyone of these films could be declared the winner and I would have few qualms)
Adapted Screenplay -- Frost/Nixon (though The Curious Case of Benjamin Button the script is so much better than the short story of the same name)
Original Screenplay -- Milk ( with In Bruges and Frozen River in a close tie for second. Caveat: did not see Happy-Go-Lucky)

We saw 21 nominated films this year (our best year yet) and still so many caveats. Maybe trying to see all the nominees was a silly thing to attempt, but I got to tell you we saw a lot of great films we would never have seen otherwise. It was so enjoyable in fact that I am certain we will try it again next year.