Hot favorites at the Oscars

With just three more days to go for the Oscars, the trade pundits are out with their predictions and upsets. Here we bring you a run down of who they think will take home the Golden statue.

Best Picture: The nominees are: “ Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter's Bone.

The favorites are “The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network” with a tilt towards “The King’s Speech”.

In the precursors to the awards race, it was “The Social Network” which seemed to be drawing in the judges with the Golden Globe and the critics' vote, but The King’s Speech sneaked in ahead and won the Screen Actors, Producers and Directors’ Guild Awards and the BAFTA. It even won 12 nominations for the Oscars.

The Best Director: The nominees are: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, True Grit; David Fincher, The Social Network; Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech; David O. Russell, The Fighter

The pundits favor Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech” and David Finch for ”The Social Network”.

The Directors' Guild winner is Tom Hooper. Traditionally, Oscars also follow in the same footsteps. But the critics believe that David Finch had a more challenging task in “The Social Network” in terms of subject matter and cast.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: The nominees are: Christian Bale, The Fighter; John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone; Jeremy Renner, The Town; Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right; Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech.

The predictors favor Christian Bale for “The Fighter”. This award is likely to see a close contest between him and Geoffrey Rush for “The King’s Speech”. Rush actually has taken home an award at the BAFTAs, hence Bale may just win this one.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: The nominees are: Amy Adams, The Fighter; Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech; Melissa Leo, The Fighter; Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit; Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom .

This slot has the most open competition after the Best Director’s. Almost all the nominees have given their best shot. Leo was the hot favorite till it seems she spoilt her chances with an aggressive ad campaign. The Academy is generally not amused by such antics. She, till date, has won all the important precursors like the Golden Globe and SAG. Strangely she was not nominated for the BAFTA.
Amy Adams and Hailee Steinfeld stand a good chance if Leo is not considered because of her antics.

Best Actor: The nominees are: Javier Bardem, Biutiful; Jeff Bridges, True Grit; Jesse Eisenberg,The Social Network; Colin Firth, The King’s Speech; James Franco, 127 Hours.

Colin Firth is the hot favorite and he has made the cut at all the other awards too. If there is an upset, the most likely candidate is Jeff Bridges for True Grit.

Best Actress: The nominees are: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right; Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole; Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone; Natalie Portman, Black Swan; Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine.

Natalie Portman has been taking home the awards for best actress in the precursors but the Academy may just present an upset and give it to Annette Bening. This is what Pete Hammond of Deadline.com predicts according to his inner vibe. The tilt is still slightly towards Portman although everyone believes that Annette Bening is long overdue for an Oscar. The Academy may just take that into consideration.

Sources : Deadline.com
Foxnews.com
Mercurynews.com
awardsdaily.com