Final Predictions

Unlike previous years the 85th Academy Award nominations will be announced prior to the airing of both the Golden Globes and SAG Awards. Those awards are always great indicators for which films will be nominated for the Oscars. Now most analysts have to look at what films were awarded by critics and what was nominated for the other big awards. Here are my predictions for big eight.

Best Picture
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
Argo
Life of Pi
Silver Linings Playbook
Les Miserables
Django Unchained
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Moonrise Kingdom
Wild Cards: The Master, Skyfall and Flight

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow- Zero Dark Thirty
Steven Spielberg- Lincoln
Ben Affleck- Argo
Ang Lee- Life of Pi
Quentin Tarantino- Django Unchained
Wild Cards: David O. Russel- Silver Linings Playbook, Tom Hooper- Les Miserables, Paul Thomas Anderson-The Master and Benh Zeitlin-Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Actor
Daniel Day Lewis- Lincoln
Denzel Washington- Flight
Bradley Cooper- Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman- Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix- The Master
Wild Cards: John Hawkes- The Sessions

Best Actress
Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain- Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard: Rust & Bone
Emannuelle Riva- Amour
Naomi Watts- The Impossible
Wild Cards: Quvenzhane Wallis- Beasts of the Southern Wild, Rachel Weisz- Deep Blue Sea

Best Supporting Actor
Tommy Lee Jones- Lincoln
Leonardo DiCaprio- Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman- The Master
Alan Arkin-Argo
Robert De Niro- Silver Linings Playbook
Wild Cards: Christopher Waltz- Django Unchained, Javier Bardem- Skyfall, Matthew McConoughey- Magic Mike

Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway- Les Miserables
Sally Field- Lincoln
Amy Adams- The Master
Helen Hunt- The Sessions
Nicole Kidman- The Paperboy
Wild Cards: Maggie Smith- The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Ann Dowd- Compliance

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal- Zero Dark Thirty
Rian Johnson- Looper
Wes Anderson, Roman Coopola-Moonrise Kingdom
Quentin Tarantino- Django Unchained
 John Gatins-Flight,
Wild Cards:Michael Haneke- Amour

Best Adapted Screenplay
Tony Kushner- Lincoln
Chris Terrio- Argo
David O. Russel- Silver Linings Playbook
David Magee- Life of Pi
Stephen Chbosky- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Wild Cards: Benh Zeitlin & Lucy Alibar- Beasts of the Southern Wild, Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan- The Dark Knight Rises