This is it: Final Oscar Predictions

For real, this time. Really. No more changes from here on out. Here, set in stone, forever and ever amen, are my Oscar Predictions for 2009, which will be rendered completely irrelevant in less than twelve hours. Why I spend so much time on these, I don't know. I'll try to spare the commentary, but I'll just say a few things here: I've gone crazy, and am predicting big hauls for all three critically acclaimed sci-fi films this year (Avatar, Star Trek, District 9). The likelihood of all three of these making it into Best Picture is very slim; Invictus or (gasp) The Blind Side are more likely. I didn't have the balls to predict a Last Station snub in all categories, but I came close. I also am over-predicting Inglorious Basterds, but hey, predictions are supposed to be fun. I'm aiming for out-on-a-limb here, not complete accuracy. So, here we go. Join me again tomorrow to see all the places I went wrong. All predictions are in order of likelihood.

Best Picture
The Hurt Locker
Avatar
Inglorious Basterds
Up in the Air
Precious
An Education
Up
A Serious Man
District 9
Star Trek
or: Invictus, The Blind Side

Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Lee Daniels, Precious
or: Neil Blomkamp, District 9, Clint Eastwood, Invictus

Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
or: Sharlto Copley, District 9, Viggo Mortensen, The Road

Actress
Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Melanie Laurent, Inglorious Basterds
or: Helen Mirren, The Last Station, Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria

Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
or: Alfred Molina, An Education, Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker

Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique, Precious
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Samantha Morton, The Messenger
Diane Kruger, Inglorious Basterds
or: Julianne Moore, A Single Man, Penelope Cruz, Nine

Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up
(500) Days of Summer
or: Avatar, The Hangover

Adapted Screenplay
Up in the Air
An Education
Precious
District 9
Crazy Heart
or: The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Julie and Julia

Art Direction
Avatar
Inglorious Basterds
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Sherlock Holmes
Star Trek
or: Nine, A Serious Man

Costume Design
Inglorious Basterds
The Young Victoria
Nine
Bright Star
An Education
or: Sherlock Holmes, Julie and Julia

Visual Effects
Avatar
Star Trek
District 9
or: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Makeup
Star Trek
District 9
The Road
or: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Film Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Up in the Air
Inglorious Basterds
District 9
or: Star Trek, Precious

Cinematography
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Avatar
Nine
The White Ribbon
or: A Single Man, Bright Star

Original Score
Up
Avatar
The Informant!
A Single Man
Star Trek
or: The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Sherlock Holmes

Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
District 9
Inglorious Basterds
or: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Up

Sound Effects Editing
Avatar
Star Trek
The Hurt Locker
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Up
or: District 9, Inglorious Basterds

Original Song
"The Weary Kind"-Crazy Heart
"Almost There"-The Princess and the Frog
"Cinema Italiano"-Nine
"I See You"-Avatar
"(I Want To) Come Home"-Everybody's Fine
or: "Down in New Orleans"-The Princess and the Frog, "Take it All"-Nine

Animated Film
Up
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Coraline
The Princess and the Frog
Ponyo
or: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Mary and Max

Foreign Language Film
The White Ribbon-Germany
A Prophet-France
Ajami-Israel
Samson and Delilah-Australia
Winter in Wartime-The Netherlands
or: The Secrets of Her Eyes-Argentina, The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner-Bulgaria

Documentary Feature
The Cove
Food, Inc.
Every Little Step
Mugabe and the White African
The Beaches of Agnes
or: Under Our Skin, Burma VJ

There we have it. Tune in tomorrow for the actual nominations.