Alright kids, here's how it works. Tomorrow morning at about 6:00 AM mountain time, the Academy is going to do it's level best to make everyone who predicts these things look foolish. And let's be honest--they're pretty darn good at it. So by tomorrow we can all laugh at what we thought might happen, and analyze what did happen until we're blue in the face. But that's tomorrow. Today, I'm delivering my final predictions--there's no going back now. I'll just present every category in order of likelihood sans commentary, allowing myself one alternate. Surprisingly, I made very few changes from my original predictions. The only significant ones were changing Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) to first alternate in supporting actress over Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station), and moving American Hustle into my top 5 for production design, which meant kicking Saving Mr. Banks out.

Note: I know it seems a bit silly spending all of this time and effort talking about what might get nominated for awards when I haven't actually posted anything about what I'd like to get nominated for awards, but, as usual, my annual 'best of' lists will be coming in mid-February. Given the release dates of prestige-y movies and catching up on things I've missed, it just wouldn't be possible for me to post a decent year-end list in early January. Here's a taste, though: if I could guarantee one nomination, it would be Inside Llewyn Davis for best picture (or best actor), and if could prevent any nomination, it would be Dallas Buyers Club in original screenplay (or best picture) (good lord I hate that movie) (seriously).

See them all after the jump...




Best Picture
12 Years a Slave
Gravity
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Nebraska
Her
Saving Mr. Banks
Dallas Buyers Club
The Wolf of Wall Street
Alternate: Inside Llewyn Davis

Director
Steve McQueen-12 Years a Slave
Alfonso Cuaron-Gravity
David O. Russell-American Hustle
Paul Greengrass-Captain Phillips
Alexander Payne-Nebraska
Alternate: Martin Scorsese-The Wolf of Wall Street

Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor-12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey-Dallas Buyers Club
Bruce Dern-Nebraska
Tom Hanks-Captain Phillips
Robert Redford-All is Lost
Alternate: Leonardo Dicaprio-The Wolf of Wall Street

Actress
Cate Blanchett-Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock-Gravity
Emma Thompson-Saving Mr. Banks
Amy Adams-American Hustle
Meryl Streep-August: Osage County
Alternate: Judi Dench-Philomena

Supporting Actor
Jared Leto-Dallas Buyers Club
Michael Fassbender-12 Years a Slave
Barkhad Abdi-Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper-American Hustle
Will Forte-Nebraska
Alternate: Daniel Bruhl-Rush

Supporting Actress
Lupita Nyong'o-12 Years a Slave
Jennifer Lawrence-American Hustle
June Squibb-Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey-The Butler
Julia Roberts-August: Osage County
Alternate: Sally Hawkins-Blue Jasmine

Original Screenplay
American Hustle
Nebraska
Her
Blue Jasmine
Inside Llewyn Davis
Alternate: Dallas Buyers Club

Adapted Screenplay
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
The Wolf of Wall Street
Before Midnight
Philomena
Alternate: August: Osage County

Production Design
The Great Gatsby
12 Years a Slave
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Gravity
American Hustle
Alternate: Saving Mr. Banks

Costume Design
The Great Gatsby
12 Years a Slave
Saving Mr. Banks
American Hustle
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Alternate: The Invisible Woman

Visual Effects
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man Three
Pacific Rim
Star Trek Into Darkness
Alternate: Elysium

Makeup and Hairstyling
American Hustle
The Lone Ranger
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Alternate: Bad Grandpa

Film Editing
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Rush
Alternate: The Wolf of Wall Street

Cinematography
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
12 Years a Slave
Nebraska
Prisoners
Alternate: The Grandmaster

Original Score
12 Years a Slave
Saving Mr. Banks
The Book Thief
Gravity
All is Lost
Alternate: Philomena

Sound Mixing
Gravity
Captain Phillips
12 Years a Slave
Lone Survivor
Rush
Alternate: Inside Llewyn Davis

Sound Editing
Gravity
Lone Survivor
Rush
Captain Phillips
Iron Man Three
Alternate: All is Lost

Original Song
"Let it Go"-Frozen
"Young and Beautiful"-The Great Gatsby
"In the Middle of the Night"-The Butler
"Ordinary Love"-Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
"A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)"-The Great Gatsby
Alternate: "You and I Ain't Nothin' No More"-The Butler

Animated Film
Frozen
The Wind Rises
Monsters University
Ernest and Celestine
The Croods
Alternate: Despicable Me 2

Foreign Language Film
The Hunt-Denmark
The Broken Circle Breakdown-Belgium
Two Lives-Germany
The Notebook-Hungary
The Great Beauty-Italy
Alternate: The Grandmaster-Hong Kong

Documentary Feature
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom
Blackfish
Stories We Tell
Tim's Vermeer
Alternate: The Act of Killing


That's the end of that. Make sure to come back tomorrow to check out the nominations!