The climax to 2011 award season is upon us. The 83rd annual Academy Awards, will air live this Sunday, Feb. 27, at 8 p.m. ET. All the stars are busy getting their frocks/tux ready, every inch of their body from head to toe polished, and make sure every single line on their faces all Botox-ed up. Not only the stars are all dolled up. Apparently it’s time for a new red carpet this year for the Kodak Theater this year (the carpet is changed every other year), all 500 ft of that red nylon carpet has been treated just so to make sure the stars don’t trip on them or that the dye don’t rub off on the stars’ shoes (oh no, they can’t have that happen to their precious Louboutins!)

Boy am I glad I get to just sit back and relax in the comfort of my basement watching the glitz and hullabaloo unfolds. In my second year of being a movie blogger, I have been paying more attention to the movies nominated and thus it’s almost a requisite that I watch the Oscars. I always thought the telecast generally are quite ho-hum, but hopefully this year, it has at least a potential to be less predictable. I mean, just having two of Hollywood young royalties James Franco and Anne Hathaway will be interesting to watch. Neither are strangers to the Academy, Franco is among this year’s noms and Hathaway was nominated in 2008 for Rachel Getting Married, and both certainly have screen presence. Franco is probably the one I’m most curious about as he’s known to be quite candid and admirably non-chalant about stuff. According to THR, he apparently scoff at Ricky Gervais’ suggested monologue for him, saying “He did his award show and he bombed. Why is he trying to get in on ours?” Atta boy!

There’s also the big question on everyone’s mind: Will Banksy show up?? For those unfamiliar with the bloke, he’s the elusive British underground graffiti artist whose debut film Exit Through the Gift Shop is up for Best Documentary Oscar. Not sure if he would since apparently the Academy refused to let him attend in disguise for fear of impostors gatecrashing the ceremony (per Guardian)

Anyhoo, less than 72 hours to go, I thought I’d chime in on my winner predictions and who I’m rooting for. Below is a list of all the nominees with the bold red one as my predicted winners. Here goes:

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Best Picture Oscar Prediction:

1. 127 Hours
2. Black Swan
3. Inception
4. The Kids Are All Right
5. Toy Story 3
6. The Social Network
7. The King’s Speech
8. The Fighter
9. True Grit
10. Winter’s Bone

Comments: I think the Best Picture award will come down the two movies: The King’s Speech and The Social Network. One represents convention and tradition while the other is as contemporary as they come. While ‘defining’ a generation is perhaps a bit hyperbolic, it certainly represents how this generation communicate and function in today’s world. You’ve perhaps read my battle argument in Ross vs Ross’ Fight Club article, so you know I’m rooting for the monarch movie. At the same time, I won’t cry foul if The Social Network wins.

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Best Director Oscar Predictions

• Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
• Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
• David Fincher, The Social Network
• Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
• David O. Russell, The Fighter

Comments: Though Hooper did a wonderful job with The King’s Speech, I’m actually not rooting for him to win this. Fincher’s done a lot of great movies, and managed to make a film about an uncharismatic individual and a social utility web site I hardly use surprisingly engaging and even suspenseful! My gut says this is Fincher’s year.

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Best Actor Oscar Predictions

• Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
• James Franco, 127 Hours
• Jeff Bridges, True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
• Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Comments: This is the least predictable of this year’s noms. I’d be VERY surprised if Firth didn’t win. Not to discredit the others’ performances, but Firth really was a revelation as the stuttering monarch, though lots of people would argue that his performance in A Single Man was even more deserving to win. Thus I think he’ll be pulling a Russell Crowe (who won for Gladiator but should’ve won for The Insider the year before) and finally take home the naked gold statue. Oh, guess what, Burger King has asked Firth to design his own burger! (Thanks for the tip John) Apparently the Brit admitted to being a fan of the tasty snack, whaddayaknow!

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Best Actress Oscar Predictions

• Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
• Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
• Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
• Natalie Portman, Black Swan
• Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Comments: Though I haven’t seen her performance, I’ve read enough about all the buzz on Portman to make the call. Plus, hearing Darren Aronofsky’s acceptance speech on her behalf at BAFTA makes me go ‘wow,’ she must have done a tremendous job!

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Best Supporting Actor Oscar Predictions

• 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

Comments: I’ve always on Bale’s corner from the start, I mean he’s been passed over so many times it’s not even funny! In fact, the reason I’m excited for the Oscar this year is because finally the Academy wise up and recognize his performance. I’d say anyone else but him winning would be an upset (especially Renner!), though I can’t deny how tremendous and highly affable Geoffrey Rush was as Lionel Logue. But he’s got his Oscar and has been nominated numerous times, so this ought to be Bale’s year.

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Best Supporting Actress Oscar Predictions

• Amy Adams, The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
• Melissa Leo, The Fighter
• Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
• Jackie Weaver, Animal Kingdom
  

Comments: Steinfeld is the ‘upset’ potential people are talking about this year, that is if this year’s youngest nominee, 14-year old Hailee will indeed win for Best Supporting Actress. To me, age shouldn’t be a factor if the performance merits it and in her case, it does. It’s amazing to watch her carry the Coen’s western and holds her own against Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. So even though in my first Oscar reaction I was rooting for Melissa and Helena, I have a feeling the Academy might side w/ Hailee. If she did, she won’t be the youngest ever to win, Tatum O’Neal was merely 10 years old when she won in 1973 and Anna Paquin was 11 when she won 20 years later (per Wiki)

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Best Animated Feature Oscar Predictions

• How To Train Your Dragon, Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• The Illusionist, Sylvain Chomet
• Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich

Comments: This is such a no-brainer! I mean, if this is good enough to be nominated in the overall Best Picture then it automatically implies it’s the best among any other animated movies that are nominated, duh! I haven’t seen The Illusionist yet, but I adore Dragon, but I think the Pixar flick is nothing less of a masterpiece that deserves to take top honors.

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Well, that’s all the categories I’m taking a stab at predicting. Now, who else caught Oscar fever this week?

• Well, before you do anything, if you haven’t done it already, vote for your favorite to win @ The Best Picture Fight Club over at Metro UK site
• Mad Hatter over @ Dark of the Matinee and Andrew @ Encore Entertainment have been dissecting the Oscar noms for the past few weeks
• Univarn @ Life in Equinox picks his top ten best from last year, see how his list fares w/ the Academy’s
• ScarletSp1der shared some interesting facts about the Oscars and teamed up with his friend Andrew in predicting the winners
• Castor and the gang @ Anomalous Material posted their final look at who to expect to see up on stage this coming Sunday
• Sam @ Banana Oil Movies weighs in on award season and her predictions of the Oscars
• Luke @ Cynicritics also has his predictions on who he thinks will win
• Not everyone’s into this whole award stuff obviously, Richard @ Celluloid Zombie lists five things why  the Oscars leave him cold
• And finally, Andy at Fandango Groovers asks ‘What’s the point of the Oscars?‘

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Will you be watching this Sunday? Well, feel free to share your own thoughts and predictions about the Oscars.