“And the Oscar goes to...”

John Mullany

Best Picture

Will Win: Avatar

Should Win: The Hurt Locker

Should Have Been Nominated: Invictus

Hurt Locker is the best movie of the year but the commercial success of Avatar will probably sway voters and Invictus had its nomination stolen by "The Blindside."

Best Director

Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow

Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow

Should Have Been Nominated: Clint Eastwood

Bigelow is a lock considering her excellent work with a limited budget and Eastwood is a master story teller.

Best Actor

Will Win: Jeff Bridges

Should Win: Jeremy Renner

Should Have Been Nominated: Viggo Mortensen

Bridges is a constant contender but Viggo had the best work of his career in "The Road." Renner gave best performance out of current nominees.

Best Supporting Actor

Will Win: Christoph Waltz

Should Win: Christoph Waltz

Should Have Been Nominated: Kodi Smit-McPhee

Waltz was the best villain since Heath Ledger's Joker but young Kodi should be recognized for his work in "The Road."

Best Actress

Will Win: Sandra Bullock

Should Win: Sandra Bullock

Should Have Been Nominated: none

Bullock delivered the best performance of her career and all of the nominees were the best of the best.

Best Supporting Actress

Will Win: Mo'Nique

Should Win: Melanie Laurent

Should Have Been Nominated: Melanie Laurent

While Mo'Nique has received universal praise Laurent mastered several languages and was the second stand out star of "Inglourious Basterds."

Best Original Screenplay

Will Win: Inglorious Basterds

Should Win: Inglorious Basterds

Should Have Been Nominated: Star Trek

Tarantino should win for his WWII epic but Orci and Kurtzman's script resurrected the "Star Trek" franchise for a new generation to enjoy.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Will Win: Up in the Air

Should Win: District 9

Should Have Been Nominated: The Road

While "Up in the Air" is more relevent these days the scifi adventure set in South Africa was highly creative. Also "The Road" was one of the best stories told in any film this year.

Best Cinematography

Will Win: Avatar

Should Win: The Hurt Locker

Should Have Been Nominated: Public Enemies

"Hurt Locker" has great camera angles and Michael Mann's latest crime thriller was last summer's stand out film in regards to how it was shot.

Best Original Score

Will Win: Crazy Heart

Should Win: Crazy Heart

Should Have Been Nominated: Avatar

"The Weary Kind" is a great song and appropriate for the film's content but the theme for "Avatar" should have at least been considered.

Will Jacobson

Best Picture

Will Win: The Hurt Locker

Should Win: The Hurt Locker

Should Have Been Nominated: Funny People

"Funny People" is an amazing film, that happens to also have poop jokes, once again proving comedy can't win at the Oscars. It's a better film than "District 9" at the least.

Best Director

Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow

Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow

Should Have Been Nominated: Joe and Ethan Coen

The Cameron vs. Bigelow smackdown is not even a contest. Cameron invented some amazing new technical ways to make a great film, Bigelow just went ahead and made a great film.

Best Actor

Will Win: Jeff Bridges

Should Win: Jeremy Renner

Should Have Been Nominated: Michael Stuhlbarg

Bridges is getting the sort of "Oops you've never got an Oscar before" award, but really Renner shocked everyone by coming out of nowhere with the performance of the year.

Best Supporting Actor

Will Win: Christoph Waltz

Should Win: Christoph Waltz

Should Have Been Nominated: Anthony Mackie

Not even a contest here. Waltz's charming but evil "Jew hunter" was the most compelling charater of the year and he nailed the performance.

Best Actress

Will Win: Sandra Bullock

Should Win: Carey Mulligan

Should Have Been Nominated: Diane Kruger

Bullock may have been great, but it was a two-bit character in a two-bit film. And don't forget, she is also up for a Razzie for "Worst Actress" for "All About Steve."

Best Supporting Actress

Will Win: Mo'Nique

Should Win: Vera Farmiga

Should Have Been Nominated: Anna Chlumsky

"In The Loop" is the most underrated film of the year in my opinion, and I think Chlumsky was the best part of it.

Best Original Screenplay

Will Win: The Hurt Locker

Should Win: Inglorious Basterds

Should Have Been Nominated: (500) Days of Summer

"Basterds" was so over the top and inventive, how can it not win? And "(500) Days" was also quite inventive, making the romance genre watchable again.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Will Win: Up in the Air

Should Win: In the Loop

Should Have Been Nominated: Public Enemies

The adaptation of Bryan Burrough's non-fiction book was a perfect blend of fact and hyped-up action, a "criminally" overlooked gem (pun intended).

Best Cinematography

Will Win: Avatar

Should Win: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Should Have Been Nominated: Public Enemies

I know, shocking coming from me, but the cinematography in the new "Potter" blew me away. That scene when The Burrow gets burned and they run through the tall grass? Amazingly shot.