I’m not doing predictions for the Oscars, because that’s boring. Here are the awards that I would give out, based on the nominees. The ones in italics are the ones I’ve seen, bold is the one I want to win. As an over all philosophy, I want Inglourious Basterds to win as much as it can and I want Avatar to win some but not sweep the awards.

Performance by an actor in a leading role
I wasn’t really blown away by any of these, but I wouldn’t mind Clooney or Renner taking it. I may watch A Single Man at some point, but I’m not really keen on Crazy Heart.

Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Christoph Waltz. I’d give him a couple of Oscars just for the opening scene.

Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Err… I’ve only seen Streep’s movie, so I guess I have to go with her. I want to see An Education, and I heard really good things about Carey Mulligan. Wouldn’t mind if I missed the other movies.

Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
*Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia“

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Boy, the acting categories are boring. I wouldn’t mind if either of the Up in the Air women won, but seriously, were they Oscar worthy?

Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Best animated feature film of the year
This is the best category so far– I won’t mind of any of these movies win, but Up is the best film. Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox are inventive and The Princess and the Frog reminds me of simpler times. And while I haven’t seen The Secret of Kells, I’m intrigued.

“Coraline” Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
“Up” Pete Docter

Achievement in art direction
Err.. I’ve only seen Avatar, but really, what else is going to win for art direction? I don’t think there was as much attention to detail in all the other movies combined.

“Avatar”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
“Sherlock Holmes”
“The Young Victoria”

Achievement in cinematography
Another good category, but Richardson for Inglourious or Fiore for Avatar would be my picks.

“Avatar” Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design
I haven’t watched any of these. And the only one I may any time soon is The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. So I guess that one should win.

“Bright Star” Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Achievement in directing
Quentin Tarantino. I had more fun watching his movie than any other in a few years. Maybe since Kill Bill v2. I really hope that if Cameron is going to win one of the major awards, he should win Best Picture, not Director.

“Avatar” James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Best documentary feature
Food, Inc. is a great documentary about where our food comes from. And I’ve heard great things about the dolphin documentary The Cove.

“Burma VJ”
“The Cove”
“Food, Inc.”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
“Which Way Home”

Achievement in film editing
Inglourious Basterds. Though all of the other three (that I’ve seen) are deserving.

“Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9” Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Achievement in makeup
Again, I’ve only seen Star Trek, so Star Trek it is.

“Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
I wish Coraline was nominated, but since it isn’t, Avatar, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Up are all deserving. They are each very different– Fox is quirky, Up is like a beautiful circus and Avatar is like… Titanic. I listened to some of the Sherlock Holmes soundtrack, and it’s good, but I can’t get in to it without having seen the movie.

“Avatar” James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
“Up” Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
Down in New Orleans is the better of the two Princess songs, but The Weary Kind is probably the best song over all. But I haven’t seen the movie. And I really, really like Disney’s return to form with an old-style musical so I’d be happiest if Randy Newman won.

“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best motion picture of the year
Inglourious Basterds. Hands down. I even put it on my favorite movies of the last decade. I really like all of the seven movies I’ve seen in this category. I’m happy to see District 9 get Oscar recognition, but let’s be realistic, it’s not going to win anything. I would have liked it if A Serious Man got more love from the academy, but really– I just need Inglourious Basterds to win.

“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9”
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”

Achievement in sound editing
I’m not really sure what sound editors do. Something about editing sound, I’ve heard. I’d say Avatar will win.

“Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing
Sound mixers… err.. mix sound so that the sound is… err.. of the right consistency. You know, mixed well. I think. Something like that. Again, Avatar will win.

“Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects
Avatar. That’s all.

“Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay
If Up in the Air wins only one award, it should be this one. It was a writers movie, and everything else flowed from there.

“District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Original screenplay
Inglourious Basterds. Though, A Serious Man is a seriously well written movie.

“The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
“The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

And that’s all I got. What do you think?